TF01
3,Modelling Star Trek
4,by Sven Harvey

First some good news.  The  new  range  of  Playmates  figures is now
available in this country OFFICIALLY  with  a  RRP of £5.99 each. The
bad news is that these DO NOT  include  the collector cards as in the
original American packs, even though some  of the ones available over
here are in the American packaging (albeit with a lot of stickers all
over them to cover the references to  the collector cards and to give
BanDai's address). The question is do you want to pay an extra £5 for
the collectors card in each case? The Tricorder is also now available
and the rest of the range is expected over the next few months.

The Playmates Star Trek: Deep  Space  Nine figures have been released
in the U.S.  So  far  only  Cmdr.  Sisko,  Quark,  Major Kira, Doctor
Bashir, Odo, Morn and  Gul  Dukat  have  been released. Dax, O'Brien,
Jake and the Rio Grande  should  be  available  over there soon. Also
available soon are four surprise releases! Firstly there is a classic
Star Trek phaser and a communicator both  to the same standard as the
Next Gen versions.  Also,  get  this,  the  original  Borg ship! This
features glow in the dark detailing,  lighted  portals and a blow off
section. Finally there is the Next  Gen  phaser... rifle! A full size
26 inch long replica with three sound effects... OW, I can't wait!

Now some REALLY good news.  AMT/Ertl  have  announced their 1994 Star
Trek range. First up is another version of the Movie Enterprise. This
one includes all the parts as in the 25th Anniversary light and sound
edition but with  the  addition  of  full  FIBRE  OPTICS  for all the
viewports! The news  also  stated  that  the  kits  packaging  may be
surprising! Star Trek VII by any chance?  The price is expected to be
around £50.

Second and due out in May is a  kit of the Deep Space Nine station to
compliment the Runabout  kit  that  should  be  available in January.
Details are not available but the price is going to be around £20.

U.S.S. Excelsior is finally arriving  and  is  to scale with the Next
Generation Enterprise. Again the price will be around £20 but this is
suggested  to  include  decals   for   other  Excelsior  class  ships
including NCC-1701-B U.S.S. Enterprise! If in scale she will be about
18 inches long.

Finally in a surprise move AMT/Ertl  are releasing some vinyl figures
of Kirk, Spock and McCoy.  These  will  be  1/6th scale and will cost
around £30 each.

The release dates for  these  kits  are  spread  between May (DS9) to
October for the new NCC-1701-A kit.  Expect  more kit news soon as it
is expected that AMT/Ertl  will  have  some  more  release news soon.
Rumour also has it that  their  30th  Anniversary line up (1996) will
include a set of all the Enterprises in the same scale including NCC-
1701-E (Nova class)!

Comet Miniatures are now stocking a range of 2 inch tall figurines of
the major Star Trek: The Next Generation characters. They are made of
pewter and are £4.50 each  or  the  set  of six (Picard, Riker, Worf,
Data, LaForge and Crusher) is £20.00. Call Comet on 071 228 3702.

Two new Geometric figures are now  available at around £40. These are
Lt Cmdr. Geordi LaForge and Lt Cmdr.  Deanna Troi both 1/6th scale in
vinyl.

That's your lot for this issue but  I  will be back in the next issue
with hopefully a  review  of  at  least  one  of  the  new  Ertl kits
mentioned above.