Third Time's a Charm: The Other Starship

This weekend saw some new and very exciting concept art hit the internet.

Coming in the form of designs for the USS Franklin,  we now know there will be another Starfleet vessel making an appearance in Beyond along with the USS Enterprise. The poster above is being sent to those fans who donated to the Omaze charity fundraiser that ran alongside the making of the movie last year.

I first caught sight of this new design on Trekcore where they suggested a number of points surrounding the ship; that it will be seen early on in the movie following the destruction of the Enterprise and that we've also seen a fair bit of the Franklin in the first trailer. In fact Spock is wearing a Franklin jacket!

So this could make the Franklin the base of operations for the remaining crew who escaped and could well be the ship we've seen Sophia Boutella and Chris Pine climbing out of in behind the scenes stills. Of course they could be climbing out of the wrecked Enterprise saucer but this is all conjecture until later this year.

The arrival of the Franklin marks the third movie in a row where we've seen the introduction of a Federation starship besides the Enterprise and if it follows suit set by the Kelvin and the Vengeance it won't be in one piece come the end titles. So what does this new concept image tell us about the ship itself? 

One thing we do know is that this isn't quite the final version as indicated by The Official Starship Collection's Ben Robinson in a tweet on Saturday. Now that would indicate that Ben has seen the finished article (of course) and that collectors of the series should be expecting to see it in the run of specials.

Google Images

I'd suggest that the pennants will be altered since the ones on this image are more in line with the Prime Universe movies than the JJ-verse. The most noticable thing here though is that huge light source at the front of the saucer which would seem to be the viewscreen and gives an idea that this is a ship much smaller than both the USS Enterprise and the Kelvin. The edge of the saucer only has a single layer of portholes too and we know that the Enterprise has two decks at that point.

It also has the JJ-verse trademark blue bussard collectors and some odd orange lining detail along the warp engine struts. Those collectors do appear to have the "fan" style workings akin to those on the original NCC-1701. Saying that, the rear of the engines have a very familiar curve to them which fans might recognise from the Enterprise of The Original Series - nice touch there. 

That front part of the engine even has a resemblance to the front end of the movie Enterprise secondary hull (but I'm no doubt reading far too much into this picture). The hull surface is pretty different too with the saucer dipping and then raising to the edge plus some sort of crazy hull panelling fanning out to the curve. Certainly not something we've seen before even in the Prime Universe.

Google Images

But what period of Starfleet history is this supposed to represent? From the ramshackle nature of it's interior seen in the trailer and the grey exterior it does seem that the USS Franklin will be an older ship. Perhaps not as old as the Kelvin since the engines look to have evolved from that era but definitely with a few miles on the clock. Also of note and a reason for conjecture over her age is the fact that there is no registry number visible. Maybe that's because it hadn't been decided when this image was created or was it left off on purpose? OK, Vengeance didn't have a registry but that was for other reasons!

The great thing is that the Franklin is different again to the aging single engined Kelvin and the stealthy, angular design of the brutal Vengeance. How the ship appears on the screen may well be different to this image although I don't foresee too many changes if this is something they are sending out to charitable fans. It does add another dimension to the film in the possibility that the Franklin will be playing a larger role in Beyond than the Enterprise but with the fact the latter may well meet its maker early on that's not saying a lot.

So this makes the third ship we know will be in the movie alongside the Enterprise and those alien raider-type vessels glimpsed in the trailer hunting Spock and McCoy. Hopefully we're going to get some more! If nothing else the reboots have given us some interesting spacial additions to the franchise. I love the stealth elements and design of the Vengeance and now the Franklin is very much harking to the Prime origins of Star Trek and that would be in keeping with what we've been hearing from Simon Pegg about this movie respecting its past a lot more than the previous two.

Just to finish off - we saw the behind the scenes video from Entertainment Tonight a week or so ago. We got to see a bit more on the retro uniform styling, a bit of aging on the bridge - but was I the only one who wonders if Sulu's daughter is called Demora...?

Do you like the new starship design? Is it in keeping with the franchise?

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Small Additions: Hot Wheels Starships

For a while we've known that Hot Wheels were releasing a small version of the USS Vengeance as part of their HW City range.

After several months of waiting it's finally arrived and I stumbled on it by chance in Tesco of all places this week. Now before going any further, remember, THESE ARE NOT BIG REPLICAS!

Usually the confines of the toy aisle are restricted to visits with my two year old son to increase the ranks of his own car collection (never more than a foot away from a Hot Wheels car in this house) but when the addition of a new Star Trek ship was announced there was another reason to hunt through the die cast range.

I had suspected it would be one of the rarer models however there were at least three in the box which means it won't be too much of a fight to get hold of one. Anyway, while we're waiting for the inevitable Eaglemoss replica (special number three I bet), this will have to do and for those on a tight budget or with a low amount of house space, it's recommended.

I already had the JJ Abrams USS Enterprise which was released around the same time as Star Trek Into Darkness last year but the 2014 USS Vengeance is definitely a step up in production quality as you'll be able to see straight away.

With both ships the main body and saucer are metal while the nacelles and struts are a particularly pliable plastic which means they're less prone to immediate destruction once out of the packaging and into junior's active hands.

By no means are these super-accurate replicas designed to be glass-cased alongside your Polar Lights NX-01 but for less than £2 you can't go wrong. The engines on NCC-1701 are super bendy and minimally decalled with some impressionistic battle damage on show as well as atop the saucer. 

For a small model it's quite heavy at the saucer end which also is very basically detailed with the ship name, registry and raised sections. What does let it down is something they rectified with the Vengeance - the stand is a little loose and this tough little ship ends up swinging around all over the place. Now I have road-tested the Enterprise with my sub-three year old son (under supervision of course) and aside from a cheeky bend of the nacelles it survived intact so as a toy it's nice and robust. Good work there, Hot Wheels, but fortunately he's more inclined towards items in your range with four wheels!

The Vengeance is easily a better mini-model with a "key/lock" style stand which keeps her straight, steady and firmly upright. Oddly for a smaller ship the stand is actually bigger. This time the upper primary hull has the aztec paint job and the unusual cut out section around the bridge however the secondary hull does lose a lot of detail due to the scaling of such a large vessel. You can make out the odd "stealth" style bodywork and the deflector dish but being grey/black means it all ends up in shadow under the primary hull. I'll just make sure I'm viewing her from above in the future.

She is smaller (irony) than the Enterprise Hot Wheels toy but the end result still seems to be better - joint lines are hidden and the nacelles don't look anywhere near as out of place as those on the flagship and the detail on them is a step up - and not a spot of fake battle damage anywhere. The underside of the saucer does disappoint on both the Vengeance and the Enterprise with both receiving minimal detailing in favour of model details and copyrighting information. The undersides of the secondary hulls also suffer from some big securing pins which are a necessity and hard to conceal in something this size  - but hey, these aren't collectors items and that's the big point.

For little more than pocket shrapnel you can pick up a teeny tiny model of both ships from Into Darkness and for the young fans who might (and of course shouldn't have due to age restrictions) seen the Abrams movies these are great little tasters to get them battling in their imaginations. I suspect both of mine may well end up being parked on the top floor of Joshua's car garage and I suspect they won't be the only ones that will.

Personal view? They're kind of cute but not brilliantly constructed and are absolutely made to take a bit of a battering at the hands of younger fans looking to recreate the final few scenes of the latest movie. It might also keep wandering hands off those slightly more expensive Eaglemoss or Hot Wheels collectors models that are sitting on nearby, reachable shelves.

The USS Vengeance Hot Wheels model is available in shops. Some shops...Good luck!

Eaglemoss and the Final Thirty

Official Starships Collection

But first a couple of little Eaglemoss updates just to warm you up for the Main Event.

It seems that the Official Starships Collection site has now added the upcoming USS Enterprise NCC-1701-E to the flick through previews on the home page - just one more little tease of this much awaited model. On their Facebook page there's also been the addition of a sneak peak plan view of the Vor'Cha due out in just three weeks time.

While that's going on there, Entertainment Earth have dropped on two magazine cover images for issues 25 and 26 due out in August. I'm very excited about these two. The first, the USS Prometheus is more confirmation of just how Voyager managed to get the coolest Starfleet ships. I suspect that this will not be separable into Multi-Vector Assault Mode as seen in Message in a Bottle and if it does come in several pieces I would suggest contacting Eaglemoss for an immediate replacement.

The next image is for the Tholian cruiser (22nd Century) and therefore from the prequel Enterprise series. As regular readers might have picked up, The Tholian Web is my all-time The Original Series favourite episode and for the time being this is going to be the closest I'll get to having the craft from that story. While the latter issue 26 might not be as hotly anticipated as the USS Prometheus, these are still two fairly well known craft which will be welcomed to any collection.

Which leads nicely into something that I have been discussing recently with +Nils W. . The first forty issues of the collection are now set in stone via the Official Starships Collection page (see below for the expected release dates table). However after that it's still something of a mystery. Reviewing the Memory Alpha initial projection list of the full 70, there are a couple of ships that were expected later which have already been released or are due in a matter of months. So, with a quick bit of juggling, here's what we see as the thirty that are still to be confirmed by Eaglemoss.

What we've also managed to deduce is that with the additional release of one special every quarter, there could well be another seven larger scale craft due to compliment the range working on the basis of one coming out every eight regular issues. If we stick to the 70 issues that means the collection will run until April 14th 2016 in the UK with, surprise, surprise, The Original Series NCC-1701 most likely being the final edition (projected currently but come on....has to be...). The Memory-Alpha provisional list is actually missing the Nausicaan Fighter too so it comes in a little short when you start working out the numbers.

There are also a line of notable absences from this list and we think there should be a campaign to ensure that at least the ones here are included in the range - let us also be reminded that the 70 issue figure could well be their original intention which could be adjusted due to demand. In that case we could be looking at 100 or more maybe!

So here's the provisional list that is still to be confirmed. I've included all of the ones omitted from those officially announced on the site.

• Raptor Class
• Breen Warship
• USS Enterprise NCC-1701-C
• Borg Queen’s Vessel
• Hirogen Warship
• T’Plana-Hath
• USS Enterprise NCC-1701-J
• Son’a Command Ship
• D5 Class
• Jem’Hadar Battleship
• Malon Export Vessel
• Federation Mission Scoutship
• Scimitar
• USS Relativity
• Goroth’s Starship
• USS Kelvin
• Son’a Collector
• Xindi-Reptilian Ship
• Suliban Cell Ship
• Phoenix
• Fesarius
• Steamrunner Class
• Xindi-Aquatic Cruiser
• Vulcan Long Range Shuttle
• Saber Class
• USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A
• Romulan Bird-of-Prey (23rd Century)
• Federation Holoship
• Scorpion Class
• Norway Class
• USS Enterprise NCC-1701

Specials-wise I think we can say that the USS Vengance is a given and should be out about the same time as the Xindi-Insectoid craft. Following that are we likely to see a K-7, Regula One or a Spacedock? For note the specials seem to be appearing on 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 64.

Anyway, focusing on the last issues, as we've said, there are some massive omissions, some of which have been identified already. Some are great but others are a bit iffy - in fact there are ones in the provisional list above which we could easily substitute.

• Species 8472 bioship (cool idea...special?)
• Borg Cube (yes please - the free one is OK but this is one to consider or a special)
• Cousteau 
• Galileo (see below)
• Aeon 
• Hazari Vessel 
• Karemma Starship 
• Species 6339 Starship 
• Centaur-Class 
• D'Kyr Class 
• Laneth's Starship 
• Negh'Var 
• Romulan Science Vessel 
• SS Botany Bay

I really don't think it will finish at 70 given the blatant holes and missing craft but then there are some that should be here - and are even missing from the "extras" list. Some of these suggestions aren't that memorable and I don't think I'd be upset if the Hazari, Karemma or Species 6339 ships were omitted. At some point the line has to be drawn (who said that now....???) so here are our five essentials that must, repeat MUST get into the final 70 and aren't at the moment. Some are from the list of suggestions but others haven't even made it that far. Eaglemoss, you'd better be listening up now!

USS Pasteur (Olympic Class)

Could well have been the subscribers special model instead of the USS Enterprise-D from All Good Things.... A metal sphere section clearly here and a magazine covering alternative futures as well as the designing of the model developed from the original designs for the Kirk-era USS Enterprise of The Original Series. +Nils W. is backing this one to the hilt and I don't blame him. Missing this classic would be a dishonour even the Klingons would be embarrassed by. It's not even on the suggestions list here. Rubbish. 

Galileo Shuttlecraft

Considering that the runabout gets included in the first 40 why aren't we seeing at least one entry for the short-range personnel craft? I'm not suggesting that we do the whole range but maybe just the original design from The Galileo Seven. Forgetting its inclusion would only make it even more obvious and with the real ship's recent restoration project completed there will never be a better time. Fans probably wouldn't be concerned to miss out on the shuttle from Star Trek V or the multitude of designs from The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and Enterprise.

Negh'Var

Either as the version seen in The Way of the Warrior or as the future Klingon warships from The Next Generation's finale. How could the Klingons not get this ship included when the Jem'Hadar manage three entries on the list? It's one of my favourite designs and seeing it only included as a side point note is a great shame....However, might I tempt a suggestion that it could be slotted into one of the Specials slots? There's a thought and I reckon that could work.

SS Botany Bay

trekcore.com

"Marooned for all eternity at the centre of a dead planet...." Hell yes. Why would you not include this is we have to have the Vengeance as a special edition? Nuts. This is one of the classics and The Original Series doesn't get enough coverage as it is in the range (mainly due to the infamous light dot to represent a ship far away). Most, if not all, fans would at least maim if not kill to see this in the final list. Imagine this as a special perhaps - a whole mag dedicated to Khan - and we mean the good one.

Kazon Warship (Predator Class)

Not the greatest of enemies featured in Voyager but they were the first and as such should be represented in some form. Maybe only the one entry is necessary and in that case let's plump for the large Kazon ship that caused a few issues in Caretaker. It's a curve ball but if we're having to stand some of the randoms suggested then this has to be higher up the priority ladder for sure! It's not special material but Voyager fans shouldn't be short-changed.

Is there a ship that you know isn't being included in the range or even mentioned as a suggestion? Maybe it's time to start getting the campaign up and running to ensure your favourite design doesn't get left on the page. Drop your comments below and let us know your thoughts! Would the ones we've selected be among your choices? Are there any you would remove?

1. USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D (29th August 2013)
2. USS Enterprise NCC-1701 (movie refit) (5th September 2013)
3. Klingon Bird-of-Prey (19th September 2013)
4. Enterprise NX-01(3rd October 2013)
5. Romulan Warbird (17th October 2013)
6. USS Voyager NCC-74656 (31st October 2013)
7. Klingon K'Tinga battlecruiser (14th November 2013)
8. USS Excelsior NCC-2000 (28th November 2013)
9. USS Defiant NX-74205 (12th December 2013)
10. Borg Sphere (26th December 2013)
11. USS Reliant NCC-1864 (Miranda class) (9th January 2014)
12. Akira class (23rd January 2014)
13. Jem'Hadar cruiser (6th February 2014)
14. Cardassian Galor class (20th February 2014)
15. USS Equinox NCC-72381 (6th March 2014)
16. Ferengi Marauder (20th March 2014)
17. USS Dauntless NX-01-A (3rd April 2014)
18. Bajoran Solar Sailor (17th April 2014)
19. USS Stargazer NCC-2893 (1st May 2014)
20. Klingon Vor'cha class (15th May 2014)
21. USS Enterprise NCC-1701-E (29th May 2014)
22. Krenim Temporal Weapon Ship (12th June 2014)
23. Nebula class (26th June 2014)
24. Xindi insectoid ship (10th July 2014)
25. USS Prometheus NX-59650 (24th July 2014)
26. Tholian ship (7th August 2014)
27. Romulan Bird-of-Prey (21st August 2014)
28. Maquis Fighter (4th September 2014)
29. Jem'Hadar Fighter (18th September 2014)
30. Nausicaan Fighter (2nd October 2014)
31. The Valdore (16th October 2014)
32. Runabout (30th October 2014)
33. Cardassian Hideki Class (13th November 2014)
34. Vulcan Surok Class (27th November 2014)
35. Klingon Bird-of-Prey (22nd Century) (11th December 2014)
36. Oberth Class (25th December 2014?)
37. Andorian Cruiser (8th January 2015)
38. Delta Flyer (22nd January 2015)
39. Romulan Drone (5th February 2015)
40. USS Enterprise NCC-1701-B (19th February 2015)

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All images in this article from Memory-Alpha (unless stated)

Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection - Additional!

The first 30 issues have been announced and since then we've also discovered some extra little details....

Not only has a great little snap been posted onto their Facebook page showing some of the prototypes of the upcoming vessels (how many can you spot and name). While the majority are from the first 30 issues there's one near the front that might peak your interest. It's brown and circular; that's all I'm saying.

There's also a nice little survey for you to complete about the new EagleMoss production and why should this be so interesting? Well because as you go through it one question raises a Vulcan-esque eyebrow. 

It seems that there are going to be some specials produced during the series' lifetime with the first rumoured to be coming at the end of the year (and that it will be the first from the list below). The question asks if we would be interested in any the possibility of some additional volumes and notes that there are certain models already well under consideration:

1. Deep Space Nine
2. Current (JJ) Movie USS Enterprise
3. USS Vengeance 
4. Space Station K-7
5. TMP USS Enterprise in Spacedock
6. Nero's Narada

So what else could there be? I for one would love to see Starbase One, Regula One or maybe even something from The Animated Series as a special. I was a bit disappointed that Deep Space Nine might have been overlooked as it wasn't a starship but this new announcement more than makes up for that! Could this also indicate the potential to get the Star Trek Online Enterprise-F into the range? How about a battle-damaged movie-era USS Enterprise special edition? There could be some great extras to come.

Thanks also to +Aaron Darkwood who pointed me at this page from the Star Trek Starships website which shows the running order of the first 30 issues - interesting to note that there are subtle differences between the list we previously announced and these images. The Jem'Hadar bug for example is switched with the Nausicaan fighter and then totally replaced by the Romulan Valdore from Star Trek Nemesis. A second note is that the USS Reliant is marked up as the USS Majestic from Sacrifice of Angels.

Also worth pointing out that the Romulan Bird-of-Prey is the Star Trek: Enterprise version and not the one seen in Balance of Terror during The Original Series. Not what I would have expected but no doubt it'll be along later.

On that note, here's five that I'm wondering how long we'll be waiting for as part of the standard releases - you're welcome to add to this selection as a comment or suggest some more for the special editions above.

1. The Prime Universe USS Enterprise NCC-1701 (final issue surely?!)
2. USS Grissom NCC-838
3. Danube Class Runabout
4. The Phoenix
5. The Original Series Romulan Bird-of-Prey

Also don't forget that issue two is out this week and features the movie USS Enterprise. 

Further information about the The Official Starships Collection can be found at the publication website.

The Finest of the Fleet: The Makings of a Great Starship

Should we rate Starfleets ships by the amount of firepower they pack and how big the explosions they cause are? In my opinion; No. There are better ways to measure a great craft and thanks to reading a recent piece on What Culture, I think I'll take up the challenge and have a look...

The article in question, while massively overusing the word "badass" did make me think of a couple of things as I clicked through the pages. While I have mixed feelings about the choices on the list, it got me thinking about what makes a great starship? Is actually being "badass" such a great thing when referring to Star Trek which, fundamentally, is supposed to be about exploration, seeking out new life and boldly splitting infinitives for five years (or three if you get axed)?

What makes a starship something that you look forward to seeing on the screen in an episode or a movie? Is it firepower that makes them memorable or is it something they did or were involved with that makes them simply awesome.  I've run down some examples to help me along the way to see if we can access the greatest starships in the history of the Federation (that we know of).

Straight away lets get back to our roots as there can be only one "great" design if we're honest with ourselves. That honour has to go to the original Matt Jeffries designed Constitution Class vessel that took the crew through 79 episodes of The Original Series. It's the design that influenced everything after it. The basic principles would be revamped in the movie era Enterprise as well as the later Excelsior, Ambassador and Sovereign Classes, to some degree the Galaxy Class and even in the style that formed the basis of the USS Vengeance in Star Trek Into Darkness. Of course JJ Abrams would have the original updated as the central vessel for the 2009 reboot just for good measure proving just how important that style was to the franchise.

It's a brilliant concept that also brought about the transporter to avoid landing her among other things. It was the backbone of Starfleet throughout The Original Series (namely because it cost less to reuse the model or buy kits from AMT) and survived a few fairly lethal encounters. Whatever generation of Star Trek we're watching there's always something in the styling of a Starfleet vessel that brings you back to the beginning. Impressively the upgrade that the class received in the movies made it even better many would argue, confronting even more serious threats from the Reliant and Khan and later a cloaked Klingon Bird of Prey. Inside the style of the bridge reflected the slightly militaristic direction of The Original Series and the films where reds and whites were replaced with metallics and greys - with the exception of Star Trek V which looked as though the Enterprise had jumped about 75 years of decorating evolution. A true classic and an icon of science fiction. There's one in the fleet museum y'know (Relics) so it must be important!

While it is physically similar, the Excelsior Class we first saw ready for field tests in The Search for Spock is truly one of the landmarks of the whole of the franchise. While the Constitution Class bowed out in The Undiscovered Country "The Great Experiment" would become the 24th Century workhorse as the Constitution Class had in the 23rd. It would show up in numerous episodes of The Next Generation and Deep Space Nine as well as three movie appearances. The last of these, with some additional bodywork, would be as the Enterprise-B. Altered so as not to damage the fabric of the original Excelsior model, this silhouette would  only appear again in the Deep Space Nine episode Paradise Lost as the USS Lakota. 

Minus the controversial transwarp drive it turned out to be a pretty decent starship and hinted at the shapes of things to come with its larger, more streamlined hull and advances in technology. In her day the Excelsior Class was the sign of the future and the first in the chain to link the designs of The Next Generation to The Original Series.

Staying with a theme, the Enterprise-D chalks up on my list not because of its design but because of its purpose. The shape of the ship harks back to the classic saucer, secondary hull and nacelles that both the Excelsior and Constitution classes displayed but they were flying in more hostile times when the threat from the Klingon Empire and other species was a lot more severe. Times changed and the Galaxy Class reflected this. The smoothed styling belayed a certain calmness in the fleet but inside was the clear distinction that made this a seminal Starfleet craft. Reflecting the more explorative and apparently less dangerous nature of The Next Generation, families were now onboard and the ship was designed around more luxurious desires and requirements. Effectively a spacebourne city where its crew wanted for nothing it mirrored the time in which it was designed in the real world - the 1980's and the affluence of the period. Fitting that it's replacement would be a much more compact battleship as the 1990's evolved and in the Star Trek universe the threats that appeared to have faded away returned and new ones arrived. 

The Galaxy Class was limited in numbers. According to early reports and the Star Trek: The Next Generation Technical Manual there were only six constructed but over the years we would see more than that number in the battle scenes of Deep Space Nine alone. To date we've seen Enterprise, Yamato, Odyssey, Venture, Challenger (Timeless) and there must be a Galaxy somewhere. According to Memory-Alpha there are 10 Galaxy Class ships in the battle to retake Deep Space Nine featured in Sacrifice of Angels which suggests the initial six were supplemented at some point with another batch of at least seven. Looking back, the class was far from perfect, suffering shield failures, dodgy holodecks, warp core breaches and three of the class ended up destroyed in the space of seven years - and if it was such a safe universe with a ship for exploration filled with husbands, wives and children for the long journey ahead why would you need to make it separate in two and have a Battle Bridge? Would you want your kids on here given the safety record?! 

Anyway, it seems that the realisation that families in space was not a good idea with the Galaxy Class vessels used to act as lead ships for battle groups in the Dominion War. This belays that they could easily be switched to different roles however their styling continued to announce that this was not their best suitability. A factor that the Sovereign Class clearly mirrored in its more military, minimalist, family-free concept. The reason for omitting that class? It's an evolution of form and also the Sovereign Class never really had anything unique about it in the big scheme of things - and can you recall ever seeing a second ship of this class on the screen?

The Constitution Class is a great because of its classic and influential design, Galaxy Class opened up the path to long exploratory missions but if we were to look back at the blog which inspired this piece, I would have to agree that the USS Defiant is definitely a "badass" - and I promise that's the last time I'll use that word here. Simply an awesome ship that went against every single concept of design and form that the Enterprise of the original show had laid down and started from scratch. It was compact, heavily armoured, fast, overgunned and overpowered and built for war. Cleverly a line of dialogue in The Search, Part I covered that minor issue, noting that the Defiant had been built to counter the Borg threat and had been mothballed once it had passed. It's firepower was soon on show and totally different to anything before. 

The phasers punched holes in the opposition from the first time she decloaked in anger and the Defiant also received quantum torpedoes to deal with whatever came in its way. There would be at least two other escort-class vessels seen in Deep Space Nine - the Valiant and the Sao Paulo which would be renamed as the Defiant when the original was destroyed by the Breen. It came close to an equally strong pummelling at the only encounter it ever had with the enemy it was designed to beat - the Borg. For me this is one of the ultimate starship classes. Unique, unusual and one of the selling points that made the third Star Trek series a cut above.

If we're sticking with unique, the USS Prometheus was certainly that. Featuring in just one episode of Voyager and also glimpsed in the final shot of the final episode of the final season of the same show, I would add it to the list of great starships because, like the Defiant, it pushed the boundaries. The quad-engines were nothing new because we'd seen them before on the Stargazer in The Battle during The Next Generation's first season and neither was the more elongated shape. Aside from the fact it managed to get stolen by the Romulans it's the only Starfleet ship that can split into three distinct vessels during Multi-Vector Assault Mode. The Enterprise-D could separate into a battle section and a saucer section lifeboat but these three ships were all controlled from the bridge of the primary hull. The bridge was somewhat spartan in comparison to other Starfleet vessels but additional sets were never the most detailed or "crewed" during the TV shows. The fact Message in a Bottle was one of the finest Voyager episodes certainly helped ensure that this would be a highly memorable ship that remains utterly unique across over 700 episodes. 

Talking of Voyager I begrudgingly have to add it to this list of the best starships in Star Trek's history. Why? It adapted. Over the seven seasons the Intrepid Class ship was stranded in the Delta Quadrant it underwent some serious modifications, gained a super-shuttle and got blown to smithereens more than once. Let's not forget that Voyager was a test bed for a lot of new technology including bio-neural gel packs, variable geometry (folding) warp engines which, apparently, meant that it could get away with going above that clumsy, plot-killing Warp Five Speed Limit and received the odd Borg upgrade along the way. Not only did the ship end up with Borg alcoves in a cargo bay but also used the technology to develop an astrometrics lab. The ultimate upgrade however had to be the ablative armour and transphasic torpedoes she received in Endgame. 

Small she may have been but Voyager did well to survive seven years in the wilderness and encountered situations that even a Galaxy or Sovereign Class ship might have cowered at. Add to that time travelling  the odd fleet of Borg cubes, being stolen or boarded and even facing off against another similar Starfleet vessel, the Equinox. Voyager actually hints at the future designs of Starfleet vessels (which the Equinox and Enterprise-E also indicate) - more compact, efficient, saucer and secondary hull directly connected without the "neck" section. Certainly more sleek than its predecessors but still able to pack a punch the Intrepid Class . Also it had the neat trick of being able to land which almost trumps the ability to separate into lots of bits. For adaptability there can be no question that this class and one lone ship in particular easily win. They probably also win the award for losing the most shuttlecraft ever.

So there we have a fairer selection perhaps - a legendary design, the workhorse of the fleet, the explorer, the warship the one-of-a-kind and the Boy Scout starship. Each includes features which mark it out against the rest and also are present in many respects in later vessels - especially in the form of the Constitution Class. These vessels in my opinion are the best examples of Starfleet design and operation across the whole franchise. I had considered adding the Steamrunner Class in here just because from a design point of view it's a complete break from anything else. No other ship even comes close to its design but aside from that and appearing in a few battles in the background it's not made its mark. Surprised I didn't include the NX-01? While it was "the first" it's design in the Real World was due to the nature of the original Enterprise of Kirk's era and therefore I skipped it. Sorry if you were looking for it!

I would have liked to include the Dauntless due to its quantum slipstream drive and just cool design but that wasn't really a Starfleet vessel (grrr) although it pretended to be. The Vengeance was a beast in every sense of the word and considering how much it was lauded it lasted barely an hour of screen time before taking a plunge to Earth. That's not good in terms of future development!

Again though you can see the design links which would "suggest" the Starfleet heritage of the Dauntless in her lines and even while stupidly big, angular and overgunned, the Vengeance is merely an adaptation of the alternative universe rethink of the original Constitution Class design. In comparison to the ships on the blog that inspired me, I think this is a better reflection of abilities, function and style rather than focusing solely on how much firepower a ship has which was not the point of Star Trek. Hopefully I have provided a good range of the "greats" and why they stand out above the rest.

So is there a class or ship I've missed that had a big impact on the Star Trek universe and deserves a place here? Is there one I've missed or is this a fair reflection on the various incarnations of the franchise?

Hot Wheels and Secrets of 1701

Now here's some things you might not know about...

Just as a nice little additional tease, have you been onto areyouthe1701.com and /harrison? If you do then there's a hidden file just waiting to be found - a secret Starfleet file linking Admiral Marcus to the rogue Starfleet agent. Here are both the pages from the PDF if you fancy a read rather than a click through. I'm just wondering how long this has been hidden on the site - days, weeks?!

Here's a thought - when we first heard about the viral site through a hidden link in one of the trailers, we had no idea what it was for. Since then fans have been sending in photos and videos with the opportunity to win exclusive Star Trek Into Darkness goodies and tickets to IMAX performances as well as being given exclusive first viewings of featurettes, posters and even videos. For the full picture of the "history" of the site, take a click on the Are You The 1701? label at the bottom.

As a second little gem and while I was searching out pictures for the imminent novelisation review of Star Trek Into Darkness I literally stumbled over these images of some of Hot Wheels releases for the end of the year. The news that they would be slotting in new models of the USS Excelsior and the USS Kelvin is fairly "old" news but then they've given us a little extra fan love with the announcement of two more ships. I'll let you scroll down to find out which ones they are...

USS Kelvin

USS Excelsior

The Excelsior is one popular model at the moment with both Hot Wheels and Diamond Select producing their own versions of the ship from Star Trek VI although I think someone's missing a trick by not sticking NX-2000 on one of the hulls and going a bit further on the retro scale. The Kelvin is a decent reproduction in miniature scale and I'd choose this one over the Kre-O chunk anyway  Even a good effort on the display stands don't you think? However, what about these two.....

Klingon D-4 Bird of Prey

USS Vengeance

Apologies for the logo embossing as these are not easy pics to come by! The D-4 gives a much better representation of the ships we saw on Qo'noS (no comment on the Kre-O versions) and you can see the typical Klingon design pattern here with the dropped wings and bird-like posture. Whether the colouring is accurate is a question because that's not how I remember it in the film although we didn't see that solid an image. With the Vengeance though we get a much clearer idea of her lines and that incredibly unique cut-out primary hull that's not been seen on a Federation starship before. Her engines are much higher than the Enterprise and wider too. I would've liked to get a shot of the bow but I'll keep looking. 

Apparently they were scouted on Entertainment Earth however I've taken a look and they're not there. If you spot them, drop a note on here and we'll take a look. Hopefully they'll be available for pre-order soon. Likelihood is that they'll only be available in the US too which always makes me a little sad for us UK fans, 

Images of Hot Wheels ships from trekcollective.com
Screenshots from SKoST