Star Trek Federation: The First 150 Years

[Admiral_Young]

I just stumbled across this on Amazon and then found the trailer on Star Trek.com. This looks simply amazing. Reminds me of Daniel Wallace's Star Wars: The Jedi Path and Book of the Sith, only a bit more expansive.

http://www.startrek.com/article/first-look-federation-the-first-150-years-trailer

I'll be getting this for sure.

 

[CaptainDonovin]

I just stumbled across this on Amazon and then found the trailer on Star Trek.com. This looks simply amazing. Reminds me of Daniel Wallace's Star Wars: The Jedi Path and Book of the Sith, only a bit more expansive.

http://www.startrek.com/article/first-look-federation-the-first-150-years-trailer

I'll be getting this for sure.

I preordered this a few months ago, amazon had a nice discount on it them. I'm hoping its good.

 

[Markonian]

I wonder whether this is consistent with Star Trek Enterprise: To Brave the Storm?

 

[Christopher]

I wonder whether this is consistent with Star Trek Enterprise: To Brave the Storm?

I wouldn't expect it to be, since it's from a different publisher.

 

[Markonian]

I wouldn't expect it to be, since it's from a different publisher.

Too bad - I love internal consistency. Nevertheless, it is still an impressive package from the looks of it.

My favourite Star Trek author just replied to post from me? Wow! - <faints>

 

[F. King Daniel]

I wonder if they'll have diagrams and specifications for the USS Kelvin (and maybe the Kelvin-kitbash ships) from STXI? There is mention of Kirk being the child of two Starfleet officers on one of the papers in the video commercial.

 

[Markonian]

The Kelvin is canon. Apart from her fate in the alternate timeline, we know the ship was still active in 2333. The rest of her (pre)history is a blank state.

In fact, that would be an ideal opportunity for The First 150 Years to add backstory and link itself with the "New Trek".

 

[DimesDan]

deja vu

 

[Admiral Rex]

I wonder whether this is consistent with Star Trek Enterprise: To Brave the Storm?

I wouldn't expect it to be, since it's from a different publisher.

Although it's a different publisher, I hope they consider using some elements from the novels, comics, etc. Similar to Star Trek Online using post-TNG events and characters.

 

[F. King Daniel]

What they mention about the destruction of Starbase 1 by the Romulans sounds a lot like something that happened in the old Star Trek Spaceflight Chronology/FASA version of the Earth/Romulan conflict. It may be a fluke, or they may be picking bits and pieces from various sources for their book.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Sorry for the re-post. I did do a search to see if this had already been posted, I guess I didn't look deep enough lol.

I'm guessing this isn't going to be incontinuity with Trek Lit since as Christopher mentioned this is from a different publisher and it features Hikaru Sulu as the Commander in Chief of Starfleet, which I believe Admiral Akkaar is in the novels right now? Correct?

 

[Sci]

Sorry for the re-post. I did do a search to see if this had already been posted, I guess I didn't look deep enough lol.

I'm guessing this isn't going to be incontinuity with Trek Lit since as Christopher mentioned this is from a different publisher and it features Hikaru Sulu as the Commander in Chief of Starfleet, which I believe Admiral Akkaar is in the novels right now? Correct?

As of 2383, Fleet Admiral Leonard James Akaar is indeed the current Commander-in-Chief of the Federation Starfleet.

We still don't know who's serving as the new Starfleet Liaison to the Office of the President (Akaar's previous position), though.

 

[Christopher]

I'm guessing this isn't going to be incontinuity with Trek Lit since as Christopher mentioned this is from a different publisher and it features Hikaru Sulu as the Commander in Chief of Starfleet, which I believe Admiral Akkaar is in the novels right now? Correct?

Remember, it's just The First 150 Years, which means it only covers up through 2311. I'd assume that the Sulu narration is supposed to be from somewhere around that date. After all, it's unlikely that Sulu is still alive in the current novel era, or that he's still in active service if he is, since as of 2383 he'd be 146 years old. (Day of Honor: Armageddon Sky implied that he was alive and retired as of the 2370s.)

 

[Admiral_Young]

I forgot about that. Hopefully this does well enough we get a sequel for the latter years!

 

[Ian Keldon]

$60?!?!?!?

And no option for just the book materials at a reasonable price?

Gouge-gouge-gouge-gougity-gouge-gouge!

I might try to pick up a used copy if one ever comes around at $25 or less, but, as usual, the PTB have overpriced the product and won't be getting me at retail...

 

[Sho]

^ It's an unusual product and likely being given a fairly small print run. Unusual and low-quantity means more expensive to produce and low economies of scale. Doesn't surprise me that it's not cheap.

Seems to me that your criteria for "overpriced" is often "more expensive than I would like" and not "more expensive than should be reasonably expected given production and market realities". Sure I'd like it to be cheaper, too ...

 

[Ian Keldon]

Problem with that statement is that first Paramount (and now CBS) has ALWAYS priced Trek well above what other studios priced their product, often by a factor of 4 or more.

Even now, buying discount from Amazon, TOS remastered on dvd is over $50. Compare that to ~$20-30 for nuBSG or ~$20 for Stargate, both shows that were still covering their production costs whereas TOS has long since paid for itself and the DVD money is all "gravy".

There was no reason to go all fancy and "boutique" with this project. A nice, solid TBP size like the Encyclopedia would have done just fine, and could have been offered at a better price point.

 

[Sho]

Even now, buying discount from Amazon, TOS remastered on dvd is over $50. Compare that to ~$20-30 for nuBSG or ~$20 for Stargate, both shows that were still covering their production costs whereas TOS has long since paid for itself and the DVD money is all "gravy".

I'll admit to not being an expert in accounting, but it occurs to me that TOS Remasted involved a lot more effort than just putting it on the disc, unlike nuBSG. I'd expect that investment to have to pay for it in a rather more direct way than the home video release of an already-finished picture that's already been sold to TV.

There was no reason to go all fancy and "boutique" with this project. A nice, solid TBP size like the Encyclopedia would have done just fine, and could have been offered at a better price point.

But going fancy and boutique with this project seems to be part of the point given the label behind it. This is actually the most interesting aspect of this product to me: It's being published by 47North, Amazon's own and brand-new scifi/fantasy imprint. This marks the start of Amazon's entry into the Star Trek publishing game, and I bet the product's nature is something they came up with on their own and pitched to CBS to make a splash with their first product.

And the fancyness and boutiqueness makes it more of a collectible, for which there certainly is a market. Maybe it's less of a price question and more that this one just isn't up your ally taste-wise? I certainly don't need to own every Trek product either.

 

[Christopher]

Even now, buying discount from Amazon, TOS remastered on dvd is over $50. Compare that to ~$20-30 for nuBSG or ~$20 for Stargate, both shows that were still covering their production costs whereas TOS has long since paid for itself and the DVD money is all "gravy".

I think you're overlooking something. It's not just about paying for production costs. Actors, writers, producers, directors, and other "above-the-line" staffers are entitled to residual payments for every broadcast or home video sale of their work. That doesn't expire after a certain period of time, it's perpetual. So the cost of a TOS-R DVD is partly about paying residuals to the cast and creators.

I'm sure the same goes for the other shows as well, so that alone doesn't explain the price difference -- I'm just saying it's a mistake to assume that covering the production costs is the sole consideration.

 

[Sci]

Problem with that statement is that first Paramount (and now CBS) has ALWAYS priced Trek well above what other studios priced their product, often by a factor of 4 or more.

Typically because the Star Trek fan base has generated higher demand. If there's higher demand, that means that all customers are competing with one-another for a limited stock of product, which means higher prices.

And remember, these are luxury items; you don't need them to be happy and healthy and safe. So if you're willing to pay a higher price, you clearly value it more than others. Why shouldn't CBS or Paramount therefore sell these items to the people who value them the most?