DST Answers Questions About Star Trek

The folks at Diamond Select Toys have posted a new Q&A on their blog in regards to their Star Trek line.

Joseph P: Question about Star Trek. I see TOS Kirk & Spock popping up at Toys R Us. Will the rest of the TOS bridge crew be released as well, ¡°not the mirror mirror versions¡±? It would be great to have a full bridge crew from the regular timeline. Also, do you think it would ever be possible to develop an Enterprise bridge for these action figures? It would be great to have a really detailed TOS bridge with lights and sounds. Accurate bridge playsets are just something we as collectors don¡¯t see very much of. Perhaps bridge sections that come with the figs as pack-in¡¯s kind of like what you did with the Star Trek Enterprise figs. Thanks JP

DSTChuck: JP so far the sales of the Trek figures at TRU has been pretty strong and TRU has been very supportive, so our current plan is to keep bringing back some of the bridge crew figures that have been out of circulation for some time as well as mix in new versions unique to TRU. I don¡¯t think there is any realistic way we can produce a bridge playset BUT the retro cloth figure styled play-set might be fun to use.


Mike Griffin: This year at Toy Fair you showed the Excelsior and the Enterprise-B, and I have to say they both look AMAZING! Are both of them planned as regular releases or is one planned as an Exclusive somewhere? Also are there any Battle Damaged Versions possibly in the works? Second, Is Trek making an appearance at this year¡¯s San Diego Comic Con with any exclusives? If so any hints on what the theme might be?


DSTChuck: We¡¯re still in the early stages for the Enterprise B but, yes our thinking is one will be the main release and one will be an exclusive. IF retailer demand is there we might look into some other variants as well. While we will have lots of Trek stuff to show at SDCC this year we do not plan on having a Trek exclusive at our booth.


Danny Marton: Mainly I wanted to thank you for TOS wave 5. Sickbay McCoy, Chapel and the Romulan Commander are my three most wanted figures. It¡¯s good to know I/we finally wore you down DST Chuck! I know I asked about Romulans every question I submitted. Could a Sarek be possible now, maybe w/ a Dress Uniform Spock 2 pack? Love the 1st season Kirk as well by the way.

DSTChuck: You¡¯re welcome. It¡¯s been so much fun for all of us to get a chance to work on a full wave of TOS figures again. We know lots of fans have been asking us for some of these figures. Yes, some of the work we have done on Romulans makes Sarek more possible but he¡¯s not in the plans right now. We thought we were overdue for a new Kirk head so glad you like it. Mr. Shatner liked it as well and it was approved with NO changes.


Patrick Sweeney: Hi! Like most other readers, I see a lot of frustration in the Q&A posts over the Star Trek line. I¡¯m currently a ¡°buy it all¡± collector, as far as DST Trek is concerned, but it wasn¡¯t always that way. I was convinced by recent sculpts and lines last year, and have since backfilled my collection. I have two questions about quantities of production, because it seems to have a lot of control over what we see and don¡¯t see.
1 - Why don¡¯t you release sales figures for Trek? You have no competitors and you have an audience dying to know. Even just numbers for an average figure, or an example figure would at least calm some of us down.
2 - Where did all of the 1990s Playmates customers go that justified 25,000+ units of each figure? That was an era when 10,000 was considered a limited exclusive. Now you¡¯re saying that you can¡¯t find those customers? With so much better sculpts and accessories? It¡¯s just so difficult to believe, with such a quality product that you produce and market. Thank you for your time!

DSTChuck: 1. While I suppose it might be interesting information for fans to know, releasing detailed information like that is something we just don¡¯t think is in the overall interest of DST. Without some other numbers to judge it against (say how many of a Batman Mattel sells) it would be had to place our numbers in the proper context.
2. I have no idea, we have some theories but that might not be a simple answer. I can tell you there is NO DST regular line Trek figure that has sold 10K pieces. If we could sell numbers half of that we¡¯d be able to do some really amazing things with these lines. Hopefully the movie brings some of those fans back to the stores and to collecting Trek.


J.B.: Hi DST, a few more questions for you:
1) In regards to the Borg Waves, are there any plans to do a mail away figure such as a Seven of Nine variant (blue or brown cat suit) or perhaps Cmdr Shelby from Best of Both Worlds (S7 Troi body + new head) If not, will you please consider.
2) If the Borg Waves prove successful, would you consider doing other build a (blank) series. Perhaps a Federation Transporter pad? Figures could be a mix of TNG & DS9 ¡®most wanted¡¯ (Quark, Bajoran Kira, Guinan, TNG/Nem Romulan..). It would be a great way to display one¡¯s collection.!

DSTChuck: We¡¯d of course like to do lots of 7 of 9, but right now there are no plans to have her as a mail away figure. I¡¯m not sure how far we¡¯re going to go but yes the Borg line is a big test for us as far as new sculpts and the buildable bases.


Jon Huff: First of all thanks for the great product guys. I really love the ships line. I wondered if there was any thought of re-releasing the original deco of the NX-01 that goes for nutty prices online now. I got one back in the day at TRU but it had faulty electronics. I took it back but they never had any replacements! In a funny twist of fate, I was on the board way back when at AA.com and won a pre-production version of the ship that came in a box with all the parts on plastic trees¡­ but I never got the actual thing! Any chance of this ever happening?

DSTChuck: While we do look at the ship line as something that should very much stay available to the fans, we¡¯ve had very few requests for the NX-01. If more interest is shown we will look into another production run.


Terry Olive: I am collecting all of the DS9 action figures and was wondering if a scale action figure of Quark is in the planning stages¡­.it would complete the cast of main characters. Looking forward to your reply. Thanks, Terry

DSTChuck: Quark is not in the planning stages, but we are aware that there are fans out there that really want to see a Quark figure made.


Xavier Storma: Hi there¡­ First the good things I have to tell you! Thanks for the E-D, and the planned E-B and Excelsior! Way to go. I just hope you will consider making a run (maybe limited) of the E-C, so that first time ever, there will be a complete Enterprise toy line. The quality of your ships has been amazing, and I bought each one of them multiple times! Now the bad¡­ How many Kirks and Spocks are going to hit us? Come on¡­ who will buy every single variant of those? You could use the plastic and the time you need to do new sculpts for figures we really want: Quark, Jake, Kira, the Voyager crew, the rest of the Enterprise crew¡­ Just please, stop it¡­ It is really getting ridiculous, with all those screaming Kirk, laughing Kirk, sleeping Kirk etc. variants. What about an exclusive Shatner/Nimoy line, releasing both actors in over 75 variants¡­ each one of them representing one year of each actors life¡­

DSTChuck: I¡¯m SO glad you¡¯re happy with the ships you have purchased, we try and make each new ship better then the last. I understand fans¡¯ frustrations¡­ I really do. When we stepped in to help AA with the Trek line, one of the thing we planed was to pull away from the reliance on TOS and Kirk and Spock BUT I am here five years later to tell you something - Kirk and Spock sell a HUGE multiple over any other figure we could ever do. So rather then look at it like Kirk and Spock take a spot away from another character, perhaps look at it like Kirk and Spock pay for a Rand or another figure that¡¯s not as popular.


Michael Hollis: For half a year, I have been trying to get my hands on a Enterprise NX-01 Mirror Universe & i found it several times only to be unable to get it. I have been wiling to pay 100.00 + for it not willing to pay 279.00 for it on Amazon. Please make some more of these & put me 1st on your list.

DSTChuck: Ok that¡¯s two votes for more NX-01, we¡¯re getting there.


Luis Camones: hello i have a question, im really excited about the sisko command chair and i was wondering if and thats a big IF, is there a chance for a capt. picard ¡°Enterprise-E¡± command chair? i really love the enterprise-e (i bought two of the ship) and i would really like the chair to go with the ship. is a plan for the near future? thanks

DSTChuck: Right now I am sorry to say we do not have immediate plans to make a new Picard in command chair.


Andrew LaRue: Hi, I have three questions regarding the upcoming magnificent TOS wave 5;
1. Will the packaging be the same as we have seen on the Toys R Us reissue figures?
2. Will these be available at Toys R Us?
3. Will McCoy¡¯s medical shirt have the appropriate shimmer to it as it did on the show? Thanks.

DSTChuck: 1. Yes the package will have the blue background that you have seen lately, that is the current style CBS wants for Trek product.
2. If the Trek figures continue to perform at TRU some of these will make their way into their product mix, but I think Chapel and Rand would be short packed.
3. I have not seen any samples from the factory yet to see how the blue will look.


Richard: Hi ive recently found out that your planning to bring out the star trek USS Excelsior as an electronic model later this year (thank you), however im slightly confused as ive seen picture¡¯s from various website which show the excelsior and the enterprise B, which are both excelsior style ships. Are both variations coming out at the same time? much appreciated

DSTChuck: We do hope both will end up being available at the same time, but we¡¯re not far enough along to get into ship dates yet.


David Ellis: DST i owe you an apology. I lost my temper in last months Q&A and just had a huge go at you without really thinking. Whilst i still think i have a point with certain aspects of how you make your Star Trek action figures, i realize that you do do your best. As always i am full of questions so here goes:

1) Can you tell me a bit about Wave 5 of TOS, I really do like the looks of this line, finally we¡¯ll get the Salt Vampire (if you find the prototype!) and the selection is really very good. please please please please tell me that Chapel is NOT going to be stuck onto Uhura¡¯s legs!?!??!?
2) As a model maker, i understand how much it costs to put these figures into production - however, one thing i think you could do better on is the paint applications. Sometimes they lack the tone and the depth that AA managed so well with their figures. I understand you are constantly trying to improve the products you create and i feel that your there with the sculpts, i mean that Romulan Commander Figure is just great! Patrick Piggott does great work!, but a great sculpt can only seem as good as it¡¯s paint application and its sometimes the paint that lets the rest of the figure down. I¡¯ll buy the lot if they look as good if not better than they did at Toy Fair.
3) Why is this Wave 5? was the Mirror Mirror line wave 4?
4) Collectors like unique things, on the AA packaging they had a list of people who¡¯d made the figure and of course the coin - could DST do something similar to make their items more than just toys - something that collectors could collect? one thing i think AA missed out on was a point to those coins - it would have been cool if they had produced a collectors book similar to what you got collecting Walkers Tazo¡¯s - remember them??? I used to have the slammer and the entire collection of Star Wars Tazo¡¯s and they were great - so something like that would be cool! just to make your figures different and more collectable than other companies
5) If there was to be another TOS wave (which i really hope there is) would you consider the following selection figures for it: Mugato, Gary Seven, Space Suit Kirk, Yeoman Rand, Classic Andorian, Sarek

DSTChuck: No apology needed, you are free to ask whatever you want as long as it¡¯s a question. This Q&A is for the fans and its what they make it¡­Your questions are still pretty extensive and numerous but what the heck I¡¯ll break with policy and tackle all of them, just promise not to knee cap me when you see me at a show.
1) Good news! We found the Salt Vampire! Second part sorry to say the current plans are to use re-used legs. We¡¯ve budgeted out this line with what it will cost to tool and estimated sales at its got to do a little above our projection to truly be profitable so I think we¡¯re maxed out with tooling.
2) You are correct a bad paint by the factory or the prototyper can ruin a great sculpt. We¡¯ve NEVER sent a PM to the factory and told them it was ok to pull back stages. Now sometimes it¡¯s impossible to expect something done at a VERY low cost and done thousands of times to replicate a hand painted master done in the states but we do our best to strive for that especially in the faces. We will continue to try and QC the lines better and better each time.
3) TO be honest we had someone in the office check around and seemed that based on how fans were numbering the waves this was wave 5. The SDCC Mirror Mirror wave would be considered TOS Series 4.
4) We¡¯ve done some UPC mail away figures for fans for kind of fun. I have to be honest we do not have the staff to manage a redemption program ¡ª and I don¡¯t think AA had the staff either.
5) I think some of your suggestions would be considered for a new wave of TOS figures.


John Nuara: I am interested in some of your products ¡­. specifically in the Star Trek: Enterprise replica of the Phase Pistol and Communicator and am wondering if you also have available (or are going to have available) the tricorder from this series as well. Thank you for your time and consideration. ¨CJohn

DSTChuck: I am sorry but all of the Enterprise product was made by AA before DST became involved, so we do not have any inventory.


Naisu Baddi: Dear AA/DST, First of all, thank you for answering my question in the previous Q & A blog. I have a follow-up question, and some other questions that crossed my mind as I read some of your answers to other peoples¡¯ inquiries.
1) I asked about the ¡°Trouble with Tribbles¡± Kirk and Command Chair, and you told me that you hadn¡¯t decided on the paint for it yet. I was wondering if you have any idea when it might be possible to inform us of your decision on this matter (do you have a deadline that can be revealed?) and/or post a picture of the item. I¡¯d like to be able to see what it looks like before pre-ordering it. I ask the question because I¡¯m very particular about which figures I purchase based on face sculpt, and to be honest, I¡¯ve found previous Captain Kirk sculpts disappointing. I do, however, think your ¡°T.O.S. Wave 5¡å Kirk has an excellent face sculpt, and would love to see that sculpt on the Kirk included with the chair. Of course, in order to be accurate to the ¡°Trouble with Tribbles¡± episode, the figure¡¯s outfit would have to be altered slightly. I hope the logistics of making those alterations don¡¯t make such a reuse of the sculpt impossible. Can you comment on the likelihood of that reuse happening at this time?
2) I¡¯m also curious about your methods of determining the strength of your sales. You have repeatedly stated in blogs that a lot of plans for figures have been delayed, cancelled, or rejected based on sales of previous lines/figures and this got me wondering, what do you base your assessment of sales on? Do you judge the success of a line from how many of its figures are ordered from your website? I hope you are aware of how many of your products are purchased from other sources, although I can¡¯t imagine how this information could be made available to you. In my case, I have never bought anything from the Art Asylum website because all of the figures I¡¯ve been interested in have been out of stock on the website by the time I became aware of their existence. As a result, every Art Asylum product I¡¯ve bought has been purchased from E-bay, other websites, or my local comic book/collectible shops in Canada. Do you have any means of receiving sales figures from these sources? I would hate to think you¡¯re underestimating the popularity of your products by gauging it based solely on sales from your website.


DSTChuck: My pleasure ¡ª a follow up question man this thing is longer then the last book I read. 1. I¡¯ll try and make sure we post a picture of the in progress Tribble Kirk when it arrives. The one were using is the previous AA trouble with Tribbles exclusive version. This is a different tunic than the green one we are doing in wave 5.
2. When we refer to sales numbers, we¡¯re usually talking about the total number of pieces sold through the DST online store, Diamond Previews and also through several international retailers and distributors. Figures sold on eBay would be included in that number, since they have to come from somewhere!


Jason Huffman: Just wondering if there are any plans to continue the Star Trek TOS busts beyond the Kirk and Spock busts that have already been released? Also any possibility of the entire TOS bridge crew being released in bust form? Thanks, and keep up the great work!

DSTChuck: We¡¯ve worked up a Pike bust to see if there is interest in continuing the line so hopefully Sales has good luck showing that one around.


Luc Asselin: In 2002 you released a 3 borg set¡­¡±klingon, Hirogen and cardassian, I have only 2 out of 3¡­I wonder if it¡¯s possible to buy the remaining ¡°cardassian borg¡± at you¡¯re company to complete my set? Or if you would know where i could find these produc!! thank¡¯s

DSTChuck: Sorry those were done before DST became involved with Trek so the secondary market is your only hope.


Jim Graham: My question¡­ Is there a way that I can get a Screaming Kirk from you guys? Seems that the only way is to go through e bay for 50.00!!! And TRU is COMPLETELY out of them. Many thanks, Jim

DSTChuck: Jim, sorry to hear your having trouble getting the Kirk. Going forward as they better gauge the interest I am sure TRU and TRU.com will be prepared for demand. That said based on the information I have there ARE some Kirks still in stores, just maybe not in your area. Maybe try a Trek forum on the web and see if someone can trade with you.


Eric Walters: Seing as how you messed up with the Enterprise-E by forgetting the play cover to replace the base cover. Would you guys be willing to bring up all of the enterprise-E orders that were placeds on you¡¯re computer & send a replacement play cover to those recipients that placed an order for the Enterprise-E spacifically? ??? Free Of Charge ???

DSTChuck: The lack of a replacement cover so the E can be displayed away from the base is an aesthetic issue not a design defect so we will not be going into production and making a new tool for replacement. It¡¯s something we¡¯re more aware of going forward and hopefully fans will not have that issue again.


Charles H: I inquired about possible future variations of the TOS and Enterprise D, you stated that you still had TOS in stock and haven¡¯t even gotten the D out yet.
1. That¡¯s all well and good, but I only asked because even a repaint still takes a long time to plan ahead for, and since redeco seems inevitable no mater what stage something is in, I just wanted to make sure you did something better than just slapping on battle damage paint when there are OTHER more creative canonical repaints you could do. Like the Mirror Darkly NX-01. Just no more battle damage, please. Anything but that. Youve already made a ¡°Timeless¡± Geordi, so a ¡°Timeless¡± Challenger of the 1701-D would be perfect re-use.
2. What about some sound chips with nothing but regular sound effects for some variants, without voice samples? It would be weird and unfitting for the TOS ISS Enterprise and Defiant 1764 to re-use the Kirk sound chips.
3. What about the possibility of models without electronics for a lower cost? Would help get the most out of your mold investment. And people could build up their own fleet. Plus clear ¡°Cloaking device¡± ships would rule. Just please keep other possibilities in mind for starship mold re-use other than just ¡°Battle damage¡±. That¡¯s all I ask. Best to bring the possibility up as early in production as possible.

DSTChuck: It¡¯s true even for re-runs we need to do variants many times in order to satisfy the factories minimum order quantities. Since DST has been doing this we¡¯ve done the best we can to stay away from simple repaints and sometimes include new parts or sounds with the ship. In order to do that we have to plan the variants at the time as the original ship goes into production. All suggestions we get in the Ask DST column are sent to the product mangers for their files and review ¡ª so you never know. We are aware that some possible variants would make the original sound files out of place. We have no plans to produce ships without the sounds etc.. Thanks for the suggestions. They have been send on the Trek team


JP Chism: Thanks for the upcoming Chapel and Rand action figures, those two look great! Will their packaging match the red and gold color scheme and design from the first TOS releases, or will their packaging be different? Please say it will match so they¡¯ll look the same on display! Please clarify this question about the Borg series: How many figures across how many lines will it take to build one complete alcove? And just because it can¡¯t hurt, I would like to second (or third) the request for Guinan and Tasha Yar. If it takes a two-pack from Yesterday¡¯s Enterprise, whatever, I just want those two! They¡¯re like Chapel and Rand, who are finally coming, so I have hope!

DSTChuck: All TOS going forward is in the blue style packaging you have seen lately. We have not completed series 2 yet BUT you will have to buy one of each figure to make the set, but on the other hand you will not need to buy many duplicate characters - one of each from the core releases will finish the alcove.


Alex Aldieri: First I want to say that you guys have done a great job with the Trek Tek and the ships. The quality just seems to get better and better every release! Now on to the questions,
(1)have you guys considered making a TOS medical kit? Or maybe a limited edition hypo?
(2)Are there any plans to make the Assault Phaser or some TNG Trek Tek?
(3)Are we going to see the Reliant in the near future(next3-4 years)? I¡¯d love to be able to display her with my E refit.
(4)BTW thanks for making the TOS tricorders. I can finally replace my undersized playmates version! And the scanners were a nice surprise, will one be included with the GEO tricorder as well?

DSTChuck:
1. Currently the medical kit is not in our plans.
2. We have no role play items planned currently for TNG, but that does not mean will NOT ever do any.
3. It is possible we could make the Reliant in the next 3 -4 years.
4. The Geo Tricorder is not sold or scheduled yet so final details are not locked in for sure. Glad you¡¯re excited about the Tricorder, if we could only get it in stores¡­


Joe Blostic: Hello I just had a question about the Star trek Enterprise D ship you currently have for pre-sale. The first picture on your site show clear parts use on the engine. Then on the second picture it looks more colorful with red parts and blue parts used. Can you tell me what picture shows the correct product I will receive. Thank you very much for your help. Joe

DSTChuck: I do not know which image we showed at what time but I can say if it was early on it was the prototype and as we get closer we show product that is more accurate to the final product. The final product does indeed feature red and blue plastic on the warp nacelles and bussard collectors.


Danny Marton: Hi Chuck. Thanks again for Wave 5 TOS. It¡¯s the show that started my love of all things Trek over 30yrs ago (ouch). Three questions :
1) Does the just announced official line up for wave 5 mean the Romulan Commander has been cancelled and replaced by Rand ? ( I hope not)
2) If it hasn¡¯t been, is it now part of a possible 2 pack or perhaps an exclusive ?
3) If the TOS bridge crew is rereleased will Kirk ,Sulu, and Chekov uniform colors finally match ? please, please.

DSTChuck: 1. NO not at all, all those figures we showed at Toy Fair were never intended to be part of all one wave.
2. We have possible two packs, exclusives stuff like that we can work on.
3. I am not aware of the problems AA would have had with the initial release but I can say for a release we¡¯d have to do all new paint mask anyway so we¡¯d of course make them as accurate as we can.

Bill Redfern: I know its probably unlikely, but as the ol¡¯ saying goes, ¡°It shouldn¡¯t hurt to ask.¡± Right, here goes¡­ Is there ANY possibility AA may sell a Lt. M¡¯Ress (the leonine female) from the animated Star Trek series? Sincerely, Bill

DSTChuck: We do not currently have rights to any characters that were in the animated series.


Tim Ellis: Hello, I noticed today that you¡¯ve once again delayed the release of the Enterprise D, Wrath of Kahn phaser, and the TOS tricorder. I would just like to know how it is exactly that never meeting release dates that you yourselves set could possibly make for a good business model. If you can¡¯t meet your own release dates, perhaps you should establish more conservative ones.

DSTChuck: I can¡¯t imagine a conservative ship date I could have come up with that would have included over a years delay. I really can never give a definitive up to the day date until a week before the product is in stores. Once it leaves the factory there could be delays in ocean travel time, land travel time, customs, warehousing etc¡­The only way to come close to the 100% guarantee date is after the warehouse has picked the stores orders. The dates we supply on the website are the best estimates we have based on the information we have at the time.


James White: You guys know that I am one of your biggest supporters and always try and calm the nay sayers but I just read that peoples orders are getting canceled for the the Sisko/Dukat two pack. Is this True? If it is this is very sad news. This is one of the main things I have been hoping for. With this cancellation and the Klingon two pack cancellation it is really making me consider dropping this line all together. You guys are showing some awesome products that I would love to buy but not getting much out but Kirk and Spock. Even though I love Kirk and Spock I have plenty of them and would really like to see some of the other great stuff that you have shown. For a collector and DST Star Trek fan It is starting to get discouraging.

DSTChuck: Yes, I am sorry to say the Sisko two pack had to be canceled , the preorders from retail was very low, less then 1/3 of what is needed to go forward with the minimum production. We understand your frustration and we are doing the best we can to try and mix in some unique and interesting product with the Kirk and Spock offerings, but the response from retail has been very weak.


Scott Pollock: Quick question on the Series 5 Star Trek TOS Kirk: The description says it it is a third season kirk from The Tholien Web episode. I first thought it would be Kirk in the environmental suit. When I saw the picture it was a green shirted Kirk. So I ask you, what is the difference between this Kirk and the previous green shirt Kirk? Is it a fatter version accurately depicting Shatner¡¯s weight gain by the 3rd season? If so, boy you guys are good? LOL

DSTChuck: The green outfit in that episode is different then the green uniforms we have made previously. Dr. McCoy is from The Tholian Web, but Kirk is not.

Blaze Sawyer: Saw the solicitations for TOS wave 5¡­.very excited to see Rand in there, but what happened to the Salt Vampire and Romulan Commander!?!? Please tell me they are still coming!

DSTChuck: The commander is coming later in some format and the salt Vampire would be listed as a stand alone figure or a Previews Exclusive.


Chris Coombs:
I just wanted to say that I love your Star Trek figures and have been buying them for years, but I do have a few questions.
1) Is it possible to get the packaging to be more unison?
2) Could you mix the waves up? Could you put a character from DS9, TNG and TOS in one wave?
3) Why don¡¯t you guys make more figures that have not been done before? I see on the blog that sometimes certain figures can¡¯t be done due to cost or may not be popular. I think you might be able to sell more, if you would made characters that have not been done before, even if you had to charge more. I know I would pay more for more DS9!!!
4) Deep Space 9 is the BEST and would love to see Kai Winn, Weyon, Damar (reused Dukat?), Kor, Bren, Jem¡¯Hadar, Senator Cretak, Female Changling, Quark, Bajorian Kira, Shakkar, Tain, Garak and a Romulan, just to name a few. I¡¯m sure if you made some of these characters that have not been done before, perhaps sales might be better.
5) I would like to see for TNG; Shelby, Lursa, Be¡¯tor, Sela and Tasha Yar.
6) For TOS, I would like to see Edith Keeler, Spock, Kirk and McCoy from the ¡°City on the Edge of Forever¡±. Thanks for all the hard work in what you guys have done so far and keep them (TOS and DS9) coming!!

DSTChuck: 1) When you work on a property like Trek the art work for packing and ads and such is set forth in a style guide that the studio provides ¡ª that¡¯s the reason for the change to the blue package. Going forward everything will match this new style.
2) That is something that is in theory possible, in fact we tried that with the last waves of Minimates. We have considered it for action figures but nothing has made it past the conversation stages.
3) While it is difficult to come up with figure that Playmates never did, we have tried the best we can to get characters like Ogawa and Martok.
4) I have to say DS9 is my favorite Trek as well but based on sales from the prior releases include the Odo that was an all new sculpt our sales department does not see the demand right now for more DS9 figures and we agree with them. Sorry.
5) We¡¯re taking a break from TNG right now but we do get requests for Yar and Guinan.
6) For legal reasons we¡¯re going to stay away from City on the Edge of Forever but as you know we have TOS5 lined up and if that does well more TOS will be in the offering.


Chris Coombs: I have just one more question, why didn¡¯t you guys get to make the Star Trek figures for the movie coming out it May? Lets be honest, your figures are vastly superior to Playmates. Any chance you might be able to make them later? Thanks

DSTChuck: The studio¡¯s vision for the product mix and sales expectations was not in line with what we wanted to do for the movie so we happily stepped aside for Playmates, who will be getting product in all of the major retailers.


Kurt Borden: Has the Sisko-Dukat 2-pack been canceled? In the future would there be anyway to give fans a ¡°yellow-light¡± warning about a product that is in danger of being canceled? I tend to buy several duplicate sets BUT I do not preorder! If, however, more of us need to preorder to keep sets viable then please give us the heads up. Just loyal fans trying to give you our money!

DSTChuck: Yes the Sisko & Dukat was cancelled due to low preorders from buyers. I do not know of any way to let fans know a project is in danger but that¡¯s something we can think about. We¡¯d never want a fan to buy more of something than they want to buy, we¡¯d just like for the buyers to support what we think is a viable product and the way to do that¡¯s is for fans to go into stores and tell them they collect Trek and DST toys and will buy them when they come in.


Mark Calcagno: What happened with the Enterprise-D?! I thought it was supposed to come out soon, but we have to wait until May?!?! Sigh, I know the delays are out of your control. Do you know if May 20 is a definite day? or maybe it could come out sooner¡­?

DSTChuck: As for the D ¡ª part of me thinks it would be better to list all the unexpected issues we have had with this item for fans, and part of me thinks that¡¯s just making excuses. The contract is between fans and DST not fans and the factory or CBS so the buck stops here. The latest delay with the D was a problem with the saucer connecting with the body that came up unexpectedly. There is a fine line between making a product as good as you can and shipping it to market - and regardless of that or our expectations on how long this item would take ¡ª we listed for sale WAY too early and we¡¯re going to do everything in our power to not do that again and be further along in production before we go out to get orders.


Marc Heinz: Dear Art Asylum- I have managed to acquire nearly every version of your Star Trek TOS phaser. I am currently looking for the gray handled one that appears to be a toys r us exclusive. Our local stores have seen none of them and I cannot find them on the web. Were they a limited run? Did all stores get them? Are you still producing them and they just haven¡¯t hit the stores en mass yet? Is there another way I can go about securing a few of these? Any help here would be greatly appreciated. best regards, Marc

DSTChuck: Marc, the item was a limited run BUT the quantity was planned to be sufficient to meet demand and from the reports I see there are still some in stores, maybe see if someone on the web that lives in another state can help or email TRU.com and tell them you want the item.


Bill Nicholson: I recently went to the toy fair web site and saw pictures of the USS EXCELSIOR and USS ENTERPRISE B ships they look excellent. and I will be adding them to my collection as soon as their available. I already have preorders on the WOK phaser, medical and science tricorders also the ENTERPRISE D ship. You guys do great work and please consider the star trek III phaser and original klingon battlecruiser ship I would definitely add them to my collection list. thanks again

DSTChuck: We definitely have a Klingon ship in our plans.


Will Mac: Please tell us about the scanner that comes with the TOS medical tricorder¨Cdoes it have a motorized spinner or is it manual? Does it have lights and/or sounds, too? Would love to see a video of it on you tube. What¡¯s the status of the geological tricorder, and what will its functions be? Rumor is that it will feature the voice of the Enterprise computer (Majel Barrett). Thanks.

DSTChuck: Let me see what I can do about getting one of those YouTube videos going. We have not found a buyer for the third Tricorder so I can¡¯t really say what all the features are but you¡¯re not far off.


Jerry Vorhies: Subject: Star Trek Ships There are two ships in Star Trek that are well known and have never been made into a toy. The Reliant from ST 2 the wrath of Khan. The other is from the Two part episode of TNG Yesterday¡¯s Enterprise. Enterprise C. All the other Enterprise models have been made as a toy except this one. As for the Reliant KHAN! Thanks, hope to see these some day soon! ¨CJerry

DSTChuck: We are aware of both ships and I think its fair to say they are on our short list of ships we¡¯re considering every time we green light a new ship.


Kevin Gomolchak:I¡¯ve noticed when looking at my STTNG action figures that Worf, Picard, and Riker are one-inch taller than the rest. Worf makes sense because he is a huge guy, but Picard and Riker look silly when next to the other figures. Will you guys ever re-release them in proper proportion to the rest of the crew?

DSTChuck: According to the data we have Riker or Jonathan Frakes is a VERY tall man.


David Ellis: There¡¯s been a lot of talk over at the Trektoy.com forum about a 3 3/4 inch scale figure line. I know this question has been asked many times before but depending on the success of the new movie and it¡¯s toy line - would DST consider wrapping up their waves of 7 inch figures if sales don¡¯t improve and moving production over to the smaller scale to bring it into line with the Playmates 3 3/4 scale figures? Kids usually buy into brands rather than individual series as seen by the success of the Star Wars range so do you think this could be something that you could pursue to ensure that kids buy into your product just as much as they could be buying into the new movie line? If your answer is no, without giving away information not disclosed by DST, why would you not consider doing this? besides the valid problem that at the moment Star Trek figures don¡¯t seem to sell for you. regardless of scale issues, what is the reason for basing sales of your Star Trek figures on Pre-orders? surely with times as tight as these, pre-ordering things are not going to happen as often as they would in times when people do have some excess cash to spend and even then, many of your items aren¡¯t actually advertised until they hit the shelves (thats if they don¡¯t get canceled before they do) for people to see in their local comic book shops or TRU¡¯s. many thanks.

DSTChuck: If sales on the larger sized figures reached the point where none of them are viable we¡¯d of course consider the smaller scale. In fact as we have said we¡¯re taking a look at it now. Pre-orders are the only tangible thing a manufacture has to gauge interest in their item and present on a profit and loss statement to whatever the powers that be are to move forward with a project. Now that said on that P&L (Profit and Loss) we plan a healthy number of ¡°extras¡± to cover some of what you refer to BUT if an item requires more then 100% extras to be viable there has to be a VERY good reason to not cancel the item.


Alex Aldieri:Are your TOS props (phaser, communicator, tricorder) the same size as the Roddenberry.com props? I¡¯m asking because I¡¯d like to be able to display these using the Rodd. stands.

DSTChuck: I have never held a prop from Roddenberry.com but I can tell you ours are intended to be 1/1 scale.


Tim Burgess: Is the salt vampire now cancelled again? Also -how about generic crew members, just need different heads? Thanks

DSTChuck: The Salt Vampire is NOT cancelled. Look for it in the May issue of Previews. Generic crew members might work for Minimates, but probably not action figures.


Harry Worthan: Hi, I love Art Asylums Star Trek stuff!! Is there any possibility you will be producing any more ships from the Star Trek line, more particularly enemy ships like the Klingon Bird of Prey? Best regards, Harry Worthan

DSTChuck: Harry for sure we¡¯d like to but we really need to get the D out there and get pre-production done on the B before we can bite off more stuff. In an IDEAL world we¡¯d LOVE to get two ships done a year but I don¡¯t know how realistic that is.


Barry Gordon: Will there ever be a figure made of Okona from the next gen episode (The outragous Okona) Hope i spelled that right.. Thanks for your time. Barry

DSTChuck: I don¡¯t think so, sorry.