486 replies to this topic

[Hirogen]

A 1/1000 model kit of the Akira is in the works by Polar Lights.

What do you think the price point will be and are those easy to assemble?

[Thomas E. Johnson]

What do you think the price point will be and are those easy to assemble?

No idea about the price yet. We are told that it will be around 15-16 inches long, and a skill level 2 kit. If you've built any car or aircraft models, then you shouldn't have any problems with this. It is listed as a 2010 release, along with the 1/350 (33 inch long) Classic TOS Enterprise model kit.

[knightone]

A 1/1000 model kit of the Akira is in the works by Polar Lights.

Holy crap! Are you serious?


It certeinly is about time. With the popularity of the Akira class, I'm surprised it took this long to get a licensed kit.

[JonWes]

Wow... if they release the Akira it'll be the first model I've purchased since I was a kid!

[Hirogen]

No idea about the price yet. We are told that it will be around 15-16 inches long, and a skill level 2 kit. If you've built any car or aircraft models, then you shouldn't have any problems with this. It is listed as a 2010 release, along with the 1/350 (33 inch long) Classic TOS Enterprise model kit.

Wow, that would be awesome. I would love DST to do an Akira ship too.

[Stormfury_Echo]

the 1/1000 scale akira has been shelved indefinitely in favor of a 1/1000 refit/ent a. Sorry guys.

[JonWes]

the 1/1000 scale akira has been shelved indefinitely in favor of a 1/1000 refit/ent a. Sorry guys.

Ugh. Are you serious? Does the world really need more of those? Bleargh.

[Thomas E. Johnson]

It hasn't been shelved, only temporarily delayed. It should be ready for a spring/summer 2010 release. I have that info direct from Round 2 who now owns Polar Lights.

[slayerone76]

Eh hmm ... Excelsior ... in Fall 2009 gentlemen.

[Scarlet Spider]

I love the looks of this ship, its the one ship that really males me want to start picking up DST ships... I saw the TOS Enterprise at my local FYE the other day. Holding it and looking at it was pretty cool, but the 39.99 price tag is a little more than I want to pay... but I love the looks of the Excelsior, and that would be much harder to pass up if I were holding it in my hands...

SS

[anti-hero]

Despite the inferior quality of the Enterprise-E, a display with all of the Enterprises would be so very, very awesome.

I know this is a pretty old post, but what's inferior about the E? Do you mean the actual design of the ship, or the AA toy being inferior?

[Kyp Durron]

I know this is a pretty old post, but what's inferior about the E? Do you mean the actual design of the ship, or the AA toy being inferior?

I used to own the E, so I believe I can answer that. For one thing, the windows aren't painted in like the later releases, the WOK 1701 the battle damaged version, TOS 1701, TOS The Cage version, as well as the Where No Man Has Gone Before version, The new Enterprise D, etc.

Also, the Enterprise E is rather sparse in the paint application department as well, not to mention that only the front part of the nacelles light up, the part that's supposed to be blue doesn't even have lighting at all.

Otherwise, the sculpt and stand are very well done, but yes, compared to the later releases, it is indeed inferior in my honest opinon.



-Kyp

[slayerone76]

I know this is a pretty old post, but what's inferior about the E? Do you mean the actual design of the ship, or the AA toy being inferior?

It is an inferior product if you are a nitpicker about certain details. Some paint apps were missing (ie the top of the nacelle pylons), there was no play cover on this issue (it was an oversight on the part of the AA/DST switch over), there was some light bleed, and, yes, the blue part of the nacelles didn't light up (which caused a great outcry from some of us when we realized it).

Is it truly an inferior product? I don't really think inferior is a fair term. Is it less superior? Yes. I mean the sculpt is amazing and the most screen accurate available. What paint apps are applied are amazing - I am not that worried about painted windows though. The sounds are absolutely beautiful. And, despite the omission of the lighted blue part of the nacelles, the lights are pretty cool.

Would I like a re-issue with corrections? Certainly. Would I not recommend the product? Absolutely not.

-EDIT-

ARGH! You baited me into an off topic discussion just posts after I chastised for being off topic! Back on topic! LOL

[anti-hero]

I used to own the E, so I believe I can answer that. For one thing, the windows aren't painted in like the later releases, the WOK 1701 the battle damaged version, TOS 1701, TOS The Cage version, as well as the Where No Man Has Gone Before version, The new Enterprise D, etc.

Also, the Enterprise E is rather sparse in the paint application department as well, not to mention that only the front part of the nacelles light up, the part that's supposed to be blue doesn't even have lighting at all.

Otherwise, the sculpt and stand are very well done, but yes, compared to the later releases, it is indeed inferior in my honest opinon.



-Kyp

Hmm...well since I don't any of the other ships I think I can live with all that. I have the PM 2009 Enterprise and love it so I'm sure this will still be a step up, LOL.

[Commodore Kor'Tar]

I am definately looking forward to the Excelsior and Enterprise B . And my Enterprise E was given to me for free from an ebay seller who sent me some goods by mistake , and I sent them to the intended destination , and he sent me the Enterprise E and an SoE Worf figure as a way of saying thanks to me for it . So since it was free I ain't gonna complain! It looks great! LOL!

[Commodore Kor'Tar]

Here we are in the third quarter of 2010, so according to one of the estimates near the top of this thread, we should see Excelsior and Enterprise B in the spring or fall of next year. Not surprising really, I like you guys recall the agonizing of waiting for the Ent-D. It seemed like a lifetime, and before we knew it the ships were flying to our homes. That being said, I'd love to get word soon of an updated release date, so I know when to start saving my money to add to my fleet of starships. Also I'd really love to get word on the Klingon BoP but more than likely it'll be 2012 before we see that badboy , but I digress, that's a topic for another thread lol

[Sybeck1]

As a general rule, take the original promised release date and add 18 months for a 25% chance of seeing the product. 50% for 24 months.

[JMW326]

I had almost forgotten about this thread. It figures that the one ship I want most of all would take so long. I have been waiting for a really nice version of the Excelsior for a very long time. I guess waiting a little longer wont hurt (unless it never makes it out of spacedock).

[BadBunnyMike]

Yeah me too...I was highly dissappointed with the Playmates vesion of the Excelsior. I have wanted Sulu's Baby for a long time!

[Alex]

I hate to admit it, but I kind of figured that this delay would happen once the economy got as bad as it did and the recovery didn't occur as quickly as initially expected. Let's not forget that toy sales in general took a huge hit in 2009 as well as this year, and DST wound up having to reassess their entire Trek line while still trying to get things out to us. My guess is that the delays are about 50% a result of the economy and 50% a result of trying to release the BoP at the same time as well; I remember Chuck saying something like "We'll have an alien ship by 2012 if we're lucky" awhile back implying that the logistics of the BoP would take some time to work out. (This was before he let the cat out of the bag that we were actually getting a BoP as the alien ship.)

The delay has actually been good for me; it gives me time to set some money aside for the Excelsior and Enterprise-B, especially since I'm now scrambling to try and buy one of those new Millennium Falcon toys Hasbro put out, that I stupidly missed during the first run.

DST never really attached a date to the Enterprise-B and Excelsior, they just sort of displayed it as a toy they were working on (kind of like the BoP,) and might have had added an "estimated" release date at some point; I think one of the displays had a "Estimated Q4 2009" on the card underneath the ships, but it wasn't anything that was really concrete.

It's also worth noting that the Enterprise-B and Excelsior were announced shortly after the Enterprise-D was actually released. This leads me to believe that DST announces their ships as soon as they begin working on them, and have something they can display as a potential mock-up. (Usually an AMT/Ertl kit.) The release date may be given for legal reasons; from what I understand, stores aren't allowed to solicit pre-orders unless they provide a release date for whatever is being pre-ordered. In some cases, stores actually make up a release date if none is provided by the manufacturer; this is incredibly common with video games, where stores frequently make up a date and then alter it to match whatever date the manufacturer provides. If this is why DST is providing a vague "date," it does make some sense.

I should also note that since the Enterprise-B and Excelsior were announced, the BoP has been announced and shown, the updated Enterprise-E has been announced and displayed, and it looks like BBTS is taking pre-orders for another run of AGT-Ds, so DST is still clearly working on new ships, as well as reissues for those who may have missed the first run. Also, if memory serves me correctly, I thought someone mentioned that DST decided to "flip" the BoP and Ent-B/Excelsior release dates. This actually makes a lot of sense, especially if you look at potential variants:

1. BoP with FX and clips from Generations; ties in well with upcoming Ent-B, and allows for a possible Ent-D variant

2. BoP with FX and clips from TUC; ties in well with upcoming Excelsior (NCC-2000,) and may justify an updated 1701-A reissue

3. BoP with FX and clips from TSFS; ties in well with upcoming Excelsior (NX-2000,) and may justify an updated version of Art Asylum's self-destructing 1701 in proper packaging, based off of DSTs already retooled WOK 1701

#2 and #3 on that list are obviously meant to be either/or options based on what hull registry DST gives the Excelsior, but if they run two Excelsiors with an NX and NCC prefix respectively, that's actually three BoP variants, two Excelsior variants and one slight retooling, one Ent-D variant, and two refit constitution-class variants that DST could pump out over the next few years.

I'm honestly looking forward to all three ships, so I have no preference over which of the three is released first; as long as my updated 1701-Es show up in January, and the Ent-B, Excelsior, and Klingon BoP are all released, I'll be happy. After waiting for the Enterprise-D, I feel like I can wait for anything. Once the thing showed up the 18 month delay seemed like an 18 second delay because the quality was so good. As long as the BoP, Enterprise-B, and Excelsior maintain that level of quality/detail, I'll be happy.