The Final Frontier 9

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TF01 3,Merchandise Reviews 4, Star Trek: Voyager - Series One Collector Cards ------------------------------------------------- Produced by Skybox -------------------- Reviewed by George Griffin ---------------------------- Once again Skybox have produced a very nice and interesting set of Star Trek Trade Cards. This set of cards depicts the pilot episode of Voyager, The Caretaker. The set consists of 98 cards with the first 72 featuring scenes from the pilot episode with stills from the show on the front and the story on the back, also there is a smaller picture depicting another part of the scene. As for the rest of the set, this is made up of a look behind the scenes, a look at 24th Century Technology and a special 9 card Mural of the USS Voyager, plus 2 checklists. There are also 15 bonus/special cards which make up the full set, which are as follows:- * The bonus cards are the trade preview card and a sneak preview for the second series of Voyager trade cards. * The special cards are 9 spectra type cards of the crew plus 3 special blueprints of the USS Voyager, the bridge and engineering. * The last 2 specials are a skymotion exchange card and a hologram of the Doctor which at trade card fairs is going for £45.00!! I was offered the full set, preview cards, spectra cards and hologram for £150.00, which is probably quite reasonable, but I opted for the 98 card set with the 2 preview cards for £10.00. Star Trek: Voyager - Soundtrack --------------------------------- Reviewed by Sven Harvey ------------------------- As you may have gathered from the last issue of The Final Frontier we were all rather bowled over by the pilot of the new Star Trek series. Although the following episodes from Voyager's first season have been dissapointing so far the series does have promise. The packaging for the Voyager soundtrack is far from promising however. The very blurry picture of the USS Voyager and it surroundings on the front and reverse of the case betray thier Apple Mac origins. Hey GNP/Crescendo... get some decent computers! Upon opening the inlay booklet however you are greeted by some nice photos from the episode and the standard crew press shots. On the CD itself a Generations/Voyager combadge takes prominence and does give the CD an interesting look. The quality of the actual recording is very high as are most of the musical pieces. My particular favourite are track 2 "Prologue" from the teaser showing Chakotay's vessel under attack from the Cardassians and track 11 "Set Course For Home", mainly because it features part of the Star Trek fanfare. However though I must say that I do not particularly like the style of the music of Jay Chattaway (composer of the majority of the soundtrack) and I don't like Jerry Goldsmith's Voyager theme tune. A fairly mixed bag then... If you liked the music when you heard it while watching the episode then you won't be dissapointed but the CD certainly isn't upto the standard of the 2nd and 3rd Next Gen CDs or the Generations soundtrack. Overall 6/10 Starfleet Officers Collector Set ---------------------------------- Reviewed by Sven Harvey ------------------------- Earlier this year Playmates released this set, only through US Toys R Us stores which features the Commanding and First Officers from the first three Star Trek series. Captain Kirk and Mr Spock are featured in their original series dress uniforms which are very close approximations to those in the series. A great deal of time has been taken over these figures even though the heads seem to have just been lifted from the moulds of the Classic Star Trek bridge set. The Next Gen figures are also quite good showing good representations of the dress uniform from season 3 onwards. My only gripe being that Captain Picard and Commander Riker seem to have the same body with just different legs and a different head. This is evident because three pips are moulded onto both figures but Picard's fourth is only painted on. Finally Commander Sisko and Major Kira seem to be identical to their Deep Space Nine first run figures. There is a rumour that the Sisko in Starfleet dress uniform figure to appear later this year would have been part of this set had it have been finished on time, oh well I'll just have to buy that as well. As part of the package a special rostrum type base is included with the names of the series on the front, but I personally wouldn't take the figures out of the display box anyway as it is worth displaying as is with its starfield backgound for the figures. It will holds its value (and rocket in value?!!?) better unopened anyway. Mind you it does look rather nice on my display unit with a loose Data in dress uniform next to it! Overall 8/10 Commissioning Plaque Of The USS Enterprise -------------------------------------------- Reviewed by Sven Harvey ------------------------- Late last year Franklin Mint made what was probably the nicest offer they have ever issued. They took the original commissioning plaque from the set of the Starship Enterprise NCC-1701-D from Star Trek: The Next Generation and copied it... EXACTLY. The plaque is mainly cold-cast bronze and of course as with the original, features the class, registry number, construction site, launch stardate and other information on the Enterprise-D plus the team behind its development including such important names as Adm. Gene Roddenberry, Adm. Rick Berman, Capt. Richard Arnold, and Dr. Rick Sternbach. Add to this the immortal line at the bottom of the plaque "...to boldly go where no one has gone before." and it makes this work of art a lovely collectors item. But it doesn't stop there! Set in to the plaque is a gold and silver (A REAL Gold and Silver) Next Gen Starfleet insignia. The plaque is set within a hard wood frame and backed so that it can either be stood up using the hinged stand or hung on the wall. Affixed to the back of the plaque is a certificate of authenticity. There is an error on the combadge like Starfleet insignia, but this actually proves the plaques accuracy as the original on the Enterprise bridge also has this error! This piece of art is absolutely gorgeous and my fiancee Claire agrees with me 100%. However this beautiful piece is not cheap and weighs in at a hefty £199.99, but luckily Franklin Mint will spread the payments over 10 months free of extra charge. Rather useful, and I would recommend contacting Franklin Mint immediately... look here is the address; Franklin Mint Limited, 1 South Quay Plaza, London, E14 9BR or another office in the countries they operate in. Go get 'em! Overall 10/10 Pewter Deep Space Nine Model ------------------------------ Reviewed by Sven Harvey ------------------------- Now I know Franklin Mint have produced some real trash in the past, with the Classic Star Trek chess set - £1,000 pounds worth of scrap, being the worst insult to Trek fans, they seem to be getting their act together with the excellent Commissioning Plaque of the USS Enterprise and the nice (if overpriced set of Star Trek insignias). The DS9 model is around 7 inches in diameter (less than half the size of the AMT model kit) but seems to capture quite a bit more detail than the other models I have seen including the AMT kit. The pewter makes up the bulk of the station and actually seemd to be the correct colour for the station. The model sits on a black metal and wood stand which gives the whole piece a more attractive look and certain parts of the model are enhanced with gold. The three inner docking ports along with the upper part of the centre of the station (including ops) are accented in 22ct. gold. As well as this the main three ports on the docking ring (where the upper and lower pylons are attached) are set with cabochons - firey red, ruby like, precious stones with a large cut cabochon in the lower part of the centre of the station depicting the exhaust cone. As usual you also get a certificate with the model but maybe the most quirky feature is that the model is actually in scale with the Galoob Micromachine of the Enterprise-D! As with the Commissioning Plaque, the £199.99 price may put a lot of collectors off but I do feel that the model is well worth it especially with the interest free option over ten months. Overall 9/10 Classic Phaser by Playmates ----------------------------- Reviewed by Sven Harvey ------------------------- Partnering the Communicator as reviewed last issue by Simon (it isn't the best thing Playmates have released!?!) this piece is a replica of the complete phaser pistol as used by Captain Kirk and co. in the original Star Trek series (after "The Cage" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before"). I have stated complete phaser pistol because as many of you know, the phaser pistol from the original series consisted of the small hand held and easily concealed type 1 phaser and a special power boosting frame with a gun like grip and trigger. When combined they form the type 2 or pistol type phaser. Unfortunately the replica doesn't split up into the component parts. On the left side of the pistol (which on the "real" pistol alters the width or spread of the phaser beam) alters the intensity of the light emitting from the pistol. A control on the top of the pistol selects on of the two sound effect settings (both rather identical to two of the phaser sounds used in the series) rather than the power of the phaser beam as on the "real" phaser. The markings and labels on the replica are not particularly accurate but unlike almost every other Playmates replica the damn thing is fun to play with! As far as fun is concerned the two classic replicas I have seen so far come out tops even if they are not as spot on as they could be. Go get 'em boys and girls! Overall 8/10 Republic of Liberia $1 coin ----------------------------- Reviewed by Sven Harvey ------------------------- Commemorating the seventh Star Trek movie - Star Trek Generations, the Republic of Liberia has issued a special one dollar coin. What we would refer to as the heads side of the coin depicts the national coat of arms depicting a plough, beach, palm tree, sun, seabird and a sailing ship of a similar type to the SS Enterprise ship in Generations. About the upper part of the coat of arms is the countries motto "The Love Of Liberty Brought Us Here" and underneath the full name of the country with the year 1995 across the centre. The tails side is what we are interested in and depicts Kirk and Picard. However the portrait of Kirk is from the original series and is joined by his name in the same font as used for the original series title. Picard is depicted in his standard next gen uniform and he isn't particularly recognisable. His name is stamped in the font used for the credits in the next gen title sequence. The Star Trek Generations logo is embedded in Picards shoulder. Below that is stamped $1 with an original series Enterprise arrowhead on each side of the $1 sign. The portrait of Kirk is probably as good as is possible in the space allowed. The Picard portrait, however, is not up to scratch. The workmanship as a whole however is excellent and certainly puts the Royal Mint to shame. Why can't we have coins like this here? However it will cost you more than the £12 it cost me to get one as there are only 500 available in the UK and The Gold and Silver Bureau were rather inundated with requests. But just in case their number is (0181) 551 8333. A nice piece, which may sound expensive, but may well be a sound investment. Overall 7/10 Star Trek: The Next Generation Type 1 Phaser ---------------------------------------------- Reviewed by Sven Harvey ------------------------- The first thing that strikes you about this "replica" is its size. It is over twice the size of the prop!?! It's bigger than the Galoob version. It is absolutely enormous. Try hiding this in a uniform... NO HOPE! The two sound effects included are okay, not brilliant though! The trigger button is however a bit tricky and doesn't always activate the toy. The colours of the unit are not particularly accurate either.The packaging is quite nice using the current standard Next Generation style. On the whole I can be completely convinced in saying that this toy does indeed rival the Playmates Next Gen and Generations communicators as the worst Star Trek product they have produced... Avoid. Overall - 2/10 Hamilton Collection Plates ---------------------------- Reviewed by Sven Harvey ------------------------- Firstly the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D plate. This depicts a familiar frontal view of the Enterprise-D painted by Keith Birdsong. About the rather gorgeous rendition of the Enterprise are some colourful representations of warp stars which give the whole piece a more dynamic air as they mix with the delicately coloured space backdrop. The picture is framed by an engraved gold rim including Star Trek in one of the movie fonts. The reverse of the plate gives the plates name and the fact that it is limited to 28 firing days along with the plate number. A authenticity certificate echos the same information. The artwork is spectacularly detailed, especially the Enterprise itself with details all the way down to lifeboats and individual port holes being clear. A lovely addition. USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D plate... 8/10 One of the most visually stunning plates that the Hamilton Collection has released is entitled "The Best Of Both Worlds". This plate, also by Keith Birdsong is mainly character based, featuring a central painting of Picard with locutus below. To the sides of the Jekyl and Hyde image is Riker and Data firing a phaser. Below Riker is Guinan and two Borg while the other side depicts Worf and Shelby. behind the characters are a planetary image (to the left) with a from-behind-view of the Enterprise-D. Dwarfing this and spanning almost the entire upper part of the plate behind Picard is the cubical Borg vessel. Again the plate is rimmed with gold, also engraved, but this time with several Starfleet arrowheads and "Star Trek: The Next Generation" in its familiar font. The reverse of the plate, as usual, states the plates title and the plate number. The artwork is excellent with the portrait of Riker being the weakest part, yet this is still light years ahead of most portraits. The Picard/Locutus image conveys some feeling of the episode, but this is accentuated by the surrounding images. Data is in a familiar expressionless pose as he blasts one of the nodes on the Borg vessel (yes it's good enough to recognise the scene!). The side portrait of Guinan could be a photograph (from Ten Forward! - that's recognisable as well!?) and the shading of Shelby and Worf's faces add atmosphere. Looking at the plate as a whole it is difficult NOT to hear the Borg choir. A very good keepsake of arguably the best Next Gen episode (at least in the top ten) and certainly the best plate I have ever seen Star Trek: The Next Generation "The Best Of Both Worlds" Plate - 10/10 The final plate in this little round-up is entitled "Unification" and commemorates the Next Gen story of the same name. The main image on the plate is that of Spock with his hand held aloft in the famous sign. He is surrounded by Picard (disguised as a Romulan), Data (disguised as a Romulan), a very sick Sarek, Pardek and Sela. Directly below the main image of Spock is an image of Picard in uniform melding with Spock. Behind the character images is that of a planet, presumably Romulus, and a small section of starfield. The artwork is surrounded by the same rim as the "The Best Of Both Worlds" plate and titled and numbered on the reverse. The quality of the artwork is not up to that of the previous plate. The main Spock image isn't bad. However the images of Picard (romulan disguise), Data, Sarek and Sela just ain't right! Sela looks like a doll from Hasbro or Mattel or someone! The image of Pardek is quite good as is Spock in the meld scene. However it really doesn't look like Picard that Spock is melding with! Not the worst plate I have seen, slightly better than average due to the nice main Spock image. In fact about the same as the episode... Star Trek: The Next Generation "Unification" plate - 6/10 Timex Star Trek Watches ------------------------- Reviewed by David Zabiela --------------------------- Timex have recently released a new range of rather tasteful Star Trek watches. Starting off with the Indiglo USS Enterprise watch, this is rather well done. The image of the Enterprise is a standard side shot, with stars and a small moon in the background. The numbers on the watch are set out in the standard TNG font. Unusually for a Star Trek watch, it is quite light in weight. As I said, this is in the Timex Indiglo series and when the light is on, the ship and the stars glow green, giving quite a nice effect. Overall, a far better watch than most in Timex's range. 10/10. Next, the Cloaking Romulan Watch, features three layers to the design. The background has stars, the middle layer has the ship and watch fingers, and the third layer has planets and the Enterprise. Due to the say this watch has been made, the glass is quite thick and therefore heavy. The ship cloaks and decloaks every thirty seconds, giving quite a good effect, as long as you are not waiting for this to happen (then it takes forever!!). Overall, 9/10. Finally, is the Orbitting Enterprise Watch. Again this watch has three layers - the background with stars and a planet, the middle layer which is for the watch fingers and orbitting Enterprise, and the thirds layer for the planet. Due to the way this watch is made, it is yet again rather heavy, but it is still a nice watch. 9/10. The Star Trek 1996 Diary -------------------------- Reviewed by Colin Gunn ------------------------ Diaries and calendars are not really my cup of tea when it comes to Star Trek collectibles. But I soon changed my mind when I saw some of the calendars that have been produced over the years. And now I have to say my mind has changed over the collectability of diaries, all because of this new edition to the long line of Trek related books released by Pocket Books. The diary is slightly smaller than A4 and is a hardback book. The cover depicts a fairly impressive view of the Enterprise D, but the true value of the book comes from the stunning interior. It is FILLED with colour photographs throughout, and along side each are loads of information about the characters, the different series and movies (included also is a page dedicated to the much over looked animated series of the 70's). Each series is presented in its cronological order (i.e. Classic, ST:TNG, DS9 and Voyager), and to separate each part of the Star Trek legend is a full colour collage of the characters and pertinent ship of the series. All the main characters have their own page devoted to them, then if there are memorable characters, a la Q, then they to have their own page. There are pages dealing with props, behind the scenes, sections of the ships and alot more beside. This is truly an eye popping book. I have no hesitation in recommending this to fans of any of the 4 shows as there is so much inside to cater for all fans. If you are reading this before Christmas, then I can think of this having pride of place in anyone's Christmas box. A must have!