So now that PIC is over, I'd like to talk about the Starfleet Museum's actual nostalgia factor. I myself was pretty underwhelmed with the museum as a whole, and here's why:
1. U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-A: This was pretty much the biggest nostalgia factor for me. Not only do we get canonical proof that the A was still intact after all these years and in the museum, it's also the first time we see an on-screen refit Constitution (II) class since TUC in 1991, over 30 years. And it's the same ship, to boot! Nostalgia factor: 10
2. U.S.S. New Jersey NCC-1975: While it would have been nice to have one of the original known Connies from TOS be in the museum, it was still great to see this design in its (mostly) original, unadulterated form. Nostalgia factor: 9
3. U.S.S. Defiant NX-74205: Again, even though we know this isn't the original Defiant but its replacement, it still brings a hefty amount of nostalgia for Deep Space Nine fans (like myself) who were wondering whatever became of the ship. Nostalgia factor: 8
4. U.S.S. Voyager: As with the Defiant, we were obviously going to see Voyager here, especially with Seven of Nine as one of the main characters of PIC. Even if you weren't a fan of STV, it was still good to see the ship again. Nostalgia factor: 8
5. U.S.S. Excelsior NCC-2000: While there is arguably a good bit of nostalgia factor with the Excelsior, it wasn't deemed important enough to warrant being called out by Jack or Seven, and remained obscured in the far background. But at least we now know its ultimate fate. Nostalgia factor: 5
6. U.S.S. Stargazer NCC-2893: Just like with the Excelsior, the Stargazer gets short shrift and is ignored by Jack even though it was his father's old ship, and the namesake of the new version seen just last season. Quite the head-scratcher here. Nostalgia factor: 5
7. Enterprise NX-01: So the entire point of Frontier Day was to celebrate the launch of the NX-01, and there it is in the far background, completely ignored, despite the fact that it's now sporting Doug Drexler's secondary hull refit. (I'm sure this had to do with "Frontier Day" originally being about something else and was later retconned, but that's another story.) But hey, at least it's there. Nostalgia factor: 4
8. U.S.S. Argo NCC-61357: A relatively new Saber class starship, whose name we've never heard of, in the Museum, for...what, exactly? We don't know because they didn't bother to tell us. Nostalgia factor: 0
9. U.S.S. Sentinel NCC-68455 & U.S.S. Wersching NCC-63328: Not one, but two relatively new Akira class starships, the design of which we literally just saw the previous season as active-duty ships. While I have no problem with honoring Anne Wersching's passing by naming a ship after her, why did it need to be an Akira class? And why did they need two of them, for that matter? I know everyone seems to have a hard-on for that design, but it was quite disappointing when they could have made something else. Nostalgia factor: 0
10. U.S.S. Lexington NCC-30405: Again, a relatively new starship class (although one we haven't seen since Star Trek: Voyager) in the far background, with a registry number that was supposed to have been from a previous older Lexington. Nostalgia factor: 2
11. U.S.S. Saratoga NCC-31911: A complete mystery as to why this ship is here. It's the Saratoga from TVH refitted into the Saratoga from "Emissary?" I'm not sure what noteworthy things either ship did to warrant them having any nostalgia factor, or why someone came up with this convoluted refit idea. It's almost like they made Sisko's Saratoga without realizing it had been destroyed, and when someone pointed out the mistake they came up with this weird solution. But that's just my opinion. Nostalgia factor: 0
12. U.S.S. Pioneer NCC-1500: While I applaud the use of a TOS-era ship for the Museum, the fact that it is a STO design that nobody has ever seen before short of playing the game is kind of a downer. It would have had more of a nostalgia factor had they used a TOS design from FASA, Star Fleet Battles, or TAS. Still, it's better than nothing. Nostalgia factor: 1
13. HMS Bounty: Putting aside for the moment that this is supposed to be the 'Starfleet' Museum, not the 'Starfleet and enemies/former enemies/allies' Museum, the Bounty is there for plot-related reasons. However, I will say that it was cool to see Kruge's BoP again, the only down-side being that we saw tons of identical ships in TNG and DS9, so the nostalgia factor for the 'design' itself loses some points. Nostalgia factor: 3
14. Kronos One: Again, a Klingon battlecruiser we've seen plenty of times before in TNG, DS9, VOY and even ENT. The fact that it's supposed to be Kronos One saves the nostalgia factor from being zero. Nostalgia factor: 1
15. Romulan BoP: If they had made an actual CGI replica of the BoP from "Balance of Terror," I would have been far more impressed. As it stands, it's just the same ship from PIC season 1 and SNW season 1. Nostalgia factor: 0
Addendum: Short of Bay 12, we did not see the inside of the Museum, where presumably the bulk of the ships were. They probably didn't have time or budget to show it, but that doesn't change the fact that it was a huge let-down. I suppose using the original Spacedock had its own nostalgia factor, but if you're not going to show us the inside, what other point was there in using it? They might as well have just had a small station with the docking wheels all around it.