News TOMY Star Trek Diecast Ship Replicas

[UssGlenn]

Comedy of errors/incompetence at multiple stages.
Lower the number of backers so you don't have enough money to deliver what was promised
Decide to put the plugs on the Camera side of the model
Design the stand to obscure part of the engineering hull on the port side, so you cant display the side without plugs
Reverse the decision to fill the plug holes
Go radio silent when anyone asks about it.

 

[Dar70]

Comedy of errors/incompetence at multiple stages.
Lower the number of backers so you don't have enough money to deliver what was promised
Decide to but the plugs on the Camera side of the model
Design the stand to obscure part of the engineering hull on the port side, so you cant display the side without plugs
Reverse the decision to fill the plug holes
Go radio silent when anyone asks about it.

The thing is that really irritates me....I get that most Crowdfunding has a disclaimer that they can change things from what was promised. But the thing is they lowered the backers twice. So the early adopters really had no chance to back out before the new lowered backer amount was reached. (People can back out of a crowdfund before backer amount is met) So for example. If someone got in thinking they were going to have the money of 5000 backers.....they come back a few weeks later and see that the crowdfund went through BELOW the originally backer amount and now it's above the point where you can bail out.....smh

 

[mindx2]

Just received an email from them that says:

To Our Collector Community,

Through the course of development of the Star Trek NCC-1701 U.S.S. Enterprise, a specific design detail we thought we could achieve could not be realized in final production. Specifically, the screw hole covers and seams are still somewhat visible on the final production units. We have worked on making the covers as flush as possible, and have minimized the seam line as much as we can.
TOMY has a deep passion for creating high-quality diecast that collectors will want to own and enjoy for years to come. With the Star Trek NCC-1701 U.S.S. Enterprise, we believe we have created a very special diecast replica that will be a jewel in your collection.
If the design detail leads you to be dissatisfied with your purchase, please contact TOMY Consumer Services at cs@tomy.com or 1-800-704-8697 before shipping begins on October 6th, 2023.
We are thrilled to share the final product with you. Thank you for your enthusiasm, support, and feedback during the development and production process. We always strive to do our best for our customers and are appreciative of your partnership. We are excited to get shipping and can’t wait to hear from you once your product is received.
Thank you!

Best Regards,
Team TOMY

 

[drt]

Hey look, you guys can get a refund!

 

[Dar70]

Hey look, you guys can get a refund!

Yeah but do we want a refund??. These may become quite the collectable one day........glad they FINALLY owned up to it...

 

[drt]

Yeah but do we want a refund??. These may become quite the collectable one day........glad they FINALLY owned up to it...

I figured they’d have difficulty with the seams and plugs with it being diecast. The biggest error to me was not having the plugs on the port side since that’s the side the stand favors.

I was pleasantly surprised by the bridge, I had no idea they were doing a “Cage” moonroof.

 

[Dar70]

I figured they’d have difficulty with the seams and plugs with it being diecast. The biggest error to me was not having the plugs on the port side since that’s the side the stand favors.

I was pleasantly surprised by the bridge, I had no idea they were doing a “Cage” moonroof.

Yeah they had mentioned the bridge would be detailed. They actually did a nice job on that...

 

[Blackout]

Just received an email from them that says:

Nice of them to formally give buyers options considering they did not meet their promises or communicate their challenges in a timely manner. A lot of this could have been avoided if they planned their seams logically and communicated it with buyers early rather than keeping it to themselves as long as possible. Still keeping my order as I'm not going to find any better for 600 bucks, but good of them to finally acknowledge it.

I suggested early on that the screw seams should have been placed on the opposite side of the ship from the start, regardless of them being filled or not. And I aint even an engineer so I dont know what their excuse is, it's just common sense. Different materials experience temperature flexing at different rates, so even the planned filled seams were always at risk. I thought everybody learned that at a young age just from putting water bottles in the freezer and stuff like that! Screw holes on the "display" side was always a mistake, even while they still planned to fill them. Should have put them on the "unfinished" side.

Anyway, I'm still excited to receive mine. I'm just baffled by some of the decisions they made and how easily avoided some pitfalls were. It's still probably the best model that 600 bucks can buy. Many buyers will probably still be thrilled to have it once they see it.

All in all, a questionably ran campaign with avoidable stumbles along the way, some that affected the final product, but seemingly still a pretty cool item for the price. I look forward to forming in-hand opinions of it.

 

[Jeyl]

Glad the neck seam turned me off of this. Really feel for everyone who supported this. It hasn't been a good run for Star Trek starship models as of late.

 

[publiusr]

Could one RPF guy win the Lotto please

 

[ialfan]

Torn on this. I backed this initially when it wasn’t supposed to have all those plugs. I can deal with a couple seams but this seems like it could have been handled better.

I’ve only ever bought Eaglemoss, micro machines and a diamond select NX-01 (20 years ago) so I’m a little surprised for 10x the price.

The saucer separation is what sold me on it though and the shuttle bay and bridge dome are awesome bonuses at least.

 

[Tosk]

A lot of this could have been avoided if they planned their seams logically and communicated it with buyers early rather than keeping it to themselves as long as possible.

I've noticed the same thing happening with the Exo-6 figure releases. The company tends to shun any potentially helpful suggestions, treating it as complaining instead of a desire for the final product to be as good as possible.

 

[drt]

I’ve only ever bought Eaglemoss, micro machines and a diamond select NX-01 (20 years ago) so I’m a little surprised for 10x the price.

I think this model was a lot of folks first time spending more than a hundred bucks for a collectible and were hoping that it would rival models that cost thousands.

Sure, there were a couple of baffling choices I'd have done differently, but I'm generally happy at how it turned out.

On a different note, seems like a lot of posters over on the website @Dar70 linked are cancelling. Although, I'm sort of cracking up that a number of them seem to think that Tomy is going to lose money over their cancellations, do they not realize that Tomy is just go to sell that model to someone else?

 

[UssGlenn]

do they not realize that Tomy is just go to sell that model to someone else?

They will try, but will people buy without a major discount?

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

Eh. I've seen superior TOS models built from the Polar Lights kit. While I know a pre-built model might be more attractive to those with no time / modeling skill / patience, the satisfaction of getting a model just as you want it cannot be beat.

 

[Dar70]

Eh. I've seen superior TOS models built from the Polar Lights kit. While I know a pre-built model might be more attractive to those with no time / modeling skill / patience, the satisfaction of getting a model just as you want it cannot be beat.

This is true. BUT this one is unique in the fact that it is diecast.....I don't think the details are bad either . Great bridge detail and shuttle bay. The two big issues are the plug holes and stand.

 

[Dar70]

They will try, but will people buy without a major discount?

Well if they take picture of everything showing all the detail. I don't see why they would not get $600 each. There are a lot of people that have no idea what is going on at RPF ....LOL....I have seen people buy absolute crap for several hundred dollars online...

 

[drt]

Well if they take picture of everything showing all the detail. I don't see why they would not get $600 each. There are a lot of people that have no idea what is going on at RPF ....LOL....I have seen people buy absolute crap for several hundred dollars online...

Shoot, to put things in perspective, the retail price of the Playmobil Enterprise was $500.

You're not getting a prebuilt 1:350 scale Enterprise anywhere for under $1500 (and that's for a used Master Replicas, which likely also has a sketchy paint job).

 

[Richard S. Ta]

Somehow, a toy is always going to look like a toy.

As kids, we used suspension of disbelief.

As adults, we demand refunds.

 

[mindx2]

New email with pictures:

Dear Star Trek Fan,

Thank you for your continued support! We've had so many requests for photos of the final NCC-1701 U.S.S. Enterprise, so please see below for the images of the final item that will be shipped to you.

We're looking forward to shipping this amazing replica within the next few weeks. Please be on the look out for an email requesting validation of your shipping address.

Thank you again!
Team TOMY

They avoid showing a picture of the saucer stand side or it's underside. Don't know if they took multiple shots with different lights/angles to get the best ones but the plugs don't look as noticeable as the guy from Australia posted.