Star Trek: Beyond (2106) DVD Bonus Ships

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

The lesson I learned during my "research" for this article is that promotional pictures don't give you a very good idea of what you are actually getting.

The release of Star Trek: Beyond to DVD is heralding in some neat little extras when you purchase your copy through certain select sources.

I'm not going to get into the movie that much other than to say that I liked it.  I have not been a big fan of the NuTrek series, however, of the three movies that have come and gone, this one is by far the best of them.

That being said, I really liked the fact that it was possible to get one's hands on some models of ships from the movie through those select deals.  Like a good reviewer, I went ahead and purchased those two DVD sets just for the ships and I can now give you an honest review of them and hopefully help you make a wise purchasing choice.


The two special DVD sets are offered by Walmart and Amazon.  Walmart's models are manufactured by Snapco while the Amazon model is manufactured by Quantum Mechanix (QMX).  Let us take a closer look at those sets...

Walmart (Snapco)

First up, we will take a look at the Star Trek Beyond Giftset from Walmart.  As of the time of the writing of this article in November of 2016, you could buy this online from Walmart for around $25.96.

I was pretty excited when I first saw this as the advertising pictures don't give you a lot to go on.

As the time grew near to me getting my set, I learned a little dark truth about the set of ships that came with this.

Apparently, Walmart used the same manufacturer (Snapco) that released the cup topper models that you could purchase in the theater.

And as you can see from the picture with the quarter in it, they are not all that big.  I'll go into a closer look of each ship in a minute but I'll make one observation from a collector's point of view.

If I was one of those lucky people who managed to buy a full set at the theater, I would probably be very upset right now because the collector's market has just been flooded with even more of these models, thus depreciating the value of what I currently have.

I on the other hand, was not one of those "lucky" people and as such, would probably had to have paid out the nose on eBay to get my hands on that set.  So Walmart did me a big favor by re-releasing them.  And if you do some simple math and compare prices on Walmart's site, the gift set is only $6 more than just buying the DVD by itself.  That means the ships are only $2 a piece which is even cheaper than what I would have paid in the theater!

As you can see from the picture above, this set comes with three different ships; an Altamid Swarm Ship, the original (NuTrek) USS Enterprise (no Bloody A), and the USS Franklin.

Let me point this out one more time before I continue.  According to my math, these are $2 toys so I would like you to keep that in mind as we take a closer look at them.

Altamid Swarm Ship
Made by Snapco

 

 

 

 

Of all of the ships in the set, I like this one the most.  That is probably because I have never seen another model of this type of ship before and I have nothing to compare it too.  It is nice to be able to add a new type of ship to my alien collection.  As far as I can tell, the proportions on this are the most accurate of the three models.

USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

Constitution Class (Alternate Universe)
Made by Snapco

 

 

 

 

The Enterprise that they include in this set is not the "refit" that we see at the end of the movie.  At least it can't be since they failed to add the -A to the registry.  The model is slightly bigger than a MicroMachine version and a bit odd looking.

Besides being a bit lacking on colors and decals, the nacelles are swept back at an odd angle.

If you read any of my Eaglemoss Vs. The World articles, you will know that I like to focus on the deflector dishes of Starfleet vessels.  As a homage to those articles, here is a close-up of this model's dish.

Nothing too spectacular to write home about.  But, like I said earlier, it's a $2 toy, so I'm not expecting much.

USS Franklin (NX-326)

Franklin Type
Made by Snapco

 

 

 

 

And lastly, we move on to the model that is probably the most exciting of the ships in the collection, the USS Franklin.  I'll admit, if this wasn't in the set, I probably wouldn't have bought it.

The model is tiny, just like the other three models.

My only complaint about it is the fact the the warp nacelles are a bit large and out of scale, making the ship seem more like a bobble-head doll than a model.  I'm not sure what Snapco was going for there since the Enterprise seems OK.

I'll give you my thoughts on the value of this set at the end of the article.

Amazon (Quantum Mechanix (QMX))

The second gift set that one can pick up is the Star Trek Beyond Amazon Exclusive Gift Set from Amazon.  As of the time of the writing of this article in November of 2016, you could buy this online from Amazon for around $49.99.

Wait!  What? That's like $50 for this!!!

I'll admit, I was a bit uncomfortable shelling out the money for this one, not knowing what I was getting for it.  The promotional picture does not give me a very good sense of size for the model and using the same math as before, after deducting the cost of the DVD by itself, I was now paying $30.03 for a model.

Amazon chose to pair up with Quantum Mechanix for thier special gift.  I've only ever purchased one other QMX model before, but I was not disappointed.  And so, knowing that, I bought this set, expecting something along the same lines as far as quality and size.  

Wow!  I was wrong in my assumptions.

USS Franklin (NX-326)
Franklin Type

Made by Quantum Mechanix

 

 

 

 

First of all, it's much bigger than what the promotional picture leads you to think.  It's way bigger than the Snapco model from Walmart.

Quantum Mechanix vs. Snapco

Quantum Mechanix vs. Snapco

Since it predates the NX class Enterprise from Star Trek: Enterprise, I decided to measure it up to the Eaglemoss model of that ship to see a size comparison.

As you can see, it's a bigger model than even Eaglemoss' Enterprise.

Unlike Eaglemoss' model, the QMX model is all plastic.  The sculpting and molding that they did on this model is really good.

Close-Up View Of Top

They did a really solid job with putting it together and I have a hard time noticing the joins and seams.

Close-Up View Of Bottom

The paint job is what really sells me on this model.  The ship is painted in an old drab grey, however, there are some nice little touches painted on all over the ship, thus giving it some color.  Then, just to give you the impression that this is an OLD ship, they chose to give it a dirt wash paint job to make her look nice and dirty.  I think that if they had given the bridge window a little color, it would have knocked this out of the park as a home run for me.

Like Eaglemoss does on it's ships, QMX choose to use some clear orange plastic parts for its bussard collectors, thus giving them a nice glowing effect.  I love that they did this and it just makes the model look that much more cooler.

So in the end, that $30.03 cost that I was nervous about ended up being just silly jitters and I turly feel that the model I got was well worth that cost.  I'll be interested to see how Hallmark and Eaglemoss fair with thier renditions of this ship sometime in late 2017.

Conclusion

So, the real question I'm sure I'll be asked is, was it worth spending all that money just for the sake of getting four models?  I'm sure I'll also be asked about which one I would recommend more over the other?

I'll answer those questions out of order and simply state, what is it that you, my reader are hoping to acquire for your collection?  What do you really want as far as pre-built and pre-painted ships?

If all you really want is a USS Franklin right now, then by all means, spend the extra money and get the Amazon deal.  The model you get is well worth the money.  I am guessing that this deal will disapear soon and that the value of the model will go up by next year when the other manufacturers release thier versions of this ship.

If you are looking for a USS Enterprise from the NuTrek era, then forget the Walmart deal.  There are better renditions of that ship as you can see from my Eaglemoss vs. The World article of that ship.  You can read that review at THIS LINK.

If you want a relatively cheap set of ships to place on your desk and not take up a lot of room, or you are really looking for a swarm ship and a not so accurate USS Franklin, then that Walmart set might be the right choice for you.

Was it worth it to me to buy both?  As a collector and a reviewer, the simple answer is yes.  If I was not so materialistic and wanting to "catch them all", I would probably have just gotten the Amazon deal and tried to find someone who was willing to part with thier swarm ship to add that into my collection.

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:
Snapco (Wallmart): Swarm Ship     USS Enterprise     USS Franklin
QMX (Walmart): USS Franklin
Comparative Photos