DSTChuck has released a new Diamond Select Toys Q&A over on their
Art Asylum website for your viewing pleasure.
In this weeks edition focuses Star Trek questions. Check out the entire Q&A below:
Justin Hyman
I enjoy your star trek toy line and ships you going to re-release the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-A ship to celebrate the 25th anniversary of star trek iv the voyage home next year and will you also be doing the battle damaged version of the Enterprise-a from star trek vi and the enterprise-d from star trek generations
DSTChuck: Right now we do not have any re-runs planned; it is something we look at all the time to see where we are on inventory versus demand. IF we do re-run a ship many times we will look into repaints to help hit the numbers the factory needs us to order. The closest to a re-run at this time looks to be the Ent -E.
D.C. Fletcher
Hello AA/DST, You’ve mentioned in previous Q & A sessions that the the Star Trek 7″ figure line is “on hiatus” for 2010. I interpret this as meaning that no new figures will be announced or produced this year. However, you also said that you’re working on ways to release the figures you’ve previously listed. I was wondering if there was any chance of those previously listed figures coming out this year, or will it be 2011 at the earliest before they’re released? I’m especially curious about the Romulan Kirk and Spock 2 Pack, and the figures that were originally scheduled for release as part of wave 5. Thank you for continuing to answer Star Trek questions with honesty and not writing off the 7″ figure line for good, despite its recent setbacks.
DSTChuck:We are going to do all we can to find a way to get many of the figures out this year. I really can’t promise but we’re working with sales and the factory to see what can be done. That does not include series like the Borg - there is no way that will be out this year. We love Trek here and 7″ figures are our main line aside from Minimates so we’ll keep looking at ways to make them happen.
Tim S
I just wanted to take a moment and just give kudos for all the ships and tek you guys have done. Very well done. I know sometimes you guys get people yelling about the final products(E-D neck not perfect) but thanks to you we can still get these ships that no one else made so no complaints here. The AGT Enterprise was top of the line and more then I could have ever wanted. I know it costs a lot to do but is there any chance of maybe on a re-release of the Enterprise A or a future refit Enterprise of having just the lights on? I wish you continued success and what ever ships you make I’ll buy. ST TMP and TUC Klingon battle cruiser is my vote.
DSTChuck: Glad you like the Trek Tek. Fans are entitled to their opinion and we do try our best to make everyone as pleased with our products as possible. To be honest I am not sure if that’s possible but I can say when we look at a re-run we look into every way possible to improve / learn from past releases.
Harry Worthan
Hey DSTChuck, Two quick questions.. Did you guys re-release the Wrath of Khan Enterprise recently? I heard that maybe you had fixed the materials so that the lights didn’t bleed thru as bad. I might be getting one if this is the case, and now my second question.. I was wanting to get decals for the Enterprise D, could you be more specific on which customer service I contact, either AA or DST? I sent an email to AA Customer service a LONG time ago and never heard anything back, so I have now tried DST Customer service. Thanks for putting up with us and I am looking forward to the BoP!
DSTChuck: Yes we did run more TWOK Enterprises several months ago. I would not say that the light bleed is fixed but I do think it’s a little better. Both contact emails go to the same place, sorry you have not heard but try re-sending and I am sure we’ll take care of it, I know we still have more transfers here.
Joseph Stachowicz
I have been an avid fan of Star Trek for many years and recently the Star Trek Online game has rekindled my love for the show as well as the ships featured throughout the various series. As such I had the idea to collect all of the variations of the enterprise, which is when I stumbled onto your site. I must say I am blown away by the level of detail of your model ships!! Truly amazing! However I seem to have come late to collecting these ships and I wanted to inquire as to whether you would be doing a re-release of the NX-01 Enterprise as well as the Enterprise E. They are pretty hard to find. I was also wondering if there were any plans on doing the Enterprise B and C to complete the line of ships. Thank you for taking the time to answer a question I am sure you’ve read a million times over by now. GREAT JOB TO EVERYONE at Art Asylum and Diamond Select Toys!!
DSTChuck: We might have heard it a few times — no where near a million - and its always nice to hear! I’ll let the team know. Yes we are always looking into re-running the items like ships and phasers. We’d love to at some point get to all the Enterprise models.
Eric Gardner
Hiya, Chuck! Eric Gardner here. I saw the Klingon Disruptor picture while I was browsing the web…and it looks great. With ST III around your corner, is there a possibility for a starfleet Phaser I & II from ST III as well?
DSTChuck: One at a time Eric, one at a time.
Chris Coombs
Do you have any news as when or if the Romulan Kirk & Spock 2-pack are going to be made or when they might be released? Keep up the good work.
DSTChuck: That is one of the products on hold, we are hoping to have good news soon but nothing is determined yet.
Chris Clubb
I am very interested if you guys might have any action figures that might have a very good likeness of Kate Mulgrew for Star Trek : Voyager at all, if so I would like to buy 4 packs please . The first two will be for investment, the others I’ll be making my own “Fan Film” and also it will be done with model kits, and stop-motion-animation. If you thing you can help me please e-mail if possible, or not sent me to someone else that can provide me all the things that I need, would you also have, other Star Trek Vessels still in stock at all in your hidden rooms maybe if you might have any backstock at all, of any kind please, if there are broken parts available at all in which that you don’t want them please don’t throw them away, I will be very happy to take them please thank you very much .
DSTChuck: Sorry Chris, but any ships we have in stock are listed on the web store. There is no big stash here…We’ve never made a Janeway figure and none are in the works so I think you will have to try secondary sources. Good luck with your film though.
Andrew LaRue
I’d like to begin by saying that it’s a shame the Toys R Us deal only worked out for 3 waves, I was hoping that partnership could help you guys out with getting Trek rejuvenated, but I’m hoping there is still opportunity to be had. Two figures that were exclusive to them, “Khaaan!” Kirk and Kang, were extremely hard to find and are practically non-existent even on the secondary market. Since TRU, I assume, should have no further claim on the former exclusives, is there any chance of their rerelease in 2-packs, with counterparts that only require a new head, and paintjob? Such as, “Khaaan!” Kirk has the accurate collar for a Regula McCoy, which works out since you guys have shown no fear in releasing Kirk or McCoy in the past, so it would make for an easy 2-pack - and at least everybody I know wants more TWOK. Secondly, Kang had a far superior paint job compared to Art Asylum’s version of Kor, and Kor himself is also rather difficult to get, so together they could make a fantastic 2-pack. Even if people already have both, the army-builder potential makes them far more likely to sell than even Kirk and Spock. So, any chance of seeing 2-packs such as those? Thanks.
DSTChuck: It might be possible to re-issue them sometime in the future but we’re not planning on working on any new Trek 2 packs at this time. Sorry.
Boettcher Malte
Hi Guys and greetings from Germany, at first I have to say you did great on the 8 inch Trek toy line so far. I just started to collect them. For years I thought I had it with Star Trek and Action Toys but then I got Kirk and Gorn for a low price on eBay and I was stunned. I loved these figures from that day on and I had to collect them all (even thou my wife and I had fight over the DHL delivery guy ringing my doorbell daily). I wanted to have such detailed Trek figures since I was a boy. So I was really sad and a little angry when I heard you won’t continue the line. That is really a shame. I know what you would answer me on that, that you would be happy to release all the figures you had announced but the pre-order and sales numbers don’t justify that investment. But here is one idea. Not every one is willing to pre-order an item that will release years after announcing or probably never.. And to complicate this, for me (a European) there is no way to get it preordered on the DST side directly because you won’t ship international. And for I don’t own a credit card I have to relay on eBay or some retailers who accept paypal which erases my ability to pre-order completely. And here is another point; there is no advertising I know of for your items. A friend of mine just started collecting too after I showed him some figures. Before that he didn’t even know there was a Trek line besides the Playmates figures. Which leads me to another point. I don’t want to collect the Playmates junk toys due to the lack of quality. I got the Star Trek XI Phaser as a birthday present and the quality of their toys hadn’t changed much since the early nineties. That means I want to buy from you and from you only. If you let the line die for me Star Trek dies with it. So if you really want to release all the figures as you always say you want. I am sure there is a way. Maybe in two-packs, maybe something else. I heard that Mattel distributes the MotU line directly over the internet in small waves and it should work pretty good for them. You shouldn’t always listen to your accountants so slavishly and risk more. The market is there you just need to figure something out, I am sure you can do that. So my question is: Could you please reconsider your firm policy about the Star Trek 8 inch Action Figures Toy line? thank you for all you have done and you hopefully will do
DSTChuck: Malte, I understand what your saying and if I was a collector I’d want a toy company to take a risk and make all the items I wanted them to make. Unfortunately, as things have turned a little difficult in the US our best selling items are selling less then they have in the past, so this means we have less margin for error. Which leads to us taking more risk. I don’t think we even made a FIRM policy it’s just that we’re doing what we think is best, but we can change our minds. Collectors want answers from me on where we are going — so I am honest… But I also always say never say never. As for figures in Germany, we’d love nothing more then to sell to lots of retailers in your country but when our sales guys pitch to distributors in your country they are told their customers have no interest in Trek. Even if we made the items, there would be nothing we could do to get them into your country…The only way to change that is people to say to their retailer — hey I love Trek and I like these DST items can you get them for me. IF it’s a comic store they don’t even need a distributor, Diamond Comics will send them to them with their comic order!
Justin Bisson
I have a complaint about your selection of batteries for the Star Trek Tek, and Ships. Why do you use the button cells, instead of double A’s or triple A’s. The Buttons die too quickly, and are expensive to replace. Please please consider using some other form of battery. Yes I know the D and AGT ships use triples for the primary lighting effects, but the button cells in the saucers are worthless. Strangely I miss the less detailed Playmates ships, and Trek Tek. Mostly because they put out so many different things at a time. If DST joined up with Playmates it would be a marriage made in heaven. If they did the production and DST did the modeling. Think about it, Voyager would be here so much faster.
DSTChuck: We’re very aware of the value of AAA over button cell and that is why every time it’s possible we do as you’re asking..sometimes if it’s an older ship and designed for button batteries we have to stick with button cell or if its small area or has a power level that AAA will not work for. I think we have a pretty good track record for including batteries in our products and using AAA. Playmates has no interest in making Trek product right now.
Roddy DeHart
Thank you for getting the TRU wave with Kirk, Scotty and the ROMULAN(!) out! I just pre-ordered two sets. Does this mean that you will eventually do a Mark Leonard Romulan since the body mold is already in existence? Please??
DSTChuck: No it does not mean that — it’s possible but it does not mean we’re going to do it. We are still not at this moment working on new Trek AF for 2010.
Dave Cordes
I just saw that DST is making Series 5 Classic Trek figures available for pre-order again which includes the Romulan, Kirk in green casual shirt, and Scotty. What I want to know is why you simply can’t just release the unproduced Art Asylum Series 5 figures as you had originally planned with McCoy, Nurse Chapel, Yeoman Rand, and Kirk in green casual shirt? While I’m glad to see that we’ll at least be getting the Romulan, he’s the only figure from that wave that I actually want while the Art Asylum wave was the one that I was really looking forward to. Seems like you are offering this as some kind of collateral damage for pulling the plug on this line. Why not use this opportunity to get out one last good wave of characters instead of constant rehashes and repaints of existing figures?
DSTChuck: The figures you are asking about are not tooled in Asia yet and based on pre-orders from retail even if we sold double they would be a losing proposition. With the TRU wave well underway there was a choice to stop production and eat what we had spent or roll the dice and finish the product and hope it sells, if it tanks we’ll loose more than if we scrapped them but to me it seemed worth the gamble. To me it seemed there was a good bit of collector interest in the Kirk and especially the Romulan.
Will Mac
Any update on the TOS geological tricorder? How about some details and new (prototype?) pix? Is it still on target for May 2010? thanks!
DSTChuck: We’re getting close we might even have pictures on the Blog this week. Its been a ton of fun for the team to basically create something that was not really on the show.
Randall Montgomery 2
Hello can you post this for the Next Ask DST #81 or #82 what ever one you can put it in. The Category is Star Trek: I would like to know why there is no list of the Star Trek List of all the stuff you have made, like a check list, even if there are no pics? I was looking at the Ships and Props and there are items that were made but not on the page. Here is what I need answered please. I have been trying to figure out on the Classic Phasers props, these were the 1st ones you made. I have 5 different types of those so far with like the bronze handle, white, black. There is the original classic with the black handle and it has a grey top head and then I see pics with a black handle with the blue top. The top is where the black mini phaser goes on and off at. This is very confusing since I would like to know how many different classic phasers did you make in all? I hope you dont make any more since I have 5 different ones. I do love the idea your making completly different Star Trek props instead of repainting the same one 5 times. Keep up the good work and please help. Thanks.
DSTChuck: Good idea, consider the request sent to graphics folks.
Sven Proboszcz
Hi Chuck, Before I pepper you with questions I will say: I hope I can get an answer from you! I write a couple of letters to Art Asylum but I become never an Answer of them. But I must also say: I really enjoy your selection of Star Trek action figures. You make the Best Figures ever! But I was wondering why you have Cancel so many Figures like The New Borg series, the Klingon 2 pack, TOS Series 5 set and many more! Why? I am extremely upset and need to let you know about my frustration. I come from Germany, it is really hard to get your Star Trek Figures. But it is really impossible to get the TRU excl. in Europe. I am a greater Fan and Collector of your Items. If there a Chance that we can ordering this TRU excl. on your Webstore? if there a chance that DST produce the crew from the Cage with Captain Pike? if you uninterested to make other Star Trek Figures / Ships or Accessories then please advertise no more Star Trek presale because the certainly no produced/manufactured fron DST / Art Asylum! I be mad about your seesaw ( advertise new Star Trek Product, Cancel it , advertise new Star Trek Product and Cancel it once again ) Thanks for Answer my questions Sven Proboszcz
DSTChuck: Sven, I honestly have NEVER ducked a question to the AskDST I can say that with certainty. I might have skipped it if it was redundant, some questions I really only need to answer once or twice..IE when will we see more pictures of the B? Please understand I am very happy you like our stuff, I’m grateful, but I should not be answering this, for example as just so happens someone in this same Q&A asked abut Trek in Germany and as to your other question about cancelled items, I’ve answered that many times already so as far as the AskDST goes it’s time to move on, there is nothing more to say. I respect everyone’s opinion on the matter but that’s not going to change anything. Maybe if I did Gary 7 instead of Kirk we’d still be doing the figures or maybe if I did we’d have had to suspend the line sooner…All I can say is I am sorry you can not get the figures we have showed and no one is more disappointed then I am.
Jeff Weber
Hello, I was wondering When will we see star trek next gen tech IE phasers and tricorder from the next generation. Are they in the works? Thank you
DSTChuck: None are in the works right now, but maybe 2011 or 2012, you’ve seen or heard of all we’re HOPING to get done this year.
