I just got the first version of the 1701. If I'd known about the HD I might have waited but I'm happy with the one I got... EXCEPT... the stand. I saw it mentioned here a couple times and I'm sure it's been discussed ad nauseum (though I can't find the discussion at the moment) but I just wondered... has anyone found a way to correct the wobbly stand? I can pose the Enterprise exactly one way without it toppling over at the moment.
JonWes, one of my 1701's has fallen on my head multiple times, (Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor not a catcher!) and one time it even broke the ship--okay two times but the second one was relatively easy to fix.
My first bit of advice would be to have the super-glue handy, if your ship falls and the "orange slices" come off of the nacelles (like one of mine did) you'll be able to glue it back on. Expect the "neck" portion of the ship to split in half as well, don't worry, this is easy to fix, but take your time to avoid breaking it further--as soon as you realize that pushing it back together will fix the ship, the problem changes from figuring out if it can be fixed to figuring out how to push the "neck" back together and have it "click" under the saucer, again this is pretty easy to do once you realize that if the ship were truly broken, the saucer would be dangling on the side of it with wiring hanging out.
To avoid breaking the ship at all, here's my recommendation, buy a tube of geninue "Krazy Glue," you know--the stuff that'll glue your fingers together in three seconds and stick to anything. Buy some acetone-based nail polish remover too just in case of the aforementioned scenario. (Acetone-based nail polish remover is the only way to keep your fingers from being glued together if you get the stuff on your skin.) Your stand is in three parts--the "base" with the delta shield, the "arm" that connects to the ship and a "nub" that actually goes into the ship and on top of the ball portion of the stand. Place the "nub" into the ship, and position it the way that you want on the stand. Lift the "nub" off of the stand, put the Krazy Glue on the stand and the inside of the "nub." You'll have to
WORK QUICKLY once the glue is applied. Using the ship for leverage, push the nub with the glue on it into the stand with the glue on it. Position the ship to your liking and remove it from the stand without removing the "nub" as well. The nub should be down as far and firmly as possible on the stand. Wait 24 hours and voila--this should solve the problem with the stand cracking and wobbling and falling on you. The ship itself won't be glued to the stand because it doesn't have to be, but this is probably the best solution to the wobbly stand issue. I've had more problems from the "nub" cracking than the stand itself, so I recommend reinforcing the "nub" immediately when possible. Hope this helps.