The price for old Playmates stuff isn't too bad, especially for non-federation ships. I picked up sealed copies of the D'Deridex and Vor'cha for about 20-25 bucks a pop. I don't need to go too nuts since Art Asylum covered a great deal of stuff, but it's nice to have a few more non-Federation ships in a bigger size. Also, we can assume Art Asylum is done with Trek, yeah? That Reliant and Ent-C are never going to see a retail release at this point.
Art Asylum's line was on life support for the longest time and I'm sure it's buried six feet under by now. Their release schedule was a joke, along with their distribution; it was only with BBTS that allowed their ships to get out to a wider base. I've picked up most of their Federation ships and really like them. Good sculpts and paint for a good price. They teased the Reliant and Ent-C so long ago but their spokesperson kept saying they hit some roadblocks. All we saw of the Reliant was that one little flash in an episode of The Toys That Made Us and the Ent-C was actually released as a gold-coated convention exclusive. I'd like to say I've given up hope completely but... I see Playmates are releasing an 18" original Enterprise but it looks a little toyish than an accurate sculpt.
It's a shame about he Art Asylum line. As you said, their release schedule was really bad, but their ships were quite exceptional imo. I don't think we've really every gotten anything like them, and we may not again. I'm interested in the new Playmates stuff, but I at least need a Connie refit to get me to bite.
The only other line that was putting out good ships was Eaglemoss and their XL line looked pretty good, but I'd like a little bigger along the lines of AA's offerings. And since the rumors started swirling about Eaglemoss being in a little bit of financial trouble, I don't know the future of their line. Playmates is the next company to pick up the license but I'm not overly impressed with their first ship. Maybe Art Asylum will pull something out of their ass and release the Ent-C since it has been actually manufactured.
24.99 phasers but only 39.99 enterprises! Thats 20 bucks less than expected retail! Shelf tag was $55-ish but surprise at the register! Target prices are so wonky these days... so what's different from the DST version? Well Playmates is larger by a couple inches... Playmates has light-up warp engines in rear, impulse engine, and window lights below the bridge and above the lower sensor dome... the impulse engine is clear plastic, a bit odd-looking...and the rear nacelle caps lighting up isn't exactly canon either...there are three buttons on the saucer that activate the different sounds/lights vs the disguised on one the DST version... Playmates also has unsightly screw holes that the DST version filled in with plugs...has lights in bussard collectors, upper and lower domes, no running lights though... sound effects include phasers, photons, a few lines from Kirk, bridge sounds, red alert, hail, and a modernized go-to-warp that didn't show up in the original series... they made an odd aesthetic choice to put the screw hole on the warp engines surface facing outside rather than inside... overall, the DST version is more accurate and slightly better looking (has metallic paint on the deflector) but the Playmates version is a very good toy...I don't mind not having the long list of character dialogue most of the DST versions had...it's the ship sounds that are more appropriate and honestly at $40 it feels like a great bargain... Star Trek Origins Enterprise Ship : Target target.com listings for the figures at $12.99 is generally cheaper than amazon Star Trek Origins : Target
Iiiiiinteresting. I'll have to keep an eye on the collectibles section at my Targets; right now they're kind of a wasteland with the fall/halloween reset going on.
That Enterprise looks really good honestly. Sure it's a little more toy like than the DST stuffs but it still looks good overall. Let's see new versions of the Defiant, Voyager, maybe some Klingon or Romulan ships and they'll have some of my dollars.
Excellent info on the Playmates Enterprise. The yellow LEDs for the bussard collectors is downright baffling when red LEDs are so cheap and common, and the lighting on the back of the warp engines while ignoring the running lights is just confusing. BTW, the shelf tag in that photo is for a NECA item, not the Playmates Enterprise, which might explain the confusion on the price.
we all want one...it is so strange they never made one back in the day, DST never made one either... it actually looks more orange in person because of the plastic cap color
It's a odd and rather stupid design choice after the 09 enterprise which playmates tried to match the aa/ diamond select style of ship design with hidden buttons, etc... they now just go right back to the eyesore buttons in plain sight approach.
So excited! My last order from Eaglemoss included the USS Rhode Island, the refit Nova class. Never got that order, of course, but I just bought it on eBay for $40 shipped. It was about 26 from Eaglemoss IIRC, but I'll take it.
Just got an email from Hasbro Pulse saying "CELEBRATE STAR TREK'S 35TH ANNIVERSARY" - fools, I did that 21 years ago! What they actually mean is Star Trek: The Next Generation's 35th anniversary, and for that anniversary they're releasing a Nerf type-2 and type-3 phaser set: Nerf LMTD Star Trek Starfleet Type 3 and Type 2 Phaser Blasters – Hasbro Pulse It's really weird that they did the show hand phaser but the First Contact movie rifle, and threw ugly Borgifying all over it.
