Hot Wheels Refit Enterprise

[Brannigan]

I didn't see any thread on this and I figured here would be an appropriate place for this. I bought The Hot Wheels refit Enterprise today. I am at a loss of words to describe this abomination. In the box it looked cool. I noticed that the secondary hull looked a little too long (out beneath the saucer), but that could be overlooked. When I removed it from the box and began eye balling it, I noticed that the warp nacelles were off kilter, the saucer section was not put on correctly (it leaned to port side) and the torpedo bay was just awful looking. I plan on taking this thing back to Target and getting my money back. However what I want to know is how a company like Mattel/Hot Wheels would allow such a horrible product to get released. Even if you are not a Star Trek fan, the deficiencies in this model are obvious. Its really quite a shame because these things aside the model would have looked nice. A
Any thoughts?

 

[largo]

yeah, mine doesn't have any of those problems.
bad day at the sweatshop, perhaps.
seriously, it's like $15. i pay more than that for a pizza.

 

[ParticleMan]

I got one today from one of my co-workers for my birthday. I was reading the text on the back of the box and it makes no sense...

"The USS Enterprise NCC-1701 Refit was commanded by the legendary Captain James T. Kirk. The ship was put into service in 2286 following the destruction in 2285 of the original USS Enterprise NCC-1701 in the Mutara Sector at the site of the unstable Genesis Planet. The ship itself is a refit of the original Constitution-class starships that provided exemplary service for Starfleet for decades."

Uh...a bit contradictory here...if this were the Enterprise-A, then it would be right. But there's no bloody A to be seen on the model or anywhere else...it seems that the sweatshop proofreaders must have had a bad day as well when they wrote up the copy for the back of the box.

 

[Plecostomus]

Actually the copy was probably proofed over here by someone who A) is not a fan and B) just doesn't care. To the vast majority of people making Star Trek merchandise it's just another cycle on the machine, another click of the mouse or another pallet of crap to stuff in a container and ship.

That said... if they ever gave ME a contract for Trek Stuff you could bet your bottom it'd come out right with accurate stats on the box!

 

[ParticleMan]

It actually makes a little more sense when I remembered that I did see some of these models on the shelf that actually did have "NCC-1701-A" on the ship itself, but nowhere on the box...

 

[Titan Designer]

My reliant was not all that great as well. The paint was just awful. My halmark ornament has way more detailing on it than the Hotwheels version. Really a let down

 

[BolianAuthor]

The TRU down the block has the 1701-D and the 1701-A. The D looks okay, as a ship, but of course, there is NO detail, except for the name and number stickers, so I'm not gonna waste $15.00 on a hunk of metal with three stickers slapped on it. The 1701-A looks like it has blue warp lights, and red ramscoops, and of course, the obligatory high-class sticker slapped on the hull. I'll pass.

I DO want to see the DS 1701-D, though.

 

[BriGuy]

I didn't see any thread on this and I figured here would be an appropriate place for this. I bought The Hot Wheels refit Enterprise today. I am at a loss of words to describe this abomination. In the box it looked cool. I noticed that the secondary hull looked a little too long (out beneath the saucer), but that could be overlooked. When I removed it from the box and began eye balling it, I noticed that the warp nacelles were off kilter, the saucer section was not put on correctly (it leaned to port side) and the torpedo bay was just awful looking. I plan on taking this thing back to Target and getting my money back. However what I want to know is how a company like Mattel/Hot Wheels would allow such a horrible product to get released. Even if you are not a Star Trek fan, the deficiencies in this model are obvious. Its really quite a shame because these things aside the model would have looked nice. A
Any thoughts?

From what I've seen of these in stores, the Connie refits looked horrible. The Reliant was OK, as was the Ent-D.

Sad thing is I want a new movie Enterprise in this size. I hope if one comes, they can get it right.

 

[Titan Designer]

I picked up a Ent-D and it is actually okay. Iwish it had more details painted on it but overall it is nice.

 

[FalTorPan]

The TRU down the block has the 1701-D and the 1701-A. The D looks okay, as a ship, but of course, there is NO detail, except for the name and number stickers, so I'm not gonna waste $15.00 on a hunk of metal with three stickers slapped on it. The 1701-A looks like it has blue warp lights, and red ramscoops, and of course, the obligatory high-class sticker slapped on the hull. I'll pass.

I DO want to see the DS 1701-D, though.

The Enterprise-D looks great for the price and size. It has a decent amount of detail -- windows, lifeboat hatches, etc. What more detail should be painted on? Just curious. I'm satisfied with the paint job. A lot of miniature Trek ships get "aztec"-painted to the extent that they look more like speckled eggs than starships.

 

[BolianAuthor]

The windows aren't painted, which makes it look like that much more of a toy, then a die-cast ship you would just show as a display piece. The CORGI 1701-D was also die-cast, and had WAY more detail.

 

[FalTorPan]

What was the retail price of the Corgi ship? The Hot Wheels ship is only about $15.

 

[felyxz]

Thank you for the review. I am currently living in South Korea and was going to E-bay them sight unseen and mail them home in the States. Now I'm not going to bother with them.

 

[imranbecks]

Woo hoo!!! Finally got it when I saw it locally...



Looks really good... Finally, after all these years, I have a proper physical model of my favourite Enterprise... The only one before this was my micro machines..lol.. Pity the windows aren't painted like the upcoming one from Art Asylum though.. Still, it looks great!

Now I shall wait for the Art Asylum Ent-D....

 

[TowerPower]

Hot Wheels made major mistakes on the 1:18 scale Batmobile - all three releases of them. I'm not surprised to hear about problems in the ship line. I love the Hot Wheels cars I grew up playing with, but the Trek and Batmobile lines did not get as much attention to detail as their main products.