At this point, there have probably been countless model replicas of the USS Enterprise from the 1979 film, Star Trek: the Motion Picture. That movie has been around for a long time, after all. The new Tomy Star Trek 1350-Scale USS Enterprise NCC-1701 Replica, however, looks to take things up a notch by making it as faithful as possible to the original.
That’s right, Tomy is following up their 2022 USS Enterprise model from The Original Series with another one from the 1979 movie. And this one’s massive, measuring a whopping 34.3 x 16 x 11.2 inches. Yep… it’s going to be a pain trying to find a place to display this thing, but if you have the room, it definitely makes for one outstanding show piece for any Star Trek collection.
The Tomy Star Trek 1350-Scale USS Enterprise NCC-1701 Replica is a die-cast model, so this whole thing is cut in metal, ensuring it will hold up way longer than your typical plastic builds. It’s intricately detailed, reproducing nearly every visible item on the movie spacecraft’s exterior, including all the new elements that appeared after the ship, which first appeared in The Original Series, underwent a refitting. From the wider saucer and the new deflector grid to the new bridge module and the sleeker light-up nacelles, this model reflects all the changes the 1979 version of the main spacecraft in the long-running franchise.
Every externally visible section of the ship, from the bridge to the officer’s lounge to the hangar deck, are all faithfully recreated. Same with the numerous windows, painted sections, and propulsion features. Heck, they even used iridescent paint to accurately mimic the original studio model. It also gets real working lights in areas that require it, such as the windows, the navigational deflector, and the impulse drive, so it can look like a busy ship in the middle of an important mission. Yes, the nacelles light up, too, much like they do in the movie version.
The Tomy Star Trek 1350-Scale USS Enterprise NCC-1701 Replica is actually held on a stand atop a base, so you should be able to set this down on any flat surface with the ship held at an elevated height to make it appear like it’s soaring through space. The base comes with two buttons: mode select and fire control. We’re not entirely sure what each one does, but we’re guessing they let you control the different light-up areas, essentially giving you a way to selectively turn on some lights to make the ship look like it’s performing different functions. It’s a nice touch. They also include a 5.6-inch long SURAK shuttlecraft with its own display stand.
Do note, it doesn’t use batteries, so you can’t quite place this in the middle of the coffee table without having to run a power cord through the living room. Yes, you’ll have to plug it in to use the light-up features, although it seems to require just a USB power source, so you can probably hook it up to a power bank to minimize any cord mess.
The Tomy Star Trek 1350-Scale USS Enterprise NCC-1701 Replica is planned to be a crowdfunded project. You can sign up to get details by joining the waitlist in the website. It’s limited-edition, so you’ll probably want to get on it as early as you can whenever they decide to start the crowdfunding campaign.