EMvTW 14 - Cardassian Galor class

NOTE:  You can click on most pictures to get a larger view of them.

As promised in my last article, we are actually getting back into doing some comparative discussions with my "Eaglemoss vs. The World" series.  This article is going to focus on the Cardassian Galor class ship.  We first get to see one of these types of ships in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode titled, "The Wounded"

My current collection of this type of ship consists of an Eaglemoss, a Furuta, and a MicroMachine.


Per Memory Alpha and Beta, "Galor class starships were the premier Cardassian warships of the 2350s and 2360s decades, including the most heated years of the Federation-Cardassian War and as part of the Dominion fleets in the Dominion War.  The Galor-class shared the same basic superstructure as their Keldon-class counterparts, but were used far more frequently by the Cardassian military.  The Galor class, named for a hooded warrior from Cardassian mythology—made up the bulk of the Cardassian fleet for at least three decades and despite their relatively small size compared to other races' capital ships have always been able to hold their own in battle."

If you would like to read more official stuff on this type of ship, feel free to check out the following links:

Galor Class Information: Memory Alpha LINK and Memory Beta LINK

I'll share some quick pictures of the MicroMachine, but since my article really isn't about those scale model ships, this will be a very brief showcase.

 

I will say this though.  For such a tiny little toy, Galoob did a really nice job detailing this thing.

Eaglemoss vs. Furuta

Wow!  I almost forgot what it was like to talk about size comparisons models in my collection.

As I started getting into collecting and wanting to expand my collection, I found a serious lack of  comparative data out there showing the various small scale pre-built and pre-painted ships available to the collector.  And so I set out to provide this information myself and hopefully help someone make a wiser decision in which model to buy.

So now I present to you what I like to call "the gravy shot", a series of pictures I wished I had seen long ago, and the main reason I started this blog.

 Eaglemoss vs. Furuta

 Eaglemoss vs. Furuta

I really liked the next comparison picture.  I used this in the first rendition of this article and decided to recycle it as it gives you a true length difference comparison.

Eaglemoss (Top) vs. Furuta (Bottom)

As you can see, the Eaglemoss model is slightly larger than it's Furuta counterpart.  There are also some major differences when it comes to the level of details too.  We'll discuss those details more later on in this article.

Eaglemoss

 

 

 

 

This model is a good example of the level of details Eaglemoss can bring to the table in a small scale pre-built and pre-painted model.  This fact is even more underscored by the fact that Eaglemoss is doing this for only around $20 a model.  Although the Galor class ship is relatively simple in design, Eaglemoss didn't let that go to thier head. 

The sculpt and mold work for this model are actually well done, with lots of crisp details etched into the model.  

 

Eaglemoss also did a good job in execution of the tail pincer on the rear of the ship.

I feel that Eaglemoss did well with the paint work on this model too.  I will admit though that I have one small bone of contention in this part of my review.  I disagree with the over all color choice of this thing.  I felt that Eaglemoss made the model a little too brown.  That being said though, while the ship looks kind of plain or bland from a distance, a closer examination of the model reveals a lot more. 

The ship is covered with little windows that dot the hull, which go a along way in giving you a sense of size for the actual ship.  

I really impressed that the Cardassian logo and text has been applied on several areas of the ship.  This makes for a really cool bonus.

If I was forced to make any kind of major criticism about the model, it would be to point out the join seam that runs along the underside edge of the bridge section.  It just seems (LOL) to stand out.

The joins and seams are also a bit more noticeable along the sides of the tail section of the ship.  You can clearly see that Eaglemoss tried to hide it in the long crease of the tail, however, something was not executed well with this idea, and in the end, the seam is still a bit more noticeable.

Whenever I review a Starfleet ship, I like to hyper-focus on the deflector dish as it usually gives me a good idea of the level of attention to details that a manufacturer puts into thier models.  Let's face it, this is a very important part of the ship and should be accurately represented.  With this model, while it is not a Starfleet vessel, it does have a deflector dish.

I thought that is was a nice touch for Eaglemoss to squeeze in a clear red plastic part in the form of a deflector dish.  The sculpt work is nice, however, with it being clear, you can see through the dish and at a very unsightly seam work behind the dish assemble.

My one question though is, why did they go with red?  While we do see an occasional red dish through out the Eaglemoss magazine, the majority of times the dish is visible, it is very clearly blue, even on the magazine cover.  Since the red dish is also technically possible, I really can't file a complaint about it, but I figured I would point it out.

Furuta

 

 

 

 

Before I get into the finer details of this model, I want to remind my reading audience that Furuta is a Japanese company that produced a series of gashapon toys.  Gashapon toys are meant to be nothing more than cheap little $1 to $5 bubble gum machine prizes.  I like to remind my readers of this fact so that they can take any critical reviews I may make in the spirit it is given.  I am in no way expecting these toys to be on the level of a Hallmark, Eaglemoss or Hot Wheels toy.  I found a neat video about these types of toys and you can check that out at THIS LINK.  That being said, they did a good job with this ship.

The sculpt and mold work on this toy is good .

The model seems to be a bit squished as far as length proportions go.  Module placements of the various ship components just seem to be a bit too close to each other.  

Even the pincer assemble on the rear of the ship seems to be oddly sized when compared to the rest of the model.

My pictures don't do a good job of showing it, but the over all coloration of the model is a kind of dark mustard yellow.  

Furuta does a great job with the paint work though which helps rectify the odd shape of the model.

Furuta even manages to sneak in a few of the Cardassian logos as well.

I was initially going to complain about Furuta's rendition of this ship's deflector dish and make fun of thier choice of color as well.  The Furuta deflector dish is blue.  However, in order to justify my rant, I Googled "Galor Class" and quite frankly, the deflector dish colors on the pictures I saw, were all over the place.  I saw pictures of red ones, blue ones, orange ones and even a green one.  So, in the end, I have to tip my hat off to Furuta and say, "Good job with the color choice boys!".

While thier color choice is fine, the molded details are, how shall we say it?  Lacking.  Furuta just painted this part of the ship and called it a day.

Although Furuta's model does not have as much detail as Eaglemoss' version, it still is a fair representation, especially given the initial price when it first came out.

Conclusion

And that is all the pictures and comparisons I have to share on this ship at this time.  Which brings us to the pricing portion of my article.  As usual, I will continue with the tradition of rounding up the most inexpensive Buy-It-Now prices from eBay at the time of this article's (re)writing (April 2018).

Eaglemoss = $20

Furuta = $34

Micro Machine = $6

NOTE: Prices were researched last on April 1st, 2018.  As of the writing of this article, you can also currently order the Eaglemoss model right from the company themselves for around $23 (shipping unknown).

When I write these article and make my recommendation at the end of them, I try to give you my opinion on which one gives you the "Best Bang For The Buck".  That's my crude way of saying, which one is the best model for the least cost.  

The Furuta model is a rare bird to catch at a decent price these days.  I've seen the price for it range from $14 all that way up to $46 in the last three and a half years.  Back in December of 2014, the Furuta price of $46 automatically disqualified the model in my decision making process.  That was just way too much money for what you were getting compared to the Eaglemoss model.

What ever the Furuta price is, the end result is still that Eaglemoss has produced a much nicer looking model.  Even with the few gripes that I mentioned, it is still very affordable and in the end looks great among your alien fleet.

BONUS ROUND!!!

Every once in a while, I'll have a little extra stuff to share with you that sort of fits in with my comparison articles.

MicroMachine Keldon Class

In my original writing of this article, I showed the MicroMachine version of the Keldon class starship with the initial collection picture.  This time around, I separated it from the pack, and I decided to move that ship down to this section of the review.  This type of ship looks like a Galor class on steroids.  

 

Per Memory Alpha and Beta, "The Keldon-class cruiser was a class of Cardassian warship utilized by the Cardassian military during the 2370s. The Keldon hull was similar to the Galor-class spaceframe, with additions to the aft end and main body.  The Keldon class was first introduced into the Cardassian fleet in 2371. These vessels were superior to the Galor-class, and possibly built to replace them. However, Thomas Riker believed that three of them together could be easily defeated by a single Defiant class cruiser.  A number of warships of this type were secretly constructed by the Obsidian Order in the Orias system in 2371."

If you would like to read more official stuff on this type of ship, feel free to check out the following links:

Keldon Class Information: Memory Alpha LINK and Memory Beta LINK

At the time of the re-writing of this article in April 2108, there are no plans by Eaglemoss to produce a larger scale of this model, so until such a time arises, we will have to be satisfied with the tiny MicroMachine variant.  If you want to see more pictures of my MicroMachine version of this ship, be sure to check them out at THIS LINK.

Eaglemoss Hideki Class

Eaglemoss didn't make us wait to long before they eventually produced another Cardassian vessel.  In issue #33, they bring us the Cardassian Hideki class.

 

Of course I wrote a Eaglemoss vs. The World article on this shuttle and you can read that article at THIS LINK.

AMT (Tret) Akleen Class Weapons Platform

My collection is severely lacking in space stations.  I had some parts laying around and started piecing them together in the hopes of building some sort of new space station.  As they came together, the station had a bit of a Cardassian look to it and thus, the (Tret) Akleen Class Weapons Platform was created.

 

I wrote an entire article dedicated to this model and even shared the build process in said article.  If you are interested, please check it out at THIS LINK.

As always, I hope you found this article useful and informative.  If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to comment below.

So for now, "Live long and prosper!!!"



Additional Links To Photos Of My Collection:

Eaglemoss     Furuta     MicroMachine
Comparative Shots

Other Reviewers Take On The Eaglemoss Model:
Some Kind Of Star Trek
Star Trek Starship Collection