Earlier this week we reported that McFarlane Toys had signed a deal with CBS to make Star Trek figures, role play weapons and accessories, including some for Star Trek: Discovery. Some fans wondered what this new deal meant for Art Asylum/Diamond Select Toys, who have been making Star Trek figures, ships and role play toys since 2001, starting with Star Trek: Enterprise.
Diamond Select’s Zach Oat reassured TrekMovie that they are “still making Star Trek product.” He added, “Diamond Select has expanded our license to include other aspects of the Trek universe,” although he can’t yet give specifics on what this expansion of the their license entails.
Oat also noted that the three previously announced Star Trek products are all “still in the works.” These include: a Star Trek: The Next Generation role play “Cobrahead” Phaser toy (first revealed at the 2015 Toy Fair), an electronic U.S.S. Reliant ship from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, and a Borg “select” figure diorama. He said that he hopes he’ll be able to show all of these items soon, along with announcing release dates and prices.
Prototype of DST “Cobrahead” TNG Phaser toy shown at Toy Fair in 2015
Another Star Trek Ship and SDCC Exclusive Coming
Zach Oat also said that Diamond Select is developing another new Star Trek electronic ship, to be announced “soon.” In addition, they plan on having a special variant of a previously released ship available as an exclusive for San Diego Comic Con in July, also to be announced soon.
This is all good news for collectors, who can make room on their shelves for both Art Asylum/DST and McFarlane Star Trek merchandise over the next year.
Reviews of latest Star Trek releases
In case you missed it, TrekMovie recently reviewed the latest DST releases: the Khan figure diorama from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and the Romulan Bird of Prey from Star Trek‘s “Balance of Terror.”
Image from our review of latest DST Star Trek releases
Keep up with all the Star Trek merchandise news and reviews at TrekMovie.
DST’s Trek merchandise is a good value for the price and they’ve released some really nice pieces – the recent Romulan Bird of Prey for example – but new items take forever as they seem to prefer making variants of existing ships and props. The USS Reliant has been in development for years yet still doesn’t have a firm release date. They are also very poor when it comes to listening to fan requests. Countless people have asked them to produce a Klingon D7 or K’Tinga style ship for example, something which clearly falls within the license, but time and again they say they have no interest in doing it without at least giving a reason why. I’ll definitely buy the Reliant when it is released and I’m curious as to what this new ship will be but I also don’t hold my breath that either will ever get released in a timely fashion.
Yes I agree with you TonyD. The Reliant a major fan favorite to be displayed next to the movie Enterprise is taking longer than expected. Maybe DST is thinking Star Trek isn’t as profitable then their mini mates or something. When I read their Q & A posts. Almost all of us ask for any future starship releases. Their response would be no, we haven’t considered it. I know it will cost a lot of $$$ but they will sell. Maybe limit the production run IDK. Reliant is my 2nd favorite starship. I hope I don’t have to wait another 2-3 years.
I’d love for DST to release a pair of tricorders from TNG in addition to a cobrahead and a type I phaser. The new Romulan BOP is really swell, although I wish they had done the domes in opaque white instead of orange-red. Here’s hoping for the Galileo to be the promised next ship.
I lost track after Playmates lost the license. And when Diamond got it, it was too pricy for someone in and just out of college.
How the bloody hell does it take this long to make a friggin phaser????
Maybe they are stuck on making it operational.. I keed.
I agree…though DST products are fairly good in quality–their production delays are simply unacceptable and pathetic…the Star Trek II and Star Trek III phasers were OVER 3 years late…and the TNG Phaser is heading into a 3 year delay too :(
DST Products look good, but quality? My Enterprise D, AGT-D, Excelsior, Enterprise B, TWOK Communicator, SFS Phaser AND Romulan Bird of Prey ALL have QC issues with regards to shitty shitty shitty electronics. It’s endemic to DST products. They work great for an hour after unpacking then go to shit.
That is some pretty bad luck; my main QC issue is with some of their stands. The one for the TMP/TWOK Enterprise in particular is particularly flimsy and prone to having the ship sag. Once again, however, they just keep reproducing the same flawed stand with each variant rather than working on something better and a little sturdier.
This news makes me happy. I love Art Asylum’s realistic figures and have the entire Enterprise stuff from over a decade ago. Shame they didn’t get the Kelvin Universe licence, as the 2009 movie figures were awful.
Though DST Products are fairly good quality and highly accurate…their production delays are really sad..and they wonder why Star Trek sales are lagging …their role play toys are generally at least 2 years over due/delayed…and they seem to ignore fan requests (“No” to TNG Tricorder… “No” to Klingon D7… “No” to Phaser Rifle)…and then they wonder why fans didn’t respond with great sales on the Star Trek II Phaser (which while nice—there wasn’t a strong demand for)..who else agrees ? thanks
Well the Phaser Rifle kinda makes sense as 1:1 scale any of them would be pretty large, that said if Bandai can put out a Power Sword (which is going to be 1:1 or near enough) for their Power Rangers Legacy line I can’t see why others couldn’t do similar.
It’s great to hear they are keeping the licence and I’m really intrigued to what the new ship is going to be, I’m hoping for Voyager myself.
I absolutely loved their limited edition ST:TMP phaser (but I’m one of those weird people who always thought that was one of the best phaser designs); it is similar to the TWOK phaser but more colorful; probably their best product in my opinion and I regret not having purchased a second one as they’re quite expensive on the secondary market now.
I really have enjoyed all of there products but do agree the release time is way to long. I need an Enterprise C to complete my collection.
*their errrr
We need a Klingon D7 Battlecruiser from Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
There have been countless requests for a D7 or K’Tinga on their Q&A website; they always say “No”. Not really sure who does their market research.
It’s annoying that every ASKDST they answer is always either “never say never” or the sellers aren’t interested.
We all wanted Rand, Chapel …. Maltz & Kruge. But as they said they distributors weren’t interested they pulled the plug.
Clearly the fans want them to produce those so if they did, distributors would be able to sell more products for us to buy.
Maybe sick of Kirk & Spock variants.
They said there was no call for a Reliant but people DO want a Reliant and we’re getting one …. eventually anyway.
As many have said, I love DST’s role play items, but the wait times are ridiculous! 3 years for a phaser? I don’t even remember how long we waited for the TOS Tricorder, but it seemed like forever. And why “no” to a TNG tricorder? I would LOVE one of those, made with DST accuracy! Complaints aside, when something is released, I’ll more than likely buy it. Ships & role play only…I’m not a figure guy.
Nice stuff for the medium-to-high-end collector but not personally interested. I’d kill for more 3.75″ figures though – Playmates, Funko, or Hasbro if they tried it.
I’m expecting the SDCC variant ship will be a cloaked romulan bird of prey.
So boring, how long does it take to just copy toys that have been made multiple times, how about something new, TMP Tricoder, Communicator, ST III tricoder, the Type I TNG Phaser. The JJ-prise
At the rate DS takes to produce these, we will see “Discovery” items by 2020. Seriously though, they have nice products, but they are very slow to produce.
I’m in agreement with the 1. Nice stuff 2. Takes way too long to get project camp. I have all of their ships and a lot of their roll play stuff. Loved that they made a trek 3 phaser. Dying for reliant and ENT-C