The Micro Machine sets

[t_smitts]

Star Trek Micro Machines (they even had a Babylon 5 line! anyone remember those? ) was one of my favorite toylines to collect as a kid. The only frustrating thing was trying to collect towards the end of the run where the newer sets were impossible to find. I was lucky to snag the 3 pack with Voyager in it (the set also had a kazon and maquis ship). I hated that the movie enterprise and the e-e where exclusive to the larger sets with III being almost impossible to find. I remember I had a chance to get the third set but I opted for II as I wanted the Defiant (I only had the money for one) but when I got a chance to go back to that toy store they were out of stock with the third set .

Well, to be fair, they needed to have some sort of incentive to get you to BUY the larger set, right?

That sucks, having to choose, though. Did you ever get the set III?

(And, again, if anyone knows about a safe way to clean dirt off of them, I'd appreciate it).

Not sure if this has been suggested yet but you could use canned air duster for cleaning electronics. It would be good for getting most things off like dust. Just remember to hold the miniatures so they don't blow around.

I have a can of air, I don't think blowing it off will do.

Galoob wen down hill when they dumped all of their other licensed properties including B5, I think they had aliens/predator, mib, and starship troopers, in favor of focusing on Star Wars. This was also the time when the plague of glut Episode 1 merchandise was upon us.

Well, every franchise has its peaks and valleys, when it comes to popularity (and thus merchandise). I'm old enough to remember the ton of toys and books that came out around the time of "Dick Tracy", for example. Star Trek's peak was just a bit before that of Star Wars.

And, as I've said before, they'd pretty much done all the major ships up to that point.

That being said, it is interesting to speculate what ships they would've come out with, had they decided to make enough for one last box set. Remember that the collector's sets came out once a year from 1993 to 1996 (except in 1994, when they released a wonderful set for Star Wars instead) They also came out with an even larger Star Wars set in 1997 that had all 19 of the ships from the 1994 set, plus 21 more (which I'd really like). Assuming Star Trek once again sat that year out, that would put a fourth set out some time around 1998, meaning any ships in it would've had to have been featured in shows or movie no later than 1997. Assuming it would be a 16 piece set like the other, and that it would including the three existing ones that were never in a set, that would leave 12 ships, plus a "bonus" exclusive to that set.

Now given all those parameters (again, 1997 or earlier), what 13 ships would you have included in the set? Here's my pics:

1) Bajoran Solar Sailing Ship
2) Kazon Torpedo
3) Caretaker's Array
4) Merchantman
5) Regula One
6) Ferengi Shuttle
7) USS Jenolen
8) Groumall
9) Batris
10) Borg Sphere
11) Jem'Hadar Battle Cruiser
12) Cardassian Hideki Class Ship
13) Vidiian Warship
14) Tholian ship
15) Federation/Maquis Fighter
Bonus ship:
Phoenix

 

[Sans]

Anyone else have the bronze and pewter sets?

 

[t_smitts]

Anyone else have the bronze and pewter sets?

Ugh, I hated those. Nothing but a lame attempt to save a few bucks by reusing the same old molds.

Actually, if they'd wanted to later make other ships of the same class (like Johnny Lightning later did), that would've been fine with me. I would've been fine with other Constitution, Excelsior, Miranda, Oberth, Constellation, Galaxy, and Nebula class ships.

 

[Leroy]

Well, to be fair, they needed to have some sort of incentive to get you to BUY the larger set, right?

That sucks, having to choose, though. Did you ever get the set III?

True but they should use obscure ship of the week ships for that not the hero ship from the new movie. Unfortunately I never did acquire set III as the prices shot up (since it's rare) and I'm unwilling to be gouged on buying collectibles.

I have a can of air, I don't think blowing it off will do.

A damp cloth maybe? Or putting some kind of plastic cleaner in a q-tip that might work. I'm not sure what chemicals would be too harsh on the paint though.

Now given all those parameters (again, 1997 or earlier), what 13 ships would you have included in the set? Here's my pics:

I don't think I would have had another hard to find collectors set I would have concentrated on the 3 packs and a set dedicated to First Contact including the Enterprise-E .

 

[t_smitts]

Well, to be fair, they needed to have some sort of incentive to get you to BUY the larger set, right?

That sucks, having to choose, though. Did you ever get the set III?

True but they should use obscure ship of the week ships for that not the hero ship from the new movie. Unfortunately I never did acquire set III as the prices shot up (since it's rare) and I'm unwilling to be gouged on buying collectibles.

"Gouged" seems like kind of a harsh word. It's not like they're selling you overpriced water during a drought. It's simply a matter of supply and demand.

Perhaps I'm a bit more forgiving because I'm Canadian and Sets II and III were NEVER available here. (We did have Set I, plus the Star Wars set here, and my dad managed to find a Set II for me on a business trip to Vegas).

Interestingly, since most of my Set I ships are in pretty rough shape (pretty much any ship with a saucer section has had it broken off), I just bought a second Set I (currently in transit) for what worked out to be about $40 CDN, which is pretty much exactly what it went for went it first came out (in fact, if you adjust for ~20 years of inflation, that's probably a bit less). As I mentioned earlier in this thread, I also got a second Set II about a year and a half ago for, what I think was even a bit less than that.

That Set III is gonna be a tricky one, however. The simple fact is, it's a rare item sought after by collectors, like myself. I really wouldn't count on spending less than $100. If you need to keep the cost down, I might suggest looking for them loose and/or piecemeal, rather than all together.

I have a can of air, I don't think blowing it off will do.

A damp cloth maybe? Or putting some kind of plastic cleaner in a q-tip that might work. I'm not sure what chemicals would be too harsh on the paint though.

I'm sure there's a message board for models and collectables of this nature. Maybe I'll take a look when I have more time.

Now given all those parameters (again, 1997 or earlier), what 13 ships would you have included in the set? Here's my pics:

I don't think I would have had another hard to find collectors set I would have concentrated on the 3 packs and a set dedicated to First Contact including the Enterprise-E .

Of course the sets have the advantage of getting 'em all at once.

Interestingly, though, they DID do that with Star Wars. The Executor was originally an exclusive to their set, but was later made available in the 3-packs.

Also rather than coming out with a Set II, they came out with a SUPER set that included all the ships from the first set, plus about 20 more (though no exclusives). I think that one's about as rare as the Star Trek Set III, and given that many of Star Wars ships are in rough shape too, I hope to get that one at some point too.

 

[BobtheGunslinge]

I also see that there is a pre-painted Star Trek miniatures game out now called Attack Wing I know there is a heroclix based game that uses the sames sculps. That remind me of micro machines. Does anyone have those and can comment on their quality as well as the game? I noticed they have some more obscure ships that almost never get attention on the miniature market including species 8472 and Jem'hadar ships

I've got all of the micromachines except the 3 ultra-rares, and I've got just about all the Star Trek Tactics minis, so I'll give you my opinion. Basically, the micromachines are better, but the Tactics/Attack Wing ships are almost as good. Except for the really bad ones. Please allow me to go into detail.

The micromachines are more accurate in terms of scale and detail. The Tactics ships are designed as game pieces, which means that they are designed to be sturdy; the detail on each ship is either etched deeper (Galaxy Class), raised higher (D'Deridex), or left off altogether (Prometheus). The tactics ships are made from a stiffer plastic, which means that the molds could not allow for undercuts, so some of the details on the sides of certain ship pieces are gone or blurred (navigational deflectors especially). Also, the factory workers are as hurried and apathetic as ever, so more complicated ships tend to be glued together all wrong, like Brundlefly. The Enterprise refit and the Nebula are the worst examples of this--I have 4 of the first and 2 of the second and still have never even seen one assembled even satisfactorily. That said, the quality of the ships vary a lot, which means some ships are as good as the best micromachines while others are terrible.

The paint jobs are okay, but not as elaborate as the micromachines' paint jobs. The good news is that they paint up really well with an ink wash and some drybrusing due to the tabletop detailing.

The really, really good part is that Attack Wing is popular, so they are selling minis for lots of ships that never made it to micromachines. Later this year, they will be releasing the Scimitar, the Hideki, and the Federation fighter!.

Some of the highlights and low points of the range:


-The Enterprise E is superior to the micromachine in proportions and accuracy to the studio model. The Reliant is slightly better than the micromachine, too. The Defiant looks a lot less chunky, but thanks to EAS, I now know that they used the wrong sketches for source material. When will they learn?

-The Sabre, Nova, Raven (in a war game?) and Prometheus are finally available as toys. Er, uh, I mean display models. The Prometheus is a little plain, but that might be because of the CGI model. The Furuta version also seems to lack detail.

-The Galaxy class has some weird proportions where the saucer is too small and engineering is too long or too narrow. Also, the warp nacelles have almost no details, and the two divots are raised instead of indented. It's a real head-scratcher.

-The Excelsior is... well... you kind of need to see it. (Unless you're Bernd Schneider, in which case, for the love of Q, cover your eyes--I don't want you to die!) Where to begin? The saucer is now an oval (post Dominion War refit?), engineering is twice as deep as it should be, and angular where it should be rounded, and the hangar is just a giant wedge. However, as someone who never really liked the Excelsior, I must admit I like this model.

-Enterprise A and Nebula are just all kinds of askew. The connection points were small and poorly-designed.

-The D'Deridex looks thicker, like it's plated in armor. The scout vessel has a weapon/sensor pod. The Ent-Bird of Prey is a great addition to the range, along with the science vessel.

-The Valdore rocks, although the head of the ship suffers from the lack of detail/undercuts.

-The Vorcha is hilariously out of proportion. The V-hold was off when the sculptor was watching TNG. The BOP is decent and the K'Tinga is detailed enough to make a nice alternative to the micromachine.

-The Negh'Var is very nice, but seems too thin. The Raptor looks good, but definitely toy-like as it was mostly cast in one piece.

-The Dominion fighters are about as good as the micromachines, but now there are some cap ships, and they look glorious!

-There are some nice Vulcan and Misc ships to fill out the range of "guest stars". This makes me happy.

As for the game, the Tactics game is fun but requires looking up rules too much for me to get into it. I hear Attack Wing is a lot of fun but haven't found a chance to play it yet.

 

[BobtheGunslinge]

PS: Everyone complaining about the micromachine Saratoga's lack of guns is wrong. The Saratoga is the ship from Star Trek 4, the version of the Saratoga that had no guns, importance to the plot or any screen time of note.

 

[t_smitts]

I can't really see much wrong with the Excelsior. Maybe the flaws are more evident from a different angle.

PS: Everyone complaining about the micromachine Saratoga's lack of guns is wrong. The Saratoga is the ship from Star Trek 4, the version of the Saratoga that had no guns, importance to the plot or any screen time of note.

Nope. The registry number and lack of roll bar clearly identify it as Sisko's ship. Besides which, it's listed on the box among DS9 ships, rather than movie ships.

 

[publiusr]

PS: Everyone complaining about the micromachine Saratoga's lack of guns is wrong. The Saratoga is the ship from Star Trek 4, the version of the Saratoga that had no guns, importance to the plot or any screen time of note.

Thanks for the heads up on the heroclix ships. Nice to know they are still being made

 

[BobtheGunslinge]

I can't really see much wrong with the Excelsior. Maybe the flaws are more evident from a different angle.

Yeah, they are. I just couldn't find a better picture. If you put the Tactics ship next to the micromachine Excelsior or the Hot Wheels ship, you can see all kinds of ...laziness? inattention? flaws on the Tactics ship.

PS: Everyone complaining about the micromachine Saratoga's lack of guns is wrong. The Saratoga is the ship from Star Trek 4, the version of the Saratoga that had no guns, importance to the plot or any screen time of note.

Nope. The registry number and lack of roll bar clearly identify it as Sisko's ship. Besides which, it's listed on the box among DS9 ships, rather than movie ships.

Well, for some reason I had remembered the ST4 Saratoga without a roll bar. My theory is shot all to hell, I guess. Maybe they based it on the model as it was being used for the Lantree?

 

[publiusr]

Hey, I have this memory of the big disk firing Dinky ship modified with square nacelles for ST:TMP. Only one other person from hobbytalk remembered the display ad for that

 

[t_smitts]

I can't really see much wrong with the Excelsior. Maybe the flaws are more evident from a different angle.

Yeah, they are. I just couldn't find a better picture. If you put the Tactics ship next to the micromachine Excelsior or the Hot Wheels ship, you can see all kinds of ...laziness? inattention? flaws on the Tactics ship.

Do you have one of your own? Maybe you could take a picture of that.