USS ENTERPRISE HAYNES OWNERS MANUAL (Part 3)
- Thread starter Starlock
- Start date
I doubt the magazine would do anything like that. Those kinds of magazines usually don't want to rock the boat like that for fear of losing their licensing agreement. It would be an admirable thing if they did but I don't see this plagiarism accusation being addressed outside of internet forums anytime soon.
Thankfully, we have free outlets like YouTube to go to, to get messages across to the masses. 
I've finally had the opportunity to see this book firsthand for myself. And I have to say I'm even more woefully unimpressed.
If nothing else---and there's a lot of "else" missing---having illustrations you'd assume they'd like to show off spread and ruined across the spine of the book is a huge letdown. Such illustrations would be better served by fold-out pages.
Much of the artwork is mediocre and the content is desperately wanting. Yes, it does look like an RPG manual and not a technical reference volume.
Let's be candid. One ship alone could take up an entire book if it done properly as advertised and as promised. And even covering all the bases properly for one ship alone would be an exhausting amount of work. But here they are trying to cover seven ships and barely scratching the surface of any of them. And that's besides all the inaccuracies in what little they did do as well as the reuse of existing work.
Add to the fact that these guys purportedly ripped off other people's work without acknowledgement of any sort and this thing is a total piece of crap.
It ain't worth a fucking dime.
If nothing else---and there's a lot of "else" missing---having illustrations you'd assume they'd like to show off spread and ruined across the spine of the book is a huge letdown. Such illustrations would be better served by fold-out pages.
Much of the artwork is mediocre and the content is desperately wanting. Yes, it does look like an RPG manual and not a technical reference volume.
Let's be candid. One ship alone could take up an entire book if it done properly as advertised and as promised. And even covering all the bases properly for one ship alone would be an exhausting amount of work. But here they are trying to cover seven ships and barely scratching the surface of any of them. And that's besides all the inaccuracies in what little they did do as well as the reuse of existing work.
Add to the fact that these guys purportedly ripped off other people's work without acknowledgement of any sort and this thing is a total piece of crap.
It ain't worth a fucking dime.
^ I had the same thought. A book per ship would have been more appropriate. They would have made a lot more money had they done one really outstanding manual detailing just one Enterprise, knowing punters would be back for more with the next volumes.
Fold out pages would have been better but it would cost them more to print, and by the looks of it, quality wasn't really on the agenda. I wont repeat my thoughts again on this thread (its a general meh) but I really hope they go back to the drawing board and come back with something with more substance (and fold out pages).
Fold out pages would have been better but it would cost them more to print, and by the looks of it, quality wasn't really on the agenda. I wont repeat my thoughts again on this thread (its a general meh) but I really hope they go back to the drawing board and come back with something with more substance (and fold out pages).
^ I think that has been all of our impressions given the negativity and disappointment surrounding the book. It's unfortunate that they seemed to do a periphery job on the book and make us suffer through delays for the resulted project.
Not to mention you can barely make out anything in the cutaways in the first place. Even wearing glasses.
So now that it's been a few months since the book's released and the opinions on it have been pretty much overwhelmingly negative...any idea on future editions? I'm guessing that the answer is going to be no at the moment. I've not seen any sales figures for this book yet, Chapters now has a bunch of copies and I'm told they're not selling very well. I have been slightly tempted to pick it up but then flip through it and reminded about how disappointing it was. I've also not read any interviews regarding a second edition either.
Sadly doubtful. Trek tech stuff has always seemed to appeal to a smaller demographic of the fan base and releases of that sub-genre of books have dwindled in the past decade considerably. Due to the bad press this one got, I suspect there's not much incentive for the publishing companies to do more. Of course, there's always that pesky thing called "hope".
When will they ever release books for Star Trek such as these:
http://www.amazon.fr/Star-Wars-Davi...7044/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301414633&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.fr/Sculpting-Gala...4032/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301414667&sr=1-1
Instead we're getting lousy stuff like this. Or may I remind everyone of these two "gems":
http://www.amazon.fr/Star-Trek-Ship...ie=UTF8&s=english-books&qid=1301414796&sr=1-4
http://www.amazon.fr/Starship-Spotter-Star-Trek-All/dp/074343725X/ref=pd_sim_eb_3
Seriously, this is making me angry. Why the fuck can't they do that?
The Art of Star Trek was the last good one. Everything else has been pretty pointless and a waste of my money.
http://www.amazon.fr/Star-Wars-Davi...7044/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301414633&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.fr/Sculpting-Gala...4032/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1301414667&sr=1-1
Instead we're getting lousy stuff like this. Or may I remind everyone of these two "gems":
http://www.amazon.fr/Star-Trek-Ship...ie=UTF8&s=english-books&qid=1301414796&sr=1-4
http://www.amazon.fr/Starship-Spotter-Star-Trek-All/dp/074343725X/ref=pd_sim_eb_3
Seriously, this is making me angry. Why the fuck can't they do that?
The Art of Star Trek was the last good one. Everything else has been pretty pointless and a waste of my money.
Sadly because the people who have controlled Star Trek have been .... to say it politely... "suits". To them the bottom line is what matters most, but they take the opposite approach of Ford. This is to say that they'll do the least amount of effort possible, and the least amount of cost possible, for the highest amount of price possible. It's also clear that the people who make these decisions are, by and large, not fans of Star Trek - if they really even know what it is in the first place.
(Some of the people who make the decisions for Star Trek are the guys who will quickly talk about how great it was when the Enterprise flew down the trench and destroyed the Death Star with a photon torpedo. Believe me, Star Trek is an afterthought driven entirely by marketing suits who have as much enthusiasm for Star Trek as they do the Trivection oven.)
Star Wars, for all its faults, still has fans running the show, be they fans of Star Wars or at least of George Lucas (who is a fan of himself, obvious). The people who make the shots know Star Wars and love it, and it will usually show in their work. That's why they tend to get the 'cool stuff' first.
^ I actually loved the "Ships of the Line" book. But aside from that, for me the last decent Trek book was the Deep Space Nine Companion. The Star Trek 365 book wasn't half bad either.
Star Wars is a marketing phenomenon. Lucas and the others behind it know exactly what they are doing, milking every penny out of the franchise with all the toys, games, collectables, books and any number of licenced products. First the special editions, then the prequels, now the 3D versions. You've got to admire their ruthless exploitation of the product.
^ They also knew what products to give the fans too. They may have milked it but they did it with intelligence and creativity. They anticipated a need and filled it before the buyer even knew they wanted or needed it. It's like Lucas has a crystal ball or something.
Unfortunately Trek merchandising has never been able to so this. Actually they have never been able to find a proper business model or plan. I am not even sure they have figured out their demographic! I would recommend they find a single person, preferably a moderate fan, who can take control of the franchise merchandising and nurse it back to health.
Unfortunately Trek merchandising has never been able to so this. Actually they have never been able to find a proper business model or plan. I am not even sure they have figured out their demographic! I would recommend they find a single person, preferably a moderate fan, who can take control of the franchise merchandising and nurse it back to health.
Maybe, if they actually put out a product thats more than just a episode summary. The Star Wars books add something to that universe. Star Trek tech books are just there to be guides about the universe filled with info the majority of the fans already knew.
Personally I kind of like that sort of thing, if it's done reasonably well (and I think Lucasfilm has done so with Star Wars). I'd like to see the Trek franchise do that much better, because many fans would be more than willing to help it be a cash cow if the quality is good enough. The line about "we can't do tech books because they don't sell" seems strange and nonsensical to me.
Actually, I couldn't care less about all that technobabble that's in those TNG/DS9 technical manuals. That's way too nerdy stuff that doesn't add anything. I want the artwork. Cutaway drawings/paintings, blueprints, movie stills, promotional photos, behind the scenes photographs, matte paintings, concept art... all that stuff you easily get for every single second of Star Wars.
For example I'd love to see a book that is full of this for every starship that ever appeared in Star Trek:
http://mrbsdomain.com/gallery2/d/2016-4/Star+Trek+Enterprise+NCC-1701-D+AMT+Ertl+Cutaway+Poster.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3534/3968220462_116731f1de.jpg
I don't care for the accuracy, as long as it's great looking.
It works for Star Wars, they hired two really great artists to exclusively produce dozens of homogenous paintings, and then made a book out of it. Why doesn't it work for Trek?
I - personally - don't like stuff like this:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LQtZsmCAq...AADTA/P428eA2PEH8/s1600/Enterprise+B+page.jpg
http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2010/11/02/1225946/533304-star-trek.jpg
http://www3.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Haynes+Iconic+Repair+Manual+Publishers+Celebrate+kx1qYtiiCxHl.jpg
http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Haynes+Iconic+Repair+Manual+Publishers+Celebrate+j3_tk2VxtYNl.jpg
I don't think it's beautiful or worthwhile.
On the other hand, I really like stuff like this (even if it's just plain black and white):
http://www.startrek.com/uploads/assets/articles/5b77c3eccf4c8f9ca7bd579f770f7cd7de57605c.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c8f4QdMDV74/S_d_gOMYVQI/AAAAAAAAFG8/glK5v_GemF8/s1600/Haynes-Guide.jpg
I'd buy a book that is filled with only drawings like these.
I'd also buy a book full of stuff like this:
http://drexfiles.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/defiant_bridge.jpg
IF it were actual drawings or even realistic CG renderings (and even better: set photographs), and not very artificial looking Illustrator renderings.
For example I'd love to see a book that is full of this for every starship that ever appeared in Star Trek:
http://mrbsdomain.com/gallery2/d/2016-4/Star+Trek+Enterprise+NCC-1701-D+AMT+Ertl+Cutaway+Poster.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3534/3968220462_116731f1de.jpg
I don't care for the accuracy, as long as it's great looking.
It works for Star Wars, they hired two really great artists to exclusively produce dozens of homogenous paintings, and then made a book out of it. Why doesn't it work for Trek?
I - personally - don't like stuff like this:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LQtZsmCAq...AADTA/P428eA2PEH8/s1600/Enterprise+B+page.jpg
http://resources0.news.com.au/images/2010/11/02/1225946/533304-star-trek.jpg
http://www3.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Haynes+Iconic+Repair+Manual+Publishers+Celebrate+kx1qYtiiCxHl.jpg
http://www2.pictures.zimbio.com/gi/Haynes+Iconic+Repair+Manual+Publishers+Celebrate+j3_tk2VxtYNl.jpg
I don't think it's beautiful or worthwhile.
On the other hand, I really like stuff like this (even if it's just plain black and white):
http://www.startrek.com/uploads/assets/articles/5b77c3eccf4c8f9ca7bd579f770f7cd7de57605c.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_c8f4QdMDV74/S_d_gOMYVQI/AAAAAAAAFG8/glK5v_GemF8/s1600/Haynes-Guide.jpg
I'd buy a book that is filled with only drawings like these.
I'd also buy a book full of stuff like this:
http://drexfiles.files.wordpress.com/2009/11/defiant_bridge.jpg
IF it were actual drawings or even realistic CG renderings (and even better: set photographs), and not very artificial looking Illustrator renderings.
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