Thursday 31 January 2019

Trek TV round-up: Discovery previews and behind the scenes, plus other show updates

Got lots of Trek-TV bits to dive into today, includes some little updates on the Picard series and Short Treks, and lots of Discovery behind the scenes goodies (including some great close looks at costumes/props, and a dive into this season's music), plus, bizarrely, a USS Discovery car!

But first, lets check out some new still's from this week's third episode in the second season, Point of Light. This episode brings us the return of both the Klingons and Emperor come Section 31 agent Georgiou. While the Discovery itself also welcomes a familiar face, Amanda Grayson:


Tuesday 29 January 2019

Star Trek The Next Generation IDW 20/20 preview

Out this week is the sorely-in-need-of-a-catchier-title Star Trek: The Next Generation - IDW 20:20, a Stargazer-era Picard (and Crushers) tale released as part of IDW's 20th anniversary celebration. The 20:20 event includes one shots from several IDW titles, taking us either twenty years before or after the normal time setting of each series. So this Stargazer story is of course some twenty years before TNG proper.

The book sees the return of Peter David, writing his first Star Trek comic in a decade! And the story is illustrated by J.K Woodward, who also provides the main cover. A retail incentive cover is also available, by Gabriel Rodriguez (with colour by Nelson Daniel).

Continue below to check out those, and a five-page preview from the book, plus some related teases from the next Waypoint book too!

The Q Conflict #1 preview

Out this week is the first issue in IDW's new mega-multi-series-crazy-crossover The Q Conflict, which brings together the crews from TNG, DS9, Voyager, and TOS, along with a plethora of superbeings from across time and space!

The series reunites a classic IDW creative team of writers Scott and David Tipton and artist David Messina, with the latter making a welcome return to Trek after a half-decade absence!

This first issue is offered in four different covers, with Messina making up for his time away by providing both the A and B covers! Both feature an assortment of characters from all the series included. The two other covers are both retail incentives; one by George Caltsoudas, the other from J.K. Woodward. Continue below to check them all out, plus a five page preview from the book.


Monday 28 January 2019

Discovery round-up: Point of Light trailer, first Ready Room episode, and more

Lots of Discovery bits to enjoy today, including the first episode of the new companion show The Ready Room, and other behind the scenes bits. But first, check out the trailer for this week's episode, Point of Light:


Amanda back, Georgiou back, Klingons back! This is going to be a busy episode!

Sunday 27 January 2019

Eaglemoss starships USS Shran first look, and other previews and updates:

Eaglemoss's latest round of solicitations got an advance preview this month, but now the full listings are out, along with much higher res images of what is a particularly appealing batch of new ships; so continue below to check out V'Ger, the Dominion Battleship, XL Akira class, and more.

But we'll start with the Discovery collection, as the next ship in this series, issue 11, the Magee class USS Sharan was missing from the earlier photos, so we can now see this model for the first time - I am to my surprise quite taken by this one; as a physical model it looks much nicer than it's digital counterpart!


April Star Trek comics

IDW have released their solicitations for April, which include two new Star Trek titles. Continue below for all the details on those, and other Star Trek comics updates:

Star Trek: Year Five #1
Written by Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly. Art by Stephen Thompson
The crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise left Earth four years ago. They’ve traveled to strange new worlds, defeated impossible foes, and made universe-changing decisions. But now, with the end in sight, they’ll have to face their biggest challenge yet. Step aboard the Enterprise with Kirk, Spock, Bones, Uhura, Sulu, Scotty, and Chekov as they begin the end of their original Five Year Mission and boldly go into an uncertain future in this new continuing Star Trek series!
When this series was announced a few days ago I got the impression it would be a new ongoing series, although the first details were a little ambiguous about that. But the solicitations seem to confirm it, with IDW describing it as "A new continuing series about the end of the Five-Year Mission!"

Thursday 24 January 2019

Discovery: More New Eden previews, and Brother behind the scenes

Got another batch of Discovery updates today, with both previews of this week's new episode, New Eden, and more behind the scenes goodies from last week's Brother. Continue below to check it all out.

First up, CBS have released several new stills from New Eden, featuring the Discovery landing party in a church(-like?) setting, and a bunch of bridge shots (I miss Pike's TOS-esque uniform already!):


Wednesday 23 January 2019

Discovery 2x02: New Eden previews

Got some previews for this week's second episode of Discovery season two, New Eden. But first, thanks to TV Passport's listings for the series, we also have a few more episode titles now. Coming up are:
  • 2x03: Point of Light 
  • 2x04: An Obol for Charon
  • 2x05: Saints of Imperfection
  • 2x06: The Sounds of Thunder
While you speculate on those, Netflix have now released a trailer for New Eden; check it out below.



Tuesday 22 January 2019

Model kits updates: First Discovery kits on the way, and latest reissues

Lots of model kits news to go through today, including a whole bunch of reissues from Round 2 Models, plus some new photos of Moebius' latest Kelvin timeline kit. But first, let's take a look at what's coming from Discovery:

Round 2 have been keen to jump into Discovery, considering kits of multiple ships at multiple scales. The first of those will be the USS Discovery itself, which will be offered first at 1:2500 scale, making it about twelve inches long. It's not yet known when this will be be arriving, but it shouldn't be too far away, as initial box art is now in the wild, and some specialists retailers, including HDA Modelworx, are starting to take pre-orders.


Discovery season two behind the scenes photos, and other Disco updates

Lots of Discovery updates today, including the latest promo bits and bobs, and lots of behind the scenes photos.

First up, looking ahead in the season, the title for episode two has now been announced: New Eden, which will be directed by Jonathan Frakes.

And looking further ahead in the season, Michelle Yeoh recently shared this photo of her working on an ADR session in London. Note a new view of one of the new ships in the season on the screen:


Monday 21 January 2019

IDW announce new TOS: Year Five series, plus other comics updates

Lots of Star Trek comics updates today, starting with the announcement of a new series!

The Hollywood Reporter reports this April will bring us Star Trek: Year Five, the latest take on the final year of the the original TOS five-year-mission. They describe it as focusing on the crew as they near the end of their mission:
As Starfleet’s flagship returns home, the series will investigate how each member of the iconic crew feels about the uncertain future that awaits them as they reach Earth.
There's more detail below, but first, check out this gorgeous cover art for the series, by Greg Hildebrandt:


Saturday 19 January 2019

Action figure updates: Mego wave 4, and TNG goes bendable

Updates from two Star Trek action figures today, starting with our first look at the fourth wave of Star Trek figures in the Marty Abrams Present Mego retro action figure revival. Four characters are offered this time, with the first images coming via ToyWiz, which reveal new packaging designs following the current Star Trek products design style - They are expecting to ship in April.

First up we have Uhura, offered for the second time in this series, following the previous mirror universe version. This prime timeline version has of course been offered before in both the original Mego series and DST revival of a decade ago; the major difference this time appears to be a different hairstyle (the same one used for the recent mirror version).


Latest Discovery promos and behind the scenes, plus other Trek-TV updates

Lots of Discovery and general Star Trek TV updates today, as we look forward to the rest of season two, and much more in the future. Continue below for updates on the Picard show, Section 31 show, and Lower Decks; but first, Disco:

CBS have released a trailer for the rest of Discovery season two (hosted here by Nación Trek):



Thursday 17 January 2019

Short Treks finally available world-wide, plus latest Discovery images and updates

Lots of Discovery updates in the final day before the new season starts, including new images, a fun billboard, and a personal message from Paul Stamets. But first exciting news regarding tie-ins to the series:

At last, Netflix have made the four Short Treks episodes available to those of not in the US or Canada. It takes a little hunting to find them though, as rather than being listed as episodes of Discovery or a series in their own right they've been hidden away in the "trailers and more" section of the Discovery listings - This does have a benefit for non-Netflix subscribers, as that makes them viewable to anyone as a free preview!


In other tie-in news, TrekMovie and TrekCore are reporting (but damned if I can find any announcement from CBS) After Treks has officially been cancelled (as one might suspect from the complete silence about it until now), but is being replaced by a series of Facebook Live streams featuring cast and creatives discussing the show. These will be aired after each episode is released, starting from the second episode. The first episode will also have a live stream event, but before the episode, in the form of coverage of a red carpet premiere.

Wednesday 16 January 2019

USS Enterprise ping pong table available now

I love when Star Trek merchandise gets a bit carried away with itself, and so was not disappointed when I spotted this. Behold, the USS Enterprise ping pong table!


As the Star Trek Shop describes it:
No workplace is complete without a ping pong table. The Star Trek The Original Series NC 1701 Ping Pong Table has the iconic classification of the ship featuring the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC 1701 Logo on the table. This arrives on a wooden pallet, folds up neatly and can be easily wheeled and moved.

Discovery season 2 open titles, clip, new images, and more

With just a couple of days left until the new season of Discovery begins there's plenty coming out of the CBS PR machine, including new clips and photos which you can see below.

But first, let's check out the new opening titles for the season, which have been tweaked to reference some of the main icons of the season (originally posted on the Discovery Twitter, but via a non-geolocked youtube here):



Tuesday 15 January 2019

Star Trek vs Transformers #4 preview

Out this week is the fourth and penultimate issue of IDW's Star Trek vs Transformers crossover comic series, where things have gone a little crossover crazy with the introduction of Fortress Tiberius!

The book is written by Mike Johnson and John Barber, with art from Philip Murphy. Murphy also provides the energetic USS Enterprise A cover, while Priscilla Tramontano takes us inside the bridge for a unique view of Optimus Prime for the B cover. There is also a retail incentive cover from George Caltsoudas featuring M'Ress and Bumblebee.

Continue below to check out all the covers, plus a five page preview:


Monday 14 January 2019

Georgiou Section 31 spin-off series confirmed

Rumoured for some months now, CBS have today confirmed they are planning to go forward with Discovery spin-off series featuring once-Emperor Philippa Georgiou and her exploits in Section 31, starring of course the magnificent Michelle Yeoh.

CBS press release describes the series as a "black ops" show, outlining it as follows:
The series will expand on Yeoh’s current role as a member of Starfleet’s Section 31 division, a shadow organization within the Federation, on STAR TREK: DISCOVERY
The series will be written and executive produced by talent from the Discovery team: Writing partners Bo Yeon Kim and Erika Lippoldt. The usual suspects from CBS Television Studios, Secret Hideout and Roddenberry Entertainment, Alex Kurtzman, Heather Kadin, Aaron Baiers, Rod Roddenberry and Trevor Roth will all also be executive producers.

New Discovery novel explores Pike's Enterprise, plus new TOS covers

It's a big novel news day! Online listings have revealed a new Discovery book on the schedule, and new covers and blurbs for forthcoming TOS books. Continue below for all the latest.

So first up, we have a brand new addition to this year's publication schedule, only the fifth so far confirmed for 2019, and incidentally also the fifth Discovery novel so far. Coming in July will be John Jackson Miller's The Enterprise War - So far this is only listed on Simon and Schuster's online catalogue, but I'm sure pre-orders will be up soon enough. UPDATE: Now available for pre-order.

This appears to be a prequel to season two, explaining, as has been alluded to in cast and crew interviews, what the Enterprise was up to during, and away from, the Klingon war

UPDATE: And the author describes it is just that: "telling where the ship was and what it was doing during the Klingon War"
A shattered ship, a divided crew—trapped in the infernal nightmare of conflict!

Hearing of the outbreak of hostilities between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire, Captain Christopher Pike attempts to bring the U.S.S. Enterprise home to join in the fight. But in the hellish nebula known as the Pergamum, the stalwart commander instead finds an epic battle of his own, pitting ancient enemies against one another—with not just the Enterprise, but her crew as the spoils of war.

Lost and out of contact with Earth for an entire year, Pike and his trusted first officer, Number One, struggle to find and reunite the ship’s crew—all while Science Officer Spock confronts a mystery that puts even his exceptional skills to the test…with more than their own survival possibly riding on the outcome….

Sunday 13 January 2019

DS9 joining the Star Trek Fluxx games range

Last year Looney Labs released Star Trek versions of their Fluxx card game, with seperate TOS and TNG games, plus an extra set of cards which allowed the two sets to be played together. I guess they must have done fairly well, as then have now announced a DS9 edition is in the works too, due for release in the second quarter of this year. Here's how they describe it:
Explore the farthest reaches of the universe in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Fluxx! Work alongside Benjamin Sisko, Quark, Jadzia Dax, Worf and all your other favorite space station personnel while you try to gather Gold-Pressed Latinum and study the Wormhole. But watch out for nasty Surprises and Creepers like the Founders and the Jem'Hadar. 
They have also released preliminary artwork, which is awaiting final approval:


Friday 11 January 2019

Eaglemoss Starships: First looks at V'Ger, Dominion Battleship, and more

Entertainment Earth seem to have got hold of Eaglemoss' latest round of solicitations a week or two earlier in the month than normal, giving us an advance look at several up-coming models in The Official Starships Collection, and some running order updates too. Continue below for all the details.

First up we have the next special issue, the 16th in that run, which will be V'Ger. Even with this low-res preview it looks like quite a nice richly detailed model to me.


Thursday 10 January 2019

Seven of Nine and Captain Proton fill the final Star Trek Mission Crate

Subscribers to Loot Crate's Star Trek Mission Crate have begun to receive their third subscription box in the series, the Voyager themed Dark Frontier crate. This much delayed crate was originally due to arrive early last year, but with every crate in the series delayed by months Loot Crate have now given up completely and cancelled the series half way through - More on that below, but first, let's look at what they did manage to send out!

The centerpiece of each of the Mission Crates is a QMx Mini Masters figurine (which also get seperate releases from QMx at a later date if you're keen to get hold of them). So far we've had Locutus of Borg, and Worf, and they are joined now by a Seven of Nine apparently pondering something. An eBay listing provided these photos of the figurine and packaging:


New Star Trek Discovery coin

Perth Mint have released their latest Star Trek coin, making their second visit to Discovery, following last year's Burnham and USS Discovery pair. The new coin brings in more of the cast to celebrate the crew of the Discovery.

Like most of Perth Mint's collectable coins this has been minted in silver (two ounces), making it rather more value than the face value of two Tuvalu dollars. The Star Trek side features colour printing, while the other side features the head of Queen Elizabeth II. The coin is a limited mintage of 2000 coins.


Discovery: The Way to the Stars excerpts

Hitting the bookshelves this week is the first Star Trek novel of 2019, and the fourth Discovery novel, Una McCormack's The Way to the Stars. Like the previous Discovery books this is a prequel to the main period of the TV series, in this instance following a teenage Sylvia Tilly.

The book is available in trade paperback and ebook, or audiobook available on CD or download; and you can sample excerpts from both the print and audio editions below. But first, here's a reminder of the blurb, as seen on the back of the book:

Wednesday 9 January 2019

Star Trek Catan returns

Great news Star Trek board game fans, the English language edition of Star Trek Catan is getting a very welcome re-release! The Trekified version of the classic board game was first released in 2012, but in recent years has gone out of print and thus the secondary market for it has gone a bit wild!

Now Asmodee, the new owners of the Catan brand, are re-issuing it, due out in just a few days time, with updated box-art no less - The Enterprise now zooms towards us rather than the previous side-view of it's visit to a colony, and the side of the box has been tweaked to fit in with the latest Star Trek product branding.


Tuesday 8 January 2019

Terra Incognita #6 preview

Out this week is the sixth and final issue of IDW's latest TNG mirror universe comics miniseries, Terra Incognita. While most of the series has been standalone tales with just a tinge of the mirror universe via stowaway mirror-Barclay, this finale issue wraps the whole story up with more mirror visitors!

As ever the book was written by Scott and David Tipton, with Carlos Nieto illustrating this issue. Like the rest of the series it is offered in four different covers: Two of the covers feature somewhat alternate takes on the events of the book: The A cover by Tony Shasteen (coloured by JD Mettler), and J.K. Woodard's retail incentive cover. Data features prominently in this issue and is the subject of the photomontage B cover. And Elizabeth Beals final retail incentive cover for the series diverges from the previous scenes-type covers in favour of a big family portrait of the TNG main cast (and notable recurring characters).

Continue below for a look at all those covers, and a five-page preview from the book:

Monday 7 January 2019

Eaglemoss Starships: New ships announced and lots of new previews

Eaglemoss have announced a bunch of new ships for The Official Starships Collection, and also released lots of new previews for upcoming ships in the Discovery collection. Continue below to check them out.

First, via the Hero Collector blog, we have the line-up for the regular series right up to issue 150 (with no further extension yet confirmed, we could only have ten left to go!). That issue, due out in May/June, is perhaps the most obscure Miranda class variant so far, the USS Antares NCC-9844, seen as a tiny smudge in DS9's Favor the Bold - I think the last Miranda-variant left that actually appeared on screen, although other production kitbash models do exist is Eaglemoss really want to mine deep!


Find Star Trek comics, toys, statues, and collectibles at TFAW.com!