Review: Art Asylum/Diamond Select

 Enterprise-E Toy

At long last, Art Asylum's newest starship toy has hit the story shelves. Only one problem; Art Asylum isn't around any more, and this toy isn't headed for the local Toys'R'Us. While this version of the Enterprise E was designed by Art Asylum, it is actually being produced by Diamond Select, and being sold only through online retailers and comic shops. Despite the trials and tribulations, the wait for this ship has been well worth it.

The toy is very sturdily built, and requires no construction out of the box. As a result, there are no parts to fall off or joints to loosen up over time. The painting and detailing are decent, especially on the saucer, where the "aztec" pattern rivals that of even the Bandai model! However, the underside of the ship is much less detailed, with large portions of the primary hull a single medium grey color (boo!). The paint colors used on the model are a bit dark in my opinion, but the overall effect works reasonably well.

The lights and sound effects are well done, and in line with previous Art Asylum toys. These effects, activated by pressing on the bridge module, include deflector, impulse engine, and warp engine lights tied to sounds of weapons fire, and the like. The sound effects have one twist not seen in the other Art Asylum ships, namely voice clips provided by Captain Picard himself, Patrick Stewart. I also have one complaint in that only the Bussard collectors (the red part in the front of the warp engine) lights up, not the whole engine. Here are a couple of videos showing these effects:

Comparing this toy with the Bandai model is inevitable, especially since they are sitting right next to each other on my shelf! Much of the comparison between the  Bandai and Art Asylum refit Enterprises applies to this pair too. However, I think that the less detailed painting on this new toy makes it decidedly less "neato" than the Bandai model. However, the Art Asylum ship is much sturdier, and also has sound effects.

Comparison Between the Art Asylum and Bandai Enterprise-E ships. The Bandai ship is on the right and on top in the below shot.

Overall though, this toy is hard to pass up at only $25-30. Granted, it's detailing is somewhat coarser than previous Art Asylum ships, but having voice clips added to the sound effect mix is a welcome touch in my opinion. Unfortunately, this ship will be a little harder to come by due to its more limited distribution, and since it is likely to be available for only a limited time I heartily recommend that Star Trek fans everywhere give this toy a good look, fast.

Andy Rucker