192 replies to this topic

[Mirror Mirror]

Personally, even though I can't wait to see what AA would do with the Defiant, I would have to go with the Ent D as the next ship.

I can't get behind this whole "Enterprised Out" argument. The Ent D is still a very different ship from any other and I would also be very keen to see what AA could do with it.

[FHC]

Here's my thought. The next ship will be the Voyager and it will come out sometime around the time that the Voyager figures come out. I truly feel that if the D were coming then it would be here already with the TNG figures. Regardless I can't see the D being skipped, but I don't see it being a huge seller for some reason. The Voyager makes sense because you cannot find a version out for sale that does not bring very good money. There is a market for that ship.

[TheHSBR]

Im sitting here thinking (always dangerous) and I thought maybe DST wont even produce any more ships for a long time. They have stated on many occasions that sales have been lagging on many of the releases. The money made on the 1701 might just be put in the bank. Why take a risk on another ship and have sales like the Ent-E? I could see them saying thank you and goodnight on the ships. We all know the market for any other ship will not be as big as the TOS market being that all the reviews are saying its a superior ship. I cant see any other ship even coming close.

[slayerone76]

We all know the market for any other ship will not be as big as the TOS market being that all the reviews are saying its a superior ship. I cant see any other ship even coming close.

I agree that TOS is probably better selling than some of the other properties, but if DST puts as much love and attention into the TOS Enterprise as they do any other ship, then there will be a market for it. Even though DST ticked a lot of people off with the ENT-E and all of the BD versions, TOS ENT seems to be doing well. There is still a market there, it just needs to be tapped.

[TheHSBR]

I think we as fans tend to think that there is a market but the proposed numbers dont back us up. We saw by the TNG figures that there was a drop off in both ships/figure sales. I think when it comes to Star Trek collectors in general, TOS stuff is going to sell. When TNG stuff hits the market many of those collectors opt out. I think for the rest of the series (DS9,VOY, ENT) that there is a much smaller constant number of people willing to buy product. What will be a telltale sign is how the TWOK product does. If the figures sell well then I think we can say that its not Star Trek in general that moves product but rather TOS that moves product. Im not sold on the idea that collectors will buy a ship just because it looks good. I think a lot of the sales for the 1701 are generated by the BOTH the ship looking good and a built in fan base (that is much larger than TNG/rest of Sta Trek) that is willing to buy such a product.

If I owned DST Id be very skeptical of producing more ships right now for several reasons:
1. the market is flooded with new ships (1701 & possible variants, BD variants, 1701 refit, etc)
2. anything outside TOS has thus far been unproven to be a sales success (maybe ds9 will show different)
3. even if the 1701 is selling well, who is to say that this is meeting DSTs projections?

I would love to see more ships be made especially the Defiant/Voyager but Im not holding my breath for them anytime soon.

[Will Decker]

I think we as fans tend to think that there is a market but the proposed numbers dont back us up. We saw by the TNG figures that there was a drop off in both ships/figure sales. I think when it comes to Star Trek collectors in general, TOS stuff is going to sell. When TNG stuff hits the market many of those collectors opt out. I think for the rest of the series (DS9,VOY, ENT) that there is a much smaller constant number of people willing to buy product. What will be a telltale sign is how the TWOK product does. If the figures sell well then I think we can say that its not Star Trek in general that moves product but rather TOS that moves product. Im not sold on the idea that collectors will buy a ship just because it looks good. I think a lot of the sales for the 1701 are generated by the BOTH the ship looking good and a built in fan base (that is much larger than TNG/rest of Sta Trek) that is willing to buy such a product.

You are absolutely right. These folks who think they're going to get a Defiant, Voyager, Ent-D, are kidding themselves. The numbers speak for themselves. Last year, sluggish sales on the Ent-E almost brought the whole starship legends line to a halt. No we get the the gorgeous TOS enterprise and after one week, Rick is concerned about selling out of product!

TOS sells.

Next Gen 24th cent. era = dog.

Classic is the future. After the TWOK 1701 comes out and enjoys similar sales to the TOS (which you damn well know it will) they'll annouce the next ship is indeed the Reliant (not the Defiant - not in your wildest dreams - I'm sorry). what's wrong with the playmates version anyway? I always thought that was pretty good toy. I'm looking at grabbing one on ebay myself.

Then, if you consider the timing - after the next ship, DST will likely turn all of their efforts to movie based products for the new film coming out. You'll probably get figure waves for DS9 and voyager in there too - but no ships. That's too much of a finacial gamble on a fickle fan base (again look at the dissappointed sales on some of the next gen waves).

Everyone buys TOS stuff - that's what they'll make more of. It's a sure bet for them.

We've never had a toy of the Reliant or of the Klingon Cruiser. Who wouldn't buy those?

That's the direction you're likely to see.

[TheHSBR]

I think you may be overestimating the TOS collector fanbase as well. The type of person Im speaking of is the type thatw atches the show and purchases a few nicely designed items for a small collection. I think this type of collector is driving the sales of the 1701. I dont know if sales on the Reliant or Klingon cruiser will be as good as the 1701. Its all speculation at this point anyway. I also forgot about the movie and if DST gets the rights to that I believe everything will be geared toward that including new ships.

[JMW326]

You are absolutely right. These folks who think they're going to get a Defiant, Voyager, Ent-D, are kidding themselves. The numbers speak for themselves. Last year, sluggish sales on the Ent-E almost brought the whole starship legends line to a halt. No we get the the gorgeous TOS enterprise and after one week, Rick is concerned about selling out of product!

TOS sells.

Next Gen 24th cent. era = dog.

Classic is the future. After the TWOK 1701 comes out and enjoys similar sales to the TOS (which you damn well know it will) they'll annouce the next ship is indeed the Reliant (not the Defiant - not in your wildest dreams - I'm sorry). what's wrong with the playmates version anyway? I always thought that was pretty good toy. I'm looking at grabbing one on ebay myself.

Then, if you consider the timing - after the next ship, DST will likely turn all of their efforts to movie based products for the new film coming out. You'll probably get figure waves for DS9 and voyager in there too - but no ships. That's too much of a finacial gamble on a fickle fan base (again look at the dissappointed sales on some of the next gen waves).

Everyone buys TOS stuff - that's what they'll make more of. It's a sure bet for them.

We've never had a toy of the Reliant or of the Klingon Cruiser. Who wouldn't buy those?

That's the direction you're likely to see.

I think the only people (or person) around here that is "kidding themselves" are the people that think they know exactly what DST is going to do next. DST has done nothing but surprised us with the last few announced ships and figure waves so I think we may be in for another surprise if the next few ships do well. TNG may not be doing as well as DST had hoped but I think things may pick up a bit when DS9 and TWOK starts hitting the stores.

I also doubt DST will get full rights to make much for the new movie. With the direction they seem to be going with it and the people they are trying to bring in with the new movie we will propbably see Hasbro or Mattell pick up the toy license and promotion of it.

And no not everybody buys TOS. I for one am burnt out on TOS but I dont consider TWOK and the rest of the Movies as TOS anyway. Thye are completely seperate.

[Picard5]

While there are some very inteligent ideas here, I still being a mindless Trekie say that the Enterprise-D is just as important as the 1701. Both speak to generations. My father loves the TOS stuff I have but when it comes to the TNG he's like meh. Flip the table around and my good friend Jaime likes my TNG stuff better than the TOS. So there are markets for these ships, DST just needs to advertise accordingly to demographic to get the ship to sell.

[Mirror Mirror]

I have to have hope that more ships will follow. I love AA's work and there are only three Hero ships left to do. (Ent D, Defiant & Voyager)

Besides sales, I don't see why in th end we all can't have our cake. And I'm sorry, but repaints aren't free to produce, if the ships weren't selling well enough I'm sure that they would have abandoned the line by now.

But hopfully, at the very least we should be getting two more Battle damaged variants, the 1701 refit and with any luck the two Pilot Versions.

If as the some have suggested this is the end, it could be a lot worse.

We will at least have a comprehensive collection spanning from Enterprise to Star Trek VI.

[JMW326]

I agree about the advertising. If it weren't for me being a member of these forums and checking Toy news websites I would have no idea these existed. Every month it seems like a new person joins one of the forums and had no idea the scope of figures that were out from AA and DST and wants to know how to find them. Although I dont realy know how DST could get the word out to new people becuse there is no new Trek on the air and these aren't sold in big retail stores so commercials and sales papers are out of the questions.

[Will Decker]

I would love to see everyone get the ships that they want. Although TOS and TOS movies are my favorite I'll support any ships that come out. When I say support - that means buy a case of each one!

It's just that ships are more more expensive to develope and manufacture than a wave of figures. They just can' afford major misses. We've seen conservatism so far. That was my point and I just think it's still a strong indicator for the near future.

It would be a shame if they didn't let DST do the movie merchandising. The TOS enterprise is outstanding and I would love to get movie based toys at that standard. Furthuermore I think it's likely that at least a few major retailers would support the movie line.

[knightone]

Unfortunately the new movie is a separate license from the previous incarnations of Trek, so it's up in the air at this point. Another thing to consider, if CBS/Paramount really wants to cash in one the potential commercial success of this movie, they may price the license out of reach for just any toy company to obtain. Which would leave only the big manufacturers would be able to/willing to pay for the license. It would be nice if the split the license, one for someone to make kid-friendly toys and one to make specialty market merchandise. Although that might be taken by someone like MacFarlane, which I would hate due to their lack of articulation.

We'll see what happens, I guess. Right now, it's really too soon to predict what is going to happen with a toy license for the new movie. It's a bit off topic to talk about the new movie license, though. This is about what ship might come next. I would have to assume, if DST should get the license for the new movie, they would concentrate the bulk of their efforts for it. And, if the ship differs in any way to the original design, I'd say it would be an almost certain bet that it would be among the releases, even if it is the only release outside of the realm of figures. But the movie is still a long way off, almost two years away. That's enough time to get at least one more ship in between. And, if we are to get a Enterprise for the new movie, it would be nice to get a non-Enterprise release in between just to break up the tedium. Even if I weren't Enterprised out already, I certainly would be if the next two ship releases were both named Enterprise considering we're going to have five Enterprises in all from DST and AA by the end of the summer, and that's not counting battle damage or other variants.

[Stormfury_Echo]

Well, me personally, I'm really gunning for either the Reliant or the Defiant! But, whatever they release, I shall buy.

[A Chimpanzee & 2 Trainees]

My money's on the Defiant, since we know following the next TNG wave, DS9 is next. Defiant will tie in nicely with that release. I think, probability wise, the next most likely is Reliant, with Enterprise-D a distant, distant 3rd.

1) With TNG core figures essentially completed long before the next ship could be ready, there won't be a possibility to tie it in with the figures.

2) Add to that the disappointing sales of both the Enterprise-E and those same core figures, and I can't see them readily wanting to take the risk.

3) AA/DST insiders are publicly talking about Enterprise fatigue

I think you'll likely see Defiant, then Voyager coinciding with the release of the Voy figure line, and then maybe the Enterprise-D, that is if the sales of Defiant and Voyager are relatively strong. If they are not, I'm betting we won't see an E-D, period. Personally, I think it's a shame since I'd rather have E-D before either of the other two. Heck, I'd rather have a TOS style Klingon D-7 Battle Cruiser before any of them.

[Mirror Mirror]

And, if we are to get a Enterprise for the new movie, it would be nice to get a non-Enterprise release in between just to break up the tedium. Even if I weren't Enterprised out already, I certainly would be if the next two ship releases were both named Enterprise considering we're going to have five Enterprises in all from DST and AA by the end of the summer, and that's not counting battle damage or other variants.

To be honest, I don't see what difference it makes what the ships are called as long as they look different. As I posted earlier, there are only three hero ships left and hopefully there will be time for them all. Even of the Ent D is next, it will at least be last, so that should at least may the "Enterprised Out Crowd" happy, and the rest of us who simply what the lead ship from the one of the most successful Trek franshises.

[Stormfury_Echo]

TNG may have been the most successful, but DS9 wasn't very far behind at all.

[Will Decker]

To be honest, I don't see what difference it makes what the ships are called as long as they look different. As I posted earlier, there are only three hero ships left and hopefully there will be time for them all. Even of the Ent D is next, it will at least be last, so that should at least may the "Enterprised Out Crowd" happy, and the rest of us who simply what the lead ship from the one of the most successful Trek franshises.

I would love to see either a Reliant or a D-7 (movie or classic). Either of those would make me do back flips. A defiant would be cool too, but I'd rather see either of the other two first.

[Mirror Mirror]

I agree. I'm trying not to get into the debate on whether TOS & TNG were more successful than the the others, just that I will not dismiss a ship purely on the basis on it's name. I'm hope that we can cetainly get the Ent D and Defiant, and hopefully Voyager. But the Ent D is surly next in line not just because it's next in the queue but because there's a large selection of figures already out.

[Stormfury_Echo]

I'm really hoping on something new. While I like the Enterprise D, I would really prefer something else, preferably the Reliant, Defiant, Excelsior or K'tinga. I would love a K'tinga as that would definitely make for an awesome diarama, the same with the Reliant!