Captain Kirk's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Due out in November from Titan Magazines is their latest extra big annual, the Star Trek Magazine Special 2015. The bumper issue will include lots of interviews, and sport a Sergeant Pepper inspired cover (as posted by Previews):

Things From Another World have posted a blurb, noting some of the features that will be included:

Exploring strange new worlds, new life and new civilizations for more than 50 issues, the official Star Trek magazine is the only place to find the best interviews, original features, and exclusive behind-the-scenes action! In this special edition, we talk to movie actors Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, and Bruce Greenwood, as well as Trek TV legends Gates McFadden, Denise Crosby, and Rene Auberjonois! We go behind-the-scenes of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Into Darkness, dissect what makes Kirk the perfect captain, and discover what happens When Cultures Collide!

New Attack Wing ships on the way in 2015

Wizkids have announced four new waves of model ships coming next year in their Star Trek miniatures game, Attack Wing. Continuing their monthly releases, March next year will see three new ships in wave thirteen, with another three due each month following up until at least June, with wave sixteen the furthest ahead so far solicited. As is typical of the series, the new ships are pulled form across the franchise, including designs that have rarely, and indeed sometimes never, been released as models before.

March's wave thirteen will include the refit Constitution class mirror universe ship ISS Enterprise, the Cardassian Galor class Reklar, and a Gorn ship.

This will be the first retail model of the Gorn design which appeared in the remastered version of Arena. Although the same model has been available already this year in limited quantities as an organised play event prize.

Wave fourteen in April will include the Krenim Temporal Weapon, another mirror universe ship, the NX class ISS Avenger, and the Oberth class USS Pegasus.

This is only the second ever rendition of the Krenim ship, following the recently released Eaglemoss version.

In May wave fifteen includes the USS Prometheus, the Bajoran ship Ratosha, and the Klingon Bird of Prey IKS Ning'tao.

The rare ship of this bunch is the Ratosha, which has been seen as a model just once before, also as a gaming miniature (indeed probably the very same mold) in the Tactics game.

Wave sixteen in June will see the "USS Dauntless", the Ferengi D'Kora class Marauder Kreechta, the Olympic class USS Pasteur.

And again here Eaglemoss have just narrowly beaten Wizkids, in getting the first ever model of the USS Dauntless out already.

That's it for the 2015 releases, but wave seven is just appearing right now. Continue after a jump for a look at the newest ships to join the collection:

Danilo's ships calendar

A couple of years ago Danilo started publishing Star Trek calendars for the UK market (which has had the unfortunate effect of making the US calendars from Universe Publishing trickier to get hold of on this side of the Atlantic). Danilo's offering has been a bit different every year, but they do have a recurring ships calendar.

How they present that calendar has changed year to year: For the 2013 calendar they used various images of nuTrek ships (a mixture of stills and concept art). In 2014 they gathered an assortment of vary familiar shots from the across the franchise, the regular promo shots of ships we've seen many times before. The 2015 calendar, which has just been released, changes direction once more, and this time it's very familiar. The calendar, now branded Ships of the Line, is an almost exact replica of the 2014 US Ships of the Line calendar, with one less image, as this version doesn't have a centerfold image.

There are a few alterations, while the images are the same, the formatting is different, with the titles placed differently, and in different fonts, and most notably the calendar being presented as a bar across the bottom of the entire page - Which as far as calendar functionality goes might actually be an improvement (personally I see Ships of the Line more like a Trek-art magazine though).

Previously Danilo have offered a second Star Trek calendar option - A TOS calendar for 2013, and Into Darkness for 2014. There are listings for a 2015 TNG calendar from them, although no images have surfaced, and retailer listings seem a bit empty - I have a feeling this might have been cancelled, or at the very least delayed for some reason.

Your Star Trek calendar options needn't be limited though, as there are four other 2015 calendars from US publisher Universe.

Aliens trading card series

The latest range of Star Trek trading cards from Rittenhosue Archives focuses on Aliens. Coming in November, the new series will feature alien characters, exotic and familiar, from across the prime timeline. There will be one hundred basic cards, and a plethora of bonus cards, including:

• Randomly inserted sketch cards.
• 60 autographed cards, in 1 in 8 packs.
• 18 sticker cards, in 1 in 16 packs.
• Gold versions of the cards, in 1 in 24 packs.
• 9 "First Appearances" cards, in 1 in 24 packs.
• 9 "Quotable Klingon" cards, in 1 in 24 packs.
• 10 alien ships cards, in 1 in 24 packs.
• 6 alien badge/pin cards, in 1 in 288 packs.

You'll find five cards in each pack, twenty-four packs per box, and twelve boxes in a case. And there are further bonus cards if you're buying by the case:

• 2 case toppers, either a Borg or Klingon poster design by Juan Ortiz, 1 per case.
• Hand drawn sketch cards by Warren Martineck Card, as a 6-case incentive.
• Painted sketch cars by Mick and/or Matt Glebe, as a 9-case incentive.
• An archive box, with an exclusive "relic" card, as an 18-case incentive.

Regular and case-incentive sketch cards.

The Big Bang Theory goes retro

For last year or so, there has been a growing range of co-branded Star Trek and the The Big Bang Theory merchandise, including clothing, apparel, and toys. The latest entry into this collection comes from Bif Bang Pow, in the form of Mego-style retro action figures of all the main Big Bang Theory characters, in TOS Starfleet uniforms - There have been several other toy versions of the Big Bang guys presented Star Trek style, but this is the first time the female characters have been included.

This new series casts Leonard as Captain Kirk, and Sheldon as Spock (complete with very pointy ears). The science department is filled out by Amy and Bernadette, while operations is manned by Penny, Raj, and Howard. I raise a quizzical Spock-like eyebrow at the ranks here, as all the female characters are at least a rank below the males!

Entertainment Earth have all seven available for pre-order, and anticipate an October release. They are limited to the rather curious figure of six-hundred-and-two of each character. Continue after the jump below to see the full range.

Foul Deeds Will Rise cover

Due out in December is a new TOS movie-era novel from Greg Cox, Foul Deeds Will Rise, which is also a sequel to the episode The Conscience of the King. StarTrek.com have now revealed the cover for the book, which was created by Joe Corroney; an artist more often associated with Star Trek comics, having produced covers and interior illustrations for numerous IDW titles.

Here's a reminder of the blurb:

2288. The U.S.S. Enterprise-A is on a vital peacekeeping mission in a remote solar system beyond the boundaries of the Federation, where two warring planets—Pavak and Oyolo—are attempting to end years of bitter conflict. Crucial peace talks are being conducted aboard the Enterprise, even as Starfleet weapons inspectors oversee the disarmament process. Losses and atrocities on both sides have left plenty of hard feelings behind, so Captain James T. Kirk has his work cut out for him, even as he unexpectedly runs into a disturbing figure from his past: Lenore Karidian.

Twenty years ago, the deadly daughter of Kodos the Executioner tried to kill Kirk, but she has since been declared sane and rehabilitated. Kirk wants to give her the benefit of the doubt and a second chance at life, but when a mysterious assassination threatens the already fragile peace process, all clues point toward Lenore—and the future of two worlds hangs in the balance.

TNG season 7 bluray previews

Coming in December is the final set of releases in the TNG bluray project, the Season Seven box set, and stand-alone release of All Good Things... StarTrek.com have revealed the cover art, and released trailers of both.

StarTrek.com gave this description of the Season Seven set:

The Seventh Season Blu-ray will boast all 26 final-season episodes and a treasure chest of previously unseen interviews with cast and crew, including the three-part documentary “The Sky’s The Limit: The Eclipse Of Star Trek: The Next Generation” and the featurette “In Conversation: Lensing Star Trek: The Next Generation,” as well as deleted scenes and an unreleased gag reel.

Continue after the jump for a look at the All Good Things stand-alone release:

Star Trek: The Compendium previews

Due out in less than a week is Star Trek: The Compendium, the new bluray release of both nuTrek films, including the IMAX version of Into Darkness and all the extra features which were previously scattered to the retailer exclusive winds. In fact the Into Darkness portion of the set even has a couple of new featurettes, on props and costumes, and StarTrek.com have posted a preview clip from the costume piece, looking at the Starfleet issue wetsuits seen early in Into Darkness:



UPDATE: And TrekMovie have released another clip, looking at the new unifom variations seen in Into Darkness:



A couple of clips have been released from the gag reel. Continue after the jump for a look at those:

Metal models from Fascinations

Fascinations, makers of novelty gifts, including metal models of various buildings and vehicles (including Star Wars ships and droids), is soon to add Star Trek to their range, with a collection of four metal starship model kits. Intricate models of the USS Enterprise, USS Enterprise-D, Klingon Bird of prey, and Vor'cha class will be available. They are delivered as flat sheets of laser etched steel, which need to be folded together, and held together using lots of tabs, to make the 3D form - The finished models range from three-and-a-half to four-and-a-half inches long/wide. StarTrek.com have previewed all four models:

These will be out later this year; StarTrek.com state later this month, while Fascinations have told me October, and their Facebook page says November! The Facebook page also posted another images which so shows alternate views of the models, including the Enterprise with correct nacelle orientation:

Aeroshuttle test footage, and more Voyager behind the scenes goodies

Maybe you've heard of the Aeroshuttle? It was the captain's yacht-like smallcraft attached to the underside of the USS Voyager's saucer section. It was basically Voyager's personal runabout.

The Aeroshuttle never appeared on-screen; it's role was ultimately filled by the Delta Flyer. But over the years has popped up in the pages of several behind-the-scenes and technical publications, comics, Ships of the Line, and most recently in the Voyager issue of The Official Starships Collection, which examined the launch sequence of the shuttle. Well now we can see that launch sequence in motion, as visual effects artist Adam "Mojo" Lebowitz has posted a concept test video of the Aeroshuttle launch:



Here's what Mojo had to say about the footage:

This was a visual effects concept test to show the producers of Voyager what a launch sequence of the (as of yet) unused "Aeroshuttle" might look like. This special craft was capable of warp speeds and able to fly in a planetary atmosphere. Ultimately, the decision was made to leave the Aeroshuttle alone and introduce the Delta Flyer (this was shortly before the movie "Insurrection," which featured a launch sequence of the Captain's Yacht - the producers didn't want Voyager to "steal the thunder" of such a scene from the upcoming movie). The test was created by Voyager CGI Supervisors Rob Bonchune and Adam "Mojo" Lebowitz, under the supervision of VFX Producer Dan Curry.

Star Trek designer Rick Sternbach has also be sharing some behind the scenes Voyager stuff lately, on Facebook, in the lead up to next year's 20th anniversary of the series. That includes this concept art for what would eventually evolve into the Aeroshuttle.

The not-so-small AeroShuttle tucked up under the Voyager forward hull was based roughly on the Starfleet Runabout spaceframe, in hopes that if we ever saw it, we could modify the existing set from DS9. Ah, sadly, it was not to be, but we did get to see the ventral side and I did get to write a bit of imagined history for Star Trek The Magazine. The craft began life as a concept patterned after a manta ray and was nicknamed as such. That turned into the AeroWing, which coincidentally was a copyrighted name for a toy connected to The Mighty Ducks. Headscratching ensued. AeroShuttle became the in-house term.

Continue after the jump for a look back through the evolution of the USS Voyager design: