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In perhaps the most meta big of Star Trek merchandising ever, the Tom Paris commemorative plate seen in the new Lower Decks trailer is to become a real product! Continue below for more details of this, plus some other Lower Decks merchandise and behind the scenes updates:
But first. Behold!
IDW and their artists have announced new mirror universe comic details for both the new Mirror War series starting later this year, and other releases. Continue below for the latest.
Following the announcement of the TNG mega-series The Mirror War back in May IDW have been a bit quiet on actual release dates for the series, but the new solicitations for October releases have now pinned issue #1 down to a release that month. There's also been an update in the creative team, with Gavin Smith now filling art duties on the series. As previously announced, Scott and David Tipton will be writing.
The series also seems to have been rebranded slightly, referred to simply as Star Trek: The Mirror War, rather than being under the TNG banner specifically. Here's the blurb for Star Trek: The Mirror War #1:
Return to the Mirror Universe of The Next Generation with this brand-new series from writers David & Scott Tipton, where familiar faces and exciting new surprises await around every corner!
To conquer the Mirror Universe, Captain Picard must first seize control of the ship-building planet of Faundori! The only problem? Faundori is inside Klingon-Cardassian Alliance territory…
The book will be offered in three different covers, with the main one painted by J.K Woodward. IDW have released previews of this with the full cover treatment and the art only:
The next cover for the Coda trilogy has been revealed, along with a new blurb for the series. Continue below to check out those updates, plus excerpts from the recently released TNG novel Shadows Have Offended.
This autumn the Coda trilogy(ad) will bring together the heroes of the Star Trek novel continuity from the last couple of decades, in a "Temporal Apocalypse", which is presumably their final adventure, as their timeline has been shunted into an alternate timeline by the events of Picard painting a very different future for the prime timeline. The second book in that trilogy is James Swallow's The Ashes of Tomorrow(ad), and the cover has now been revealed for that, which has a bit of a DS9 focus, with the new Starfleet-built replacement Deep Space 9, and Captain Dax's slipstream-ship the USS Aventine.
At the Comic Con @ Home panel today the creators and cast of both Prodigy and Lower Decks shared lots of new details of the forthcoming seasons of both animated Star Trek shows. Continue below for the latest, including the first look at the Prodigy starship, and trailers for both shows.
So first up, here's the first teaser trailer for Prodigy, which gives us a little set up and a lot of teases for the sexy new ship that will feature in the series (also available geolocked on YouTube if you prefer to the square cropped Instagram below):UK based Forbidden Planet have expanded their offerings of pins under their Forbidden Planet Originals collection, with new designs based on ships, combadges and insignia, and other iconography from across Trek; even some rare TAS merchandise! Continue below to check out what they've come up with.
The newest announced pins include a series of starship designs, presented as top-down monotone plans of each of the featured hero ships. These enamel pins so far include La Sirena from Picard(ad), the USS Enterprise-D from TNG(ad), the USS Enterprise from TOS(ad), USS Voyager from Voyager(ad), and USS Defiant from DS9(ad). Each is about 3cm tall, and expected to ship in October.
Funko launched their new range of TOS Pop! vinyl figures this month, and to celebrate their arrival they have released some new photos of most of the figurines, plus a collection of T-shirts featuring Funko style artwork. Continue below to check them out:
These are the first looks at the actual figures rather than renderings. Two of the assortment are retailer exclusives. Including the Gorn, which is available from Target(ad).
Bradford Exchange have revealed their latest Star Trek sculpture collection, and have come up with quite a creative format. The "To Boldly Go" Transporter Figurine Collection(ad) will offer up all the main TOS crew on a transporter pad. Each figurine is partially molded in transparent glittery resin, standing on a clear transporter pad base, so when combined with the transporter room display base, which lights up, you get a nice transporter effect. This is brought to life further with sound effects from the transporter base. Continue below to check out the series.
Germany construction toy company BlueBrixx have announced they have secured the license to produce Star Trek building sets, and have already revealed no less than seventeen different sets in the planning stages, spanning ships at various scales, and full scale props! The range so far includes designs based on TOS, TNG, DS9, and Voyager subjects. Continue below to check out what they've got coming.
BlueBrixx are currently in development on these sets, so most of the images they have released are of digital prototype models, which are still subject to refinements before the final releases. For anyone who has ever tried to built Star Trek ships in Lego or similar building block systems, you will know the spindly gravity-defying arrangements of saucers and nacelles are not the easiest thing to pull off in brick form. Never the less, most of these prototypes look very impressive already.
The flagship releases of the announced sets so far are two big starship display models. The USS Enterprise-D set will be 1953 pieces, and has managed to translate the organic rounded shapes of the D impressively well out of building blocks.
Eaglemoss: Hero Collector have recently announced several new starships in their various Star Trek starship model collections, including more ships from Picard and Star Trek Online, their latest XL sized release, plus full details of what you'll find inside the Borg Cube advent calendar. Continue below to check out all of those. But first...
The latest model in the line of bonus releases from the original Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection is the latest in the sub-series of models based on concept art designs(ad). In this case an early alternate look for what would become the USS Defiant(ad) by James Martin, which as seen on this new model was first known as the USS Valiant. Looks like a neat model!
This week Heritage Auctions are running their Entertainment & Music Memorabilia Signature Auction, which includes a number of original production props and artwork from various Star Trek sources. I've previously reported on the huge selection of beautiful Star Trek matte paintings in the auction, so today will have a look at some of the other items, which include some interesting bits from TOS and TNG.
Perhaps the highlight of the entire auction is an extremely rare TOS phaser hero prop. Heritage Auctions have provided a great set of photos of what will surely be of great interest to prop enthusiasts - You'll need deep pockets if you fancy getting it yourself, as this single phaser starts bidding at an astonishing $100,000!
The next Star Trek movie has a new director (again) and writers (again)! Deadline report Paramount have signed up Matt Shakman to direct a script by Lindsey Beer and Geneva Robertson-Dworet.
According to Deadline, getting Shakman is a coup", as he is in much demand following success directing every episode (and executive producing all but one) of Marvel's WandaVision. His other credits include directing and producing numerous episodes of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Great, and lots of other TV directing jobs.
Geneva Robertson-Dworet also has Marvel roots, having written Captain Marvel, and before that the 2018 Tomb Raider movie. Lindsey Beer doesn't have much made yet, but has written for several projects in development, including a number co-writing with Robertson-Dworet: Another Marvel story, Silver Sable, part of Sony's Spiderverse, and a couple of movies in Paramount's G.I. Joe and co universe, Visionaries: Knights of the Magical Light and M.A.S.K.: Mobile Armored Strike Kommand, whose co-writers also include another trek scribe, Michael Chabon.
Playmates Toys are returning to Star Trek! The company that has twice before produced extensive range of Star Trek toys are back on board thanks to to Star Trek Prodigy opening Trek up younger audiences. Playmates will start producing toys for that series alongside Discovery, Picard, Lower Decks, and the rest of Trek TV and movies, from next year.
As announced on StarTrek.com, their license spans "action figures, vehicles and ships, role play and other toy categories for all Star Trek properties". The announcement also promises "Playmates will bring to the Star Trek Universe are its attention to brand detail, authentic portrait sculpting, and new product innovations it plans to introduce to its forthcoming Star Trek collections."
There's also this teaser images, which with a little enhancement gives us the first glimpse of six action figures on the way. Continue below to have a look!
Get in, Ensign. We're going to Season 2. Stream new episodes of #StarTrekLowerDecks starting August 12. pic.twitter.com/9rxYYIIdKd
— Star Trek on Paramount+ (@StarTrekOnPPlus) July 12, 2021
Last week began Ithaca, the final story in IDW's Star Trek: Year Five(ad) comic series. Issue twenty-two(ad) of the series is the first of a three-part finale written by Jackson Lanzig and Collin Kelly and artists Stephen Thompson and Elisabetta D'Amico, and offers both the start of an exciting explosive end to the series, and some impactful emotional moments. Continue below to check out the covers, a five-page preview, and some impressive behind the scenes artwork.
As usual for the series, the book is offered in two covers, either the main one(ad), which is also by Stephen Thompson (coloured by Charlie Kirchoff), or the rarer retail incentive cover(ad) by JJ Lendl, this time leaning into the Greek mythology references of the story. Check them out:
Paramount have got some real treats in store for TOS fans and physical media peeps, with new releases of the TOS movies on the way, and the complete TV series. But the biggest most exciting news is...
Several publishers have announced new Star Trek non-fiction books recently, or updated covers and descriptions for books already known about. Continue below for the latest books on a diverse range of subjects spanning starships, cats, cookery, and puzzles!
First up, Eaglemoss: Hero Collector and Penguin Random House have revealed a new cover and updated title for the first of Alpha Quadrant alien ship books in the Star Trek Shipyards(ad) series, which is now known as Alpha Quadrant and Major Races: Acamarian to Ktarian(ad). Ben Robinson is listed as editor.
A couple of weeks ago we got our first look at the huge Playmobil USS Enterprise playset(ad) coming later this year. Now a few more images have been released, along with higher quality versions of the first batch of images, so continue below for a closer look.
The meter-long model of the ship includes built in bridge and engineering playsets ready to house the Playmobil figures of all the main TOS characters included, plus app-controlled light and sound features. It also comes with a display stand, or alternatively a hanging kit to allow it to be suspended. One of the new images gives us a much clearer look at this feature, which given the size of model, looks impressively minimalistic!
Last week brought us issue twenty-one(ad) of IDW's Star Trek: Year Five(ad) comic series, which was part two of the Vulcan time travel story The Raptor's Wings. Continue below for a five-page preview from that book, plus some behind the scenes art, and other updates from the Year Five series.
The Raptor's Wings was written by Brandon Easton, with art by Silvia Califano and colour from DC Alonso. As usual for the series, you can find it in two covers, either the main one(ad) by Stephen Thompson (coloured by Charlie Kirchoff), or the rarer retail incentive cover(ad) by JJ Lendl, in retro travel poster style. Check them out, plus the preview pages from the book:
Exciting times Star Trek novel readers, the first cover for this year's mega-crossover event, the Coda trilogy, has been released. Continue below to check it out, and for some other Star Trek novel updates.
The Coda trilogy(ad) will feature the crews under Jean-Luc Picard, Benjamin Sisko, Ezri Dax, and William Riker dealing with a "Temporal Apocalypse" in the Star Trek books continuity readers will know well from the last couple of decades of Star Trek novels, which Picard has now rendered an alternate timeline (or maybe after this apocalypse, more linked in some way?). Dayton Ward's Moments Asunder(ad) kicks off the series, and as we can now see, the cover features the USS Enterprise-E swooping into action.
Hallmark have revealed a new addition to their range of Star Trek Keepsake Christmas decorations this year, in the form of a convention exclusive ornament. With the Klingon Bird of Prey joining the line-up, this makes 2021 a two-starship year for Hallmark, who have already announced La Sirena from Picard, alongside TOS figures that make up the rest of this years range. Continue below to check out the latest preview images of them all.
A few Star Trek novel news items have turned up lately, including a little something from the Coda trilogy, and previews of the newest TOS novel, Living Memory. But most excitingly, there is news of the first Star Trek novel scheduled for 2022, and the first non-prequel Picard novel!
The blurb therefore might be mildly spoilery for where we are come the start of the second season, as it suggests where some characters are beyond simply flying off away on La Sirena:
A thrilling untold adventure based on the acclaimed Star Trek: Picard TV series!
Following the explosive events seen in season one of Star Trek: Picard, Raffi Musiker finds herself torn between returning to her old life as a Starfleet Intelligence officer or something a little more tame—teaching at the Academy, perhaps. The decision is made for her though when a message from an old contact—a Romulan spy—is received, asking for immediate aid. With the help of Cristobal Rios and Dr. Agnes Jurati, and assistance from Jean-Luc Picard, Raffi decides to take on this critical mission—and quickly learns that past sins never stay buried. Finding the truth will be complicated, and deadly….
Eaglemoss: Hero Collector's shipyards are busy as ever, with newly announced ship models and new preview images aplenty, plus a new line of prints they're working on, and additional previews of their Borg Cube advent calendar. Continue below for all the latest:
First up, the latest issue previewed from Star Trek Online: The Official Starships Collection(ad) is a very atypical one, the Tholian Recluse class carrier(ad). There are very few Tholian ships in canon, so alongside the 22nd century ship(ad) from Enterprise, and the 23rd century ship(ad) from TOS (remastered version, as Eaglemoss have yet to be tempted to do a classic-look release), this is just the third Tholian ship Eaglemoss have made. And a cool design I think it is too, taking the Tholian aesthetic into an interesting variation. This will be issue eighteen in the series, set for release in September. Check out the preview images of the model:
Coming in November is a new range of Star Trek army-men type figurines(ad) from the brand Nanoforce, with two sets on offer featuring characters from The Original Series(ad) and The Next Generation(ad). New preview images of the sets have now been released, giving us a close-up look at each of the two-inch tall characters included. Continue below to check them out.
Both sets feature characters rendered in red, yellow, or blue, with appropriate Starfleet department colours used for each of the main characters featured in the set, and some bold colour versions of select aliens included as a result of the palette. Each set also includes a small model of the series hero ship, and a fold out display-map.
Paramount+ have released some more new images to preview the forthcoming animated Star Trek series Prodigy. This latest set looks at some of the locations of the series, revealing a beautiful and exotic selection of alien worlds and environments. This is going to be a stunning series!
Classic toy brand Playmobil are set to explore strange new worlds with their first ever Star Trek toy coming later this year. And they're going big, with an enormous model of the TOS USS Enterprise(ad), complete with all the main TOS characters, two interior rooms, lights, and sounds, and more! The model is 42 inches long (about a meter). Continue below to check it out:
Where's Captain Kirk? Why he's on the bridge of the Playmobil 70548 Star Trek U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 Playset! Quite possibly the biggest and most deluxe Playmobil playset created up to this point, this 42-inch long, 18-inch wide starship includes electronic lights and sounds that can be controlled by your smart device! It includes a display cradle, plus wire for ceiling suspension if that's your preferred means of display. The set includes a marvelous ship modeled after its appearance on the original series, plus figures and accessories. You'll get Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy, Ensign Chekov, Lt. Uhura, Captain James T. Kirk, Mr. Spock, Lt. Sulu, and of course Chief Engineer Montgomery "Scott" Scotty. That's a lot of fun in one big box!The saucer section of the Enterprise opens up to show a full 1966-style bridge play environment. What's more, the body of the ship opens up on the side to show you an engineering room. Other accessories and electronic surprises are coming as well, so don't miss the iconic ship!
Paramount+ have released a new trailer for Picard season two. Check it out below, and then continue down for a look at the new poster for the season, and a look at some of the key moments from the trailer.
Embedded here is the square-cropped Instagram version of the trailer. You can see the full widescreen version on StarTrek.com or YouTube (the latter geolocked for US viewers only).
The cast of Star Trek Prodigy, the forthcoming animated series for kids, has been revealed, as have character names and species. The young alien stars of the show include two classic TOS species, and amazingly a species from the Star Trek novels! Continue below for a closer look, including the first still from the series.
Next month Heritage Auctions are running the "Entertainment & Music Memorabilia Signature Auction", and among the items on offer are numerous Star Trek production assets, most notably and excitingly, including loads and loads of original matte paintings and matte painting concept art.
It's a real treasure trove of artwork, allowing us a rare expanded look at some of the most icon planetscapes in Trek, and plenty of planets-of-the-week too, from TNG, DS9, Voyager, Enterprise, and movies! Continue below to check out the incredible artwork on offer.
DS9 is well represented in the auction, with some of the most familiar pieces being the major planets of the series. This includes two matte paintings depicting Bajor.
This first painting, by Robert Stromberg, established the look the planet surface from the very start, in Emissary, and was used frequently throughout the series thereafter right up the final episode What You Leave Behind. It was typically shown in a panning shot, with a foreground element adding an extra tower and giving a greater sense of depth.
Out at the end of this year is the first DS9 novel in a few years, and the first set within the time frame of the TV series in well over a decade! Revenant(ad), from new-to-Trek author Alex White(ad) is due out in December. Now StarTrek.com have revealed the striking cover, with art by Cliff Nielsen, which features Jadzia Dax and Kira Nerys:
Eaglemoss' new Star Trek Borg Cube Advent calendar(ad) is now up for order in the US(ad) and UK, and Eaglemoss have released a selection of new images revealing some of the twenty-four bits and bobs that will be found within while counting down to Christmas.
If you want to be surprised, spoilers after the following image which shows how the fun packaging works:
Bradford Exchange have launched a new series of starship models, the Cast Metal Star Trek Starship Sculpture Collection(ad), which kicks off with the original USS Enterprise, of course.
Each sculpture shines in a bright golden finish that gloriously brings it to life. As the perfect finishing touch, the gleaming sculptures are permanently attached to the base shaped like the Starfleet Command insignia. This collection is a stunning celebration of groundbreaking spaceship design and it makes a wonderful addition to any STAR TREK decor.
Behold, the amazing USS Enterprise-A bag(ad)!
Staying at home with nothing to do? Fear not, Star Trek jigsaw puzzles and games await to fill your time! Continue below to check out the latest releases.
You'll have to wait a little while for this first one, which isn't due to arrive until September, but that will give you time to make room for Aquarius' enormous 3000-piece TNG jigsaw puzzle(ad). Featuring the character and ship packed artwork of Dusty Abell, when complete this will be an impressive 32 x 45 inches!
There a diverse offering of Star Trek novels on the way this year, from old and current series, and even a (presumably) last hurrah from the novel continuity Picard has now pushed into an alternate timeline. Publisher Simon and Schuster have now released some updated covered for several of those, plus various excerpts from the latest release, Discovery: Wonderlands. Continue below for all the latest Star Trek novel updates:
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| German cover art for the Destiny crossover trilogy |
First up, looking towards the end of the year (September to November), we have the Coda(ad) trilogy. Initial short blurbs were released for this a couple of months ago, revealing it will chronicle a "Temporal Apocalypse", and feature the crews under Jean-Luc Picard, Benjamin Sisko, Ezri Dax, and William Riker.
These are the lead commanders of the post-Nemesis novel continuity featuring the ongoing adventures of the USS Enterprise-E, USS Titan, USS Aventine, USS Robinson, and the rebuilt Deep Space 9. A continuity that alas is no longer compatible with the on-screen Trekverse established in Picard, due to numerous divergent elements, including most significantly the lack of a massive Borg invasion in the Destiny(ad) trilogy, the resurrection of Data in the Cold Equations(ad) trilogy, and a very different life of Captain Picard.
While not explicitly marketed as such, the Coda trilogy seems to be offering us one last chapter in this world of Trek, which will hopefully tie up a few dangling plots, let us enjoy one last adventure with many novel-only characters or versions-of-characters we know, and give us some sense of resolution to what for many has been the main reality of Star Trek for years.
The authors of the trilogy, Dayton Ward, James Swallow, and David Mack have been talking about work on the trilogy on the TrekBBS message boards, and revealed some little titbits. Responding to a question about the involvement of DS9 in the series, Mack reassured it will be a major element:
Not just some role — a pivotal role. I'll tell you now we were not able to address all of the open story threads from that series, but we are doing some deep-cut callbacks and making sure the DS9 heroes are front-and-center for the climax of book three.
Year of the Klingon is coming to a conclusion in House United, which brings back Mary Chieffo (L'Rell), J.G. Hertzler (Martok), Robert O'Reilly (Gowron/Aakar), and Rekha Sharma (Adet'pa, but better known on-screen as Landry). Here's how STO describe the new content:
L'Rell, as played by Mary Chieffo, is back from the dead, and leading an army to retake the Empire from the Mad Emperor, J'mpok. Whether you are a loyal Klingon Warrior, or one of the other factions taking part in the world of 2411, you've been along for the ride, experiencing the destruction of New Khitomer, clearing your name, and the shattering of the Klingon Empire. Now, you, Martok (J.G. Hertzler from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) and J'ula must stand against J'mpok to reunite and restore honor to the Klingon people.
This battle will take you around the empire, in the mission "Leap of Faith," and to Qo'nos itself in the mission "Warriors of the Empire," and the Task Force Operation, "Remain Klingon." For the first time in a long time, the story of the final battle will be told in both the mission and the TFO, giving you a chance to experience both the ground and space battles for the Klingon homeworld. Participating in these, and new patrols based off of "Leap of Faith," will progress you in the "Only Qo'nos Endures" special event. Completing that event grants you the powerful Imperial Assault ground set. And finally, the Discovery: Far from Home Lock Box lets you obtain the technology of the 32nd Century, as seen in Star Trek: Discovery Season 3.
STO have released a trailer and some key images showing off the major characters:
Following the recent reveal that the USS Armstrong(ad), from the Kelvin timeline background Starfleet fleet, will finally be joining Eaglemoss' Starships Collection, it has now been confirmed more minor Kelvin ships are on the way. Eaglemoss have also released new images of their latest Son'a ship. Continue below to check them all out.
TrekCore have released the first images and details of the further Kelvin releases. For now at least the collection will comprise the three most prominent ships from the Vulcan rescue fleet in The Future Begins (see my previous report for a look at the other Kelvin ships still in waiting).
My favourite of the bunch is the very uniquely shaped USS Newton, with a half saucer and two engineering sections. This will be the 28th bonus issue in the collection, coming in August:
The ever productive FanSets have been busy with Star Trek pins, with new character, ship, and episode based designs spanning the franchise, and in several different styles. Continue below to check out their latest releases.
Recently completed is a series of emoji pins, with one character based on each of the TV series to date, and getting ahead of themselves Strange New Worlds too. You can get the whole collection as a set of nine pins:
Celebrate the 55th anniversary of Star Trek: The Original Series with this epic coffee-table book! New interviews, archival conversations, never-before-seen art and sketches, and more!Gene Roddenberry’s “Wagon Train to the Stars” continues to live long and prosper, with Discovery, Lower Decks, and Picard currently on the air, and Strange New Worlds on the way. But it all began 55 years ago with Star Trek: The Original Series. The second installment in Hero Collector’s Celebration line (following Star Trek: Voyager – A Celebration), Star Trek: The Original Series – A Celebration includes more than a dozen new interviews with cast and creatives, scores of never-before-seen photographs and sketches, as well as chapters taking fresh looks at the show’s creation, directing, visual effects, props, and most-pivotal episodes.
Eaglemoss have announced their starship model releases for August, which include four newly revealed models from their specials, XL, Universe, and Online ranges. Continue below to check them out.
The twenty-seventh of the large special issues will be the Son'a Battleship(ad), the third Son'a ship Eaglemoss have so far released, following the flagship(ad) and collector(ad) (leaving just the smaller fighter/shuttle to complete the fleet).
This is my personal favourite Son'a design, so a model I've been waiting for, but alas so far Eaglemoss are only previewing the cover the magazine not yet the model itself:
IDW have announced a big new comics project set to start later this year. After a little while away from the mirror universe they are returning in 13-issue year-long event, Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Mirror War.
Following up on the previous three TNG mirror miniseries Mirror Broken(ad), Through the Mirror(ad), and Terra Incognita(ad), the series will begin with an issue zero one-shot in September, with an eight-issue miniseries to follow. That will be interspersed with tie-in character-focused specials, the first of which will focus on Data and release in December. IDW promise that:
the 13-part saga will chart Mirror Picard’s path of conquest across all of the Mirror Universe, stoking the wrath of the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance along the way.
The series will be written by Scott and David Tipton, who previously wrote all the preceding TNG mirror comics (and many other IDW Trek titles). The #0 issue will be illustrated by Carlos Neto, who also worked on several of the previous TNG mirror books. Here's how IDW describe that issue:
...a new story of “Mirror Picard” as he’s summoned to Earth to face the wrath of his emperor, deftly weaving threads from past Mirror Universe tales in a way entertaining to newcomers and the initiated alike.
UPDATE: IDW's August solicitations, in which The Mirror War #0 is the only Star Trek release (rather than September?), include this blurb as well:
Get caught up with the Mirror Enterprise-D before its crew—helmed by Jean-Luc Picard—faces new threats and challenges in the upcoming Mirror War event!
Following the failure of the attempt to steal ships from the Prime Universe, Picard and the Mirror Crew are called back to Earth to report to the Emperor personally… so long as they can survive the trip!
