Nice new First Contact T-shirts

The StarTrek.com store has launched some new First Contact inspired T-shirts. One makes use of the Gold Key comics Star Trek font (which seems to be popping up more and more these days):

And the other does that text thing (this one's is also available in your standard Star Trek division colours too):

They also have some new watches:

TNG 365 cover

The Amazon listing for Star Trek: The Next Generation 365 has been updated to reveal the cover! It doesn't tell us much, except that Paula Block and Terry Erdmann will be authoring again, and this time Ronald Moore will be providing an introduction.

Pre-order: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.ca, Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.co.jp.

Happy First Contact Day

To celebrate First Contact Day, just over half a century away today, Star Trek Online are having a special event for Federation players: If you make your way to the Advanced Starship Design Bureau at Utopia Planitia you can meet the crew of the Enterprise-F and pick up your very own Phoenix!

Klingon players needn't feel left out, as they also have a new mission just for them, called Alphas, which takes the players on a mission into Romulan space (find out more, here).

A little preview of J.K. Woodwards TNG/Doctor Who

The Comics Dispatch podcast has this week released an interview with J.K. Woodward, in which, among other things, he discusses his work as the illustrator of the forthcoming Star Trek/Doctor Who crossover Assimilation². He stayed pretty tight lipped about any real details, but did note that he was advised the series is set between seasons five and six of TNG, which informed his presentation of the characters. He also noted that it is one story told in eight parts, rather than a series of one-shots. Although he did note something else going on in the third issue, where he expects another artist may be involved:

I'm probably going to have a little help on issue three, because there's a separate story there; I can't go too much into that.

The Comics Dispatch also posted a couple of panels from the series, which manage to cram in an Andorian, the Borg, a runabout, and someone with a big pink collar:

You can find the full podcast, here.

Star Trek Tactics away team set

Earlier in the year I reported Wizkids would be adding a new Away Team game to their range of Star Trek heroclix games. Well now that new game is available for pre-order and it seems they have decided to make it a part of their Star Trek Tactics game. The seven figure set based on the new movie timeline would also appear to be comprised of the seven figures so far released in the game Star Trek Expeditions and its expansion pack...

Pre-order: Amazon.com, Entertainment Earth.

Star Trek Classic Quotes: TNG

The Simon and Schuster listing for the forthcoming Star Trek Classic Quotes book has been updated, and it would appear from the blurb that this new book is in fact part of the TNG 25th anniversary celebrations. Amazon's listing now calls it Star Trek Classic Quotes: The Next Generation. Here's the blurb:

These notable quotables from all seven seasons of The Next Generation and color photographs from the popular 1987-1994 television series are the perfect way to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the first episode.

There’s a lot of great material to pull from. In fact, Star Trek: The Next Generation won 18 Emmy Awards. The series formed the basis of the seventh through tenth Star Trek films.

Capt. Picard: Space... The final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. It's continuing mission, to explore strange new worlds. To seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no one has gone before.

William Riker: Flair is what marks the difference between artistry and mere competence.

Lt. Cmdr. Data: If the warp drive fails to activate, the results could be... unfortunate.
Lieutenant Worf: Very unfortunate. We will be dead.

Q: I’m not good in groups. It’s hard to work in groups when you're omnipotent.

Jean-Luc Picard: I’ve just been paid a visit by Q.
William Riker: Q? Any idea what he's up to?
Jean-Luc Picard: He wants to do something nice for me.
William Riker: I'll alert the crew.

I guess J.J. Abrams really look that first quote from Riker to heart.

Complete First Contact soundtrack

Continuing the series of expanded Star Trek soundtrack releases, GNP Crescendo Records have just released the complete Star Trek First Contact soundtrack, including the full score form the film, plus three alternate cues. Here's the cover:

And via TrekMovie, here's the neat Borg Sphere disc:

Just three more releases to complete the series now, which should include two more wonderful Jerry Goldsmith soundtracks!

Missed my own birthday!

So, I just realised, a couple of weeks ago, this blog had its fifth birthday!

My first day's posts included lots of coverage for IDW's Star Trek comics, which themselves had only started a couple of months earlier with the TNG series The Space Between. I also had a look at what was then the latest TOS episode to go through the remastering process, The Tholian Web; got excited about Sean Touangeau and Ellery Connell's recently revealed final 3D model of the USS Titan; and had a look at the latest offerings in DST's Star Trek toy range.

My aims and interests have remained pretty consistent since then. I started this blog because I felt the other Star Trek news sites always sideline tie-ins, so I spent far too much time hunting out news myself; it seemed only sensible to present my findings for others who shared my interest. For me tie-ins are Star Trek; the novels and comics are what's keeping the Star Trek universe alive; ever expanding it and doing things the TV series and movies couldn't ever do. The toys and other stuff aren't quite so core to that experience, but I do find it interesting to see what crazy stuff gets dreamt up with a Starfleet delta slapped on the side.

Aside from the occasional aesthetic update one of the biggest additions since I started has been to try and make this site a resource for more than just news, with the addition of my schedule listings, and most recently Thrawn's incredible Star Trek reading order flow chart. On that note I must thank Thrawn, as well as Jens Deffner, my steadfast German correspondent, who fills me in on all things Cross Cult  (while keeping himself busy with the fantastic UnrealitySF), plus all the other people who have sent me tips or helped out over the years, many of which have their own great Star Trek sites listed in my sidebar. I should also thank all the writers, artists, editors, and everyone else involved in the production of all this stuff I report about - Particularly those who have given their time to comment on their latest output, or allowed me to premier new images and information.

This blog has also spawned a sporadically updated sub-blog, the 8of5 Archive, where I look a bit more at Star Trek products of the past, or from more exotic origins. Plus there's 8of5's Guide to the Multiverse, where I get distracted by everything else that's not Star Trek; mostly Lego and dinosaurs! All of these are represented by my Facebook and Twitter pages. So ya know, feel free to like/follow.

Finally thanks to my readers for always coming back, I hope you'll continue to come here for the latest Trek-stuff news for another five years.

Another wonderfully silly Trek product from ThinkGeek

They've done it again (or have come up with a rather elaborate April Fools)! ThinkGeek's latest edition to their eclectic range of Star Trek stuff is an inflatable Captain's chair! Here's how they describe it:

Galloping around the cosmos is a game for the young and you have your whole youth ahead of you. Take your seat in your Inflatable Captain's Chair, assemble your bridge crew, and start exploring. Invented at ThinkGeek, this chair is suitable for wee geeks aged 3 to small adult, or up to about 120 pounds. The arms are printed with all sorts of buttons and and lights to encourage imagination play, including setting Red or Yellow Alerts or jettisoning the pod. All that's missing is the most attractive Captain in the quadrant - your kid!

And a video of it in action too!:

In other ThinkGeek news, they've got very excited over the release of Dayton Ward's new TOS novel That Which Divides, as it apparently includes a reference to their own Starfleet issue spork:

Chekov hoped his forced chuckle covered the sound of his clearing his throat as he held up his "personal eating utensil," or "PEU," as it was known in Starfleet vernacular. Essentially a spoon with the end of its scoop molded to feature a trio of fork tines, the implement was a standard equipment item issued to cadets at Starfleet Academy . . . Its titanium construction would make it quite suitable for such a purpose.

Latest model kits from AMT

The Round 2 Model's website has been updated with new listing confirming the re-release of the AMT DS9 model kit in September, complete with added mini USS Defiant. And in November a nice retro packaged release of the TOS exploration prop set. Here's how they describe them:

This kit represents the namesake of the 4th Star Trek television series, Deep Space Nine. The station was strategically located as the first line of protection for the federation from dangerous aliens traveling through a nearby wormhole. Included is a brand new mini kit of the U.S.S. Defiant, the battleship that was assigned to protect the station from Federation enemies. The kit returns to production injected in clear plastic that allows modelers the ability to light their model. (light kit not included). New window decals are also included to supply detail for those that desire a finished look without the need to light the model.

Fans remember the iconic handheld props from Star Trek: The Original Series like the iconic communicator, a precursor to today’s common cell phones. AMT is proud to bring back this classic kit depicting a trio of favorite Trek props- the communicator, phaser II and tricorder. The miniatures are “kid size” and offer plenty of detail that is augmented by a bonus sheet of photoetch brass parts.