Diamond Select Toys Star Trek: The Original Series: Romulan Bird of Prey Ship

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.

I had the original AMT model which, other than the elaborate and large scale warbird decal, was pretty ho hum. This "toy" is in the same classic style.. but what a difference! It is actually one of my favorites. The finish, the effects, the audio... all are just great, just take a look at the pictures and video. I replaced the batteries with Energizer Lithium Ion which may give the whole thing a bit if a boost. It is at a good scale and sits beautifully with 1/650 scale models. I think it is awesome. The new Playmates "Classic" Enterprise is fun (see photo), but this Diamond Romulan ship is cool and sleek. I like it better than the Diamond Select classic Enterprise. The Klingon ship in the photo beside the Romulan craft is a 1/650 K'Tinga battlecruiser model. They look great together, right? If you know an older Star Trek that doesn't have this, he will love this as a gift. It really packs a surprise punch of nostalgia and is more elegant than a mere "toy." The best present is the one you never knew you wanted. Give someone a treat!

I agree that this is one of Diamond Selects very best efforts. The sound effects are excellent, the dialog very well chosen, and the "sound effects loop and lights on" feature so enjoyable you wonder how they sold the other ships without it. The lighting effects are dynamic but subtle and accurate. The lighting can be set to stay on without the sound loop, which is a fun, campy but very appropriate "alien ship in space" sound effect from the original episode. The assembly, painted finish and detailing is very good on my ship, not perfect but very good. I have been fortunate with these ships over the years, because quality control has been an issue in the past. All of my ships are well made, with very good painted details. This is easily the best of all.

I really like this ship. Light effects are very nice with no bleed thru and the sounds of the bridge are also impressive. I don't care much for the talking sounds it makes but it's not that big of a deal since you can turn that feature off and still have the ship lights on with the sounds of the bridge. The model sits well on it's stand and doesn't tip over like the Enterprise models do. The color markings on the underside and top of the wings are well done but it makes it look more toy like in my opinion. An impressive model, probably Diamond Selects best effort so far, and well worth the price.

first the good. The over all feel of the model is excellent, and the paint looks very clean. The number of voice samples from the tv episode is really nice! now the bad. several of the little covers for the screw holes where half out when it arrived. I managed to push them back in except one doesn't go in just a little bit. the volume of the sound is very low even with new batteries. Over all though, a very nice model. I would say they are on the right track with this one, and I look forward to the Enterprise-C coming out next year!

Awesome display piece. It looks just like the episode Balance of Terror.

I really like this ship, just as I have many others. Wish they made the C Enterprise and Klingon Battle Cruiser but that not withstanding, this is a great representation of a Romulan Bid of Prey. Nice lights and sound effects that match the show. Looks good displayed with the federation ships. Nicely done design and execution. Good build quality. Great gift for a trek fan.... such as myself. Which is what it was for me (a gift). If you have a TOS fan in your life, they'll likely appreciate this.

Has the voice tracks from the original series episode. Very happy with purchace. Package was opened by GLS delivery service.

The word "Amazing" comes to mind. I was actually thinking "fricking amazing", but I didn't use the word frick.... This is a 50th anniversary edition, and it's is freaking sweet. All the windows light up, of course, and the busard collectors (if that's what they are on this ship) light up and change colour from a purplish, to orangish, to redish.... We have several phrases from the original actor Mark Lenard, and they sound great. The ship also has two additional modes. One mode with just the lights on, and another mode with the lights on and the interior starship sounds we used to hear in TOS. This ship is fantastic beside TOS Enterprise. I really wish Diamond Select would do a Klingon Battlecruiser (K'T'inga) from TOS. I'd buy it in a split second. Note, I received this and the Excelsior over the last couple of days, and both seem to have the issue with the floppy stand corrected. I just wish I could get them to send me another stand for my TOS Enterprise. It will barely stand up at all.

Lights and sounds are great, the ship I got is great, Diamond Select gets a 10 out of 10 ." I love the original series "

One of the very nicest Diamond Select Toys STAR TREK space ships, with just about every line of Mark Lenard's wonderful dialog as the Romulan commander on the voice chip (in individual short segments). Very happy with this purchase.

The quality is very good, but must say the sound bytes are awesome with so many clips from the TOS episode it was introduced. I put off this purchase for too long and with the price of everything going up I would recommend getting it sooner than later before that are not available.