Let me get this out of the way. I’m not a Trekkie. Nor a Trekker. I pick Star Wars over Star Trek any day of the week.
That’s not to say I don’t appreciate Star Trek. I loved Star Trek: The Next Generation and never missed a single episode. I enjoyed half of the Classic Trek movies (the even ones), and found some of the episodes entertaining. For the most part, they were a bit too slow and plain for me to really get into though.
Deep Space Nine held my interest, then lost it, then got it back, then lost it again. Voyager and Enterprise made me pray for a Star Wars: Jedi Academy TV show to make up for Star Trek’s spiral into awfulness.
At this point, I figure I’ve either completely lost half my readers or angered the other half. Hopefully I’ve got another half made up of Star Wars fans to get my back. Er, yeah, math was never one of my strong suits…
All of that isn’t to say that Star Trek blows. Far from it. Without Star Trek, we’d never have Star Wars. Plus phasers and transporters are damn cool. Klingons are awesome bad guys and even more awesome volatile allies in later years. The Prime Directive (do not interfere with other planets’ evolution), while often broken more times than the hearts of the women in Captain Kirk’s wake, is an awesome idea to wrap an entire series around.
No, I like Star Trek. I like the entire universe. I’m just not obsessed with it.
But I’ll admit that my heart did skip a beat or two (hey, this is what I get excited about), when I was asked to review Hasbro’s new line of KRE-O building sets based on Classic Star Trek and the latest Star Trek: Into Darkness film. They sent me three sets: Transporter Trouble, Klingon Bird-of-Prey, and the U.S.S. Enterprise.
I mean, seriously, how can anyone pass up the chance to build the U.S.S. Enterprise? Even my kids, who know zip about Trek, thought it looked pretty cool.
So I took the three Trek sets I was sent and split them up among the boys in my house. Allie, on the other hand, supervised swimmingly from the comfort of our coach.
I grabbed the monstrous Enterprise and got to work building the best character ever created in the Star Trek Universe.
Ryan got to build the Klingon Bird-of-Prey, which is much smaller than the Enterprise, but far more menacing looking.
That left the transporter for Jason to construct.
I have to admit, when I first heard Hasbro was putting out a line of building toys called KRE-O, I was less than impressed. So many companies have put out construction toys, many flimsy and cheaply made. But the KRE-O pieces were much sturdier than I expected, and for the most part, fit together quite nicely.
They also do a great job with the instructions, clearly labeling what pieces are needed with each step before they show you exactly how to put it all together.
I will say, however, that I did have a slight… ahem… temper tantrum when I was about two-thirds done with the Enterprise. Don’t worry, the kids were in the other room watching Minecraft YouTube videos at the time. I had the bulk of the saucer-part done with the Enterprise, yet when it came to attaching it to the main part of the ship, I just couldn’t get it to work. The pieces just weren’t clicking right. I double and triple-checked the directions to make sure I did it right. It took a number of tries but after taking a deep breath and going very slowly, I finally managed to connect it all together.
These sets come with a light-up brick to add some light effects to your play. Yes, you do need to add batteries to the Enterprise to get the full photon torpedo and Warp Engine action. Here’s a quick video of the toys in action:
What do you love about Star Trek?
I was given the products featured in this post for review purposes. No other compensation was given. All thoughts and opinions are solely my own.
Bands would be the best in this scenario, as they’re easy to pack away just about anywhere. Even hardcore gym goers know this as you will see in gyms up and down the country the dumbbell rack is the busiest place in the gym. The 2009 models came out in September of 2008 and is the newest model regardless of what numerous third-party sellers are portraying, there is no 2010 model.
It has 0 grams of total fat, 420 mg’s of sodium, 1 grams of total carbs and less than 1 gram of protein in it. Treat your family to delicious, easy-to-prepare Italian beef sandwiches. There are no real features to speak of, as the Slow Cooker market is somewhat unsophisticated.
Teehee your photo (of you) is very animated and made me chuckle. My husband and son are definitely more Star Wars than Star Trek fans, but there was a time when our son started to take an interest in Star Trek. We found it somewhat painful. Is that wrong? lol
They have had them on since, and haven’t once tried to remove them. I was surprised simply because I suspected the Amish built premium products. On a $200 a month gas bill, this would lower the bill by $50.
If only they would make a tiny, little, talking Captain Picard so I could put him in my pocket and listen to him speak all day. Make it so.
I can see myself playing with this too!
Awesome! I have an 11 year old that would love that!
I was never a big fan of Star Trek but loved Star Wars from the 70s/80s. We love Legos and are growing to love the Kreo brand. Building with “blocks” has been something my kids and I have done together since they were very little, our bonding!
I was always a mega Star Wars fan, Jeffrey. I actually didn’t care at all about Star Trek until I met my wife (then girlfriend) during college when Star Trek: The Next Generation was on.
I have to confess, I never really “got” Star Trek or Star Wars, I know, I’m just so unAmerican (according to the few people I know that like one or the other). But the toys look fun. I love that they come with little figurine and that it lights up. I can see my nephew really enjoying this.
These toys are great, and a worthy competitor to Lego. I can’t wait to see the new movie!
I have to admit that Im not a Star Trek fan…. then again to be fair I have never really given it a chance. I did want to mention that you seem to be having the most fun out of the bunch. hehe!!
Your pics and enthusiasm in your post really make me smile. It shows how you really get into these toys…Star Wars or Star Trek, you’ll have fun. Love it!
Thanks, Sandy. Well, when I review products that I really do love, it’s easy to be enthusiastic.