****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
This is the first Diamond Select/Entertainment Earth Star Trek item I have purchased in a few years, bumping my fleet of starships up to 7. It is proudly displayed next to my Klingon Bird Of Prey.My comments on this model are about 98% pro with only a negligible 2% con (just cosmetic).PRO:FINALLY! An iconic ship form the original series joins the original Enterprise. The most beautiful feature is the gorgeous Bird Of Prey markings covering the entire underside with some flashes of color on the trailing edges of the upper portion "wings" or engine pylons, and the dorsal fin.The lighting is very well done. During the playing of the sound samples or when in "constant on" mode, the windows in the vertical band around the hull and on the upper hull all light up. The tips of the engine nacelles are lit with color changing LEDs that slowly pulsate in a cycle of red to orange to yellow similar in manner to those of the original DS/EE TOS Enterprise model. The rear "exhaust" ends of the nacelles are lit with white LEDs. The plasma torpedo launcher lights up red when certain sound effects are played. The "constant on" mode is activated by pressing down on the dorsal fin for 5 seconds. There are actually two "constant on" modes! the first one is with all the lights on as well as a constant loop of hypnotic Romulan "bridge" background sound effects playing. Press the fin again for "lights only" mode with no sound.The sound effects are amazing, and to my knowledge so far, this ship plays the more sounds than any DS/EE ship I've seen so far. With the "bridge sounds" loop included, I count about 20 individual sounds playable. The bulk of these are lines of dialogue spoken by Mark Lenard who played the Romulan ship commander in the Trek episode "Balance Of Terror". Lenard was of course later cast in the original series and later in the movies as Sarek, Spock's father. Other sounds include the firing of the plasma torpedo launcher, weapon hits sustained by the ship as well as sounds of explosions and damage from within the ship. All sounds are reproduced in excellent fidelity. Very clear & legible.CON:This is an issue with the design of the ship itself and can't be helped. The beauty of the bird markings on the underside of the ship can't be truly appreciated unless the ship is displayed on a higher shelf, or suspended from a ceiling where it can be seen by looking up. Same issue with the Klingon BOP ship... gorgeous underside markings that need to be looked up at to be fully appreciated. This also means that the lights on the upper side of the Romulan ship are not easily seen unless the model is taken down to look at. I'd suggest displaying the ship on a mirror of suitable size so both the upper & lower details can be appreciated at once.The next minor issue is some light leakage through the seams of the engine nacelles which hardcore prop & model collectors may want to fix on their own. For me, it is minor for an otherwise great collectible.The last issue is that the dorsal fin/activation switch as installed is somewhat loose. It doesn't detract from the beauty or affect the functionality of the model, but some collectors may find it irritating.All in all, a highly desirable piece of memorabilia. Very well executed. Highly recommended.
