25 replies to this topic

[Razorgeist]

When DST do Voyager I would seriously getting a consider a Scorpion Borg version.

[Alex]

Don't for get Landing Gear Voyager. 

 

Landing gear of course should just be included, but it wouldn't surprise me if they released a separate variant. 

I intentionally left "Landing Gear Voyager" off of the list because it seems like something that would be included in the standard Voyager set, even if it were omitted on other variants. Still, if DST did treat it like the Klingon BoP, that would be yet another variant. (I'd personally prefer to see it as a standard feature on the main release though, just as every Enterprise–D has a separating saucer section.)

 

The interior did, the exterior, beside the interplexing beacon, which would be far too much of a minor change to the existing Nemesis Enterprise E to get people buying another E.

I wouldn't mind seeing a whole new USS Enterprise E direct from First Contact though! That would be cool. Proper sculpt and sounds taken from FC including Borg FX.

I could actually see DST tooling a new deflector–dish to represent the assimilated interplexing beacon if they also added FC–specific sound effects and possibly altered their previous "FC paint on the NEM mold" concept to make it appear as if the escape pods has been jettisoned. Those changes should be significant enough to set an assimilated Enterprise–E apart from the earlier FC Enterprise–E. I doubt they'd do it soon, but I'd also pay for an FC Enterprise–E with a screen–accurate sculpt from that movie in both assimilated and non–assimilated versions.

[1701D]

Wouldn't an interplexing beacon be too small to be done with any detail besides a blob of grey paint?

[Alteran195]

The E being assimilated is virtually identical to the non assimilated version. I doubt a different, barely noticeable deflector dish would be enough to encourage sales. Having a ship with open escape pods would also require an entirely new mold, which probably wouldn't be cheap. I don't know how much demand for a ship like that would be, and I doubt there is enough demand out there for one. I could see DST doing another First Contact E with new sounds, but nothing more. 

 

I'm sure us hardcore fans would appreciate a sculpt that is accurate to the movies, but I think the current enough does a good enough job of representing the E. I doubt there is enough people out there that would buy a new $60 ship just for a slightly different sculpt. 

[1701D]

I think if DST were to do a completely new Enterprise E with a sculpt that reflected the look of the ship in FC with all new sounds from FC, I'd buy it and sell my Nemesis version but since the current FC version isn't accurate, I passed on it.

[Alex]

When DST do Voyager I would seriously getting a consider a Scorpion Borg version.

Oh, I would definitely grab one just because I love DST's variants, and an assimilated Voyager would just be wickedly cool. I'd put it right up there with an updated TSFS variant of the TWOK 1701 using the "right before freefall" paint scheme and a TSFS sound chip on my list of instant–purchase variants. (Given that I missed the initial TSFS variant back in '03, any updated version would be something I'd snap up immediately.)

 

Wouldn't an interplexing beacon be too small to be done with any detail besides a blob of grey paint?

That would depend on how it's done. If it's protruding slightly into space or has some tooling around it vaguely resembling three people on the saucer, it could be a bit more than a blob of gray paint. Either way, the interplexing beacon by itself wouldn't be enough of a variant to make the ship worthwhile, it would need to be part of a larger variant, hence my suggestion about the escape pods.

 

The E being assimilated is virtually identical to the non assimilated version. I doubt a different, barely noticeable deflector dish would be enough to encourage sales. Having a ship with open escape pods would also require an entirely new mold, which probably wouldn't be cheap. I don't know how much demand for a ship like that would be, and I doubt there is enough demand out there for one. I could see DST doing another First Contact E with new sounds, but nothing more. 

 

I'm sure us hardcore fans would appreciate a sculpt that is accurate to the movies, but I think the current enough does a good enough job of representing the E. I doubt there is enough people out there that would buy a new $60 ship just for a slightly different sculpt. 

Alteran195, I wasn't suggesting that DST should just do a variant with a slight deflector dish modification, hence the suggestion for open escape pods. I think it might be possible to do the open escape pods entirely with paint, (DST has been pretty surprising when it comes to the use of paint apps to give the illusion of depth,) but it would need to look like the raised "escape pod" portions of the ship are indeed empty if DST were to attempt this. An updated sound chip for both the NEM and FC Enterprise–E would admittedly cause me to buy the Enterprise–E yet again, although I admit that a new sound chip has been an incentive for me to grab other DST reissues such as the 1701–A and NX–01; I still need to grab the latest 1701 release that lacks the "HD" branding.

You're (unfortunately) correct about the new mold, and while I would pay for a screen–accurate FC Enterprise–E mold, I doubt DST would do it at this stage, although I wouldn't necessarily write it off once they get through Chuck's "top six" wishlist of ships for DST to do. The biggest "problem" with the Enterprise–E's mold is that it was never sculpted with the intention of representing the FC Enterprise–E, as it was created from a 1:1 copy of the exact same digital files that Paramount Pictures used for NEM itself. (Ditto for the NX–01; the Aztec pattern was also taken directly from the show the first time around, so you'd be hard–pressed to get more screen–accurate than that.) Basically, the way the Enterprise–E is constructed, the only thing DST might be able to reuse from the NEM version would be the bridge "button," the nacelles, and possibly the translucent portions of the impulse engines and deflector dish; everything else would require new tooling at rather significant expense since it's almost an entirely new mold. The top of the Enterprise–E's primary and secondary hulls are all one piece, as is the bottom portion which also contains the nacelle pylons, and that's where the challenge is. On one of their newer releases, DST would have sculped the nacelle pylons in such a way that they could be moved forward or backward slightly for a screen–accurate variant, and the bottom portion of the stardrive section would have likely been sculpted so that it could easily be swapped to create the aforementioned variant without requiring entirely new tooling. I do think that DST could get people who haven't previously purchased the Enterprise–E to pay for a new sculpt in 2021 to coincide with FC's 25th anniversary, (I still can't believe that film's 20 years old this year,) especially if the new TV show brings in a bunch of new fans, and the Enterprise–E seems to get better every time DST reissues it, so while I certainly wouldn't expect it anytime soon, I could see DST considering such a variant eventually, although I admit a sound chip update is far more likely. If they can work those always–on lights into the ship combining the methods used on the new 1701 and the Enterprise–D, (lights–on, lights on with ambient sound, and the ability to cycle through sound effects) that'd obviously make my day new sculpt or no new sculpt.