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Revell making Beyond Enterprise Refit?

10K views 68 replies 18 participants last post by  Daniel_B 
#1 ·
Basically wondering if the 2016 Beyond Refit Enterprise will be a plastic kit? Another possibility is Refit pylons and other details made in the garage kit community. I believe someone made a Refit Impulse vent after the last film.

http://i.imgur.com/NAVWplv.jpg


Please, only serious replies.

A March 2016 thread asking about the Refit Enterprise kit being in production was treated with asinine comments about how no one would buy such a POS. The poster's question was never answered, but it was ridiculed. Shameful behavior. Especially for people here.
 
#2 ·
I hadn't noticed they'd swept the nacelle pylons back for this new version. Was that in the STID version as well? I like that graphic. FWIW, I've never minded the idea that the JJ Universe (now officially "the Kelvin Timeline) Enterprise is much larger than its TOS counterpart.
 
#5 ·
IIRC they also narrowed the width of the dorsal pylon to make it appear more vulnerable during the attack scenes. The warp engines are also a bit smaller.

I think whether they release a refit version depends on two things. Did the sales of the original NuE sell well enough or exceed expectations and will it appear in the fourth film as is or will they introduce an all new ship design instead. Return on investment is important and making a partial new tool for the ST-B refit needs to have either great sales or be something people are going to want for a while. It will be a business decision having nothing to do with the merits of the design- will it sell enough to make a profit?- if not then it will be up to the aftermarket people to supply the changed parts.
 
#6 ·
I think whether they release a refit version depends on two things. Did the sales of the original NuE sell well enough or exceed expectations and will it appear in the fourth film as is or will they introduce an all new ship design instead. Return on investment is important and making a partial new tool for the ST-B refit needs to have either great sales or be something people are going to want for a while.
More and more I think it really boils down to whether the licensee simply wants to do it. For some reason, Star Trek models are just sooooooooo hard to produce and such a gigantic, potentially company-destroying risk that companies can't possibly release new subjects unless a gun is to their heads. **cough-Round 2-cough** Yet, we somehow manage to get models from Interstellar, Fantastic Voyage and Space:1999. Was ROI factored into the decision to make the LIS Derelict? Or maybe CBS's license is simply ungodly expensive that companies make virtually nothing on Trek products. If that's the case, it falls on CBS and Paramount to loosen the spigot.
 
#8 ·
My (not incredibly informed) impression is the original JJprise kit wasn't a tremendous seller. There was no repackaging for Into Darkness or for Beyond but the kit is being packaged together with Revell's TOS Enterprise as a 50th anniversary item. Movie-related kits are a huge gamble because the movie is usually out and gone; Interstellar happened because Moebius had a good relationship with Chris Nolan's production company due to their Batman kits--they wanted an Interstellar model out and made it easy for Moebius to do that. Batman is a continuing movie brand so Batman movie kits aren't such a gamble. It's more challenging dealing with Paramount/CBS. TV is potentially a better platform but even there it's rare to get a line of kits--look at Enterprise, where they did the huge NX-01 but basically no other subjects. On the other hand, if you have an older brand that's been around for a long time and a subject like the Proteus and Space: 1999 Eagle where you know there's a demand, it's less of a gamble.
 
#9 ·
Interstellar happened because Moebius had a good relationship with Chris Nolan's production company due to their Batman kits--they wanted an Interstellar model out and made it easy for Moebius to do that.
Which begs the question why CBS and Round 2 can't do something like that? It's things like this that convince me that the motivation behind whether a kit gets made or not is solely a matter of personal ambition. If someone wants a kit made, and they have enough clout (and clout = power), then things happen. I suspect it's not that different from the movie business itself. I've seen great screenplays languish in development hell for years, with studios passing on projects because of 'sound business reasons' (i.e. whatever BS excuse they want to use to NOT make something) until, boom, George Clooney or Will Smith decide they're "interested" and suddenly everyone wants to make that movie. For whatever reason, CBS can't get its act together with Round 2 or Revell to make things happen. Meanwhile, Bandai is pumping out new Star Wars kits every month...
 
#11 ·
Could you imagine if Bandai had a Star Trek license again? The kits they made in 2003 were freakin awesome, especially Voyager. With today's technology, there's no telling how freakin sweet they would be.

That said, the models Round2 have done are cool. I just wish they had the resources like Bandai to pump out ship after ship.
 
#16 ·
Just my opinion here-
Enterprises sell well, that is the reason that subject is offered in so many different scales currently in production.
The NuE is simply ugly- the design is unbalanced. It looks much better on the screen than in your hand. It comes from a film series which slapped beloved canon in the face. The films are fun to watch, but I for one have to turn off my head to enjoy the ride.
The NuE will not sell as well as other Enterprises because most builders are fans of the prime canon. The new films attracted people who never watched much of the older shows/movies and only a small percentage are modelers.
I do hope a NuE refit is offered for completeness, it will be a business decision depending on the numbers.
 
#17 · (Edited)
It would be nice if Revell would test the theory that the JJprise won't sell in America by, ya know, actually trying to sell it in America. I mean, we all have our theories about why a ship from one obscure sci-fi series has more sales potential than another ship from an obscure sci-fi series, but here's a case where a model actually exists. There are no prohibitive new tooling costs. They just have to ship it to American stores or make it available (without the inflated overseas costs) through American online retailers. So I'm really REALLY puzzled why they just don't even try. Again, even if there are people who (justifiably) think the design is unbalanced and have problems with the Kelvin Timeline (TM) movies, would the JJprise really sell worse than the LIS Derelict? The Interstellar thing?
 
#18 ·
I assume it's a licensing issue. I note that R2 hasn't whipped out all those Star Wars kits that MPC made in the '70s to cash in on both nostalgia and the new SW boom. Of course those kits are rather sad compared to the Bandai kits, and I shudder to imagine the MPC Falcon boasting, BOASTING new tool'd parts to make it look like the version in 'The Force Awakens', but luckily that didn't happen.

What COULD have happened is what Tamiya and Revell themselves have done-licensed R2 to release the JJPrise kit in America.

Both Tamiya and Revell have licensed kits produced by other makers (usually Italiari) for release under their label. Seems a win/win. Revell gets their kit wider exposure, R2 gets product without going thru the expense of development.

But again, something like that takes will and imagination to accomplish.

(note that it would also lay groundwork to 'unify' Star Trek models under one label as Revell could license their Voyager kits as well. Hah, so clearly how insane I've become.)
 
#22 ·
The maddening disparity right now, it seems to me, is that the companies with the best creative vision and artistic execution (which is what the hobby is supposed to be about) are somehow locked out or otherwise prevented from selling their superior products while the companies (Revell, Round 2) that DO have market penetration seem much better at gobbling up licenses and fighting to protect them (and, I'm sorry, Revell was absolutely behind the Bandai embargo) than they are motivated to create good products.
 
#27 ·
Assuming you're throwing Bandai in the mix as a 'high water' mark... the core problem is all three companies (Revell, Round 2 and Bandai) have completely different outlooks regarding their product.

Bandai has been working for the past 30-some years to make their product appealing to both the casual builder and the fanatic. It started way back when with 'System Injection', the ability to 'pre color' some parts by the use of colored plastic. The earliest was the use of 'one color' trees, white parts would be white plastic, red parts would be red plastic and so on. Then came the double whammy of not only putting multiple colors on ONE sprue tree (White, Red, even clear!) but actually molding some parts in multi-colored plastic! Mind, they don't do that specific technique anymore, or not so much, but the technology IS used in a weird but cool 'multi plastic type' molding, where they inject Polystyrene and ABS to create 'skeletons' of pre-assembled moving joints which one then attaches the various plastic bits to complete the model.

(Disclaimer, Bandai doesn't seem to make 'real' subjects as plastic kits anymore, totally concentrating on genre subjects. I'd like to see what Bandai could do with, say, a pre-colored snap fit 1/48 scale P-51D Mustang.)

And it all serves the ideal of giving the customer a pleasing finished product regardless of the skill level ability to 'finish' a kit.

Revell, it seems to my eyes, is stuck in the '70s. 'Real' subjects get the maximum treatment, making nice displays. Their search for quality goes to leasing molds from other companies (generally Italiari). But Genre kits, those are toys, not worthy of that same dedication or attention to detail. As long as it looks kind of like the subject that's good enough because who cares, it's not SERIOUS, it's only Star Wars. (and I'd still like to know the story behind the choices that led to that rather terrible TOS Enterprise.)

Round 2, they've got so much going on and such seemingly limited resources, coupled with the problems inherit with dealing with a Chinese 'turn-key' factory to actually realize the product.. honestly, I'm astonished they get ANYTHING done. But their core culture seems to believe that what they make are boutique, niche products (which IS true) so they're not really gonna worry, because they know that if they set their goals low they can always achieve them.

(my example: The 22" Eagle is pretty cool and it seems to have sold well. I argue that had they made the same kit but at 12" the smaller size and lower pricepoint they could have sold at least 10 times what they've done. Big kits with big prices limit sales, especially worldwide.)

Different companies, different corporate ideals and culture. They each believe that they have the right formula for corporate success.
 
#23 ·
From what I remember, Round 2 did have the license for the NuTrek kits but the NuE took far too long to get into production- by the time the kit was ready to go the license was just about to expire so the kits made would not be able to be sold. It was going to be a big kit- the saucer was divided up into pie slices.
 
#25 ·
Well, I hope if Revell doesn't make a model kit of the Franklin, which doesn't look likely, that a garage kit maker will. It looks really cool from behind in this TV spot...
(clip snipped for people's bandwidth :) )

Man, sure looks like the JJPrise version of the NX-01. It also looks a LOT like that ship in the opening credits of 'Enterprise'.

Oh, lordy, watch it be their version of a Romulan Warbird.
 
#28 ·
Revell's TOS Enterprise and Klingon kits were made from taking EVERY version of the ship out there (all miniatures and the Animated show renderings), smooshing them together and coming up with a hybrid design which does not match any of the references but has elements of them. I could not handle what they did to the Enterprise, but I did pick up a D-7 to modify into a ship half way between the TOS version the the TMP version.
 
#33 ·
Just saw Beyond: Revell Germany really dropped the ball on this one! Two Enterprise variants and the USS Franklin? Dang, hope someone else gets the Movie license! Perhaps, our favorite garage suppliers will make great parts to adapt and modify the 2013 Darkness Enterprise.
 
#36 ·
That's interesting, dare I say fascinating news. Again, not a fan of the JJPrise but good for those that are.

What will be the telling point is execution. How quickly can Moebius get the kit to market? How much frogging around will Paramount put them thru in terms of licensor approval? Will this end up being what I suggested earlier, simply Moebius sub-licensing the Revell Germany kit and not a new-tool model? Will that lead to a massive sigh of disappointment from the Trek modeling community?

There's many questions and probably not gonna be too many answers for some time. Let me suggest that if we see a solicitation for a kit release around Dec/Jan I would wager it's a re-pop of the Revell Germany kit.
 
#38 ·
So it seems at SDCC they stated they're doing 4 ships. That's an ambitious slate, I'm guessing they're not all going to be $100 and up large kits. If they did the JJPrise in 1/1000 that would be OK. Not my cuppa but at least it would be consistent.

But then again, if it takes them 3 years (or more or never) to crank out the kits...
 
#45 ·
Also, the phaser arrays on the 2013 Refit: there are six, upper and lower saucer. And, though, not clearly seen, the engine pylons are swept back on the Refit. The engines look the same, the best I could see. There is an external shot following running crewmen, during the attack, that looks like 3 extended oval windows where the lower 3 round ports used to be just above the lower central dome. And I noticed what looks like 4 more square windows on the lower saucer edge, added to the window arrays already there. Four to each end.

Noticed the 1701A impulse vent is not as wide as the JJRefit. Also seemed the "reactor loops" or whatever at the top back of the warp engines looked a lot like the tubular ones on the TOS, only lit up. The side of the saucer is distinctly angled, without the excessive rounding on the 2009/2013 versions.
The 1701A does not appear to have a hood over the Bussards, and a very beefy pylon connection. I could not make out whether the dish is integral with the engineering hull. Hard to tell, as it happened so fast!
 
#47 ·
The one on display is Lou Dalmaso's Revell JJprise. They might have just had it as a placeholder for something to show. That is, unless they are going to repackage and sell Revell's JJprise. It's unknown right now whether the Enterprise will be new tooling or not. Hopefully it is.
 
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