Die Cast Lighted 1/350th TOS Enterprise (TOMY crowd funded)

I have no doubt the team that designed this Enterprise had the best intentions and meant what they said. They consulted with Gary Kerr and really did listen to what the fans were saying.

I agree with the concerns based on the latest update and pictures, but don't think it is fair to think the team at TOMY was trying to mislead or cheat us. $599 for each of these shipped to our homes is not a huge budget. I can't believe there is any way TOMY can make a profit based on the small number of these that sold. These are much cheaper than the MR version or what any professionally built Enterprise model would cost. Honestly, the Polar Lights model kit with all the lighting, photoetch, upgrade parts, an inner armature, paint and other supplies is going to bump up against that price in materials.

If it turns out there are compromises in quality, I think it is just simply TOMY as a business didn't want to lose money financing the project to a level higher than the price point could sustain. My biggest fear in backing this was that the low budget would cap the quality they were able to produce. I would have been happy to pay twice or more for a cleaner refined version, but it is what it is. The disclaimers about cancellations and prototypes changing are pretty standard stuff for any preorder.

Backing a prototype is a gamble. I did it once with an EFX Vader and got lucky. This one is still up in the air, but I don't think I will prepay for anything again. I don't have the stomach for it.

I've got 2 on order. Even if it has plugs and seams, I'll probably keep one for display. For $599 even the latest pictured version is not what I wanted, but okay. It's not much more expensive than the cost of a Playmates Enterprise toy. The other I might try to refinish if the geometry is good, and the ship is solid.

Anyway, I'm bracing for possible disappointment, but I don't think TOMY or the design team is acting maliciously. I think they were trying to do something good for Star Trek fans at an affordable price point.
 
I am not defending Tomy, but perhaps if they had gotten the 5000 subscribers, they may have had the profit to address these matters. Remember they went ahead with probably less than half of what the guys in china wanted for a production order. If it is bad I may Pro Poxy 20 the seams myself give it a nice paint job and find someone to make some decals for it. Heck the Round 2 decals would probably work. I bought 2 and may have to do that for both of them.
 
animator said:
I have no doubt the team that designed this Enterprise had the best intentions and meant what they said. They consulted with Gary Kerr and really did listen to what the fans were saying.

I agree with the concerns based on the latest update and pictures, but don't think it is fair to think the team at TOMY was trying to mislead or cheat us. $599 for each of these shipped to our homes is not a huge budget. I can't believe there is any way TOMY can make a profit based on the small number of these that sold. These are much cheaper than the MR version or what any professionally built Enterprise model would cost. Honestly, the Polar Lights model kit with all the lighting, photoetch, upgrade parts, an inner armature, paint and other supplies is going to bump up against that price in materials.

If it turns out there are compromises in quality, I think it is just simply TOMY as a business didn't want to lose money financing the project to a level higher than the price point could sustain. My biggest fear in backing this was that the low budget would cap the quality they were able to produce. I would have been happy to pay twice or more for a cleaner refined version, but it is what it is. The disclaimers about cancellations and prototypes changing are pretty standard stuff for any preorder.

Backing a prototype is a gamble. I did it once with an EFX Vader and got lucky. This one is still up in the air, but I don't think I will prepay for anything again. I don't have the stomach for it.

I've got 2 on order. Even if it has plugs and seams, I'll probably keep one for display. For $599 even the latest pictured version is not what I wanted, but okay. It's not much more expensive than the cost of a Playmates Enterprise toy. The other I might try to refinish if the geometry is good, and the ship is solid.

Anyway, I'm bracing for possible disappointment, but I don't think TOMY or the design team is acting maliciously. I think they were trying to do something good for Star Trek fans at an affordable price point.
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They should never have pushed the Kickstarter though. After the initial amount of backers was not met they should have backed off and cancelled it. But they pressed on and still talked about what they were gonna donas if nothing changed. I get that they need to make a profit. But maybe they should have just been happy with breaking even and keeping the quality what they promised. They just turned off about 1500 potential backers for another Trek release. As I said earlier. They can produce the best looking TMP Enterprise ever and I won't even give it a passing thought. Because in the end I cannot trust that I will get what is promised. Just better off buying something already proven. My diamond select smaller scales that cost a pittance compared to this. will display just as nicely as this one and probably anything they will produce down the road in the future. I bet that Delorean is a bust as well in the end. Can't believe everyone who went for it. It's nothing compared to the larger scaled one that was released a year ago....

Smh. What was I thinking??? Well I know what I was thinking....WOW THE FIRST DIECAST ENTEPRISE IN 1/350 SCALE ....

Stupid me...

moonbus said:
I am not defending Tomy, but perhaps if they had gotten the 5000 subscribers, they may have had the profit to address these matters. Remember they went ahead with probably less than half of what the guys in china wanted for a production order. If it is bad I may Pro Poxy 20 the seams myself give it a nice paint job and find someone to make some decals for it. Heck the Round 2 decals would probably work. I bought 2 and may have to do that for both of them.
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Still they should have known better. But they continued to press on and still talk the talk about quality. They are a huge Toy company all over the world. There is really no excuse. I would have been totally ok if they said after they didn't get the 5000 for them to cancel it. But yet they lowered the backers. TWICE. That's not the fault of the early backers. They really wanted to do this. They should have just taken the profit hit and build some good will. Now they MAY have turned of many people. I really really hope we are wrong about all this. But I'm not too enthusiastic right now...
 
I agree with Ant1988 but I also agree with animator that there was probably no intentional deception by the developers. I think someone over their heads just capped the production goals against their recommendation. And their relative silence lately would be indicative of the awkward situation this would put them in: pissed at their employer but not at liberty to say so.

If I were they, I'd look for another job. Their bosses don't respect them, don't care that their decision makes liars out of them, and don't care about underdelivering to their customers.
 
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Rewatch the Danoby2 “Live Stream Star Trek Original Series TOMY ENTERPRISE” video he put out last year where he was promoting the project and interviewed Chris. Especially the several minutes from 11m30s where he talks about seams and joints and filling in and sanding so we won’t even know they’re there. I can’t see someone with his passion and tenure backing off from what he promised. And when you watch the BTTF updates he doesn’t look like someone who has been beaten down on his previous project. I’m still hoping this is all Miscommunication 101 and not Plug Gate and that the September update blows us pessimists away.
 
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Not sure if the lack of response from Tomy (email or other) is concerning or reassuring. Like maybe they're holding off on a response until they figure out how to do this right, then come out with the "oops, what we actually meant was..." email.
 
Foe Hammer said:
Not sure if the lack of response from Tomy (email or other) is concerning or reassuring. Like maybe they're holding off on a response until they figure out how to do this right, then come out with the "oops, what we actually meant was..." email.
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It’s too late to figure out how to do this right. As of the 8/10 update, they’re in full production and it’s been noted that the latest pictures shown are of the final product.
 
Has anyone had any recent correspondence with TOMY? My notes (e-mail, FB postings and via their automatic customer service form) have gone unanswered.
 
Not providing timely responses to customers who prepaid is just bad.

If they do change the specs, I wish TOMY would just be clear and upfront about it. Some people would go along with it and others justifiably won't want to, but this is our money they are working with.

My experiences with prepaid and custom work seems to sort of go this way, especially if there are delays or problems, but that's no excuse. $599 is a lot of money to me.
 
How could they possibly mess up the exact color of the model? They are using the original in the Smithsonian as a reference. If the model gets delivered with incorrect colors then I'm convinced they never intended on delivering a quality replica. I'm getting Icon's Replicas vibes from this whole ordeal.
 
dlbsyst said:
How could they possibly mess up the exact color of the model? They are using the original in the Smithsonian as a reference. If the model gets delivered with incorrect colors then I'm convinced they never intended on delivering a quality replica. I'm getting Icon's Replicas vibes from this whole ordeal.
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Hopefully it was just bad lighting on that picture. We shall know more next month.
 
Captain Dunsel said:
Oh…let’s just say that Paramount has authorized some die cast Enterprise replicas of dubious quality / accuracy in the past…

View attachment 1731668

On a positive note…I don’t see any screw hole covers in this replica. ;)
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That is cause the screw holes are on the bottom. This is my current replica my Tomy one will replace, but apparently the Tomy is still a toy. . So yes an improvement, and no it doesn't cost as much as a master replica - but I am disappointed they promised seams and holes would be bondo'd and sanded on the final model . I suspect that some exec greenlighted the kickstarter thinking Chris and Dan would never pull it off. Now they did so I suspect that same exec is trying to make sure there isn't another one. Or they just got into it and found that they couldn't meet the price point . However I expect there will be a second hand market for getting these touched up and painted professionally, and a lot of DYI folks doing it themselves. Sad thing is there isn't much to do. Still going to be happy with my purchase overall I suspect. We hoped for diamond for half off but we are getting diamonds in the rough. The real loser is any future Refit project. You can't over promise and under deliver on Kickstarters hoping to have successful future efforts
 
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