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Final chance to guess what the new Federation ship is...


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Poll: AA/DST's new Federation ship - final bets! (21 member(s) have cast votes)

What's the new Federation ship being revealed at NYTF this weekend?

  1. RELIANT NCC-1864 (16 votes [76.19%])

    Percentage of vote: 76.19%

  2. DEFIANT NX-74205 (4 votes [19.05%])

    Percentage of vote: 19.05%

  3. Other (1 votes [4.76%])

    Percentage of vote: 4.76%

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#41 1701D

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Posted 15 February 2016 - 06:11 AM

I'd just be very very surprised if DST decided to spend the money to give us the lesser known ships or less popular ships. The Grissom, Pegasus, Stargazer, Prometheus, The Pheonix and some of the other more random ships we've seen in Star Trek I personally think are just too select and niche for them to ever consider in this line, however cool they might be for fans like us.

That list to the best of my knowledge is pretty comprehensive with all of them being well liked and well known by the majority of fans who'd spend their money on these ships.

My personal preference is that I'd like to see the Defiant and Voyager come next simply because they were both the hero ships for their respective series.

#42 DSTZach

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Posted 15 February 2016 - 04:24 PM

Sorry I didn't weigh in on this thread earlier, but I was setting up the show all day on the 11 and 12, and at the booth working all day the 13 and 14th. I posted some pics occasionalLy, but did not hit the forums.

 

It's the Reliant!

 

You asked for drawings, or at least an announcement without a prototype, so there you go! (There is a prototype, it's just not here.)



#43 Javabean

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Posted 15 February 2016 - 04:31 PM

Hi Zach, Reliant is good choice, it's one my fav Fed ship choice at least.

#44 Alex

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Posted 15 February 2016 - 05:42 PM

1701D, DST is already giving us "lesser known" ships with the Reliant as their next release, and I applaud them for that. I honestly don't think it's too much of a stretch to believe that DST would do any of the ships that you've mentioned after (emphasis on the word "after,") the current "top six" are checked off the list; remember, at one point the current "top six" weren't anywhere near the drawing board either, and the Reliant is a ship that DST, or at the very least, Art Asylum has been wanting to do for ten years, more if you count the time when Art Asylum belonged to Play Along.

 

The current list is just that, a curent list based on what's been released and what makes sense to be released next. There are other ships that people I know would pay for that are a bit more niche, even if they might not pick up the more mainstream ships from other parts of the line. For example, the Prometheus seems like a niche ship, but it's a "niche" ship from a memorable episode, (focusing around one of Voyager's most popular characters and guest–starring Andy Dick, which in and of itself makes it memorable and creates an interesting cross–section of consumers,) has a highly toyetic design, and so many possibilities for voice clips that the problem isn't finding what to use so much as it's deciding which ones to leave out. I know people who weren't huge Trek fans, but they liked and grew up with Voyager; they remember the Prometheus the same way TWOK fans remember the Reliant, and would definitely buy one, as one such friend put it, "especially if it had a bunch of Andy Dick's lines in it." That same person has only picked up the Enterprise–E and the Enterprise–D so he's pretty particular about his ships, but I know he's also interested in Voyager and possibly the Defiant too.

 

As for the other ships that you've mentioned, the Phoenix would probably do relatively well once we're through the "top six" as it's from First Contact, would likely have First Contact–specific audio clips, and probably wouldn't be too difficult to tool given that it's basically a rocket with warp engines, and depending on the general scale DST uses, could easily be their smallest ship ever released.

 

Regarding the Oberth–class, the Grissom has a bit of a following, and I know I'd pick one up instantly for the sake of completion, as it's the only "new" ship from TSFS that DST hasn't released yet, and more importantly, the only ship from the TOS Movie–era as a whole that would require something more than a simple variant to produce. The Pegasus is basically a variant of the Grissom, so it would give DST a mold that would allow for additional variants, and I'm also pretty sure that the Grissom is a pretty small (very small?) ship meaning that it probably wouldn't be nearly as expensive for DST to develop as more complex ships like Voyager and larger ships (even in a reduced scale) like the Borg Cube and D'deridex–class Warbird. If anything such a design would likely allow DST to turn a profit more quickly and potentially put it toward a larger ship. (I wouldn't be surprised if the Romulan BoP and Reliant were chosen after the Klingon BoP specifically to help offset the massive tooling costs of said Klingon BoP, as both smaller ships are likely to be more profitable for DST just because they're not that large and not nearly as complex to tool.) Additionally, as I mentioned earlier, the Oberth–class Grissom would basically leave any future TOS Movie–era ships as simple variants, specifically, a TSFS 1701, a K'tinga/Q'onos 1, (easily tooled as D–7 variants,) and then stuff that's more of a longshot like a TMP 1701, a TFF Klingon BoP, (I doubt anyone even remembers this though, hence why it's unlikely,) and a TFF 1701–A, which I doubt DST would bother with since the best part of that ship is already an Easter Egg on the TUC 1701–A that was just released. (The only way a TFF 1701–A would work is if it were completely comical with its dialogue clips, the one about forgoing the tractor beam, Scotty's "I know this ship like the back of my hand," Uhura and Checkov learning Klingon, and of course, the line whose mere mention usually results in a Picard facepalm meme these days, "What does God want with a starship?") Out of those variants, the only ones I'd have a hard time justifying are the TFF ones, which I doubt DST would do anyway, and maybe the TMP 1701 unless DST nailed the look and sound clips, just because there really wouldn't be anything to possibly pair it with unless DST decided to use it as a way to sell "spacedock," which would make it easy for me to fork over some cash.

 

The Stargazer is a bit different from the other ships you mentioned 1701D, because depending on how DST tools the Miranda–class, it could be something worth releasing much sooner as a simple variant that would be a smart way to fund one of the more complex ships in the "top six." (Remember, Chuck's list didn't include variants.) The Constellation–class (Stargazer,) is basically a Miranda–class saucer with refit Constitution–class warp nacelles, and some new pylons. If DST tools the Miranda–class saucer in such a way that the aforementioned pylons can easily be applied to it, there's only a very minimal amount of tooling required for the Stargazer. DST would basically make an investment in tooling additional pylons and paint apps. The Reliant's variants would subsequently expand from a battle–damaged version, the Saratoga, and possibly a "pristine" variant of the blown–to–hell Saratoga, to the Stargazer plus two more variants. (Stargazer, battle–damaged Stargazer, and Picard's Ready–Room Stargazer, the latter of which could probably be a non–electronic SDCC variant.) Additionally, this would give us both Picard and Sisko's former ships from the same basic tooling, and would provide some much–needed 24th Century ships using tooling from a TOS Movie–era ship. It's a win/win situation; DST wins by reusing tooling to get two ship classes with multiple variants that don't use a lot of plastic, (allowing for an excellent return on their investment,) and fans win by getting a new ship whether they're TOS Movie–era fans, TNG fans, DS9 fans, or some permutation thereof. Even if DST doesn't do this, the Stargazer was frequently seen in TNG in Picard's ready room, so I would argue that it should be a ship that DST wouldn't have too much trouble selling after the current "top six" ships are released. Of course, all of this is putting the cart so far before the horse that it's already in the next town. Until we get through more of the current "top six" ships on Chuck's wishlist, it's hard to say what DST might do next.

 

 

Sorry I didn't weigh in on this thread earlier, but I was setting up the show all day on the 11 and 12, and at the booth working all day the 13 and 14th. I posted some pics occasionalLy, but did not hit the forums.

 

It's the Reliant!

 

You asked for drawings, or at least an announcement without a prototype, so there you go! (There is a prototype, it's just not here.)

Zach, thanks for revealing the Reliant! :D The drawings were actually quite exciting, and as I'm sure you can tell, we're all very interested in the Reliant's release. (Any chance we might see her on shelves next year? 2017 is TWOK's 35th anniversary so you could probably play up that fact to drum up sales, or at the very least, pre–orders.) Just seeing the drawings was enough to make me excited about this release, especially since the Reliant is another ship that hasn't been done in this scale before, much like the 1701–A was when Art Asylum did it the first time, and that alone has me excited for this release.

 

I can understand why you might want to do it, but I'll echo the suggestions made by others of showing off the progress on the development of the Reliant along the way. I'm not sure if it'd be possible, but I think it could be interesting if you guys occasionally took photos of early prototypes that use whatever plastic is in the injector where you get all sorts of odd colors when you're just testing the molds. (I know the few times I've seen such photos I've always found them very enjoyable.) Likewise, the "first shots" that come right after them could be interesting to see as well. (Way back in '03, Art Asylum had some sort of giveaway for NX–01 first shots, and I'm pretty sure one of the members on here actually has one of them.)

 

Oh, and the Romulan BoP looks absolutely fantastic! I know I'm one of the people whose been excited about it since it was first announced, but I cannot wait to get that ship onto my shelf. She's truly a beauty and completely blows the Playmates version away aesthetically.



#45 JMW326

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Posted 15 February 2016 - 07:39 PM

Great showing at Toy Fair Zach. I was happy to see some reveals. Khan looks great. Reliant is a nice choice.

#46 Qcjoe

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Posted 16 February 2016 - 06:08 AM

Sorry I didn't weigh in on this thread earlier, but I was setting up the show all day on the 11 and 12, and at the booth working all day the 13 and 14th. I posted some pics occasionalLy, but did not hit the forums.
 
It's the Reliant!
 
You asked for drawings, or at least an announcement without a prototype, so there you go! (There is a prototype, it's just not here.)

. I can't tell you how excited I am for this ship.

#47 Razorgeist

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Posted 16 February 2016 - 06:28 AM

Well cant wait to see the eventual display model.  So the Rom BOP should be out by christmas?



#48 Dilithium1

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Posted 16 February 2016 - 07:50 AM

Sorry I didn't weigh in on this thread earlier, but I was setting up the show all day on the 11 and 12, and at the booth working all day the 13 and 14th. I posted some pics occasionalLy, but did not hit the forums.

 

It's the Reliant!

 

You asked for drawings, or at least an announcement without a prototype, so there you go! (There is a prototype, it's just not here.)

 

Very pleased.  Worth the wait.



#49 DSTZach

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Posted 24 February 2016 - 10:40 PM

Well cant wait to see the eventual display model.  So the Rom BOP should be out by christmas?

 At the latest, from what I understand. Pre-orders are open now. A working electrical prototype exists.



#50 Jay K

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Posted 24 February 2016 - 11:48 PM

Zach, quick question about the R-BoP: Where's the battery compartment (as I couldn't spot it on the prototype)?



#51 Destructor!!!

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Posted 25 February 2016 - 03:34 PM

Zach: Thank you for caving to our insatiable curiosity! :D

 

The Reliant is a great, GREAT choice of ship. It's so iconic the Animaniacs even drew it into their Star Trek parody episode!

 

I'd argue that it's in the top-10 most recognisable Star Trek ships ever. I'm so thrilled to be getting a chance to own it.

 

Is it too early to say whether it will be in-scale with the TWOK Enterprise? I'm of two minds over whether I want it to be or not...



#52 DSTZach

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Posted 26 February 2016 - 08:54 AM

Animaniacs is high praise!

 

Not sure about scale, but I imagine we want to keep it in the same general overall size and price point. So I believe the saucers should be approximately the same size.

 

Romulan BoP battery compartment, right now, is where the body of the bird is, The prototype picture does not have it -- that is not a tooled model -- but that oblong shape will come off, and the screw will be in the peg hole.



#53 1701D

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Posted 26 February 2016 - 08:59 AM

Zach will it follow the same production style as the TWoK and Enterprise A? Same construction in the nacelles? Raised Aztec pattern and sculpted in Windows and sculpted saucer rim detail (the lines running around the saucer and the docking ports etc...

#54 DSTZach

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Posted 26 February 2016 - 09:29 AM

I have only seen digital models, nothing in person.



#55 1701D

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Posted 26 February 2016 - 09:32 AM

Thanks Zach,

So do the ships start life as digital models or 3D sculpts?

Are DST using 3D printing technology to do tooling on the ships?

With the passing of Thomas Sasser, who's designing the ships now?

Sorry for the interrogation

#56 DSTZach

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Posted 01 March 2016 - 10:09 AM

Digital. We do not hand sculpt the ships, as far as I know, and I'm not sure if we ever have. Obviously the early ships used digital data from the studio, not sure if that data is available in all cases.

 

All digital files need to be outputted to a 3D printer at some point for painting, con display and catalog photography, but that does not mean the sculpt is finished, necessarily.

 

I am not fully versed in the tooling process. I believe I saw it first-hand when I was in China over a decade ago, and I remember that being a process involving the physical 1:1 mapping of a prototype onto a steel block. BUT I believe they can also do it from digital data, so it would be a sort of "reverse 3-D printing," where the shape is dug into a tool. However, we still send them a physical paint master so they can assemble a paint guide.

 

The current prototyping is being done by two members of the old Art Asylum. I believe they are working on the digital file now, making it ready for tooling, and those are the actual files visible on the board. I believe they are also on paint duty.

 

I'd like to point out that we still get daily e-mails (usually two or three) asking what our next ship is.



#57 Jay K

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Posted 01 March 2016 - 11:41 AM

Zach, do you know how much we'd love to see you delve into things like that in general, more often? :)



#58 Alteran195

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Posted 01 March 2016 - 12:19 PM

That was a super interesting read Zach, love to hear more stuff like it. 



#59 1701D

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Posted 01 March 2016 - 12:39 PM

Awesome, that was really interesting!

 

Hoping that the AA guys are sculpting in those windows and extra details around the saucer section and photo launchers etc... 

 

Hilarious that you're still getting people e-mailing you what ship is next! Maybe they're asking what ship is coming AFTER the Reliant? 

 

Thanks for the insight and info, I'm sure everyone here would be thrilled to learn more about the process and effort you and the design team at DST put into a single product. 

 

 






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