Well, here it is, almost a year after I pre-ordered it and after countless delays; the Star Trek: The Next Generation Enterprise: D from Diamond Select Toys. Was it worth the wait?  Well, I would have to say absolutely YES!!

Now, over the years I have collected many versions of this ship and I have to say that this one is huge! When my package arrived I thought there may be more in there than just the ship.  As I pulled it out of the box I realized how big it actually was. It sits at just over 17 inches in length and weighs what feels like three or four pounds. Diamond offers two versions of this starship. The first is the almost classic original (can you believe it was designed over 22 years ago) and the second is the version of the ship from the season finale “All Good Things”. They are both great. Diamond has especially outdone themselves with the sculpt quality. They continue to produce some of the best quality collectibles available from any of the major toy manufactures. The paint quality and attention to detail also stand out, right down to the windows painted on the hull. I found myself trying to look into the windows of Ten Forward.

The voice chips are of top quality as well, the original version has Patrick Stewart (Captain Picard) providing most of the dialog and the "All Good Things" version uses Jonathan Frakes (Admiral Riker) for the sound clips. The Enterprise also has some great lighting effects. The impulse engines and the bridge dome are well lit and all of the nacelles light up and pulse according to the different sound effects. Yet another bonus is that this collectible comes with a saucer separation mode (including some pretty cool sound effects during the separation sequence) that you can display on 2 separate stands. That's right! In my book, this feature alone is worth the price of the ship. However, when the ship is intact, it should be noted that it’s held together by some pretty powerful magnets that hold strong even during the most turbulent space flights.

Now that’s not to say that everything is perfect. I have just one criticism but it is mostly related to some of the other fine quality ships Diamond has produced over their tenure with the Star Trek license. I know this is really nitpicking but I wish they included an aluminum base or something a little sturdier for display. I have purchased every version that Diamond has produced and about half of my display stands are broken, leaving me no option but to find some other creative way to display these great quality ships.

All in all Diamond Select Toys has hit another home run with these 2 great versions of the Enterprise D. As far as “what you get for your money” I recommend you get out and order these now, they are well worth their price in Latinum. Any Trekkie would be proud to display these in their Trek collections.

Darren Benjamin
www.trekcast.com

Diamond Select's 'All Good Things' Enterprise-D is Available exclusively at Action Figure Xpress.