MORE REVIEWS! ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ Micro Machines Star Trek Collection ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ Reviewed by Sven Harvey ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ This new range of Star Trek models is from Galoob and imported by Toy Options. Yes, you read that write the same people who did the original Next Generation toys! And yes they are in the original American packaging (with a CE sticker on the back) in three flavours. The first is "The Original Star Trek Collection" and features, as with the other two packs, three models. In this collection there is the U.S.S. Enterprise (NCC 1701 no bloody A, B, C or D!), a Klingon cruiser and a Romulan Bird of Prey. The Enterprise is 8cm long (approx. 3 inches) with the other two in similar sizes. As in all the packs each model has it's own clear plastic display stand. The front of the bubble-pack card has a shot of the original Enterprise and a run-down of the entire collection of nine vessels with fact files on the back. The miraculous thing is that almost all of the facts are correct! The two other packs follow the same pattern with "The Star Trek Movies Collection" containing U.S.S. Exclesior (NCC-2000), a Klingon Bird Of Prey and U.S.S. Reliant (NCC-1864) with a shot of Reliant orbiting Regula on the front of the card. Unluckily the designer has a touch of the Richters and has coloured the Exclesior and Reliant blue! The final set, "The Star Trek: The Next Generation Collection" contains a Klingon Vor'Cha Battlecruiser, a Borg vessel and a Romulan Warbird, with the Warbird gracing the front of the card. All of the models are of a reasonable quality with the inevitable painting mistakes in one or two places but all pretty accurate (other than the aforementioned colour problems. Each model is made of a plastic with a slight rubber like look. Unluckily though, there is no movie or Next Generation Enterprise which kind of invalidates the movie and Next Generation packs, though it isn't very surprising to find that the NCC-1701 in the first pack in in the same scale as the die-cast NCC-1701-D that Galoob released in 1987! Note though that the models are no where near in scale with each other (an NCC 1701-A in scale with Reliant would be larger than the Excelsior model) they do look good on my mantlepiece. Each of the packs is ฃ5 at Beatties, but should be cheaper when they appear in Toys R Us this month. Look at them before you buy as some may not like them but they are worth the total price of ฃ15 if you ask me! Star Trek: The Next Generation 3CD box set ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ GNP Crescendo Records / ZYX Music ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ Review by Sven Harvey ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ Don't confuse this with the Star Trek Box containing two Classic Trek CD's as well as ST:TNG volume 1 (Encounter At Farpoint). This set contains volume 1 of ST:TNG along with volume 2 (The Best Of Both Worlds parts 1 and 2) and volume 3 (Yesterday's Enterprise, Unification I and II and Hollow Pursuits). Volume 1 contains the original versions of the Next Generation main title and end credit themes plus the rather nice music from the pilot episode. All of the music except the title and end credit themes were composed by Dennis McCarthy who went on to do the music for volume 3. The CD lasts for just under 40 minutes and includes an interesting alternative to the main title theme, which doesn't sound right for the Enterprise but would fit Deep Space Nine like a glove (if they get rid of that long winded tune we are stuck with at the moment!). The second CD contains the brilliant music from Best Of Both Worlds composed by Ron Jones (along with the season 2 version of the main theme for some reason and the normal end credit theme). As you will remember, the music from this excellent story involved a great deal of vocal and atmospheric techniques which unlike CD 1 stimulates the recollection of the story parts where the music was used. This is not really surprising as the CD 2 music has only been used for Best Of Both Worlds (and a couple of pieces in I Borg) where as alot of the music from Farpoint has been used over and over since. Tracks 4 (Borg Engaged), 11 (Captain Borg), 12 (Energy Weapon Fails) and 20 (Picards Nightmare) are particularly good and do stir some emotion in even me! The final CD in this mini-collection contains the music from the two excellent episodes, `Yesterday's Enterprise' and `Hollow Pursuits'. The pieces from these episodes are fairly representative of the stories with the music from the battle scene of `Yesterday's Enterprise' (Klingons/Skin of Teeth) along with the piece which accompanies the swordplay holo-scene in `Hollow Pursuits' (Lady Gates/Swordplay) being the most memorable. Unluckily the CD has also got some of the music from `Unification I' and `Unification II'. The majority of the music on the CD from this story seems to lose it's way in the same manner as the episodes did with the notable exception of the two tracks `Sarek' and `Sarek Drifts Away' (tracks 7 and 8, respectively, on the CD) which capture the essence of the scene from the episode. Overall a very good package which I recommend to all who have none or just one of the CD's as at a price of ฃ16.99 it represents a significant saving over the individual prices of approximately ฃ12. Personal Communicator by Playmates ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ Reviewed by Gary Moffat ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ This communicator is a toy for children and pretends to be nothing else and so far as I am aware is only sold in toy shops but can probably be picked up from Trek magazines and related merchandising shops and mail order outlets. The communicator comes in a large colourful box with the Star Trek logo on the top and a picture of the communicator on the front next to Captain Picard proudly wearing his communicator. There is also a hole cut in the front of the box for you to test the device before making a purchase. There is a few snippets of information to be gained on the box in the way of text describing how you can communicate like a `real Starfleet officer' by tapping the communicator and how exactly it should be worn. Place the communicator 15 centimetres (6 inches) below your left shoulder. Now did you know that there was set measurements for the placing and wearing the communicator device. (A little bit of extra trivia for everyone to pass on.) The communicator is a official product licenced out to Playmates by Paramount and carries the Paramount logo. There is also an extra panel on the box stating collector's edition and a personal number. This can only have been added to entice the older fans to purchase the device for themselves which can only be expected as the product is on sale to make money for all parties concerned. On opening the box we find the communicator in a blister packet and a extra set of instructions to compliment the information on the outside of the box. The text and instructions are in several languages so no extra packaging or marketing of the product will be necessary for other countries. Which means that there will be a wide distribution of the product. This seems to contradict the blurb about being a collectors item as there will no doubt be millions of these devices manufactured so taking the the need to rush out to buy one as there will be plenty of opportunity to obtain one. To the communicator itself:- It is big. Bigger than the communicators seen on the programme itself. This is for the end user, the child as he/she will be able to handle it easily and control it without problems as children tend to be a bit clumsy. The device is made form hard durable plastic in the correct colours. It attaches on the clothing by way of a clip that slides on to the pocket or a press type stud that attaches through the clothing. I found the latter much more secure as my six year old run about with it for hours without falling off. Power is from two A76 batteries which are included in the initial purchase and these should last a fairly long time. They are easily replaced but not easily removed by the inquisitive child as they are quite small and could be easily swallowed. Activation of the communicator is achieved in the familiar way by tapping the device and as expected it produces a two second burst of chirps. Unfortunately not true to the original as heard on the programme but near enough. There is also a extra in the way of a flashing red light the comes on as the device is activated. This is a odd extra as this feature is not on a `proper' communicators but saying that the kids love it so this can be forgiven. As said before the communicator is a toy and so aimed at children and is suitable for children of 4 years and upwards (how many of us fall into that category?). I purchased it for DM 25 which equates to about ฃ9.00 which may be a bit steep for some pockets but I have found it excellent value for money as it has grabbed my childs attention and he now watches TNG every chance he gets so that he can activate his communicator when the characters on screen activate their devices and he replies with an appropriate response. Excellent value for money and great fun and great entertainment for all ages and as a extra it adds a little bit of interaction for the kids as they watch the show. Avoid if you are after total authenticity as this communicator is after all just a toy for the kids. (I wonder how many adults out there will buy it for themselves?) The Communicator can be purchased at most good toy shops or you could try to obtain it from Playmates distributors:- Bandai (U.K.) Fareham PO16 8XT England Stating the following reference number 6152. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Series Premiere Trading Cards ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ by SkyBox ญญญญญญญญญญญ Reviewed by Sven Harvey ญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญญ In line with what seems to be a growing market for these cards in the U.S., Skybox International has secured the licence for trading cards of Deep Space Nine from Paramount for at least the foreseeable future. This their first release based on the pilot episode `Emissary' and is limited to 150,000 complete sets. As far as I know this set can only be purchased as a boxed set and not in packets and may seem expensive to trading card newcommers at approximately ฃ12. However on opening the box it becomes apparent that this set of 50 cards (including two special `Spectra' cards and checklist) is something rather special. Each card features a scene from the pilot incapsulated within a starscape border and part of Bajor's wormhole to the left. The title of the card is printed in the top left corner and the Deep Space Nine logo is in the opposite corner. On the other side is a brief description of the scene along with a cropped version of the illustration and the card number in the set. The main set of 47 cards follow this pattern. The checklist card (#48) has a full illustration of DS9 herself on the front with the actual list on the back. The two `Spectra' cards are essentially copies of cards #2 and #22 on the back. On the front is an unbordered version of the card's illustration but printed in some kind of foil. The result is a multi-coloured image which is weird yet very pretty and enhance the collection as a whole. Three other cards appear in the box the first of which is a certificate of limited edition with the edition number of the set printed on it (mine is 034467) and the release date of May 1993. The two others are firstly an advert for the 100 card Deep Space Nine release for the Autumn and a customer survey card. The collection box is also very nice and well printed with the station printed on the front and the DS9 logo on almost all of the other sides. Overall I was impressed by this set and I feel that these cards are much nicer than the Next Generation cards I have seen. A perfect introduction to trading cards and a very, very nice collectors piece. Very highly recommended, and well done SkyBox. If this set is anything to go by the 100 card release should produce some gems.