U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 (HD Edition)
Review by EVA_Unit_4A
[My special thanks to the Lynnwood, WA branch of The Comic Stop for holding this in reserve for me!]
In the 23rd Century, humanity has become peaceful with itself (eliminating or changing many sicknesses, breaking down political & social barriers, and dissolving conflicting cultures & religion), healed the Earth of its artificially-created wounds, and is now a major race among many extraterrestrial alien civilizations in an intergalactic organization known as the United Federation of Planets. The Federation has an armada of peaceful exploration & colonization starships, space stations, and star bases under the authority of Starfleet Command, which are manned by multi-species crews of the best and brightest. Starfleet’s flagship, the U.S.S. Enterprise, is a Constitution-class starship dispatched on a five year-long mission of solitary deep-space exploration, under the command of Captain James T. Kirk.
The U.S.S. Enterprise is a heavy cruiser-type starship (registry number NCC-1701) built to sustain long-duration deep-space exploration missions for the United Federation of Planets. Launched in the mid-23rd century, she is 298 meters in length, and is powered by a matter-antimatter warp propulsion reactor which allows her to travel up to Warp Factor 9.6, and more conventional nuclear fusion reactors provide power for the ship itself, her defensive force field generators, and sub-light speed impulse engines. While her aft hangar bay stores two shuttlecraft, the main method of moving personnel & cargo from ship-to-surface is a matter Transporter system. Despite being armed with phaser banks & photon torpedoes, the ship is under standing orders from Starfleet Command to always find a peaceful solution to any dilemma first. With a regular crew of 430, the Enterprise typically operates alone at the unknown edges of Federation space, though she is flexible enough to also serve as a courier, cargo ship, military vessel, and a meeting center for political & religious diplomacy to any outside species. This specific “HD Edition” release of the U.S.S. Enterprise by Diamond Select Toys is based specifically on the version of the computer-generated ship seen in the digitally-remastered episodes. (In 2006, all 79 episodes of The Original Series had all their special-effects replaced with CGI- shot now as if they had had the budget for such quality back in the 60s which the show obviously lacked. Additionally, sound was cleaned-up though not replaced, and the picture-quality was enhanced to the highest levels of clarity possible. The digital remastering of the TV show also allowed for gaps & errors in the original photography& continuity to be fixed, even though events & editing, dialogue, the actors, and the music have remained unaffected.)
A two-part display stand is included. Once the Enterprise is clipped on, the ball-and-socket joint allows for flexible posing. (Be warned: some- including myself- have noted lax friction in the joint, and the ship can often easily fall over, taking the stand with it!) The bottom of the secondary hull is a panel that can be unscrewed to reveal the battery compartment. Two panels are provided with the set- a blank one, and one with a hole that can accept the provided display stand- though only one can be attached at a time.
Anytime the Bridge dome atop the Primary Hull is pressed, several colored LEDs activate in preprogrammed sequence, accompanied by a selection of sound clips taken directly from the classic television series. The two domes on the top/bottom of the saucer section continuously glow white, the green Starboard (right) and red Port (left) anti-collision navigation beacons flicker on/off rapidly, and the two orange Bussard Collector domes at the front of the warp engine nacelles gradually dim & lighten. The LEDs always behave the same way regardless of which audio clip is playing.
Inside, next to the batteries is the activation switch with three positions: Try Me, Off, and On. The ship comes pre-set to Try Me, limiting the electronic feature until it is removed from the box:
- [Kirk]: “Prepare to attack. All hands to Battle Stations.”
(The Try Me clip does not play again when switched to the On position.) The main effects when the switch is in the On position are:
- power-up sound (used many times for different effects- raising shields, warp drive, maneuvering, etc. as there wasn’t enough money in the series’ budget for unique sounds for each)
- [Kirk]: “This is Captain James T. Kirk of the starship Enterprise, representing the United Federation of Planet(s).” (The word “Planets” is cut-off abruptly when the clip ends.)
- [Kirk]: “James Kirk, commanding the starship Enterprise.”
- [Kirk]: “Mr. Scott, ready the Transporter Room.”
- photon torpedo firing effect (x1)
- [Kirk]: “Energize”, followed by Transporter sound effect
As a bonus, if you hold down the Bridge button for five seconds, all the lights will turn on but no sound will play. This way, the Enterprise can be displayed with its lights running continuously until you press it again! (Just remember that they’re on; there is no automatic cut-off timer, so it will run until the batteries dry up hours later!)
It was only by reading about the experiences of others in regards to Diamond Select Toys’ reputation for cheap yet good quality recreations that I finally considered getting a replica of the original Enterprise. It had a good size (15” long), an appropriate selection of audio clips takes directly from the series, and the craftsmanship & attention to details were of high caliber. I wanted a collector’s replica without having to assemble a model to exacting standards myself. Playmates Toys had previously made a toy of similar size decades ago, but I didn’t want that (even if I appreciated the durability of a “toy”).
However, as this is now the fourth ‘repaint’ of the classic ship (the other three being based on “The Cage” unaired pilot-episode, “Where No Man Has Gone Before” series-standard, and one-time ‘evil’ variant from “Mirror, Mirror”) and was produced towards the end of the run, I have decided that many of the flaws I am about to describe are errors stemming from failing molds and tired workers, and are really limited flaws in the one piece I purchased rather than across the entire run:
- The patterned black hull lines across the top of the saucer are misaligned compared to each other.
- There is a significant warping of plastic along the front-left edge of the saucer, enough to expose a sliver of the interior.
- The left/right pieces that make up the engineering hull have a small gap between them on top.
- One of the screw covers on the left side of the engineering hull is missing/was never applied. Additionally the two covers that are present do not fit conform for a streamlined appearance.
- The printed square pattern across the right warp engine pylon is faded.
- The long vane structures across the top of the back of both warp engine nacelles are poorly fitted and show gaps.
- There are many tiny paint smudges and ticks all across the ship. (Aside from LED domes and the stand, all surfaces were painted.)
Additionally, while not a manufacturing error, I found two rather big structurally-unsound areas. The warp engine pylons have quite a bit of give; those nacelles wobble all over the place! To me, this means it would never survive even a short fall intact and could break easily if too much pressure is applied. The other is the display stand. While preserving the arrowhead (which would be adopted as the overall Starfleet emblem after The Original Series ended), I fear that the support arm could detach easily or, worse yet, snap if the ship were even casually bumped! Looks cool, but definitely needs to be reinforced in a future release. The ship is balanced properly on the stand, but you just can’t brush against it and think it’ll withstand that 6” drop. Unfortunately, I must refer to Playmate Toys’ remake-U.S.S. Enterprise from the 2009 reboot film, “Star Trek”, and say that both how it was mounted to its own unique display stand and how sturdy the warp engines were, are more suitable that what is presented here! (The morale of the story? Do not give this set to an 8yr old!)
Despite the numerous flaws above, I can still see that this is a very good recreation of the classic late-1960s design. Make no mistake, though- this is a display piece only and certainly not a toy! I liked the lighting pattern, the sound clips used were nice (though some could have been extended...), the details are well molded & painted, and proportions are correct. Mine had some errors during manufacturing, but I won’t let that get in the way of a positive recommendation for the HD Edition U.S.S. Enterprise!
Posted 26 February, 2010 - 22:02 by EVA_Unit_4A |
Comments
13 comments postedI have sold dozens of the Star Trek spacecrafts and I have to agree that the stands are terrible. The people who buy them though, usually stick them on the stand put them on the shelf and that's it. I haven't had one returned because of problems related to the stand, I did have one that when put in play mode, would not shut up but that's been the extent of it. The warp pylons, well just the sheer nature of the design of the ship makes them wobbly, at least if you want show accuracy. Again not a real problem if its just a display piece. I think they look great overall!
I hear that clear nail polish works good on ball-and-socket joints. I haven't tried that technique before yet, but I know of others who swear by it for their Transformers 'n such.
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CollectionDX Staff
EVA, DST's customer service is great, I'm sure you could return it to get a new one. While DST's toys sometimes have some QC issues, they are only behind Hot Toys and Bandai on customer service- fixing any problem presented to them quickly and for free.
I had the Khan 1701, and the clear "radar dish" popped out right out of the box, and I couldn't fix it. One email and 2 photos later, I had a FedEx account number to bill my return to, and within a week, they sent me a brand new one in the box.
Cool. Thanks for the info.
And the funny part is, I'm not gonna show them just one-or-two photos, but an entire review plus a video!
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CollectionDX Staff
If I can find any more, I'm aiming for a clean-hull Enterprise-refit/-A, -D (maybe an "All Good Things..." but only as a last resort), and a clean-hull -E. I'd also like to get a TOS Black Handle and TWoK Phaser(s).
In our NYTF photos, I saw they are not only making an Enterprise-B (I'd rather get an Excelsior), but a Klingon Bird of Prey, and a re-colored Enterprise-A (gray highlights instead of light-blue, which I didn't like even though it's screen-accurate).
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CollectionDX Staff
I saw that too, the Enterprise-B looks pretty nice, and I'm sure that will be a *huge* hit for DST. That was very difficult to get in the 90's and had a $200+ price tag for years (They originally sold for around $20-30 each.)
Actually, this scale of ship (not sure what the slang is, but we used to call them "Large scale") is hugely popular with Star Trek fans, and for many a complete set of the ships is the cornerstone of a ST collection, along with the 70's 8" Megos. There is a subset of modelers that will strip the DST and Playmates ships, fill seams, do some work to make it more accurate, repaint them, etc.
You'll notice that despite DST making newer, more detailed ships, the Playmates ones are still very desirable. I think a lot of it is that the plastic will yellow (especially if it's kept in a smokey or cold environment) and the electronics sometimes don't work, so to find one a MISB one with a "try me" that actually works or a nice loose one is a catch. They're durable and look nice on the shelf. Plus, they don't have all the seam lines and shading/color details that many fans complain and you mention in your review about with the AA/DST ones.
I just don't have the room for these, but if you're into ST they are really nice for the money you pay. I did pick up a few of the Hot Wheels "diecasts" Mattel made last year.
I saw someone on YouTube make a review of Playmates Toys' Classic Enterprise, and I have to say it was pretty impressive. (When it came out, I didn't appreciate the classic ship like I do now, so I passed it up. Now, however, I wouldn't mind a reissue sometime soon...
Some friends of ours had kids, and they had a 14" Playmates Toys Enterprise-D, which I did want at the time. (Ironically, these are the same friends who forbade Power Rangers...)
Their Enterprise-E, however, was pretty bad, and was obviously based on near-production concept artwork rather than the final design.
I wouldn't mind a Voyager, Deep Space Nine, and a few of the shuttles from AA.
[Ack- I have to keep reminding myself that Art Asylum makes these; DST only does marketing and distribution!]
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CollectionDX Staff
Don't hold your breath for those Voyager and DS9 ships, EVA.
The DS9 in specific was a bomb at retail, and was stuck on many store shelves well into the 2000's. My local shop had Voyagers and DS9's for years and years at $5 and it took a long time for anyone to buy them. Now they are pretty expensive.
Folks who have been into TNG and DS9 and Voyager had a great run of cheap good quality collectibles in the 1990's. But ultimately those properties were very bad for retailers. Tons of overstock now floods the market. While the ships always sell better than figures for Trek, TNG and Voyager in specific is very vividly remembered as peg-warming to the extreme, and since the latest round of TNG stuff did so poorly at retail, I can't see them going full steam into doing lots of merch for these shows in the near future. It's 2010, and I can still buy any ST: Voyager or DS9 figure or mini-ship I want from those shows at comic shop retail for $1 or less.
So if they do those ships you mentioned, I'd pick them up as quickly as you can and not wait around. Shops won't order very many, if at all.
I see those flaws your version of the toy is a little fired up, but it still looks cool... what did you pay? Also, this toy looks great when light up... very cool. Keep up the good Trek reviews.
What'd I pay? Same as everyone else- $50.00 off-the-shelf. I thought I'd be pushing my luck with The Comic Stop if I asked for a discount in addition to them holding it for me for two weeks...
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CollectionDX Staff
Mine didn't have nearly the quality control issues yours did, but I'm still not happy with it. The "rust ring" weathering detail they put on the upper side of the saucer looks like someone took a pee all over the enterprise. Also, while I really like the one, long running engine sound, the rest of the sounds don't sound as good as the initial release. I think this one is going on ebay...
"...The "rust ring" weathering detail they put on the upper side of the saucer looks like someone took a pee all over the enterprise."
Ohh- so I wasn't the only one who noticed that! I literally said the same thing to myself too! XD
Yeah, the sound FX are kinda lame. He says ready the transporter, and the next sound we get is a photon torpedo going off and then we hear the transporter in the next clip!
I wish we coulda gotten at least three torpedo shots go off (like most of the other classic Enterprises had), and a few other phrases. The box indicated there was a Phaser FX, but that didn't happen, nor did a Tractor Beam. I also wish there had been one-or-two other voices (like Spock and Scotty).
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CollectionDX Staff
Awesome EVA,
That right there is one of my all time favorite incarnations right along with the Reliant & Enterprise-A. I don't think anything can beat the original Enterprise nor the old series. Well...except for DS9 maybe. The one thing that show & TOS have in common were constant fights, shoot-em-ups, hard-hitting melodrama, & comedy. TNG had all those ingredients despite the Love Boat vibes in the early seasons, but then it got boring with all the techno-babbles and elevator drama. But yeah, TOS Enterprise all the way for me.