TOMY Prestige Select Die-cast 1/350 Scale Enterprise Replica

[Pebl]

Thanks for the pics. I guess I’ll be displaying mine flying from right to left. How secure is the screwed in joint between saucer and secondary hull? Any movement or weakness? Same question with nacelle joints. I’m planning to suspend mine from the ceiling with redundant loops of 40lb fishing line like my Millenium Falcon. Assuming the center of gravity cooperates with structurally sound hanging points.

Also - are both of you in Australia? I understand these are manufactured closer to that neck of the woods - but how does a continental US-only release get delivered outside of the US first?

Maybe the resellers get the first batch of production samples with the seams .

The nacelle joints felt secure when I was moving it around, the connection between both sections seems strong as well, but I don't know if I would trust either of them to hold most or all of the weight, but with enough support around the saucer and secondary hull I would imagine they would hold up.

I believe both Phoenixblazes and I are in Australia, based on the company we bought from. I'm not sure why they were also offered here, I was surprised as well as I was sure that I was going to miss out on it when the campaign wasn't open internationally.

My own personal guess is that they needed to manufacture some amount above the number ordered through the campaign, either because of contracts or for economical reasons, and offered the extra units around for sale to businesses where they might have the rights to do so, though I've no evidence for this of course.

 

[Raven]

Well looking a little better now but how much of that "grey" is just lighting? The pics in the update appeared more a hue of white. The gray gives it more character imo. Still, holding out to see how visible those nacelle bussard lights look. The paint and/or molding seems to be rather thick and less likely to let the internals shine brightly.

 

[Skyroes]

Thanks for sharing @Pebl.

It should make for a nice display piece. TOMY should’ve gone the extra mile and puttied/sanded around the seams and plug holes but aside from that it looks like the details are there on the model.

 

[Phoenixblazes]

Forgot to post here too:

My initial thoughts are that I don’t regret my purchase at all. But obviously I wish they had followed through with their promises.

If you can get past the seams and plugs, the piece does look great. My first thought was that I would display it from its Port side, so I wouldn’t need to see the plug holes on the secondary hull. However that leads to the stand for the saucer section obscuring part of the secondary hull, as the stand is placed at an odd angle. Because of that it may actually be better to display it from the Starboard side.


With the lights on, it really brings it to life. But given that they’re powered by batteries, it’s not something that you can leave switched on 24/7. I truly wish it were powered via cable/s.

With regards to the motors, when I was holding the secondary hull in my hands, the motor sounds were extremely quiet. So quiet I had to put it right up to my ears to really hear them well. But once I placed it on the base, the motor sounds increased quite a bit, as I’m assuming it’s vibrating through the base and the IKEA furniture I had it on top of.

Even though the motors have 3 speed settings, I don’t visibly notice much of a change.

Because of it’s diecast materials, it’s got quite a bit of heft. And even though they’ve got a base each for both the saucer and secondary hull, I don’t really trust the saucer’s base holding up the saucer on its own over the long term. So I’ll definitely be having the saucer bolted to the secondary hull. The base is pretty much made out of various plastics, with not much weight at all. I’m thinking they should’ve used a sturdier material.

I don’t know much about the paint accuracy, but it and the placement of the various decals all over the ship are extremely clean, with no misalignments at all.

Given the price they charged, I personally think the production piece is well worth it. If only they didn’t over promise, this I think would’ve been well received.

 

[Phoenixblazes]

Here’s a few photos.

More to come.

 

[Phoenixblazes]

Another batch of photos.

 

[Phoenixblazes]

Last batch of current photos.

 

[Raven]

Are the bussard lights red-orange or straight red? Finicky question yes but. And more importantly, how visible is the rotation "blink"? Are the covers molded or painted?

Otherwise looks quite nice. Not sure if $600 nice but what is these days and without something for scale hard to see the wow factor.. I'll give them kudos for delivering at or above schedule for sure. Is that Styrofoam packing?

 

[Phoenixblazes]

Are the bussard lights red-orange or straight red? Finicky question yes but. And more importantly, how visible is the rotation "blink"? Are the covers molded or painted?

Otherwise looks quite nice. Not sure if $600 nice but what is these days and without something for scale hard to see the wow factor.. I'll give them kudos for delivering at or above schedule for sure. Is that Styrofoam packing?

I‘m not totally sure about the bussards. I’ll double check when I get home. But the rotary that’s moving within are definitely quite noticeable.

For $600 USD, I still think it’s still well worth it. Just compare what you get from those Haslab releases. I think The Ghost from SW Rebels/Ahsoka is pretty much the same price (at least from my Aussie retailer).

10 plus years ago, I even considered getting one of those qMX ships and they were somewhere in the vicinity of $5-8K USD each plus shipping.


And yes that’s styrofoam packaging. It’s not like they could’ve used a plastic clamshell like they do on the Diamond Select Toy releases.

 

[Skyroes]

Having it lit up really brings it to life, looks great. Seems worth the money from what I see.

 

[darthviper107]

It's not terrible or anything, but I think they could probably do better with some of the engineering. It makes me think if they try to do a more complex subject like the Enterprise-D that they wouldn't be able to achieve all that great of a result. I'm not sure how well they could replicate the details of something more complex.
It's weird that they put all the plugs on the side that they designed the stand to display it in, it's stuff like that I'm sure they would easily do better with future products but I think there is some level of disappointment with how it turned out, people's expectations may have been a bit too high or they promised something they weren't quite able to deliver.
It is something where while it might cost a lot to figure out production before preorders, it's probably the best option to be sure of the result that will be produced vs. a prototype that hasn't gone through the full production process. It just becomes expensive to do it that way, but maybe it's worth it vs. losing out on future products sales because people have lost confidence.

 

[Phoenixblazes]

Having it lit up really brings it to life, looks great. Seems worth the money from what I see.

And better yet, my photos don’t do it justice. Not just the physical ship, but the light ups definitely look cleaner and pop more in person.

 

[Phoenixblazes]

It's not terrible or anything, but I think they could probably do better with some of the engineering. It makes me think if they try to do a more complex subject like the Enterprise-D that they wouldn't be able to achieve all that great of a result. I'm not sure how well they could replicate the details of something more complex.
It's weird that they put all the plugs on the side that they designed the stand to display it in, it's stuff like that I'm sure they would easily do better with future products but I think there is some level of disappointment with how it turned out, people's expectations may have been a bit too high or they promised something they weren't quite able to deliver.
It is something where while it might cost a lot to figure out production before preorders, it's probably the best option to be sure of the result that will be produced vs. a prototype that hasn't gone through the full production process. It just becomes expensive to do it that way, but maybe it's worth it vs. losing out on future products sales because people have lost confidence.

Given the sheer size of the Enterprise D, I have no idea how they’ll achieve that in diecast. At least not in the same scale.

 

[Tuvix Was Framed]

plugs aside, I’d pick one up…. If anyone is letting go of theirs…

 

[darthviper107]

If it was $450, I'd say that's a good deal for the result, but at $600 it could be better

 

[Phoenixblazes]

If it was $450, I'd say that's a good deal for the result, but at $600 it could be better

Given what $450 gives us nowadays, I’m not sure how realistic that is.

I would’ve paid double, maybe even triple to get the promised result.

I already thought it was bargain bin level pricing. And now I know why.

 

[Pebl]

Well looking a little better now but how much of that "grey" is just lighting? The pics in the update appeared more a hue of white. The gray gives it more character imo. Still, holding out to see how visible those nacelle bussard lights look. The paint and/or molding seems to be rather thick and less likely to let the internals shine brightly.

Here's a quick video I took a with the motor on full to give an idea of the sound and lights.

 

[Raven]

I‘m not totally sure about the bussards. I’ll double check when I get home. But the rotary that’s moving within are definitely quite noticeable.

For $600 USD, I still think it’s still well worth it. Just compare what you get from those Haslab releases. I think The Ghost from SW Rebels/Ahsoka is pretty much the same price (at least from my Aussie retailer).

10 plus years ago, I even considered getting one of those qMX ships and they were somewhere in the vicinity of $5-8K USD each plus shipping.

Funny you mention the Haslab. I backed The Ghost but did not (as of yet anyway) buy this Enterprise. Not because I didn't think it was nice but more a combo of factors not the least being timing and limited payment options. Direct from Tomy you had to use their buy on Google system, no PayPal only CC and I couldn't get financing to be approved. Tried everything in the book including contacting Tomy directly when my payment was rejected. Just was not happening. This last Kickstarter opened up payment options more but I didn't care for how cagey they were being and not directly answering questions when it should have counted.

Fwiw, Ghost was $100 cheaper and comes with carded figures I can sell and probably make about half that back or more. So in my mind at least, it was the better deal initially. Same principle for the Cat's Lair. Not enough bonuses to offload and so damn big.

And yes that’s styrofoam packaging. It’s not like they could’ve used a plastic clamshell like they do on the Diamond Select Toy releases.

Speaking of Diamond, I'm sure it's no contest in the lighting arena, but in terms of paint, DST seems at least a competent lower cost alternative for those without the horizontal shelf space. And much lighter in weight. Getting just the right display case or shelf to hold 30+ pounds of destructive potential should it come crashing down might be a chore in itself.

Funny you mention Haslab. I backed The Ghost but did not (as of yet anyway) buy this Enterprise. Not because I didn't think it was nice but more a combo of factors not the least being timing and limited payment options. Direct from Tomy you had to use their buy on Google system, no PayPal only CC and I couldn't get financing to be approved. Tried everything in the book including contacting Tomy directly when my payment was rejected. Just was not happening. This last Kickstarter opened up payment options more but I didn't care for how cagey they were being and not directly answering questions when it should have counted.

Fwiw, Ghost was $100 cheaper and comes with carded figures I can sell and probably make about half that back or more. So in my mind at least, it was the better deal initially. Same principle for the Cat's Lair. Not enough bonuses to offload and so damn big. I'm not so blind yet I require something the size of an ottoman to impress.

 

[Blackout]

Given the sheer size of the Enterprise D, I have no idea how they’ll achieve that in diecast. At least not in the same scale.

I would never expect them to do the same scale. I'd sooner expect them to do the same size. As in, around 32 inches. Which would be fine with me, since a 71 inch Enterprise D seems... unwieldy. I don't expect anybody to be mass producing 6 foot long Enterprise models any time soon haha. No, a 32 inch Enterprise D to match their 32 inch TOS Enterprise sounds just fine to me.

 

[Phoenixblazes]

I would never expect them to do the same scale. I'd sooner expect them to do the same size. As in, around 32 inches. Which would be fine with me, since a 71 inch Enterprise D seems... unwieldy. I don't expect anybody to be mass producing 6 foot long Enterprise models any time soon haha. No, a 32 inch Enterprise D to match their 32 inch TOS Enterprise sounds just fine to me.

Very true.

While I wouldn’t want it to be twice the size, I think I would like for it to be a bit bigger at least.