Another uniform question again?

[Therin of Andor]

Since they had the same TNG uniforms in Generations they should have just kept things simple and have everyone in the same uniform. Long after Generations we still see Officers in the TNG uniforms in DS9 on starships.

According to Richard Arnold at the time, the licensed tie-in toy company, Playmates, pressured Paramount for some form of uniform change for "Generations", "First Contact" and "Insurrection", because they knew that some collectors would cherrypick the waves of new figures and only buy the all-new characters and aliens (ie. Soren, Lursa, B'Etor) or new-costumed figures like Worf in holo-pirate outift and Kirk in spacesuit. The licensees pay big money and want new lines of figures to sell well.

If "Generations" had used TNG-style TV costumes they wouldn't have sold many new small figures of the regular characters. As it was, when the new uniforms were rejected, they'd already proceeded to far to change the sculpts.

To doubly ensure sufficient sales for "First Contact" figures, they also tried changing to a new height ratio, although that backfired and collectors resisted the whole wave.

At least with FC uniforms it became consistent, but for engineers there could also be a worker jacket with pockets and stuff that can be used to make it more practical.

On VOY, B'Elanna Torres only got a unique engineering jacket when the actress had a real-life pregnancy to hide. She stopped using it when her baby was born.

 

[Nick086]

Since they had the same TNG uniforms in Generations they should have just kept things simple and have everyone in the same uniform. Long after Generations we still see Officers in the TNG uniforms in DS9 on starships.

According to Richard Arnold at the time, the licensed tie-in toy company, Playmates, pressured Paramount for some form of uniform change for "Generations", "First Contact" and "Insurrection", because they knew that some collectors would cherrypick the waves of new figures and only buy the all-new characters and aliens (ie. Soren, Lursa, B'Etor) or new-costumed figures like Worf in holo-pirate outift and Kirk in spacesuit. The licensees pay big money and want new lines of figures to sell well.

If "Generations" had used TNG-style TV costumes they wouldn't have sold many new small figures of the regular characters. As it was, when the new uniforms were rejected, they'd already proceeded to far to change the sculpts.

To doubly ensure sufficient sales for "First Contact" figures, they also tried changing to a new height ratio, although that backfired and collectors resisted the whole wave.

At least with FC uniforms it became consistent, but for engineers there could also be a worker jacket with pockets and stuff that can be used to make it more practical.

On VOY, B'Elanna Torres only got a unique engineering jacket when the actress had a real-life pregnancy to hide. She stopped using it when her baby was born.

I remember buying Star Trek Generations action figure. I remember thinking Data didn't wear this uniform in the movie. Later on they made another series of figures and this set of figures had on the right uniforms from the movie. They aren't rare or collector's edition which is a real shame.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I remember thinking Data didn't wear this uniform in the movie. Later on they made another series of figures and this set of figures had on the right uniforms from the movie.

Yeah, they did new versions of Data and Geordi.

 

[Therin of Andor]

Playmates uniform comparison by Therin of Andor, on Flickr

Worf in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" Seasons 3-7 uniform, Data and LaForge in the unused "Generations" movie uniforms and O'Brien in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" uniform.

Geordi's uniform is briefly seen in this deleted scene, which they opted to cut before reshooting his other torture scenes (with Soran) in the correct uniform:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQYWySUxdrM

 

[Nick086]

Playmates uniform comparison by Therin of Andor, on Flickr

Worf in "Star Trek: The Next Generation" Seasons 3-7 uniform, Data and LaForge in the unused "Generations" movie uniforms and O'Brien in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" uniform.

Geordi's uniform is briefly seen in this deleted scene, which they opted to cut before reshooting his other torture scenes (with Soran) in the correct uniform:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQYWySUxdrM

ahh I remember going to a flea markert in the summer. I saw this guy had a bunch of Star Trek figures out on this table. That was only Data action figure I could afford to buy with my own money the rest were like thirty or forty dollars. They were from the earlier series of figures from Playmates.

 

[Aldo]

Not to take this thread too far off topic. But I never understood why the Generations figures limbs didn't bend. At the time I was buying the figures I had just gotten the bridge play set for Christmas and it was hard having Picard sit in the Captain's chair when his knees wouldn't bend.

 

[Therin of Andor]

I never understood why the Generations figures limbs didn't bend.

Cost saving. IIRC, the movie license for "Generations" was more expensive than the one Playmates already held for the TV series, so they saved some money by having less articulation rather than increasing the RRP on each figure too much.

 

[Aldo]

Well I guess that makes sense. Though it ended up making the figures kind of shitty. Says the guy who bought most of them to complete his TNG crew line up

 

[BenRoethig]

I am not quite sure if this has been discussed before but while watching Generations the other day on Film4 the thing I could not understand why is that there was a use of two different types of uniform in that movie?

I thought at first were they trying to reflect a new transition from one show to the other. Going from TNG to DS9 but one moment you see Picard going from the last TNG uniform to the DS9 one. Riker has the DS9 all way through the film but Troy has the TNG one. The same could be said about Worf. It makes no sence. Could the producers not settle what unform be used through the whole film?

TNG: Class B service uniform
DS9: Class C working uniform

 

[Commodore_Rook]

I found it refreashing to have "caught" a Federation crew in "mid phase in/phase out" for the uniforms. We have ALWAYS been presented with the uniforms IN PLACE during the show or movies. This was the first time we have seen the change over. I liked that! A little jarring to see them go back and forth, but still realistic. I am glad they went with this option to account for DS9 and Voyagers uniforms, and NOT go the new uniform route (just yet), just for the sake of being on the big screen.

I am in the Air Force and we had our change over or phase in to the new ABU's a few years back. Several people in my unit still wore the old cameo BDU's while some wore the newer light green ABU's. It wasn't until late last year did everyone finally all wear the new ABU's. It is usually a money issue too (at least with Air Force Reserve) to slowly phase in new uniforms. (Usually only people who deploy got the new uniforms)

 

[Mark_Nguyen]

At a mid-90s con, one of the TNG writers commented that the inside joke in production movie was that the crew changed from the TNG to the DS9 uniforms as they bathed over the course of the movie. Then you notice that Worf, Troi and Crusher were the ones left...

Mark

 

[USS Excelsior]

I guess they didn't shower then.

 

[Nick086]

If you asked me they were changing uniforms to quickly. In the TOS era movies they wore the same red and black dress looking uniforms throughout the 1980s and right into the early 1990s with Undiscovered Country.

 

[C.E. Evans]

Nothing reflects any changes in Starfleet's mindset more so than the uniforms, IMO.

Even though the TOS uniforms are classic, they actually weren't around very long at all when you think about it. The TWOK uniforms appear to have been around the longest as far as onscreen evidence go, but even they underwent a number of noticeable modifications over the years and had been toned down somewhat by the time they were finally retired.

The TNG-DS9-VOY uniforms period seemed to suggest a Starfleet that was in transition from a long period of relative peace into one where it had to deal with the Borg, the Dominion, etc., with the First Contact uniforms being the final result, IMO...

 

[USS Excelsior]

The TMP uniforms didn't work out so they had to come up with a new one. They couldn't even go to the bathroom without assistance from someone to take them off.

 

[Therin of Andor]

If you asked me they were changing uniforms to quickly. In the TOS era movies they wore the same red and black dress looking uniforms throughout the 1980s and right into the early 1990s with Undiscovered Country.

But, to satisfy the toy companies, ST V had the crew change into their fatigues (which Galoob used on their Kirk & Spock non-action figures) and "Insurrection" had its crew change into dress uniforms and civvies (which Playmates made full use of for its 8" and 12" line).

 

[Potemkin_Prod]

The TMP uniforms didn't work out so they had to come up with a new one. They couldn't even go to the bathroom without assistance from someone to take them off.

IIRC, the jackets of TWOK had the same problem -- it takes two assistants to put them on and take them off. You can even see it in the transporter room sequence.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Emphasis mine

But, to satisfy the toy companies, ST V had the crew change into their fatigues (which Galoob used on their Kirk & Spock non-action figures) and "Insurrection" had its crew change into dress uniforms and civvies (which Playmates made full use of for its 8" and 12" line).

That's assumption on the fatigue uniforms.

It's well-documented, in Lisabeth Shatner's making of book, that Shatner wanted to ditch the Robert Fletcher uniforms and have new uniforms all around because he wanted to put his own grittier stamp on Trek, such as with the assault phasers.

However, some of the new designs came in less-masculine than he wanted and there also wasn't money in the budget to do a complete overhaul. So he went with the fatigue uniforms, limited only to the assault team, and used the back stock unis for the rest of the cast and extras.

 

[Herkimer Jitty]

TNG: Class B service uniform
DS9: Class C working uniform

This. I don't see why this isn't reasonable.

The DS9 Uni being used at the same time as the TNG uni makes more sense than a backwater crapshack outpost being the first post to be given the brand spanking new uniforms.

 

[Therin of Andor]

That's assumption on the fatigue uniforms.

No it's not. Richard Arnold, then-archivist at the ST Office, said at conventions that there were always heavy negotiations with the toy licensees. Costume changes meant they could make all-new sculpts of main characters that had already been released, refreshing their lines and encouraging them to renew their licenses. If no new uniforms were forthcoming, the company would often switch to a new scale instead. Anything to get people to buy the characters all over again.

It's well-documented, in Lisabeth Shatner's making of book, that Shatner wanted to ditch the Robert Fletcher uniforms and have new uniforms all around because he wanted to put his own grittier stamp on Trek, such as with the assault phasers.

Sure. What came first, chicken or egg? If Director Shatner was told, "Oh, and the toy companies would love some new uniforms" then the director checks his script for where new, grittier uniforms would be useful.