348 replies to this topic

[bgiles73]

Does anyone here go to the forums at thefwoosh.com ? The server there had a catastrophic failure right in time for SDCC and has been down ever since. That forum is one of the best
and has really become what the forum here used to be. I am certainly going through withdraws and I hope they can get it back up and running. There was so much I wanted to discuss especially in the absence of Playmates Star Trek at SDCC. I know Star Trek Las Vegas is coming up but I find it pretty hopeless to count on there being any presence from Playmates in their panels. Oh well, I did however notice that www.playmatestoys.com is now showing a slide for both their Enterprise D ship with lights and sounds and their role play TOS Communicator coming in Fall 2023. Hopefully those Wave 2 figures shown at London Toy Fair will be coming too!

[Destructor!!!]

TOS communicator announced and a photo and info about the Enterprise-D, including Saucer Separation!

 

[Razorgeist]

Hmm interesting.  Photo looks interesting and they at least did a better job with some of the detailing.  Connecting dorsal also looks more accurate.  Im actually interested in this one unlike the classic ship so we'll see what the first video reviews say.  Still kind of frustrated we aren't getting any new trek ships.  I'd love a Titan/Enterprise-G or La Sirena.

[Destructor!!!]

The communicator is, like the phaser last year, a retool or recreation of the original sculpt from the 90's line - or they're just using a picture of that one as a placeholder.

The D is a brand new sculpt. There's a nice hi-res image of it on Playmates' site.

To be honest, I kind of hated it at first glance. On closer inspection, this is (I hope) an early prototype.

- The dish part of the deflector looks photoshopped in - there's even a blemish where a clone tool went awry, and the perspective is wonky on the dish - which actually throws the whole model off.

- The deflector is (once again) seemingly unlit. This was a simple mod to do to my own 1993 PM D, so I can't fathom why they left it out of the new design.

- Similarly, the saucer impulse engines seem to once again be cast in translucent red plastic. This was silly on the '93 D, and it's silly here.

- There are no phaser strips on the primary hull. This might be a good idea, though - the line of screws are where the phaser strip should be. Maybe they intend to attach a separate moulding of a phaser strip as an integrated screw-holes-cover. That could even be cast in phaser strip coloured plastic. That said, if they intend to do that, it should have been in place for the promo image.

- More worryingly, the photon torpedo launch bay and umbilical docking port cut-in is missing. It's the dark recessed strip just above the deflector at the narrowest point of the neck. It's not something you can plant on later, as it's a negative space in the hull. Its omission from the sculpt at this point - especially with the apparent maturity of the sculpt in other areas - is very concerning.

- The paint job... or lack thereof. There are phaser strips on the secondary hull, but they're not super apparent because they're unpainted. Unfortunately, that tracks: The paintjob on the TOS Enterprise was patchy, gawdy, and very lacking. This ship line seems to have a weird Fischer Price vibe that I'm really not ok with. I realise it's likely not the final paint design, and things are probably going to change.

Overall, the fact that they released this as the promo image smacks of a lack of care or of some level of incompetence at least in the marketing department. I could easily do a better job on photoshopping the deflector's dish on there. It looks like an amateur with no real image manipulation experience did it.

 

In fact, I spent an hour in photoshop and made this:

 

 

The phaser arrays being painted (and included on the saucer) and the deflector being lit and properly proportioned, and the torpedo bay being included allow me to appraise what is, overall, a pretty good sculpt. There's a lot of nice detail. Some strange seration on the lifeboat hatches, but whatever.

[MisterPL]

I think you're right about those conveniently located screw holes. That's definitely where the phaser strips will go.

 

It's obviously a rushed image. They must have been desperate to get something out there to let folks know they still have new(-ish) product in the pipeline but, yikes, what a way to disappoint a notoriously nitpicky fanbase.

[Razorgeist]

Yeah I noticed the missing phaser strip as well.  The battery compartment on the bottom is really awkward too.  The screw hole is off to the side this time.  Ill reserve judgement until we see the finished product but Im kind of disappointed by what I see.

 

what a way to disappoint a notoriously nitpicky fanbase.

 

 

 

Also considering the availability of HD any inconstancies on a toy are going to be quite apparent even to a kid.

[MisterPL]

Also considering the availability of HD any inconstancies on a toy are going to be quite apparent even to a kid.

 

I was pretty nitpicky as a kid.   

Seriously, it's like getting a Kirk figure without the Starfleet delta on his shirt. I'd be a little more concerned about Playmates' attention to this property if I wasn't more interested in whatever Hiya has coming.

[Morgan]

It will be nice if they can do the D justice, but I wonder what the cost in stores will be now, you know, in 2023, with The Inflations. This seems like a $50 item at the very least.

 

I'm still weirded out about the choices of ships/figures, given the fact that there are still tons of 1993 PM Enterprises on eBay, and a good number of the more expensive (and higher quality) DST Enterprises. And the collector fanbase already owns one or both of these.

 

So who are they hoping will buy this new one? 

 

I suspect there's a much bigger audience out there for a big Reliant. I'm betting it would get scalped off shelves very quick if it suddenly appeared in stores. 

[Destructor!!!]

The villain ship from a 1982 film (even a classic) is probably quite a hard sell to retailers, who by-and-large are filthy, disgusting casuals.

 

But a Cerritos, that Protostar they're probably not going to make now, a Discovery I wouldn't buy, or even a SNW Enterprise would be the obvious money makers. "Sell the thing from the currently active property!" they can say to the drooling, nose-picking retailers.

 

That said, I do wish DST would take their finger out of their arses and get their Reliant out the door. Given the style and finish of the new PM ships line, I doubt there are any ships I'd really want from them.

[Alteran195]

Oh boy, another Enterprise D that looks really bad. Hopefully the final product isnt that awful.

Wont get it either way since DSTs is great.

[bgiles73]

According to this Hiya will have 6 Star Trek figures as well as 4. They apparently have a license for all of the Star Trek live action shows and they are doing light and sound ships. Playmates just has no concept of Seize the Day!

https://blog.trekcor...elvin-timeline/

[bgiles73]

Six Inch as well as Four inch. I have no idea why when I reply it omits quotation marks.

[Destructor!!!]

Y'know, thinking about it, a Cerritos would totally lend itself to this "detail-free" paint style.

[Razorgeist]

According to this Hiya will have 6 Star Trek figures as well as 4. They apparently have a license for all of the Star Trek live action shows and they are doing light and sound ships. Playmates just has no concept of Seize the Day!

https://blog.trekcor...elvin-timeline/

 

You had my interest...now you have my attention.  I wonder which Enterprise this will be and are they going to do other ships *fingers crossed for an Akira*

 

I was curious if they had done anything other than figures and yes they have.

 

 

In that case cant wait to see what they do with ships.

[Alteran195]

 

You had my interest...now you have my attention.  I wonder which Enterprise this will be and are they going to do other ships *fingers crossed for an Akira*

 

I was curious if they had done anything other than figures and yes they have.

 

 

In that case cant wait to see what they do with ships.

Come on now, we all know it’ll be the TOS Enterpirse of Enterprise D. They aren’t going to not play it safe and give us some lesser known ship like the Akira. 

 

At best it’ll be a 2009 Enterprise to go along with their 2009 figures, which would be great since Playmates offering was meh at best. 

[Razorgeist]

 

Come on now, we all know it’ll be the TOS Enterpirse of Enterprise D. They aren’t going to not play it safe and give us some lesser known ship like the Akira. 

 

Oh yeah I know its gonna be one of the safe choices.  My point was that Im just hoping down the road they decide to do an Akira.

[Destructor!!!]

The article literally says it's going to be an Enterprise. It won't be the C, E, F, or B. It likely won't be the G, so it'll probably be the TOS, TMP, D, or Kelvin. Of those, the only ones they could really set a new standard for are the D and the JJprise.

[Razorgeist]

Guys I brought up the Akira because I hope they decided to do some fan favorites down the road I know it wont be their first choice  . I really hope its not the TOS Enterprise.  Tomy did that crowd funded version and Playmates did another one.

[Alteran195]

Out of what I expect from them, especially based on their first products, the 2009 Enterprise is the only one I'd be excited for, unless they did something that rivals Aoshima's Enterprise D. The TOS Enterprise is way overdone, I couldn't care less about another one of those. 

[Destructor!!!]

 

Another update with some more angles. It looks like this prototype is only partially painted, as the phaser array on the upper saucer is present and painted an incorrect brownish red colour.

 

Once again, a baffling combination of great and poor sculpt details. Really weird. As the guys point out in the video there, the windows that are accessible to the paint tooling are painted on, but the ones that are not are sculpted... a weird combo.

 

The main impulse engine on the secondary hull is missing, but it looks like there's a slot and tab there for it to slot into. No indication of a light or wiring channel though, so I wouldn't expect it to light up.

 

Now, the elephant in the room - that saucer-separation feature. This may be the ugliest implementation I've ever seen. The secondary hull head has no detail and is the wrong shape, but the saucer is what really suffers. Those pegs break the sillhouette badly. Nobody is going to display this separated with them sticking out, and kids playing with it will snap them day-one...

 

Images via Toy News International:

 

 

That shot with the hand makes this thing look MASSIVE, bigger than the huge DST-D. Man, those buttons are chunky. They were an eyesore on the TOS ship and they are here too. Also the secondary hull rim shows evidence of mould shortcomings and totally lacks the lateral sensor strips.

 

Ok, positives: There's a ton more sculpt detail and shape accuracy on the neck and aft torpedo launcher raceway than on the '93 release. The indistinct details on the underside of the nacelle pylon fantail from the earlier image are clearer here, and again the sculpt detail is good. I see transporter emitters and phaser arrays present and correct.

 

If PM can clean up the deflector, find the inserts for the lower saucer phaser array and the main impulse engine, and massively overhaul the paint app, this could be a handsome (if slightly "chonk") rendition of the Big D. I don't think there's any fixing that separation feature at this point though...