FanSets: Welcome to Picard

Here's a delivery I was overexcited to see drop through the letterbox!

Ok, so we're all looking forward to anything coming our way during the current situation we find ourselves in but this one has managed to make it all the way from the USA to bring some metallic goodness into my Star Trek world.

Those clever fellows over at FanSets have built up a splendid reputation over the years with their pin badges, starting out with Star Trek before branching out into numerous other franchises with equal success.

My belief is that this has a lot to do with the pride, effort and accuracy in their work which is perhaps most evident from the fact (and this is a damn good fact) that their Picard family crest was actually used in the filming of Picard! Yes, they are that flipping good their items are used for actual, physical Star Trek productions so there.

OK, it's been a while since I've had anything from FanSets so from a production perspective the badges have now gone from a single pin and metal clasp piece to double pins withmore finger-friendly plastic caps. There's a few benefits to this so I'll cover them now. 

One is that the badges stay vertical much more easily plus the rear metal caps had a tendency to come off whether you made sure they were on tight or not possibly resulting in lost caps or more cutting, lost badges. Thirdly, the caps are much easier to handle when you're putting them onto clothing for example. They don't catch, they hold firm and as a bonus you can see them if dropped since they're bright yellow. Overall, this is a massive improvement and I can confirm all the above when I stuck on my new min-Picard combadge to pop to the shops.

Now I've added five new pins to my collection and before we go into the trio from Picard let's look at two associated with The Original Series. 

Taking them in season order we have The Menagerie's wheel-chair bound Captain Christopher Pike. Thinking ahead let's hope they do an Anson Mount Discovery version but for now this is magic. Somehow FanSets have managed to replicate the look of Sean Kenney replete with radiation burns and coiffed white hair that marked the former Enterprise captain's return to the series.

The wheelchair itself is elegantly simplistic with just the "Yes" and "No" lights  adorning the front of the enclosed unit before giving way to a matt black finish edged in white. Why do I like this one? Because it's an oddball one - unusual because it steps away from the usual standing pose and is tied to a specific and very memorable episode - or should I say two episodes...?

Secondly we have another figure that links to my favourite episode from The Original Series so getting it was a no-brainer - Kirk in his spacesuit from The Tholian Web.

Ironically, Kirk is probably the character we see the least in the third season story given that he's stranded in interphasic space for the bulk of the narrative however the suit and the captain repeatedly appear in ghostly form throughout.

The head sculpt is replicated from the original Kirk figure (which we reviewed here)but the rest of it is all new and very, very, VERY cool. This is screen accuracy at its best down to the inclusion of the blue, pink orange tubing over the silver suit, the bell-jar helmet and, if you look really, really closely there's even the nameplate "Kirk" in place.

Amazingly - and I actually Googled the suit to check, FanSets have managed to capture the correct number of buttons on the piping which is in the exact places it should be. Truly mindblowing detail on this one and well done to the team for getting it this accurate on this kind of scale. Take note Eaglemoss!!!

Now let's step forward 50 years and set our sights onto the newest arrival, Picard and three badges available now from FanSets.

First up and available for a while is the aforementioned Picard family crest which doubles as a combadge on the family estate. To say this is screen accurate is like saying Data is an android; it's fact because it WAS used in the show so through FanSets you can own something that is guaranteed 100% correct to the show in size, colour and build - that's another incredible thing to add to the list you can associate with this company.

Nor is it a shoddy design with a lack of precision that you might expect for something so small as the badge features the full crest with a slightly raised edge in gold to trim it off. It looks and feels fantastic.

Second is the Visitor badge seen clipped to Picard's jacket when he visits Starfleet HQ. Double pinned to the back, this solid oval metal one-piece badge intercuts the Starfleet delta in negative space with a gradual domed surface. The "visitor" script is slightly set back into the surface with the lettering precisely painted up. While you can't slip it on as easily as Jean-Luc did, it does mean that the next trip to your regional office might be a little more entertaining. 

Finally there's the latest iteration of the Starfleet combadge. Taking a lead from the version seen in All Good Things... plus The Visitor and Endgame, the delta is now just a raised silver trim over two rectangular - to a point - sections. Also this is a rare one from FanSets in that it's two pieces joined together to form the combadge. Only drawback to this one - it's not 1:1 scale which was disappointing but it's a good pinhole suit badge or worth sticking on your club tee when you're out lockdown shopping as it might end up drawing in a conversation!

The quality of all five badges is unquestionable and FanSets continue to produce a superb range with new items coming very regularly. Even if you're not into Star Trek you might be swayed by one of their other, equally brilliant, collections.

I'm very happy with these five especially with the updates to the fixings which I hadn't seen before which help relieve a bit of anxiety that you might inadvertently lose one at the worst time possible. I for one always look forward to seeing what's coming and with the first looks at their Picard range there might be another order going in fairly soon...

You can check out FanSets full range of pins at their website fansets.com right this damn second. Go on...it makes sense...just go and grab the credit card first...!

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