Golden Approach: The Official Starships Collection NCC-1701-D Gold Special Edition

Is this the special you didn't realise that you didn't need?

My answer; probably yes and with the slightly heftier £49.99 price tag this both one of the more expensive specials - plus it's the only one to date which is not on the large scale. Instead the gold USS Enterprise-D is a reworking of the issue one model which has also in turn been reworked into the All Good Things... Galaxy-X Class plus a Mirror Universe edition too.

It's easily one of the most recognisable designs in the Star Trek franchise but why the hell would you want to have a gold version of the Galaxy Class? For one it's totally decal-free, there's not a single translucent panel and there are no additional call out or stuck on bits. As molds goes it's Eaglemoss at their most basic with the ship comprising of the metal primary hull, the Engineering section and two nacelles.

The details on the hull are all still in evidence as they were on the original but here there's no colouring just a solid finish of gold all the way round. The lifeboat hatches, the windows, the warp grilles - they all feature but as a single solid piece and I'm not sure if I like it or not. Added bonus there is that the windows aren't painted in at the wrong angle nor are any of the pennants misaligned. In fact I'd go as far to say that having the ship in a single colour means that you can appreciate the finer details even more. Everything is laid bear and crystal clear.

Ok, it's a bit of a call back to early The Next Generation's conference lounge wall and the  later Enterprise-E's cabinet of ships but was there really a point to the creation of this model?

As a bonus edition I think it would have worked but as part of the specials - reserved for space stations, the JJ-verse and bigger scale starships, this is an item well out of place. Wrapping the standard model box in a flashy gold-edged sleeve doesn't really do much and I would suspect collectors would have been hoping that this one was an XL scale rather than the regular issue size.

You can't fault the work that's gone into the detailing because it's gorgeous to look at and even the split between metal and plastic is cleverly the saucer separation line (good move).  however I'd recommend either wearing gloves or leaving it in the box because that gold is not forgiving with physical contact and I can already spot the couple of points on the saucer where I've held it. Damn you gold, damn you!!!

The extra magazine has a resplendent cover photo of the gold beauty but sensibly dedicates the issue to how the interior of the USS Enterprise-D came about from the bridge to the corridors, sickbay and more. This is a good, summary guide to the work that went into the visual look of the standing sets with a lot of sketches, comparisons and pictures that many fans will have seen multiple times. For newcomers it's a decent read but it would have been a nice point to cover off the creation of the models for the conference lounge wall and where they are now since they were only around for the first couple of years of The Next Generation.

This gold special is a big ask at the price and some might say it's a tacky money-grabber. I can see how that can be but from an opportunity to appreciate the quality of the molds used it's fairly decent. However, that probably won't justify it as a purchase. It's nice but this is one of the most curveball entries to the series. It never appeared, it's not a concept and I personally don't think its in keeping with the series. Does it cheapen the collection? A little and Eaglemoss would be wise to avoid heading down this over-quirky route again.

Read all our other reviews of The Official Starships Collection from issue ONE here.

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