TF01 3,MERCHANDISE REVIEWS 4, Antioch Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation Bookplates ----------------------------------------------------------------- By Sven Harvey ---------------- Right I know what you are saying...WHAT IN THE ALPHA QUADRANT IS A BOOKPLATE? Well to quote the packaging... "Bookplates are decorative labels with a space for your name." Okay we all follow it so far... "Show that you value your books by protecting them with bookplates. Select a design with care, then put one on the inside cover of each volume you own. Enjoy and share your books. Antioch bookplates will help them come home again." It sounds like a really good idea so I bought two packs of Next Gen plates with the standard cast photo from season 5 (Wesley-less fortunately). For £1.50 a pack you get 12 7.5 by 10.2 cm stickers with either the Next Gen cast photo or the classic Enterprise. But do they help? Well I decided to test them. Instead of books however I used them on videos and did a test as follows. A friend of mine wanted to borrow four Next Gen tapes so I placed a bookplate in each of two of them. After a week I got the plated tapes back but the unplated ones didn't "come home" for another week. So they do work and at only £1.50 a pack probably a good investment to safeguard not only your books but all of your Star Trek videos and everything else from unscrupulous borrowers! ENTERPRISE D MODEL by PLAYMATES/BANDAI ---------------------------------------- Reviewed by Gary Moffat ------------------------- This model is another in the collectors series from BanDai coming complete with collectors edition number. However these models or to be more correct TOYS have been produced in their 100's of thousands as with all of there other Next Generation range, rendering the collectors number meaning very little as there is an abundance of these models/toys around. The model/toy comes in a rather eye catching box with a graphical representation of the model to be found inside along with an appropriately colourful background topped off with the The Next Generation logo. On the back of the box there is a photograph of the model with lots of text and arrows pointing to different parts of the model informing you what each part is. This information is very accurate. The model is 15 inches long and 10 inches wide at the saucer section. Colouration comes in a grey/white colour with lots of surface detail and added colours for various parts of the ship. In addition to the detail there is a selection of transfers to be added to the ship which are again accurate and I would say exactly as they appear on the "Real" Enterprise. The ship is functional as there are four buttons to be pressed which activate the Impulse engine sound, Warp drive, Phaser sound and Photon torpedo sound. Each sound is accompanied with the Warp engines and Bussard Collectors lighting up. The sounds again are very accurate and the reproduction is almost identical to that heard from the "Real" Enterprise. The model is not a exact copy of that of the Enterprise but it is as accurate as you will find anywhere unless you build your own from a kit. The model is made from hard durable plastic which will put up with a lot of abuse, ideal for the smaller children to be let loose with. Great value for money as they can be used as models for display due to the high quality of detail or for a toy with great sound effects and little chance of accidental damage because of the materials used to make the model/toy. Great fun to play with as well to put on display. I look forward to further products in this line as they can be used by all the family. ST:TNG and ST:DS9 Holograms ----------------------------- by A.H. Prismatic ------------------- Reviewed by Sven Harvey ------------------------- As some of you may know, holograms as we see them today are 3D images produced on photgraphic film by laser light aimed at the object being reproduced. Unlike the cheaper silver foil multi-colour holograms sold as stickers and used on credit cards, these are made using a red beam laser. The end result from this more expensive procedure is far superior and this is the process used to make the holograms of the Enterprise-D and the Deep Space Nine station. Both holograms seem to have been made using white metal and highly detailed models of the ship and station and when you catch the light properly they produce a convincing and very high quality 3D image of the object. They are very intricate and quite beautiful. The Enterprise-D hologram depicts the ship from below with a planet, a moon and a starfield as the back drop and all the detail of the warp nacelles, windows and even life pods on the surface of the ship is evident. Deep Space Nine is equally impressive but also has two different backgrounds. The first is of the flash experienced before the wormhole opens and if you move position this changes to a view of the open wormhole. These two pieces of art take pride of place on my mantle piece and I feel that even with the DS9 hologram a roughly half the size of the Enterprise they are both worth the asking price of around £18 each.