Tuesday, October 17, 2017

EMvTW Special 10: Deep Space Station K-7 (K Class)

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

As I stated in my last review, it looked like September and October were nicer to me financially and I was able to add a couple more Eaglemoss ships to my fleet.  This addition to my Eaglemoss vs. The World series is yet another special edition model, however, it is truly special in several ways.  First, it IS NOT a NuTrek vessel.  Second, it IS a space station.  It's been a LONG time since we got a station.  In fact, the only other station that Eaglemoss has produced was Deepspace Nine.  You can read my review of that model by clicking on THIS LINK.


My collection of these ships is a bit on the small side, and as you can see, it only consists of the super large Eaglemoss model, and the super tiny MicroMachines model.  Yeah, I know, exact polar opposites there.

We were introduced to this station in Star Trek: The Original Series and although it was never given an on screen classification, it apparently was given a designation of a K Class Station by Memory Beta.  You can read more about this type of station at this Memory Beta link.  There are also several articles on the station itself, Deep Space Station K-7 and you can read that information at these Memory Alpha and Memory Beta links.


In case you were wondering about the actual sizes of these two models, well, wonder no more, here is one of my "Gravy Shots" for you to ponder over.  These sorts of pictures are the main reason I got into writing these reviews as I had always found a serious lack of comparative information on the various pre-built and pre-painted models that were available to collectors.


The MicroMachines model is simple but gets the job done, HOWEVER, it is not completely accurate.

 

Let's face it, for Galoob to have accomplished this spindly space station at this size would have been a miracle without them taking some creative licensing.

I'm not going to dwindle on the Galoob model as it is too small for my usual collecting tastes.

Unfortunately, the Eaglemoss model is too big for my collecting tastes, but I bought it anyway, and since this is an Eaglemoss vs The World reviews, here we go...

 
 
 
 

The biggest issue I had with this model was the first thing I noticed as I opened the box.


That poor antenna on top of the model is going to break off some day.  Mine took a bit of a beating either in packing or shipping and all I kept thinking was about Bender from Futurama and his antenna fixation.


However, if we look past that, we are presented with a model that has been wonderfully sculpted and molded.  I originally was worried that we were going to be handed a model that was very smooth, much like the TOS Enterprise.  After all, most views we have of the station are from a distance.


Eaglemoss knocked it out of the park though and instead of a smooth as a baby's butt model, we are given lots of panel lines and windows.


I was super impressed with the hanger bay that they recreated in the bottom station module.


From the top view of the model, the paint job is pretty well done too.  When we think back to all of those on screen appearances, we remember a mostly white, or something that was similar in color to the Enterprise.  For the most part, this remembrance holds true, however, Eaglemoss has broken up this monotony with little splashes of color here and there.  The painted to tops of each of the module cones is the first thing I noticed.  And they included the lettering on the main module, and they went as far as individually identifying each of the out-rigger modules.  The addition of the navigational position lights does wonders to help break up the monotony.


Granted, from the bottom, she does still look pretty plain as far as the paint job is concerned.


The only cosmetic gripe (other than the bent antenna) is that the window paint on the main control tower is a bit off center from the molded windows, but you really need to look closely at the model to catch this.

The joins and seams are outstanding, and blend well with the natural lines of the model.  This surprised me considering the size and simplicity of shapes for the station.

Conclusion

At this point in my articles, I like to do a quick check on eBay to get some prices of the models I've shared with you.  I will continue with the tradition of rounding up the most inexpensive Buy-It-Now prices (with shipping included in that price) from eBay at the time of this article's writing.  Since this model is still fairly new in regards to it's release dates for all the respective companies, I did a little more digging for prices and have shared those as well.

Eaglemoss: $50 (shipping included)
MicroMachine: $9 (shipping included)

NOTE: Prices were researched last on February 4th, 2018.  At the time that I am writing this, Eaglemoss also has the model in stock and you can get it for around $45 (unsure of shipping costs).

This is typically the part of my article where I like to give you my opinion of which ship gives you the "best bang for the buck", which is my rough way of telling you which one is the best one to get, for the best price.  To put this in a nutshell, when I write these, I am trying to give my opinion of which model is the best for the least cost.

I'm going to skip the MicroMachine model all together.  Let's face it, it doesn't even measure up to the Eaglemoss model.  The problem is, the special edition Eaglemoss models are not inexpensive.  Also, my collecting goals is to stay with small (around 6" in length) models at an affordable price.  Since this is the only one available, then I guess we are stuck with it and we are also stuck with the price.  That being said, Eaglemoss did a fantastic job this time around.  I would dare say that the model is worth the money, especially if you want a good version of the old K-7 for your collection.

After my disappointment with the Altamid Swarm ship (see that review at THIS LINK), it was refreshing to get something that wasn't NuTrek as well as something well done.

I really hope they do more stations, like Regula One and the super top heavy Spacedock.

 

Sadly though, looking at the line-up for the next three special editions, it doesn't look like we'll see one of them anytime soon.


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     MicroMachines   
Comparative Pictures

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

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