QUOGs turn to the dark side

We all love QUOGs right? Those cute animated style versions of the TOS crew that occasionally adorn T-shirts, greetings cards and other assorted Trek-tastic merchandise. Sarah Trefny of Klickitat Street certainly seems found of them, but isn't content to let them mull about in the Star Trek universe, so has given them a Star Wars make-over, as designs on cookies. Here choices of characters are great, especially tribble-Chewbacca, with Kirk as Han Solo:

As both series are rather lacking in female characters, Uhura of course becomes a rather snazzy Princess Leia:

Spock is our wise old Jedi master, while our new whiz-kid Chekov becomes the apprentice Luke:

C-3PO and R2-D2 are filled by the ship's specialists, McCoy and Scotty:

Meanwhile Sulu makes best use of his piloting skills for the Rebel Alliance:

And a Klingon is that pesky Darth Vader:

Check out some more images of the set, and making of photos, on Klickitat Street.

QMx's Into Darkness extravaganza

QMx were in the pretty cool position of making several of the props used in Into Darkness, and have now announced plans to make many of those items available to use lot in the real world. Because they made them in the first place they are also able to offer them super screen accurate replicas.

Those props include no less than fourteen different aeroplanes, spacecraft, and starships that made up the history of starflight collection in Admiral Marcus' office. The models stretched back from the Wright Brother's first plane through to the USS Vengeance. QMx will be offering several of them as collector's models (which tend to be around the $100 mark) and/or high end studio filming miniature style models (which are several thousand dollars a go). We already knew the Kelvin was coming as a collector's model, and now she will be joined by the Vengeance, which will be released in both formats. The ring-ship will also be offered as a high end replica in limited numbers at Comic Con, and the NX-01 is also planned as a high end release. Here are the starships from the History of Flight display, check out QMx's gallery for the historical vehicles:

 

 

 

 

 

The ships are just the start though, QMX will also be offering phasers, rings, flags, and badges. Check them all out after the jump (and watch out for spoilers in the comic strip at the bottom of the page):

Starship model magazine coming to the US

This time last year I was very excited to discover Eaglemoss were launching a new Star Trek part work magazine. Coming with each issue of Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection, will be a little model ship. That magazine was meant to have started in the UK in February, but issues with the factory producing the ships delayed the start of the collection. It is now due to begin in August, and the extra time has allowed Eaglemoss to work out distribution for the US as well as the UK and Ireland! No news yet on the rest of the world though.

Eaglemoss have relaunched their website for the series, so you can now subscribe in the UK and Ireland, or in the US.The UK price is £9.99 an issue (after the first two issues at introductory prices), while in the US it appears to be $20 each fortnight. There is now going to be a digital version of the magazine for subscribers alongside the print releases too.

There are also slightly different offerings with the subscription extras:  The same "gifts" are offered, but come at a different rate. In the UK you'll have a binder, dedication plaque, All Good Things... version of the Enterprise-D, and a Borg Cube all by the time you've got your sixth delivery, while in the US these are staggered at six monthly intervals, so you'll be eighteen months into the collection before you get a Borg Cube.

The site also has a listing up for the first few ships in the series, it's very similar to the list I posted some months ago, but there are some tweaks. It starts off with many of the more familiar ships that we've had many models off, but very quickly we'll start to get some real treats such as the Akira class, the Dauntless, Bajoran solar sailor and the Krenim temporal weapon. They so far list twenty-three of the seventy ships currently planned:

1. USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D (Galaxy class)
2. USS Enterprise NCC-1701 (Constitution class refit)
3. Klingon Bird-of-Prey (B'rel/K'vort class)
4. Enterprise NX-01 (NX class)
5. Romulan D'deridex class warbird
6. USS Voyager NCC-74656 (Intrepid class)
7. Klingon K'Tinga class battlecruiser
8. USS Excelsior (Excelsior class)
9. USS Defiant NX-74205 (Defiant class)
10. Borg Sphere
11. USS Reliant (Miranda class)
12. Akira class
13. Jem'hadar cruiser
14. Cardassian Galor class
15. USS Equinox (Nova class)
16. Ferengi Marauder
17. "USS Dauntless"
18. Bajoran Solar Sailor
19. USS Stargazer (Constellation class)
20. Klingon V'orcha class
21. USS Enterprise NCC-1701-E (Sovereign class)
22. Krenim Temporal Weapon Ship
23. Nebula class

Home video round up: First Into Darkness details, TNG details, and hope for DS9!

Amazon have now made their listings for Star Trek Into Darkness on Bluray and DVD available for pre-order, and updated them with the first details of the various releases. Like the previous film, there will be a high end bluray release with a collectable. Last time it was a model of the USS Enterprise, this time it appears to be a new version of the QMx phaser, and unlike the current version it seems this phaser has the rotating stun/kill barrel function. Very cool!

 

 

 

If you don't want something so fancy, there are currently three other options listed: Either 3D bluray, standard bluray, or DVD. No news yet of what extra features there will be. The previous film had many more releases, issues with other collectables, and in single or multi-disc options; so I wouldn't be too surprised if more options appear over the coming months.

Here is the current Region A cover design for the 3D bluray. Amazon are currently using a poster as stand-in for the other releases:

And here are the current Region B designs, again for 3D bluray, standard bluray, and DVD:

Into Darkness in expected in September. Before then we have Enterprise Season 2 (currently available to pre-order for less than £25 in the UK!), and TNG Season 4 to look forward to. Continue after the jump for details of those releases, and positive news for the potential of DS9 on bluray:

Star Trek art from the Bad Robot Art Show

Gallery1988 in Los Angeles recently held an exhibition of art inspired by the work of Bad Robot, featuring pieces based on the likes of Lost, Cloverfield, Super 8, and of course Star Trek. If you didn't have the opportunity to visit the exhibition, here is some of the cool, weird, and wonderful Star Trek art that was on show. Links from the artist's names take you to their own sites (where I could find one), while links to titles take you to Gallery1988's listings, where some of the pieces are still available to buy if you like them:

The bad robot itself found its way to the Enterprise in Stephen Andrade's Bad Robot On Board. Andrade also did a really cool pulp fiction style cover using this image.

Andrew DeGraff made the Path Of The Trek, a map version of the first nuTrek film. I've previously featured his similar Star Wars maps on one of my other blogs, it's such a cool way to illustrate a story:

There were some really nice poster designs, such as Mayra Fersner's Hire Orion Tutors:

Scott Derby's TAS inspired To Boldly Go:

Ian Glaubinger's recruitment poster style Launch Into Your Future:

Sam Gilbey's The End Of Vulcan:

Ryan Berkley's nuTrek version of the Star Trek: The Motion Picture poster, Refresh:

Continue after the jump for loads more:

Check out Star Trek Into Darkness concept art

Star Trek Into Darkness production designer, Scott Chambliss, has posted a gallery of concept art, set photos, and behind the scenes images, showing off his work on the film as part of his online portfolio. Hopefully these will soon make their way to a book, similar to the previous film's Star Trek: The Art of the Film. But until then, I've picked out a few of my favourites below, including some really nice images of the USS Vengeance, Nibiru, Qo'noS, new Enterprise sets, and some of the other ships and locations in the film. Check out the full gallery on Scott Chambliss' website. And if you've not seen the film yet, watch out for spoilers!

I'll start with some USS Vengeance concept art, more after the jump:

 

 

Comics round up: After Darkness, August releases, timeline, and latest covers

Lots of comics new for you, starting with news of a new comic series tie-in to Into Darkness, Roberto Orci tweeted to confirm there will be a four-part prequel series exploring the character of John Harrison, coming in the fall:

Ask and ye shall receive. IDW Pubishing IS going to do a 4-issue John Harrison miniseries this fall!

Before then though, we're heading into events after the film. Here's a first look at After Darkness; the three-part comic sequel to Into Darkness, which will comprise issues twenty-one to twenty-three, of the Star Trek ongoing series. Wired posted these two preview pages (pages 10 and 13 from Part 1):

 

Pre-order: Things From Another World, Forbidden Planet.

Wired also posted an interview with the series writer, Mike Johnson, where he gave a vague outline of where he'll be going next:

You’ll see immediately on the first page of [the story] that it’s very much a sequel in terms of plot. Things happen in the movie that can’t be ignored going forward, and we will see the repercussions play out over the months to come. It’s also a character-based sequel, as we see how the crew reacts to the events of the movie, and what it means for their relationships going forward.

I’m aiming for a combination of two things going forward. First, all-new worlds and stories that expand the galaxy as we know it, and second, a larger epic story about the clash of civilizations. And I’m not just talking about the Klingons vs. the Federation. The map of the Star Trek galaxy is divided into established empires and the great unknown. I want to explore both.”

IDW have also given us some idea of where what's next with the release of their August solicitations, which give us the first details of Star Trek ongoing issue twenty-four, a sequel to Star Trek: The Video Game:

Star Trek (ongoing) #24
Written by Mike Johnson. Art by Claudia Balboni. Cover by Tim Bradstreet, with retail incentive sketch and photo covers.

The adventures of Kirk, Spock and the Enterprise crew continue in an all-new adventure that follows the events of the hit film STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS and the new STAR TREK video game! A classic enemy returns in this story overseen by STAR TREK writer/producer Roberto Orci. Beware... THE GORN!

 

IDW have also released an interactive timeline, explaining the timeline divergence, and placing all the ongoing comics.

They suggest the following chronological order for the ongoing series:

• 2256: #20 - Red Level Down
• 2257:
• #18 - Uhura origins
• #19 - Scotty origins
• 2258:
• 2009 movie
• #15 and #16 - Mirrored
• #1 and #2 - Where No Man Has Gone Before
• #3 and #4 - The Galileo Seven
• #5 and #6 - Operation: Annihilate
• #7 and #8 - Vulcan's Vengeance
• #9 and #10 - The Return of the Archons
• #17 - McCoy origins
• #13 - The Redshirt's Tale
• #14 - Keenser origins
• 2259:
• #11 and #12 - The Truth About Tribbles!
• Countdown to Darkness
• #21, #22, and #23 - After Darkness

If you've missed the ongoing series so far, IDW are going to try and tempt you with their latest 100 Penny Press release (reprints of their comics for one dollar), which is Star Trek (ongoing) #1. Details of that and other upcoming reprints, after the jump:

Star Trek Into Darkness spoiler-filled review

After watching Star Trek Into Darkness for the first time last week I posted a spoiler free review, tip toeing around the details, while generally smothering it with praise. I have now seen it a second time, and actually enjoyed it even more this time around; viewing it aware of all the twists and surprises let me step back a bit and admire some of the really clever things the film-makers did. What follows is a completely spoilerific review, if you haven't seen the film yet I strongly advise you read no further, as there are some brilliant surprises, which certainly made my first viewing that much more enjoyable. So I shall continue after the jump, and the following poster sized gap. Avert your eyes if you wish not to be spoiled:

First look at Hot Wheels USS Vengeance and Klingon Bird of Prey

We've had a good look at the USS Kelvin, and USS Excelsior, which form half of the next wave of Hot Wheels Star Trek starships. Now Mattel have released images of the other half of the wave, which come straight out of Into Darkness. We have the first, and so far only, model of the USS Vengeance, and a much more detailed version of the new D4 class Klingon Bird of Prey than we get from the Kre-O rendition.

There are lots of pictures of both ships, which give us the best look yet at both of the new designs. I find the Klingon ship interestingly insectile, while the Vengeance looks rather like the Enterprise-E from many angles. The pre-orders for this series had vanished for a little while, but Entertainment Earth are now offering them again, and expect them to arrive in June.

 

Mattel also posted a couple of different angles to those previously released of the USS Excelsior and USS Kelvin. Check them out after the jump: