(Part 2) Best products from r/startrek

> We all need to be more respectful no matter what side of the argument we land on. If you don't like something about some incarnation of the franchise, by all means voice that opinion, but please don't insult the artists who have spent time making it. Don't insult your fellow fans who might actually enjoy it. And don't try to invalidate it by re-labeling it.

I really appreciate the call to be more respectful, and that "true trek" is this pretty flexible and personal metric, people watch it for different reasons. I think part of it is that there's plenty of trek fans that just enjoy, fulfillingly or not, being really analytical about the whole thing. I remember being a kid watching Voyager, loving it, but then also nitpicking it with my friends the next day. It's really a big part of the passion.

I mean this is a thing and it's a freaking text book and I had it as a kid and read it for fun.

This is different than how civil our approach is, and whether we're being respectful, but ultimately it's a pretty big sign of passion that you'd care this much to get into it.

> I am a real fan of Star Trek. And I am pretty sure that if you are taking time to post in this forum, you are too.


So yeah, that's beautiful.


But I do want to say in defence of nitpicking, whether you think its fair or not: since it's very inception Star Trek has been surrounded by people in the industry who just really did not like it and wanted to change it. From the network down to the directors, and sometimes the cast itself. They politically and professionally disagreed with so much of it. The sets, costumes, stories and message. It's something that, to me at least, starts to explain a lot when you see it, and I started to see it a lot more places than I expected when I knew to look for it. There's tons of anecdotal stories about the whole thing from the cast and crew. But I think what kind of tied it together in a sorta shocking way was watching the Chaos on the Bridge documentary in which you see former working mates, decades after his death, still kinda shit-talking Gene straight to the camera.

Now the thing is before I watched this I had very little background knowledge about Trek's production, I just watched the show as a kid, loved Janeway and Picard, and only kinda got back into it years later when a partner got me back into the reruns. I caught this documentary just channel surfing on TV and the thing I remember was the producers, directors and writers still kinda condemning Gene for many things he chose that ultimately turned out to be true. How he went through teams of writers because just nobody could understand writing a show not based on interpersonal conflict, until he could collect a group willing to at least give it a shot, and from their spawn the whole franchise.


I guess my feeling is this. It's unfair to fight with fans about what is and isn't Trek. But there are people in the industry who aren't fans, or maybe make a pretty poor justification for it, who are making decisions that manifest in the franchise. And you can see the changes. You can. Sometimes they're small, sometimes they're huge, but we can see them and it hurts. Because for different reasons it can be things that are very important to people. Maybe it's little things like Uhura not getting to wear her rank or larger things like destroying one of Star Trek's most iconic homeworlds just for shock value and a rarely-referenced plot device ("they literally blew up logic" was what my partner said at the time). But the issue is these aren't just mistakes and negligence on some people's part, these issues are in the series because a portion of those people actually believe this is how the show should be. They've disagreed with the iconic efforts the show has made since its inception.


The new ST: Beyond was really reassuring. Regardless of the volume and form fan criticism has taken is justified, it seemed like they listened. Hell, they even did reshoots, and they fixed some things. The characters are softer and more balanced, the message is more positive, the tech is more serious while still being fun, and Uhura gets a freaking rank again (not to mention better screen time). But the new movie opens (minor spoiler) with a toast between McCoy and Kirk in which McCoy says “To perfect eyesight and a full head of hair". Which seems quaint and anachronistic in a way that perfectly represents the efforts of the new Trek movies. But I gotta say I kinda was instantly reminded of this quote from Patrick Stewart, who was genuinely emotional about his early baldness when he was a young actor:

> [Stewart] expressed gratitude for Gene Roddenberry's riposte to a reporter who said, "Surely they would have cured baldness by the 24th century," to which Roddenberry replied, "In the 24th century, they wouldn't care."

Yeah I seriously doubt this opening "toast" in ST:B was a direct shot at the later Captain of the Enterprise (and his Chief Engineer). I just think it was maybe oddly careless. And I do kinda believe the production behind Star Trek now probably believes being bald sucks and would still suck for the crew of the Enterprise. But beyond that maybe it means they wouldn't make the same argument Gene did, and would have never cast the same actors (or roles) a second time-around.

As much as I enjoyed ST:B, I'm afraid that some carelessness and the rare intentional malice is around in the franchise. And not because of the fans, but because of the non-fans who want to "be fans" of a thing they never liked in the first place.

But yeah I appreciate your post as it pertains to this forum, I just don't think there's no place for discussing Star Trek's tekkyness by people who care about it. It's how we do it that's important though.

I guess it depends on which Trek you like the most.

I like TNG the best...so I enjoyed Vendetta a lot, but I enjoyed TOS's Kobayashi Maru...there are literally tons of them. Tell us what you like in terms of series and episodes

EDIT

Also, I've got to throw props to the Crucible series by David R George. I've only read McCoy so far, but I'm looking forward to the rest. It was pretty amazing, really, how he wove canon, supposition, and his own imagination together. Great stuff. Do make sure to watch City on the Edge of Forever before reading it, though... :-)

Does it need to be TNG specific? If anything Trek is fair game this pizza cutter is pretty clever.

I always think custom ice cubes are pretty fun also.

Again, this is more Voyager than Next Generation, but a cooking book with Neelix on the cover would make me laugh too.

Hope these help. There are tons of stuff. I'm sure you'll do great!

> I wasn't able, however, to find any plans, schematics, measurements, etc. online.

Wow. I'm sort of shocked, actually. I just assumed those plans would be all over the internet.

I'm pretty sure there are technical blue prints in this publication. https://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Fleet-Technical-Manual/dp/0345340744

Which has these two pages. http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/blueprints/sftm/01-08-53.jpg

http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/blueprints/sftm/01-08-52.jpg


Here's some other stuff from the book. (Its a great book BTW.)
http://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/sftm.php


Here it is as a 3D .stl file for 3D printing and whatever else.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:120544/apps/


EDIT: Maybe my google-fu is better than yours? Didn't take much effort to find those... Although, admittedly, I knew about the technical manual because I own it. And I took a guess and searched for Type-II phaser TOS 3D printing and searched images. BAM. There it was on thingiverse... just like I figured it would be.

I think you could use the .stl from thingiverse in a video game if you needed to.

Anyway, I am happy to help and good luck with your project.

Just out of curiosity, how are you going to make your model? What are you going to do with it?

Honestly I made most of it up on the spot. But I do have an extensive collection of Star Trek technical manuals many of which discuss the in-universe technical issues. The most popular being: TOS Tech Manual, TNG Tech Manual, Mr Scott's Guide to the Enterprise, and Enterprise Owner's Manual

The big flaws are that canon Star Trek tends to over-rely on manual human action instead of automation. The classic example being hand delivering a stack of PADDs to your superior officer, one for each document, instead of just emailing all your reports from a single PADD.

Good or non-android robots are nearly unheard of as well. But maybe more in use off screen in construction or industrial scenarios.

Really, it's just the idea of how easy large projects would be if you have reliable and cheap access to vacuum, zero-g, force fields, tractor beams, and transporters. Plan ahead and make everything modular and large construction projects become easy.

> Alright I will be looking on Amazon and ebay see if there is a good offer. If anyone here has any extra pairs let me know :)

Sometimes Amazon UK has the BDs for substantially cheaper than Amazon US. I got the complete Enterprise boxed set for about 60 bucks shipped when it was ~150 on Amazon US and $350 at Best Buy. The BDs are region free, unlike the DVDs.

You can actually get all the complete BD sets for 261 USD from Amazon right now.

https://smile.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Original-Complete-Blu-ray/dp/B01CJW334Q/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1474772749&sr=8-2&keywords=star+trek+original+series+blu+ray

Pretty much all the respectable ready-to-buy starfleet uniforms on the web are by Rubie's Costume Co. The ones pictured here are almost certainly this Rubie's top. They're sold by various web stores, including Newegg, BuyCostumes, and Amazon. Other uniforms (usually lower quality, but YMMV) can be purchased on Ebay.

Alternatively, if you're a crazed sewing nut, you can buy a pattern on Roddenberry.com.

The Rubie's costumes are alright. Not perfect, but passable. And rather inexpensive. They're definitely worth the money, as far as that goes. My favoured uniform is just based around a Rubie's top which I got custom tailored after purchase.

The pips and combadge that come with a Rubie's costume are like the uniform - passable, not great. Roddenberry.com also sells a combadge and rank pips which are much better than Rubie's pips for screen accuracy, so there's an alternative there.

There are certainly a lot of references to "real life" occurrences (here's a long list of pop-culture references). Many of the technologies (warp drive), materials (transparent aluminum), and plot devices (wormholes) are based on real world theories or just common scifi tropes (1, 2, 3) and authors often borrow liberally from eachother. A few Native American stories, tons of bible/Shakespeare/Greek mythology (very bottom under references). Classic literature is definitely there but often much less direct (often becoming a trope in itself i.e. "fountain of youth", "chasing windmills"), one obvious reference is Moby Dick, in Wrath of Khan (both Khan reading it and being the Ahab of the movie, the Enterprise being the white whale) and [Bliss](http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Bliss_(episode%29). As for racial/gender equality here's a list of some dissertations, and here's a book about the "white-washed" future (with really polar reviews). And there's books like
Star Trek and History. But honestly a lot of them are vague because they were either picked apart into convenient stories or left for interpretation, like Klingons/Russians, Cardassians/Nazis, Bajorans/Jews, Vulcans/Japanese, etc. Indirect, but definitely pulling from real life. I don't think there's a list of what episodes were inspired by real world literature, it would be huge though as nearly every episode has 2-4 concurrent plot lines often spanning many episodes.

"Sulu by Star Trek is a Aromatic fragrance for men. Top notes are lavender, petitgrain and lemon; middle notes are water lily, coriander and juniper berries; base notes are sandalwood, amber and white musk. "

Don't forget the Excelsior version... oh and the limited to only 300 exclusive San Diego Comic-Con edition :)

"SULU for men is the perfect cologne for the man who does everything, whether that's cataloging exotic plants, collecting antique firearms, or piloting ancient helicopters and advanced starships. It's more than just choosing to live your life with style; SULU dives straight to the soul and allows you to release your own intergalactic Man of Mystery. That jaunty, fearless swashbuckler of a man who, whether the's wielding a rapier in a swordfight or commanding the helm of a Constitution-class starship, is always ready for action. SULU Pour Homme. Oh my!"

This shirt is actually pretty good quality. The communicator is part of the shirt, but raised to look like it's not, and the rank pips need to be ironed on, but still looks good. The material is very good quality for a "premade costume".

Check out the reviews. There are multiple colors too.

Peter David is actually a very talented writer. He wrote a Trek book Q squared that was actually phenomenal where he ties in the character Trelane from the original Trek to Q himself very good stuff. New Frontier though very solid and should have been greenlit as a show. That's where I found mine! Actually one sec....... https://www.amazon.com/New-Frontier-Star-Trek/dp/0671019783 that's the first 3 books some used at $1.99. I know it's a stretch to expect you to spend your money on my suggestion but I truly believe you will enjoy it if you do!

I would say only season 1 is weak. The middle 14 or 15 episodes are meh, but wrapped around solid episodes, especially at the end. Not sure why people are hating on season 2. Season 2 has some great O'Brien "torture" episodes, good Bajoran and Cardassian episodes, and several fun "TNG-like" episodes (things happen but has no real effect on overall story arc).

I highly recommend this book to go along with watching DS9. It provides a summary of each episode followed by background production thoughts that give interesting insights to the episodes.

Yep, great episode that gives a glimpse of life on the Enterprise when you're not a Senior officer. I wish they could have done more episodes like this!

If you're interested, Dominion Wars Book 1 and Book 3 continue the story of the "lower deck" characters from this episode. Great 2-part novel -- one of my favorites.

I know there are some lame ones in the numbered book series, but the stand-alone novels seem to have a much higher success rate. Diane Duane, the Reeves-Stevens, and Peter David were my favorites. I guess David is a little divisive. He's known for taking tiny threads from canon and tying them together in his own stories, but sometimes he goes overboard. Even so, Q-Squared is one of my favorite Trek books ever.

The reviews on the Amazon page for this book seem mixed at best, but personally I think it's a brilliant read. I don't know why the book seems so under the radar, hardly anyone ever seems to mention it. Maybe you'll like it:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gene-Roddenberry-Conversation-Portraits-American/dp/0520088425

I've got a few star trek badges made of solid metal (magnetic clasps).

https://www.amazon.co.uk/QMx-Star-Trek-Voyager-Communicator/dp/B00I14SDII/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526290391&sr=8-1&keywords=star+trek+comm+badge

and

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Discovery-Command-Insignia-Badge/dp/B074ZNRF1P/ref=pd_bxgy_21_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=PYKF287JKZ9E9CD8CANA

They are fucking awesome. I wear them when I am hosting my Star Trek adventures role play (also got badges for my players).

I also picked up some Spock aftershave as a bit of a joke to wind up my girlfriend. She barely tolerates my Trek obsession.

https://www.parfumdreams.co.uk/Star-Trek/Mens-fragrances/Spock/Eau-de-Toilette-Spray/index_65039.aspx

I enjoyed this book.
Short answer is that it's a "status economy" where reputation is what drives people to greatness instead of financial gain or accumulation of wealth.

TREKONOMICS
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1941758754/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1941758754&linkCode=as2&tag=trekonomics-20&linkId=JBNJBR57QMIKJI73

Ooh that's a good shout! I may give it a shot if I have some good card.

It's the Star Trek Stardate Collection in BluRay, I bought it (here.)[https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BKN6ZP0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_-jGlzb7FHQTPX] It's the first 10 films and two disks of bonus features, the case I'm not a huge fan off but I do really like this set!

I have a (personalized) autographed copied of George Takei's autobiography. He had a signing at a local bookstore, and I got the chance to meet him briefly. It was a nice, low key experience.

It's on display with the remainder of my physical book collection, quietly sharing a place of honor with an autographed copy of The Stand; in 20+ years, nobody's found either autograph.

If you're interested, Manu Saadia wrote a book I really liked called Trekonomics, where he lays out how the economics of Star Trek works. It's probably the most in depth any one person has delved into the topic, and he cites examples from the shows. He argues that it's rooted in a shift in technology, policy, and human economic behavior. People, for example, can't be motivated by wealth or showing off possessions that anyone would have easy access to, so instead they build capital in the prestige of personal and professional accomplishments.

https://www.amazon.com/Trekonomics-Economics-Star-Manu-Saadia/dp/1941758754

OMG YES THERE IS A BOOK FOR ALL OF THIS

https://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Fleet-Technical-Manual/dp/0345340744

If you havent picked this up you will love it

You could try getting him the DS9 companion book. If he’s really into DS9 there is a lot of cool stuff in it he would probably enjoy.

https://www.amazon.com/Deep-Space-Nine-Companion-Star/dp/0671501062/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1549302846&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=ds9+companion&dpPl=1&dpID=51YhIU%2BPkTL&ref=plSrch


If he’s in to collecting action figures, there are also some of those from the shows original run on Amazon.


Here are some DS9 coffee mugs

https://www.amazon.com/CafePress-Vote-Garak-Unique-Coffee/dp/B078T4S6HC/ref=mp_s_a_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1549302985&sr=8-13&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=ds9+coffee+cups

https://www.amazon.com/CafePress-STAR-TREK-Unique-Coffee/dp/B07GQFX31P/ref=mp_s_a_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1549303049&sr=8-6&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=ds9+coffee+cups&dpPl=1&dpID=511-waiiYcL&ref=plSrch


Do you know who his favorite character is? It would probably be easier to look for stuff if you did.

Some more ideas

https://www.anovos.com/collections/star-trek/products/star-trek-deep-space-nine-niners-baseball-cap-2018-reservation

https://www.anovos.com/collections/star-trek/products/star-trek-deep-space-nine-25th-anniversary-commemorative-baseball-2018-reservation

That’s second one is out of stock but it may return in time, I don’t know.

George Takei's autobiography is excellent. He reads the audio book himself.

He's led a very interesting life.

Are you looking to do something classy/romantic, or are you going for silly/sexy/funny? For the latter maybe print out a photo on edible icing to put on the cake? For example take a screenshot of sexy Riker but photoshop her fiance's head on him. http://tng.trekcore.com/gallery/albums/publicity/season4/s4_riker.jpg

Getting a mold to do insignias in chocolate/candy to decorate might be an easy way to Trek it up too. For example https://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Starfleet-Silicone-Cube/dp/B00FS1S3CS or https://www.amazon.com/ICUP-Star-Trek-Cube-Tray/dp/B00KWBHH2Q

This is the one I have, it’s pretty good in realism

https://www.amazon.com/QMx-Star-Trek-Voyager-Communicator/dp/B00I14SDII/ref=asc_df_B00I14SDII/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312707379104&hvpos=1o8&hvnetw=g&hvrand=6597038810634196407&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9031972&hvtargid=pla-525514081423&psc=1

There's a TNG novel called "Q Squared" where Trelaine and Q run into each other and bother Picard. It's pretty farcical, but an entertaining read nonetheless.

https://www.amazon.com/Q-Squared-Star-Trek-Next-Generation/dp/0671891510

This reminds me that I had a book from around the time TOS was on the air about the production of the series which had a section on the design of the ship and such and specifically mentions saucer separation even pointing out that those cool arrow-shaped thingys on the underside of the saucer were the landing pads (with the third coming down where from where it used to connect to the secondary hull) that would come out so it could put down in an emergency.

I think I still have that book in storage over at a friend's house that I'm actually planning on picking up this week. If I find it I'll post relevant bits here.

Just searched Amazon, I'm pretty sure this is the book in question. http://www.amazon.com/Making-Star-Trek-Stephen-Whitfield/dp/0345340191

The basis of the Enterprise carried on in Doctor/Captain Crusher's ship the Pasteur. The back story is in this Memory Alpha article.

http://memory-alpha.wikia.com/wiki/Olympic_class

I remember reading about this in The Making of Star Trek. If you are interested in the backstory and history of the series I highly recommend it. I read mine too literal tatters years ago.

https://www.amazon.com/Making-Star-Trek-Stephen-Whitfield/dp/0345340191

Definitely an interesting read: The Ethics of Star Trek

https://www.amazon.com/Ship-Line-Star-Generation-Unnumbered/dp/0671009257

I liked the audiobook version as well. It was read by Gates McFadden.

Sulu's Sultry Guyliner. Perfect with Sulu por Homme.

I don't recommend that you buy these, they've actually cut out features that were in other sets and not added anything new. I got the Stardate Collection, it was £30 on sale and contains all ten movies, a lot of special features and two bonus discs. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Star-Trek-Stardate-Collection-Blu-ray/dp/B00BKN6ZP0

Seek out this book. It was a fantastic read.

Ship of the Line (Star Trek Next Generation (Unnumbered)) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0671009257/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_qGVozbXR920TA

Star Trek: The Original Series: The Complete Series [Blu-ray] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CJW334Q/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_OKn4CbNSRK1RP

This one allows you to watch both remastered and the original unedited.

The Ethics of Star Trek, a pretty decent book. Do you use it in your course?

I don't know if Star Trek books are considered canon at all (?), but I remember liking this book which elaborated a bit more on El Aurians and the Borg: http://www.amazon.com/Vendetta-Giant-Novel-Star-Generation/dp/0671741454

I think you'd enjoy this book.

So there is a 3 part book series called: Dominion War
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/067102499X?pc_redir=1404330415&robot_redir=1

But also it should be noted that back then the shows and movies were highly secularized. Even mention of crossover was rare. In Insurrection Picard and Riker exchange slight frustration about not being tasked to help with the enterprise E.
They mention the Dominion a few times in Voyager but ominously (though I always wanted voyager to find them expanding into the Delta quad).
But as far as TNG specific? Those books pretty much cover it

Better yet. Trekonomics

I have volume 1 and 2 of this. You would like it.

>I've got a few star trek badges made of solid metal (magnetic clasps).

> https://www.amazon.co.uk/QMx-Star-Trek-Voyager-Communicator/dp/B00I14SDII/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526290391&sr=8-1&keywords=star+trek+comm+badge

Why do they always have to be so glossy? :-/ The communicators on the show were non-glossy.

Have you read Ship of the Line by Diane Carey (1999)? It focuses on the Bozeman crew before and after they travel through time. Amazon.com link

I really enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I originally listened to the audiobook while driving across the US back in 2003, and learned what "abridged" meant.

Get yourself a copy of the Nitpicker's Guide to TNG

https://www.amazon.com/Nitpickers-Guide-Next-Generation-Trekkers/dp/0440505712/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483647097&sr=8-1&keywords=star+trek+nitpickers

There's this and this

There's many books and papers that discuss post-scarcity economics. There is one specifically written from a Star Trek perspective.

Trekonomics: The Economics of Star Trek https://www.amazon.com/dp/1941758754/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_bIh6Ab7SEFFTE

http://www.amazon.com/Nitpickers-Guide-Next-Generation-Trekkers/dp/0440505712

I remember having these books


When your universe has multiple editions of encyclopedias published it is sort of expected.


Though at the same time when the writers have access to the same encyclopedias in order to maintain continuity.

it's covered in this book http://www.amazon.com/Ship-Line-Star-Generation-Unnumbered/dp/0671009257/ref=sr_1_14?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1344123184&sr=1-14&keywords=star+trek+ship

Add these to your Christmas Wishlist.

https://www.amazon.ca/Nitpickers-Guide-Next-Generation-Trekkers/dp/0440507162

https://www.amazon.com/Nitpickers-Guide-Next-Generation-Trekkers/dp/0440505712

https://www.amazon.com/Nitpickers-Guide-Next-Generation-Trekkers/dp/0440505712

Direct link without referral spam

Only $10.94 on Amazon. OP should return theirs.

The FJ ships were part of a book done in the late 60s/early 70s called "Star Fleet Technical Manual" - they were supposed to round out the Starfleet back when TOS was the only Trek available. Here's a link to a used copy of the book on Amazon.

The staples of the FJ designs were the Ptolemy (tug), the Hermes (scout) and the Federation (Dreadnought) class ships. They show up throughout the fanon from the 70s onwards.

Now...they are arguably canon since they show up on the display screens of the Enterprise during Trek III. But those display screens are literally just color-inversed copies of the Franz Joseph ships from his tech manual! So their canonicity is a little bit chicken-and-egg, and I'm guessing someone will come on here after me to correct me and ensure that I'm aware that they are indeed canon b'cuz b'cuz b'cuz.

EDIT: I forgot that the Hermes actually gets an iota of screen time as a legit ship in DS9, as part of the ruined fleet.

So dumb that people even write books about it! /s

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Trekonomics-Economics-Star-Manu-Saadia/dp/1941758754/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1516373308&sr=8-1

There is this image:

http://i.imgur.com/M9NZ2UG.jpg

Out of this book (1975), but I never understood how the Klingon and Romulan Empires could be at war with each other if they were separated by the Federation.