I received my HD Enterprise from New Force today. I was disappointed to learn that the Enterprise had no electronics -- no lights and no sounds come on when the bridge dome is depressed. The ship is still unopened in its box, and I have a dilemma.
I understand that some ships, sold discounted by BBTS, are listed as "electronics don't work out of the box", but of course, no one can be sure (as it simply can be a battery issue). I've just never owned an AA/DST ship that did not have working electronics, given the "try me" function on the box. I have this sinking feeling the electronics are shot.
Should I open and test the batteries, in hopes it's just them? Or should I keep the item sealed and unopened, and directly pursue an exchange with Rick? I've e-mailed Rick the issue and asked for his advice, and I hope he can tell me what my options are, and whether he'd prefer the item exchanged (sealed) or exchanged (opened).
VE Telus, I ordered my HD 1701 from Rick as well; he'll likely tell you to contact DST, but to keep him in the loop in case they don't deliver for some reason. If this happens, my advice would be to
e-mail DST, clearly explaining your problem. Make sure that you test the batteries first; they could be loose, they could be dead/dying, and just need replacement. Sometimes you need to tap the bridge dome a few times if the "contacts" for the electronics get stuck--you'll know if this happens because the bridge won't feel the same when you press on it as it does when the ship works. A gentle "tap" will fix this issue if it should occur.
If all else fails and you go through multiple sets of batteries (as I did on my WNMHGB 1701) and it's clear the electronics are fried, again, I suggest e-mailing DST. You might want to use the phone number posted earlier in this thread to follow up with them. DST responded to me within five days and another member here within seven days regarding the defective HD 1701. They'll likely ask you to "break off a nacelle" and mail it back to them. Once they do, break of the nacelle and send it to them for a new ship. Since you'll have to open the thing just to break off the nacelle, I'd recommend opening it to ensure that the batteries aren't the problem; I had an NX-01 arrive with dead batteries once and a fresh set pretty much solved the problem. I hope this helps, and I'm sorry to hear about your HD 1701 being problematic too. My WNMHGB 1701 has defective electronics, and DST never got back to me, which is admittedly why I went to eBay to pick up a functional ship, which I now have--ditto for "The Cage" 1701 as well.
sbamah, my "The Cage" 1701 is even worse when it comes to the paint apps, and I literally had to krazy glue the sensor dish onto the ship because there was nothing holding it in place. What really fumed me though was that DST never responded to my replacement requests for my "The Cage" or "WNMHGB" 1701s, and I wound up having to go on eBay to purchase replacements with a mark-up to boot, adding insult to injury. My WNMHGB replacement was fine, but the person who sold me "The Cage" replacement shipped a standard 1701. I informed the seller and he exchanged the ship for "The Cage" 1701, and I was happy with the transaction in the end, but the fact that I had to purchase these ships twice to get ones that worked, and in the case of "The Cage" 1701, pay to ship an incorrect item back to a seller in exchange for the correct item, really annoyed me. One flaw once in awhile is acceptable, but perpetual flaws on the same mold or a variant thereof are not. The sad thing is that in the case of the 1701, the mold isn't bad, the quality control is. I mean, I have (and have had) several Enterprise-Es, and none of them have been defective. (Some passed through my hands to friends, and others were purchased to customize.) Not one out of just over 10 ships in total. (This includes the BD 1701-E, the 2007 reissue, and the initial 2006 run.) Contrast that to the eight 1701's (including variants) that I have, with three being defective (four if you count the cracked stand on my original ship,) and the quality control issues are simply inexcusable. I swear, the same type of "missing paint" on the warp nacelles on my HD 1701 occurred on my "The Cage" 1701, and both times I wondered how DST could possibly let such a glaring flaw pass quality control.
I was tempted to do video just to demonstrate the lousy quality of the sound chip, but I felt that the photos showed more than enough proof that my ship was damaged. The "snapped nacelle" was my doing, since DST's "return policy" consists of breaking off the nacelle and sending it back to them, but the pain apps, the sound problems, the shoddy workmanship, the split hull, and so on were all DST's doing, and I specifically took pictures before and after breaking off the nacelle to prove that I didn't "add" to any of the damage other than the broken nacelle per DST's request. I'm quite tempted to throw the (highly defective) HD 1701's soundboard into my WNMHGB 1701 with a dead soundboard just to have one semi-functional ship. Sure, the sound FX will be absolutely horrendous and inaccurate, but at least the defective WNMHGB 1701 would have some sounds (my non-defective WNMHGB 1701 from eBay is still boxed,) and lights that actually worked. I swear, if I had the time and money, I'd consider turning that defective HD 1701 into the U.S.S. Constellation from "The Doomsday Machine," or the U.S.S. Republic from the "Star Trek: 25th Anniversary" Computer Game, as it was depicted in the episode "Vengeance." (The U.S.S. Republic can be seen about 35 seconds into
this video; I advise using the High Quality option.) Other contenders include any of the ships that M5 destroyed, and the Enterprise-2 from the aforementioned "Vengeance" episode of "Star Trek: 25th Anniversary."
