U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701

The signature design of Star Trek, the original TV series, is the U.S.S. Enterprise, at the time a completely unusual space-ship design that incorporated a flying saucer connected to several cylinders. At the time the ship was designed, flying saucers were huge in the cultural mindset. And while this unusual design was a bit of a strange concept in 1966, it is now one of the archetypal symbols of space travel—and of science fiction in general. And to think that its original design called for it to be upside down, with the saucer section below the main hull!

Many many versions of the Enterprise have been produced by many companies, ranging from model kits to keychains, to studio-quality reproductions to cheap plastic trinkets. Christmas ornaments, die-cast toys, every avenue has been explored.

So you'd think: "Hey, it's been done. Why do it again?" Well, while it has been done, it seems every version I see brings something different to the table—or the shelf. There's always room for one more.

Diamond Select and Art Asylum have combined again to produce a very fine version of the Enterprise that brings a nice, accurate version of the original ship, without the expense of the more lavish models, some of which are not a lot better than this one.

Packaged in a rectangular window box featuring photos from the show, a brief history of the show and the ship, as well as a side cutaway deck plan, this version of the U.S.S. Enterprise measures about 16 inches in length, is painted multiple shades of matte gray, with printed detail including the red striping and text. It features a bronze-painted sensor array dish, translucent red engine nacelle caps and translucent bridge dome and underside dome.

The ship also comes with a black display stand which base is shaped like the Starfleet insignia. It has a ball-joint attachment so you can angle the ship at will.

The ship has active lights and sound, powered by three AAA batteries, stored in a plate at the bottom of the main hull, screwed into place with a hole to accommodate the display stand.

The ship also comes with an extra bottom battery plate without hole in case you wish to hang the ship, rather than use the included display stand.

Stellar lights and sound

I've reviewed more than one Enterprise, and have owned many more than I've reviewed, but this Enterprise excites me more any of the ones I've owned. Not only is this one the largest, but has the finest modeling and paint design, and has the best features—lights and sound.

Notable on this model are the running lights. Based on the standard seafaring ship lamps, the Enterprise has a green light on the upper and lower surfaces of the starboard side of the saucer-like top hull, and a corresponding red light on the port sides. These lights flash while the sound samples play. Lights light up the bridge dome and the underside dome. The engine nacelle caps have red lights which fade in and out during play. There is also a false green light over the shuttle bay cavity at the rear that is non-functional.

The light-up bridge dome serves also as the light/sound activation button. Push it for a random sample from the TV show. Sound samples include the red-alert klaxon, phaser fire, photon torpedo launches, voice samples from Captain Kirk, engine rev, and transporter activation sounds. All nice quality with little distortion. If any of the electronics fail to operate properly, a pin can be used to reset the circuitry, accessible through an almost unnoticeable hole on the saucer section's underside.

Still, for those who find electronic sounds annoying in toys, this model has a singular nice feature—silence. That's right. Hold down the bridge dome button for five seconds and the ship's engine, bridge and running lights flash without sound, and keep flashing until you press the button a second time. I have to say that this feature brings the entire model up in my estimation, which was already fairly high due to the attention to detail and fine molding and construction, giving it a solid A, the only real complaint I have being that the ball-joint of the display stand is a bit weak, so it really limits the angles you can display the ship at.

A solid display piece or toy. You decide.