Yesterday's Enterprise - XL'd

Liam MacCreadie joins us once more to take a look over the latest XL Starship from Eaglemoss...

Originally published 28/11/2021. UPDATED 23/08/21

Welcome to this month's review of the latest starship to get the XL treatment, the second most anticipated supersize release since the Enterprise-A. 

I must start by saying I’ve always liked this ship since seeing her in Yesterday's Enterprise. Although she only gets a small amount of screen time I had to buy the AMT model kit so this release has been high on my radar since it was announced.

First impressions from opening the box is that she’s a very chunky ship. The level of detailing on the saucer is incredible; the top of the saucer is diecast with the bottom plastic and we have raised areas for phaser strips and lifeboat hatches which are well painted.  

The windows from a distance look well done and numerous, it’s not until you get close that you realise she suffers from the same window misalignment that afflicts other ships, however as the indents are so light it isn’t noticeable until you get right up on it. The big let down for the ventral though is the yellow either tractor emitters or sensors painted over the escape pod indents, something I’ve only just noticed, and something you can’t unsee unfortunately.

The registration and name look bold with the correct red outline on the black lettering that was missed on the previous XL USS Reliant. The underside of the saucer is much the same story with detail , raised escape pods and phasers, however the window alignment is a lot worse underneath with not only missing the indents but the black and white lines are on different heights, again from a distance it’s a trivial thing.

The secondary hull and neck are mainly diecast which adds the weight to the model and feels great. The windows are well aligned on this section on the diecast at least but the plastic slips again, all decals look great and mine has the pennants the correct way up unlike some. The biggest flaw though on this model is the deflector dish. This time we have the correct inset dish however as its transparent you can see the joining peg inside and a lot of models seem to be affected with glue visible on the interior. This could have been solved by having a solid backing, a simple addition that would make a lot of buyers happy.

Aft we have the much hyped impulse engine a detail noticeably missing from the regular sized model and something I’m glad was included, although I can’t help but feel it should be red and not blue - feel free to correct me if not the case! 

Carrying on down to the back we have a very nice shuttlebay, which is luckily well aligned, again on some models this is not the case.

Nacelles and pylons are nice and straight with bright plastic bussard collectors and warp grilles, something we’ve been use to seeing on a lot of these models. Registration numbers and pennants are all in place and correct too.

Before I finish I’d just like to compare her to the regular issue we had back in issue 46. First off we have moved the pylons from straight up to a more sloped back design with registry numbers now applied. The blue deck lines on the edge of the saucer have been omitted on the XL as happened on the Enterprise-B. 

As mentioned earlier we have the impulse engine present, the correct deflector dish and lastly the sensor dome underneath the saucer has changed completely from the Zhukov style on the regular to a correct Constitution class variant on the XL. 

Overall she’s a great looking model and I would rate her a solid 8/10. Like all the XLs it's a really great model only let down with silly little flaws but if a life long Trekkie I feel you can look past these . 

Have you been collecting the XL models from Eaglemoss? Which has been the highlight so far?

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Have You C-een Her? The Official Starships Collection Bonus Edition USS Enterprise NCC-1701-C Probert Concept

So far every model that's been released has been seen on screen or been featured in the ongoing novel series but now Eaglemoss is turning its attention to its first conceptual starship.

Yes, with the Probert Concept USS Enterprise NCC-1701-C we have the first of several might-have-been's. Seen in profile on the wall of the Enterprise-D conference lounge for the first few seasons of The Next Generation, the first version of the Ambassador Class was a much more obvious visual missing link between the Excelsior and Galaxy Class. 

For the first time here we have the opportunity to get this rare design in your hands. There's no big departure from the primary and secondary hull configuration bordered with two warp nacelles but it's when you get down to see how the design changed between 1987 and Yesterday's Enterprise that things really get interesting.

For starters let's kick off as you would expect by casting our eyes over the metal top section of the primary hull. As with the re-imagined later design it's still a familiar round saucer section yet there are a myriad of differences and details to get in close with. There's a much darker tone variation in the blue/grey aztec paint scheme and rather than having three separated phaser banks there is a single strip running around the hull much like the later Galaxy Class. It cuts a better balance on the hull in my opinion and breaks up what could be a very large and singular hull pattern.

Dotted across the hull and raised we have a number of lifeboat hatches. What is it with raised versus dipped detail on this collection I ask? Here the raised hatches are absolutely perfect in colour and alignment to that colour but then...well, we'll come to it in a bit so bear with. Across the whole of that upper hull section we have further emitter and feature detail picked out in a dulled yellow with printed-on windows in white. No sunken detail here so their placement is, again, spot on.  The bridge module to the centre, which apparently was conceived to be able to detach as a separate vessel does not have the definition to its edges that we see on something like the Enterprise-D. 

There's much more of a sweeping bump to the surface of the hull with a moderate level of detail in evidence. It's not great and the colours of the hull features do seem to blend in with the rest of the saucer a little too easily. When you do line her up against the Yesterday’s Enterprise C, the difference in the registry decal size is glaring with the Probert C much less in your face and also bearing some wobbly red bordering.

To the back of the saucer we have two more features to discuss that are painted up in pastel shades - the wide shuttlebay and also the warp field generator plus impulse engines just underneath. They are as muted in their colours as the rest of the call outs on the saucer and in comparison to the redesigned C they fade into the background a lot more easily - so much so I nearly missed them completely. Maybe this is quite telling of the design to in that there was no later development of this particular version which means some of the fineries were likely never refined if you will.

While we’re here lets mention the stand fitting. Its the usual rear saucer clip, fitting around the secondary hull as we’ve experienced with virtually every other Enterprise since the dawn of time. the base and clip fitted together perfectly for once which means my Probert C doesn’t have that inconvenient list to port that a couple of ships seem to carry.

Let's flip the saucer over and take a look at the underneath. Straight off you can spot the inset plastic saucer section which does align perfectly with the aztecing pattern on the outer metallic edge. It also sits nice and flush into the slot but perhaps would have made more sense if it were parallel to the underside phaser strip which mirrors the single bank that circles the top of the ship. There's also more of that creamy coloured highlighting but this time blocked around the lower sensor platform and following the edges of what appear to be landing struts or at the least some form of access panels.

Again the saucer carries the ship registry and in keeping with other ships of the line, the name Enterprise sits snugly in front of the neck. Both the underside decals are pristine and well aligned as are the decals marking out the ends of the phaser strip. To be honest, the bottom of the saucer is well finished if a little bland. Even the rows of windows are well spaced and finely painted on. 

Now lets move a little bit to the south and that graceful neck section bringing the two hulls together. There's certainly the suggestion of the shape of the Galaxy Class in there but Probert has twinned that design piece with the slated, black support that was evident on the earlier USS Excelsior. The pattern might not cross the whole of the neck but its very noticeable and is the first of the more major differences between this and the Yesterday’s Enterprise finished product.

To the rear of the neck section and sitting below the red impulse engines of the saucer we have what is for all intents and purposes a second impulse engine suggesting that the C would have had separating capabilities like the later, larger D. This engine sits mid-neck flanked by two columns bearing more printed on windows. The painting on that engine block does look a little rushed for my liking and there’s no break in colour for the two bars which run across the middle - its just one big blob of paint.

However, your attention probably won’t be drawn to the blobby engine but to this ship’s most glaring and embarrassing omission. For some inexplicable reason all the secondary hull detail forward of the neck section on both sides doesn’t exist. There’s no aztecing, no windows, nothing but the blue hull paint and its fairly baffling as to what has happened. Was it a real error? Was it due to a fiddly painting angle (can’t be as I would guess the saucer would not be fitted at this point) or something else? 

There seems to be no real reason from Eaglemoss on this one and it does bring some level of disappointment to what has been a highly anticipated starship. Nevertheless the remainder of the topside of the secondary hull has its paint scheme fully intact with two tone blue/greys and a smattering of windows for good measure. Thing is once you’ve seen the gap at the front your eye gets automatically drawn to it.

The hull shape is distinctly moving away from the Constitution Class guise and combining the traits of the B and D with a more elliptical and raked shape. On the top we have the Federation red stripe from the neck right to the second shuttlebay with two phaser strips marked up and running parallel to the hull. Behind them and in tiny script we again have the ship name and registry to the port and starboard respectively. Just a little off with the red edging decals for the phaser strips but we’re talking millimetres not centimetres. 

Pushing out past the phasers we are onto the warp engine pylons that echo the first iteration of the Enterprise-D’s. Sweeping forward, these pair of supports show some real grace and flair, lifting up to carry a rather spindly pair of warp nacelles.

Now we have mentioned that the ‘real’ C and this concept are very different in size and the most obvious point is right here in the warp engines. These are much more slim-lined, longer and a bit pointy. The top warp grilles are there as with the later version and here the paintwork of grey and blue seems to meld together at points rather than being distinguishable particularly at the bussard collector end. The grilles to the sides of the engines are incredibly thin and well done to Eaglemoss for managing to engineer them into the design and make them translucent. Each nacelle also carries the ship registry right at the rear tip and the field emitter coils burn a striking bright orange again well painted into the recess of the engine. Those bussard collectors are, correctly, fitted in translucent red and really finish off a very good and complex engine construction.

Again moving underneath, you’re hit by the gaping size of the main deflector. Similar to the Galaxy Class ‘eye’, the is solid coloured blue with a darker centre and dips back into the hull. If there's one other inconsistent consistency along with windows in this collection its the ability to create a sense of depth and light in the deflector dish and this is no exception. The grey dashed detail around the edge is on the other hand very nice and correct to the hull indentations but it doesn’t make up for the deflector blob.

As with the primary hull there are the standard raised lifeboat hatches and horizontal phaser strip as well as the two Starfleet pennants along either side. Some of the windows do appear misaligned and very close/overlapping onto the liftboat hatches. Take a closer look and it seems that the aztec paint scheme is slightly out of alignment too as it doesn’t match up with the red decals sitting just above the ventral phaser strip. Now that's disappointing. This error then extends down to the four square red decals between the two warp pylons and in the decals kerbing the end of the two phaser strips under those said pylons.

Here too is another join line and this one is very obvious with mine having a larger gap to one side than the other - and this is the problem with this bonus edition.  It feels unfinished and in some of the things I’ve highlighted here, rushed. Maybe mine might be the exception when it comes to the decals lining up to their intended spots but the error in the paintjob to the front of the secondary hull is unforgivable. 

Right, to the magazine now and this edition is rammed full of just about everything you could ever want to know about this conceptual design, the origins and some of the finer details we never got to see - actually no; no it isn’t. For me the magazine is a completely 100% missed opportunity from Eaglemoss. The opening pages might bear a fantastic CG image of this gorgeous and tragically near-forgotten design but the bones of the ship are missing in every way. Basically Andy Probert designed her for the lineage, there was a relief created for the observation lounge wall and that’s your lot. 

Magically and well worth a read in an attempt to pick yourself up from the gutting disappointment that was the ship overview there’s a good spread om the influential work of Mr Probert during the evolution of The Next Generation. This magazine IS filled with multiple examples of his work on the bridge for the D, the exterior of the iconic starship and many more pieces that he was involved with during the early years of Star Trek’s return to TV. This piece does make the magazine worthwhile but I think fans will feel shortchanged that there wasn’t more discussion around what features were dreamt up for this version of the Ambassador Class.

For all of the errors and faults that this kodel carries its still a brilliant glimpse of the Star Trek that might have been had Probert’s design remained a part of canon for Yesterday’s Enterprise and the Ambassador Class as a whole. What we can now look forward to is the Phase II USS Enterprise and the concept for Voyager. Given how well this one appears to have sold, fans definitely have a hunger for the more obscure designs that we never saw.

What are your thoughts on the Probert-C? Good model or shoddy finish?

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Yesterday's and Tomorrow's Today - The Official Starships Collection Issues 46 and 47

This may be my favourite pairing since O'Brien and Bashir in Armageddon Game.

I kid not here Starship Collection fans, because May 2015 brings us both the unforgettable USS Enterprise NCC-1701-C and Gowron's Klingon huge flagship,  the Negh'Var.

Let's kick off with fan favourite, the Enterprise-C. Famed for her singular appearance in the classic Yesterday's Enterprise from The Next Generation's third season, this hybrid design, taking in elements from the Constitution and Galaxy classes may well be one of the best produced models of the entire collection.

A couple of clangers have been dropped mind as I've seen on the Facebook page - one with both nacelles the wrong way round and one poor subscriber who managed to get two Enterprise models and no Negh'Var but we have to sidestep these anecdotal pieces to get right to the ship herself. As we shall see though, delivery clangers are the least of our concerns.

Mounted onto the stand at the rear of the saucer, the Enterprise-C is very close to scale with her predecessor which we saw back in issue 40. Her poise is elegant and Eaglemoss have wasted nothing on this one to be certain. The earlier photos of the model had shown her in a slightly different colour which was blamed on lighting but now we get to be up close it's clear that the hull is a grey/white with sections of the hull - mainly on the saucer - picked out in a duck egg blue. which links the colour schemes of the ships named Enterprise together most firmly in one respect.

The upper saucer only is made out of metal here with the underside of the primary hull, the connecting neck piece, the secondary hull and the two warp nacelles all out of plastic. The metal saucer section gives Eaglemoss a lot to play with here so there's a good deal of focus on the multiple lifeboat hatches, the window lights, the panel lines and importantly the pennants which adorn both the sides of the engineering hull and the warp engines. 

Both sides of the secondary hull bear the full and correct text if you squint and get close enough (so no refit movie Enterprise issue here). In fact there's quite a bit of decalling on the hull and on the engines which is worth checking out. The registry at the rear of the nacelles is quite tight but at least they're on straight. The underside of the saucer registry however is very, very tight against the forward phaser bank but good news is that the decal is clean and there's no tacky print bleed anywhere to be seen.

There's no flashy aztec paint scheme on the Enterprise-C with the surface bearing a blocked blue/grey colouring and extensive window details across both hulls and the connecting neck section. The joint lines between metal and plastic on the saucer as indistinguishable (mine had a slight separation but not a worry) however the join connecting the secondary hull to the engine struts is a little more obvious and not as clean. 

Looking at the warp engines mine do have a slight lean out of perfect alignment which isn't even a concern on my radar since the nacelles have a good, clean finish featuring our favourite transparent blue and red sections for collectors and exhausts. Note too that the deflector dish is in blue transparent plastic and the fit is very good indeed with no flash or evidence of sprue attachment. There's not even a slightly gluey edge but the dish is missing the grey trim which does make it look like an after thought to some degree.

But. And there's a big but coming, that's not the worst thing here and what we're going to discuss will give many fans a nervous twitch. On the Facebook Starships Collection page I lauded praise on the C, saying how it was one of the best produced, top ten material etc but on closer inspection I have to retract my statements because there's one huge omission that will get fans talking and some others which make it fairly incorrect dependant on which ship it's preporting to be. 

Number one - there's no impulse engine unit at the rear of the neck section. Seriously - check out any pics of the Ambassador Class you can find and there's an impulse engine block slap bang in the middle and that's applicable for all the variations that followed the original C model too. It's not that there's a painted blob missing, there's a whole damn impulse block gone AWOL. Once you notice that, there's also the fact that the top of the secondary hull does seem a little devoid of detail with that darker grey strip looking very out of place especially when I started comparing it to model shots that are easy to find through the miracle of Google (or other search engines). But, dear reader, hold your thoughts because I then decided to do some comparisons even further.

The lower sensor platform (the bit in the middle of the saucer underneath) and some of the lifeboat details on the upper saucer are also incorrect to the Enterprise-C but correct to the later Yamaguchi but then the taller pylons and the narrower stern/shuttlebay are right to the named ship we're supposed to have here. It's a total mix and match on this one which, once you get past the excitement of receiving the fabled Enterprise-C, is a huge disappointment because of the inaccuracies. At least the nacelles, underside of the secondary hull and deflector dish do appear to be correct to the fourth USS Enterprise. It might have been better to produce a second variant of this one later with the shorter pylons, more advanced sensor platform and revised bridge module detail. How this has come to pass is anyone's guess however it does appear to be a big blunder. I still think she's a gorgeous model and one I'm pleased to have even with the errors.

Issue 46 of the magazine could only go one way and that was to discuss the Narendra III incident and the classic Yesterday's Enterprise from The Next Generation.  All the CGI images within the magazine carry the errors that are on the model and are clear to see when compared to the photos from the episode. As a one story ship there are a lot of pics from that single appearance but we also get to see the original version as imagined by Andy Probert. This version, which sits more comfortably as the mid-point between Excelsior and Galaxy Class ships, is markedly different to the filmed ship which is closer to a Constitution/Galaxy combo. The magazine this time gives us the story of that vision and of the one that Rick Sternbach developed for the show. 

Rounding off the issue is a good couple of pages covering the making of Yesterday's Enterprise which was more of a mix and match than the model itself but covers the twists and turns of its evolution effectively. While a recognised classic now, the build up to filming certainly suggested it was going to be anything but a brilliant episode due to the number of individuals who had a hand in its writing.

So now over to the second entry for May 2015 and we have the Negh'Var. This model is based on the refitted, beefed up version we saw in Deep Space Nine rather than the "future" version we experienced in All Good Things. We get more pods, less front proboscis and a darker overcoat but at the core it's still the ship that destroyed the Pasteur. 

OK - down to business here. Scale-wise she's way off with the Enterprise-C being about 160 metres longer "in reality" to start with.  Good point straight away is that about 80% of her is in metal with the upper bridge module, the daughtercraft, warp engines and weapons pods glued on to the main lump. As we've just said, the colouring and detail is taken from The Way of the Warrior but comparing it to the TV appearances is a bit of a nightmare since shots of it are pretty dark so, we'll have to rely on the old model images instead.

Going at the detail, the hull is well painted with all the various radiators, fleet markings and some indications of weathering at the edges which does make it one of the more emblazoned models we've had. The underside is also marked out in full but getting close ups on this is a rarity so kudos to Eaglemoss for tracking down source material here.

I suppose with the Negh'Var I have two gripes which make it just less than perfect. For one the daughtercraft which sits at the rear is just slightly off-centre on my model and secondly - and one that is oddly exactly the same omission that we saw on the Enterprise-C - there are no impulse engines marked out on the backside of the hull. 

To say I was shocked was about right. On both ships from this month we're missing detail and I find it hard to believe that this is because of ease of including these parts since there have been more intricate details and decals included on other vessels right from the Enterprise-D in issue one. Also I might be mistaken but the protrusions on the forward swept wings also look a bit longer and thicker than was applicable for the Negh'Var. 

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is just a mere blip in the running of the series and that next month's issues of Ablative Voyager and ECS Fortunate will be comprehensively correct. 

By accident I compared this Negh'Var to the smaller and less detailed Attack Wing miniature and the difference in quality is,  unsurprisingly,  staggering. Eaglemoss have attempted a meticulous 360 degree recreation of the ship which we never clearly go to see on screen. Actually the underside is even more heavily decalled than the top with a variety of panel lines, raised grids and those two underslung weapons pods which are very unusual on any Star Trek ship.  But hold on - compare the plan views in the magazine to the underside and the detail of the yellow sections and the impulse engine blocks towards the front of the wing just don't match up. Nor are the grilles along the leading edge of the wing anywhere to be seen. I might let this go however since that edge is pretty slim. The issue with the impulse pods though it's good since they don't extend down from the hull enough. The views do tend to highlight the intakes in all their fiery glory which doesn't translate to the model. 

In relation to build quality, she is pretty solid given the substantial metal to plastic ratio. However be careful taking her out of the plastic tray around the nose as it's firmly gripped. The fitting of the plastic to metal sections is pretty good too although on mine I did notice that the underside piece on the front bridge module was not totally flush and had a little bit of give. Overall it's a decent result and, incredibly the fifth Klingon entry into the series with, I think, only the original TV series D-7 to go.

What the next step of Klingon ship evolution on TV or film would have been we may never know of since the Negh'Var was the last forward advancement of the Empire's designs. After its appearance we would be heading into Enterprise with the recently reviewed Raptor and the reworked retro Bird of Prey. 

The magazine covers the usual back-story of the ship from its arrival in The Way of the Warrior to its subsequent appearance in By Inferno's Light as well as paying service to All Good Things..., a fleeting turn in Endgame from Voyager and a larger presence (literally) in the Mirror Universe as Regent Worf's flagship.

Damage to the original miniature meant that the ship got a revamp between its appearance in The Next Generation finale and Deep Space Nine's fourth season premiere which is represented here in metal and plastic and it's incredible to discover how much of the older Vor'Cha cruiser was used to create it's larger successor - that neck section looks vaguely familiar don't you think...?

A nice addition in this issue is the article talking to Robert O'Reilly around his time as Chancellor Gowron from first appearance in Reunion through to Tacking into the Wind which brought the character's story to a very finite conclusion. O'Reilly's thoughts on the character are very interesting especially in the way he saw Gowron's portrayal originally in The Next Generation to his darker, more power-corrupted self in Deep Space Nine. One point - that picture on page 12 at the bottom isn't Gowron. O'Reilly yes, but the forehead is all wrong so it might be from the VHS board game...!

The designing section here contains some superb photos of the filming model in it's various guises and with parts chopped, extended or painted in a variety of shades of green. Shame that the screenshots from episodes don't allow too much comparison as noted due to their fairly dark nature. The CGI images created for the mag are as usual top standard with an odd pose of the rear end - highlighting that lack of impulse engine detail - emblazoned across the cover.

It's a month of mixed feelings therefore. Back in April I was very excited to be looking forward to the upcoming Enterprise and Negh'Var models but the errors which have been raised do put a dampener on the package. I am pleased with them but I know there are inaccuracies that will bug given the extraordinary level of attention to detail that Ben Robinson and the Eaglemoss team have delivered across 47 issues and four specials on a consistent basis. I'm certain that this will only be a minor setback confidently overcome by next month's two winners.

What did you think about this month's starships? Am I being too harsh here? Let us know below! Want to subscribe? Follow the link in our sidebar to begin your collection today!

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Top 25 - 20 years on

Once upon a time there was a magazine called Starlog.

It was the one stop source for all things science fiction and fantasy while also being maturely written and superb value for money (in the 1990's at least).

On one of my numerous loft searches for Star Trek material for SKoST I uncovered a gem of an issue of the now sadly defunct publication which featured the Top 25 episodes of The Next Generation as voted for by its readers. Published (as it states) during the sixth season when it was rumoured that those 26 episodes would be the last produced, it omits the end of that season as well as series seven from final selection. Now I find it a bit weird that this article should rear it's head from the loft just as The Best of  Both Worlds plays on the big screen ahead of the blu-ray releases of The Next Generation season three and four and just after startrek.com asked fans to rate their favourite installment from a list of seven from all 178 episodes.

Now a few weeks ago the startrek.com result was announced and putting the two together it's actually interesting to see a few shifts have occurred over the course of just under 20 years. We have to look at this second poll from the website slightly differently because there were only six episodes to pick from, one of which wasn't even made when Starlog published the above article.

Now  I actually put this piece on the backburner due to some minor movie that came out recently called Star Trek Into Darkness and it got lost in the drafts section of SKoST but someone must be telling me to publish it as this week a piece showed up on startrek.com talking about Starlog magazine. I don't think I can ignore an invitation and timing like that twice so let's take a more detailed look at what we've got here before I have to wait for something to do with countdowns or The Next Generation's 30th anniversary to hit the publish button.

from startrek.com

Now, discounting All Good Things..., it's the switch of numbers one and three that provides most interest. Remember the first survey (Starlog) was conducted in 1993. These were the days before the Borg-centric juggernaut of Star Trek First Contact, pre-Voyager, in the early days of Deep Space Nine and also pre-DVD let alone blu-ray. It seems that over 20 years, The Best of Both Worlds has withstood the test of time well to the point where it now tops the table. I would say that all those factors above have helped it climb to this position but both these polls have massive flaws which fans will no doubt be screaming at this post right now. Firstly the Starlog piece was written pre-season seven and half way through the '92-'93 series. The startrek.com poll only gave a choice of six which somewhat limits the choice.  When we compare the positioning of The Inner Light, Darmok and The Measure of a Man between the two results however they would be in exactly in the same places 20 years apart! 

I would have loved to see this 25 episode poll redone now or even just after season seven concluded. It's amazing to think that when this was produced in Starlog we had no concept of how The Next Generation was going to end or that there would be four motion pictures to follow, the second of which would have no doubt been a massive influence on the change in position for The Best of Both Worlds as would the one-night-only cinematic release of the HD version on April 25th. Are these factors that now make it preferable to the also classic Yesterday's Enterprise? Has this episode been over-watched? Has its impact lessened since 1989/90 that much that it has dropped not only from favourite but also past The Inner Light? This has always been a stalwart list topper since 1993 undoubtedly due to Patrick Stewart's performance - indeed this could also be applied to The Best of Both Worlds.

There are two more points that this raises - is The Best of Both Worlds really the best episode The Next Generation produced and also what happened to Yesterday's Enterprise? Have we fallen a bit out of love with what was once classed as the pinnacle of The Next Generation? I don't think it's quite that serious but The Best of Both Worlds is getting a lot of press at the moment so maybe letting the dust settle and doing a recount might be in order; perhaps even wait until the end of the blu-ray release of all seven seasons, then take a vote. I wonder as well if we view The Best of Both Worlds with some sort of fluffy love and reminiscence of the "good old days" of the Borg before they were (maybe) overused and revamped for Star Trek First Contact and Voyager.

I actually look at the Starlog piece and wonder which episodes from those that missed the deadline would have been included and which would have lost out had this been actioned 18 months later in the gap between All Good Things... and Star Trek: Generations? I suspect that installments such as Rascals, A Fistful of Datas and The Host would have missed the cut while we might have seen at least a couple of additions such as Second Chances, The Pegasus and of course All Good Things... which would probably have made it into at least the Top Ten. I'd even question the inclusion of Deja Q in the top echelons let alone the fact that it made it into the chart in the first place - what happened to Unification for example? 

The cutoff point for "votable" episodes was Tapestry which meant that Birthright (a rewatched episode I found was better after 20 years) and all beyond were excluded. So what would I have changed at this point? Well, I would have included Conspiracy (not one first season episode made the cut, note) and possibly Unification II. It's hard to try and "avoid" thinking about the final season in line with a "best episodes" chart and while this doesn't tick all the boxes it's a nice slice of Star Trek history and a snapshot of opinion of one time in the life of the franchise. If we redid this poll today I'm not sure that I, Borg would rate so highly either potentially due to the large number of episodes they were featured in during the seven years of Voyager. Will some of the "lower ranked" stories here carry as much weight in our Star Trek-filled hearts in the future? Even now I wouldn't choose Remember Me over something like the brilliant Tapestry. As noted that was the last episode aired before the vote which could account for both its inclusion and its lowly ranking as not everyone might have seen it by the close of the vote. One more flaw to add to the list.

I'm surprised there's no Chain of Command or Conundrum for instance but for now I'm refraining from announcing my favourite episodes and the order of preference because that's something I have lined up for the end of season seven before I start my much anticipated run on Deep Space Nine. Anyway, to conclude, both polls are flawed but brilliant snapshots into how The Next Generation has fared over three decades. On the whole the episodes that we loved then are the same today but would they still be in similar positions come another 20 years? Something tells me the top three would certainly be unchanged as not only great episodes of The Next Generation but Star Trek as a whole. They have aged well and clearly carry a lot of affection from us, the fans. While I didn't vote in the Starlog chart of 1993 i did for the one carried on startrek.com. My choice.... Now that would be telling however if you've followed this blog since I started you'll already know the answer....

You can access a PDF of the Starlog document here