U.S.S. Enterprise

Review by JoshB

I've always loved Star Wars more than Star Trek, but I am also a big Trek fan - the problem with Trek for me was always that the merchandise was so much cooler for Star Wars.

Playmates decided to change all that for me with the release of their FOUR FOOT LONG U.S.S. Enterprise. When this was announced in 2021, I knew I wanted it instantly, but the $499 price tag was just too much. But now, FUN.com has it on sale for $349 making it much more reasonable to add this behemoth to your collection.

You can order yours here from Fun.com

The box to this is MASSIVE, it even has a carrying handle. The front flips up to reveal all the features of this toy:

- Light and sound effects

- 7 character figures with accessories

- Tribbles!

- Lenticular decals!

- Display stand

- Hanging kit

- Bluetooth

- USB-C or battery power

- AR app

This thing is insane on so many levels. I knew it was going to be cool, but this has quickly become one of my favorite items in my collection.

When you open this, the first thing you notice is parts. Lots of parts. I forget sometimes that Playmobil is a building toy, so half the fun is putting it togther.

Then there are the stickers. Lots and lots of stickers. Each decoration on those control panels are separate stickers. The good news is Playmobil indents most places where the stickers go.

Once assembled, the ship is MAGICAL.

But before we get to the ship itself, lets look at the figures and accessories.

First up is Captain Kirk

Spock (with Tricorder in Bag)

Bones with his Sonic Screwdriver... er, I mean Medical Scanner

Scotty

Uhura, with her communications gear. Her skirt is also removable for sitting positions.

Checkov

Sulu

You'll note that there are phasers and communicators - none are for a specific person, so I just added them wherever. The communicators have flip open tops with decals inside.

There's a nameplate which I realize now that I applied the sticker badly. It has two hinged stands on the back. I wish this was a part of the overall stand, but it's fine.

An assortment of Tribbles are included, each with a handle underneath that the figures can hold them with. Also - a Dilithium Crystal! two are included, but one's in the Enterprise.

Included is a hanging kit, for those who want to hang this beauty from the ceiling. The available app allows you to still activate the functions even when hung.

Finally, the instructions

Here's the Enterprise in all her glory. 48 inches long, 18 inches wide. This thing is a beast.

While most of the surface detail is decals, some are pre-printed onto the plastic, like the name and number of the ship itself.

The nacells have rotating LED lights that light up when the ship is activated. The whole toy has a central unit in engineering that powers the whole ship, and they are connected by ethernet cables that you have to snake through the fuselage when assembling the ship. It's not as difficult as it sounds.

Again, the ship logos are printed on, but some areas, like the tails of the Nacells, are stickers.

All those gray panels? Stickers.

This hatch opens to reveal the USB-C port. The port does not charge anything, it just provides power.

The stand supports the ship with two clear arms under the front, and two in the back. The ship is a little too big to "woosh" around the room, so the stands are a necessity. Think of this more of a playset than a vehicle.

The lid of the saucer comes off to reveal a nicely detailed bridge. There are 6 chairs that can be positioned wherever you want, and the captain's chair can swivel. Lenticular stickers add depth to the main display and the lift at the rear. There's a storage compartment at the front for phasers and communicators.

The center console has 3 buttons - blue starts the ship, and engages warp. The nacells light up, and begin to spin faster as the ship goes through a warp cycle. There are also sound effects like ambient bridge noise, and clips from Kirk and Spock.

The red button makes the red alert sound, and lights up red LEDs on the floor.

The black button fires the Photon Torpedos.

I do wish the seats had some way to secure the figures. If you move the Enterprise, they slide all over the place.

Hey, who's droid is that?

The side panel of the body comes off to reveal engineering. The black button on the lenticular background is the basic power button for the ship. This also lights up a control panel, and the dilithium crystal. Remving the crystal will cause an alert sound and cause the ship to shut down. It's pretty cool.

And if that was not enough, there is an app with an AR function (Augumented Reality) that can bring even more life to the ship. There are a bunch of other functions as well - one of which lets you put your phone in front of the bridge screen to have a fully animated display. You can also access all the sound and light functions manually through the app once connected to bluetooth.

Have I mentioned how cool this is? The only real issue is where do I put it? My spaceport is getting full!

In all seriousness, There are a few things that could have made this set just a bit better:

- I expected some kind of red light for the photon torpedo, but I could be confusing this with another version of the Enterprise.

- There should have been "Tribble storage" - like a cool overhead door that when opened that dumps Tribbles all over the place.

- Make the nameplate part of the stand instead of an stand-alone piece

- The rubber nubs on the bottom of the stand tend to come off easily.

These things are minor though, and should not dissuade you from getting this fantastic toy.

You can get your very own Playmobil U.S.S. Enterprise at FUN.com