Hell, I'm sad Playmates even still has the license at all. They were good in their day, but their upcoming toyline leaves me cold, and imagining what someone could do with a good 6" accessory-laden line.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
- Thread starter SHIELD Agent 47
- Start date
Always appreciate a good "Run Silent, Run Deep" homage.
As to toys yeah, while Diamond Select deserved to lose the license as they dragged their feet on everything (still bitter that they delayed the Enterprise C so much, that now we'll likely never complete our Starships collection - never mind the Reliant), it doesn't seem like Playmates is really doing much with it either. I don't know if plans got scaled way back due to the pandemic, but I expected to see something else out by now.
As to toys yeah, while Diamond Select deserved to lose the license as they dragged their feet on everything (still bitter that they delayed the Enterprise C so much, that now we'll likely never complete our Starships collection - never mind the Reliant), it doesn't seem like Playmates is really doing much with it either. I don't know if plans got scaled way back due to the pandemic, but I expected to see something else out by now.
Eaglemoss isn't too bad, but both the ships I bought had pretty noticeable paint issues.
Also, like, kinda pricy for the size and all they do are ships.
Also, like, kinda pricy for the size and all they do are ships.
It bothers me that they feel the need to include metal sections, and it seems weird that they have sculpted panel lines at the scale they're working at. The result feels just a little bit like the 6" Galoob Enterprise D I had as kid, and that little bit is a little bit too much for me to pick one up. 
They're fine but they don't fit in with all the other Diamond Select Enterprises.
They don't even all fit in with each other, really. I bought a bunch recently when Amazon was having a half-off sale, and they're neat and I like 'em, but scale was definitely not a priority.
Ostensibly they only come in two sizes and those sizes are in inches, so I'd argue that scale wasn't a consideration, but.
Yeah, the big draw for me was the obscure and prototype designs they did. Like, no one's going to give the Wolf 395 ships or the concept Ambassador Class that much attention again.It bothers me that they feel the need to include metal sections, and it seems weird that they have sculpted panel lines at the scale they're working at. The result feels just a little bit like the 6" Galoob Enterprise D I had as kid, and that little bit is a little bit too much for me to pick one up.
Just got to see the latest SNW and once again they took an ostensibly old idea and makes it feel fresh and exciting.
The whole nebula standoff has been done a few times already but I'll be damned if they didn't make it feel like it was brand new. I especially loved seeing more of what was going on with the rest of the ship as it all went to hell. Pike's reaction to hearing Uhura respond at the end was the most palpable 'thank ******* God' I've seen in Trek.
I also appreciate them leaning into the space-submarine thing established in TWoK.
I also appreciate them leaning into the space-submarine thing established in TWoK.
God this is great!
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Oh yeah, they're not intended to be in scale, they're like expensive Hot Wheels. Same with the Diamond Select ships, they're all just roughly the same size as each other, but not to scale.
Like, if Diamond Select were to scale, the TNG Enterprise they did would have to be at least twice as big to scale with the TOS Enterprise.
Same with the Excelsior... Like scale for Sci Fi ships is challenging to say the least.
And, like, that doesn't even touch on ships with inconsistent sizes. Just how big is the Klingon BoP? Is the Abrams Enterprise really as big as the Galaxy Class? It's just fart noises all the way down.
Same with the Excelsior... Like scale for Sci Fi ships is challenging to say the least.
And, like, that doesn't even touch on ships with inconsistent sizes. Just how big is the Klingon BoP? Is the Abrams Enterprise really as big as the Galaxy Class? It's just fart noises all the way down.
I mean, on the one hand, I wouldn't buy such a line of ships, I wouldn't have room for them.
But on the other hand, I would still appreciate it from afar. Seeing the original Enterprise be dwarfed by the Enterprise-D in toy form would lock home the difference for me in a way reading about it never seems to.
But on the other hand, I would still appreciate it from afar. Seeing the original Enterprise be dwarfed by the Enterprise-D in toy form would lock home the difference for me in a way reading about it never seems to.
I know it's not remotely in continuity anymore, but I want to mention how the Gorn are described in the novelverse: there are multiple Gorn castes and subcastes, at times functioning essentially as independent nations within the wider Hegemony --and each with their own "egg worlds" where only members of that caste can reproduce. The three most prominent are the warrior caste, the political/mediator caste, and the science caste. The ones La'an describes are clearly the warriors/hunters.
In fact, this setup could easily lend itself to some timely real-world political commentary, with the bloody and violent warrior caste (the right-wing, Qanon-backed GOP), the political caste (congress and the supreme court) as their pawns, and the more moderate science caste (representing education, NASA, and general left-wing values) actively marginalized, discredited, and underinformed (because the military controls all information going in or out).
(For even more on-the-nose commentary, there could also be religious [ultra-conservatives, allied with the military], merchant, [billionaires, whose wealth places them above the law], or labourer castes [the unrepresented/migrants/poor].)
In fact, this setup could easily lend itself to some timely real-world political commentary, with the bloody and violent warrior caste (the right-wing, Qanon-backed GOP), the political caste (congress and the supreme court) as their pawns, and the more moderate science caste (representing education, NASA, and general left-wing values) actively marginalized, discredited, and underinformed (because the military controls all information going in or out).
(For even more on-the-nose commentary, there could also be religious [ultra-conservatives, allied with the military], merchant, [billionaires, whose wealth places them above the law], or labourer castes [the unrepresented/migrants/poor].)
I think a lot comes to conflicting ideas of what 'Trek' means.
Like, the people complaining about politics in Trek? Those are Star Trek fans, too. The same kind of people who would play Wolfenstein and then claim there was no message about racist, authoritarian regimes.
Paramount, of course, only cares who spends the most money.
And, like, since the Abrams approach has not lasted super well, it's not surprising they have gone back to the roots a bit more.
Like, the people complaining about politics in Trek? Those are Star Trek fans, too. The same kind of people who would play Wolfenstein and then claim there was no message about racist, authoritarian regimes.
Paramount, of course, only cares who spends the most money.
And, like, since the Abrams approach has not lasted super well, it's not surprising they have gone back to the roots a bit more.
I have been an Eaglemoss subscriber since day one and kept more than half of them. It is true that everything in scale would have been my cup of tea, but when you investigate Micro Machines, Attack Wing, Hot Wheels, and Diamond Select that came before, you can make a LOT of scale displays among them.
Orville also suffers from what I call Madoka Syndrome, where fans of Thing A gain a reputation for making a big deal about how "Thing A is good unlike that stupid Thing B crap that only an idiot would like," repelling Thing B fans who clearly fall squarely within Thing A's target audience.
Meh, I don't think The Orville is going to matter very much to anyone after this season comes and goes. Especially if SNW keeps doing what it's doing.
Star Trek has always had politics, but the difference between the writers of various iterations is the level of subtlety with which they weave it into their stories.
I haven't seen any of SNW yet, but Discovery and Picard have been about as subtle as being hit in the face with a neutron star. They're just a notch below Supergirl's writing team when it comes to lacking nuance. And while I don't even disagree with their politics, at some point it's like "could you guys try to tell a coherent story while you're also piling this other stuff on, please?". Discovery's gotten a lot better with this in S3, while Picard is dumpster fire for so many other reasons, it doesn't even matter what they do going forward.
Based on what I've heard, I am looking forward to SNW, though.
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