New Star Trek martial arts clothing from Fusion Fight Gear

Fusion Fight Gear have revealed a new range of Star Trek fighting apparel, with designs drawing from TOS and TNG. If you're not much of a fighter they're good for all sorts of other sports and activities too, with a wide range of rash guards (tops) and spats (bottoms), plus a unique Star Trek gi. Continue below to check out all the designs.

If you want to simply dazzle your opponent then the "Tokyo Invasion" rash guard might be the top for you. This is covered in what I would normally describe as (very bright!) Gold Key-style artwork, although Fusion have identified a slightly different origin for these retro images:

The colorful Star Trek Tokyo Invasion rashguard is inspired by artwork created exclusively for the Japanese market when the original Star Trek series gained popularity there during the 1970’s.

ThinkGeek's new Star Trek maxi dresses

Ever fancied cosplaying as Captain Picard's ready room? Well now you can thanks to ThinkGeek! Their latest maxi dress features the painting from said room, originally created by Rick Sternbach and Andrew Probert, set into a larger starfield, and actually I think looks pretty cool. Continue below for a closer look, and their new TOS dress too:

Star Trek Beyond's USS Franklin!

A new ship from Star Trek Beyond has been revealed! The Omaze fundraising campaign last year, which included a competition to win visits to the sets and a walk on roll in the film in exchange for a charitable donation, also offered backers the chance to buy extra goodies depending on levels of donations made. One of those options was to get some concept art from the film, and it seems some of that is already been sent out. TrekCore have posted the following image, sent to D.B. Wilson, which pictures a brand new Starfleet starship, the USS Franklin.

Lots of Star Trek events for the 50th anniversary

It might not come as too much of a surprise to learn that CBS have big plans for this year, what with it being the 50th anniversary of Star Trek n'all. Details of several of the latest events planned for this year have been revealed in the last few days; there should be lots to keep us entertained and help us celebrate this golden year.

Art

The highlight of the planned events in my mind, is the 50 Artists. 50 Years. project which USA Today have now revealed will be a worldwide travelling exhibition of Star Trek inspired art, in many forms, including illustration, photography, and graphic design.

This exhibit will first open at the San Diego Comic Con in July, before moving on to other venues. We've already had our first glimpse at this thanks to early previews for a calendar using some of the artwork - I find it hard to imagine we won't see what will surely be a rich source of Star Trek imagery turn up in other places and products down the line too. USA Today have confirmed the exhibit will include work by Leonard Nimoy, and the credits for the calendar suggest other contributors will include Tom Whalen, Nick Walker, Johnson Tsang, Derek Charm, and Susan Beatrice.

Original USS Enterprise model ready for restoration

As you might be aware, the original USS Enterprise filming miniature is in the possession of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Later this year it will find a new home within the museum, in the redesigned Boeing Milestones of Flight Hall, claiming it's rightful place as one of the most important vehicles in the (future) history of human flight.

Before moving to her new home, the Smithsonian team are busy working to restore the Enterprise to her former glory, making repairs after years of display a model made for shorter term use in television production was never designed for. They are also reversing some of the not entirely faithful previous restorations. The plan is to return the model to how it appeared in The Trouble with Tribbles, when the last alterations were made during the production of the series. The Smithsonian have just posted a blog with an update on their work, revealing right now, the Enterprise is in pieces!

Eaglemoss' Starfleet Academy trainer, and other updates

Eaglemoss' Hero Collector website has posted another set of renders of one of their new CG recreations, ready to make a future model in Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection. This time we've got the Starfleet Academy training ship, seen in TNG's First Duty. Continue below to check it out, and other updates from the series:

Mezco's second Star Trek action figure is Sulu

Mezco have announced their second Star Trek action figure in their One:12 range, and in a refreshing bucking of expectations it is not Kirk! Expected in June or July, Mr Sulu will be joining the previously announced Spock figure in this series.

Like Spock, this highly detailed figure will come with an insignia display base, and feature no less than twenty-eight points of articulation. He will have a fabric uniform, and a good selection of props, including a sword! He will also have a load of different hands ready to strike various poses, and two heads to give different expressions. Continue below for a close look at all those details:

Roddenberry Vault: Week 3 - Talosians on the Edge of Forever

Throughout 2016 the Roddenberry Facebook page will be posting artefacts from their archives, including behind the scenes documents, production artwork, and photos. Dubbed the Roddenberry Vault, there will be new posts every day, some times multiples. To make sure you don't miss any of these insightful glimpses into the production of Star Trek, I will be posting weekly summaries.

The third week has been a fairly even mix of documents, and photographs of the cast and production staff. The last couple of weeks has concentrated on the genesis of Star Trek, and this week continues to explore the pilot episodes, but also gave us glimpses behind the scenes from later in the series too, specifically looking at the episodes The City on the Edge of Forever, and The Deadly Years. Continue below for details of all this week's posts:

Day fifteen gave us a slide, a frame from the TOS opening titles.  On day sixteen there was the story outline for the second pilot episode, Where No Man Has Gone Before. Only the first page was posted on Facebook, but you can find a pdf of the whole document on the Roddenberry website.

Day seventeen was when this week really got good for me though, a delightful picture of Gene Roddenberry hanging out with the Talosians on the set of the first pilot episode, The Cage.

Eaglemoss' Breen and Voth ships, New Orleans class preview, and other Starships Collection updates

Eaglemoss have released their latest solicitations for Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection, giving us new looks at two forthcoming models. Continue below to check out those, and other news from the magazine and model series. UPDATE: Also below is the first look at Eaglemoss' New Orleans class.

Due to arrive in the UK first this March (and following later in other markets), issue sixty-nine will be the Breen Warship. Getting the colours right for this one was apparently quite a challenge, and the new image of the model released does look rather vibrant. But series manager Ben Robinson has previously posted another image with more muted tones, so I wouldn't panic just yet! I believe this is only the second ever model of this design, following the smaller Wizkids version.

Issue seventy follows, in April in the UK, and is one of the biggest ships (in-universe) in the collection, the Voth City Ship. This is our first look at this model, the first ever of this ship, and it looks pretty snazzy to me!

IDW's titles for April, and other Star Trek comics news

IDW have published their solicitations for April, which include lots of new Star Trek comics, with both the start of one miniseries, and the end of another, and a good dose of TOS too. Continue below for all April's titles, and more Star Trek comics news.

The big news of the month is the start of a new four-issue miniseries, Manifest Destiny, a story featuring the Klingons. This is being marketed as a fiftieth anniversary event series, and will be released fortnightly, so April will see two issues.

Manifest Destiny #1
Written by Mike Johnson and Ryan Parrott, with art by Angel Hernandez.

Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the STAR TREK franchise in 2016 with this all-new bi-weekly comics event beginning in April! It's Captain Kirk and the Enterprise crew vs. the Klingons in the ultimate showdown! Art by STAR TREK/GREEN LANTERN fan-favorite Angel Hernandez!

This first issue will apparently be longer than usual, noted as a forty page book (rather than the usual thirty-two). It will also be issued in a Klingon-language edition!

There will be at least six different covers/editions. The standard cover is from the issue artist, Angel Hernandez. The subscription cover is a homage to Bob Peak's The Motion Picture poster, by Tony Shasteen. There will also be a variant cover from Rachael Stott (not revealed yet). Then there will be Klingon language editions from the same artists (none have been released so far, so it's not clear if the same artwork will be reused for these or not).

The Best of Both Worlds could have been a much longer story-arc

Well here's something a bit interesting: Roddenberry's Mission Log podcast has recently done an episode focusing on TNG Borg episodes, The Best of Both Worlds. To support that they have posted a couple of memos sent by Michael Piller and Ron Moore, discussing how to resolve what we now know as a two-parter. Only back then they had plans to make it a three or even four part arc, with the story seeing the Borg starting to assimilate Earth, and Riker remaining in a command position for longer, and leading the resistance to the Borg occupation!

First ever Star Trek: Enterprise stamps, from Liberia!

More Star Trek stamps! Following the recently DS9 stamps from Guyana and Palau, and news of the forthcoming United States TOS stamps, Liberia have now chipped in with the first ever postage stamps focusing on Star Trek: Enterprise; including a Shran stamp!

The Inter-Governmental Philatelic Corporation, who produce and promote special stamp designs from various countries around the world, report these latest stamps were issued at the end of December, and focus on the alien species featured in Enterprise. As well as the Andorian, also featured are Silik of the Suliban, the Klingon Doctor Antaak, dearest Doctor Phlox of Denobula, and two Vulcans, T'Pol and Suval.

Phlox features again on a separate sheet, on a higher value stamp.

New big Borg Cube coming to Attack Wing, and previews of latest releases

A little over a year ago Wizkids released their first oversized models for the Star Trek: Attack Wing miniatures game, including a big Borg Cube model, and now they have plans for the Borg to return, this time with a Borg Cube that can launch its own Borg Sphere. ICv2 report, that June will see the release of the "Borg Cube with Sphere port", which will include two ships, Borg Cube 384, with the new Sphere launch port detailing, and Sphere 936, ready to launch from it.

The Borg Cube is different as far as the port goes, although the detailing looks otherwise quite similar to the previous release on the CG mock-up. The Sphere will be a new paint-job compared to previous releases, designed to match the finish of the Cube.

Meanwhile, monthly releases of Wizkids normal sized Attack Wing expansions continue as ever. Read on below for a look at this month's new ships.

Another Star Trek Beyond set visit, and an interesting Sulu development

Entertainment Tonight have been on-set for the filming of Star Trek Beyond, and have now posted some videos, including interviews with the cast, revealing some interesting new titbits, particularly regarding Sulu. If you're spoiler averse I doubt they've let anything big out of the bag, but there is some new info.

Roddenberry Vault: Week 2 - Making the Enterprise

Throughout 2016 the Roddenberry Facebook page will be posting artefacts from their archives, including behind the scenes documents, production artwork, and photos. Dubbed the Roddenberry Vault, there will be new posts every day, some times multiples. To make sure you don't miss any of these insightful glimpses into the production of Star Trek, I will be posting weekly summaries.

It has been a good time to be starship design fan in the second week of posts form the Roddenberry Vault, with oodles of concept art showing us some quite exotic forms the USS Enterprise could have taken, plus images of the early filming miniatures. Continue below for information on this week's posts:

There were a few pieces of concept art posted in the first week, but the Enterprise has found many more unusual forms in the most recent posts. In this first image, posted on day eight, we can almost see the familiar shape of the Enterprise, yet it is also quite different, and oddly enough seems to pre-empt one of the most recent starship designs, the USS Vengeance!

Star Trek movies reissued on bluray and DVD

All the prime-timeline movies are returning to bluray and DVD, with bright new artwork. Due out in February the films will be split between TOS and TNG collections. Aside from the artwork, and being in thinner packaging than before, there is no indication of there being any other updates to these releases - So still no bluray edition of the director's cut of The Motion Picture, or any additional bonus material. In fact both sets omit the extra bonus material discs included in the 2009 TOS and TNG sets! But at least they look nice!

Reunion, Part 1 preview

Out this week is the latest issue (number fifty-three) of the nuTrek ongoing comic series, which is the start of a new Orion-focused two-part story, Reunion. This story comes from the regular creative team for the series; written by Mike Johnson, with art by Tony Shasteen.

Shasteen also provides the regular cover, while Cat Staggs did the artwork for the subscription cover. Both feature the focus Orions of the story, Uhura's old roomate Gailia, and the Enterprise's security officer, Kai.

Note this is the first issue of the nuTrek ongoing series to feature IDW's new cover layout style (with the little tab of information top left). In the process of redesigning they seem to have dropped the 5 Year Mission subtitle which has featured on the last several stories.

Continue below for a five page preview from the issue.

Trek-wear: Amazing prints, cosy jumpers, sportswear, maternity, and more!

A bumper Trek-wear update for you today, with enough Star Trek inspired clothing to fill a wardrobe! That includes, jumpers and jackets, legging and socks, boots, sportswear, maternity wear, dresses, and more.

First up, these amazing kaleidoscope print designs, which are available from ThinkGeek. Both feature a TOS inspired print, made from images of the Enterprise and various icons, in a floral/firework style burst. A yellow toned version is used for a skirt, while a red-infused variant makes up the skirt of a dress.

New soundtracks now available, and more on the way

The two recently announced soundtrack releases are now on sale. Mondo's vinyl version of the complete Wrath of Khan soundtrack, one of the most beautiful Star Trek products ever released, has gone live. This is a limited edition, although Mondo haven't said of how many; I'd snap one up while you can if you want one. They also posted the original interior art, from Matt Taylor, on Twitter, so you can see it without the fold line:

Meanwhile La La Land's Star Trek: The Next Generation Soundtrack Collection, Volume Two, is also available, and also a limited edition, this time of three-thousand units.

There is news of even more Star Trek soundtrack releases on the way! Posting on the Film Score Monthly Forums, founder Lukas Kendall confirmed not just the expected Voyager soundtrack collection, but also a 50th anniversary release, to feature fan requested tracks from multiple series:

2017 Star Trek calendars revealed

You will have no shortage of Star Trek calendars to choose from for 2017, with no less than six designs from US publisher Universe Publishing alone (there are normally also a couple of UK designs, and sometimes others too). Amazon have posted the first details of the range, with what I am sure is not final art, but probably indicative of the formats once all the artwork is finalised, which we should start to see later in the year.

The most notable of the six is an entirely new Star Trek calendar for 2017, the Poster Calendar, which, despite only have twelve pages,  is intriguingly titled 50 Artists. 50 Years. I am very curious about that title; if it is just twelve images in this publication, might this be just the calendar version of a larger 50 Artists. 50 Years. project? Or maybe the start of a multi-year series of calendars? Hopefully more details about this won't take too long to arise. Here's the official description, which includes some of the notable contributing artists:

STAR TREK™ 50 Artists. 50 Years. 2017 Poster Calendar showcases the work of artists from around the globe who created original pieces to celebrate Star Trek's 50th anniversary. With easily detached perforations above and beneath the image, each calendar page becomes an 11x14-inch easy-to-frame poster perfect for display in a standard gallery frame.

Star Trek™: 50 Artists. 50 Years. 2017 features work by Leonard Nimoy, Tom Whalen, Nick Walker, Johnson Tsang, Derek Charm, Susan Beatrice, and others.

Ships from before the Battle of Wolf 359

Star Trek production artist Rick Sternbach provided a real treat for starships fans this week when he posted on Facebook some amazing photos of the kit-bashed miniatures used for the ships seen wrecked after the Battle of Wolf 359 in TNG's The Best of Both Worlds. Better yet, these images are of the models before the art department turned them into wrecks, as Sternbach described:

Discovered while looking for images from COSMOS in 1979, pawing through boxes of thousands of 35mm slides (remember film?). Apparently I/we shot a few dozen pix of the poor ships from Best of Both Worlds on ST:TNG. Models made from AMT/Ertl kits of different scales, plus bits like highlighter markers and other plastic chunks. IIRC we then took Dremel grinders and X-Acto saws to them and added some airbrush burn damage.

He has posted four images out of those tantalising dozens so far, giving us rare views of the New Orleans class USS Kyushu, Cheyenne class USS Ahwahnee, and the Springfield class USS Chekov:

Book bits - Non-fiction edition: Vulcan, mini-models, self help from Kirk and Spock, and more

We're in a bit of a golden age of Star Trek non-fiction lately, and this fiftieth anniversary year is a great excuse for even more books exploring Trek from both the real world perspective, and would-be non-fiction from within the universe. Continue below for news of all the most recently announced books, new covers, previews, and more.

First up, from Insight Editions, is a Hidden Universe: A Travel Guide to Vulcan, by Dayton Ward. A preliminary cover for this has been floating around, featuring a lovely new image of Vulcan with a very nuTrek-styled Vulcan city:

The release of this has been pushed back a few months than was earlier suggested, with it now expected in July. Here's a reminder of the blurb:

Full details of Mondo's Wrath of Khan vinyl soundtrack

Mondo recently teased a new vinyl release of the The Wrath of Khan soundtrack, and now Birth Movies Death have revealed all the details of what is going to be one of the most beautiful Star Trek products ever released.

Of course there was a vinyl edition of the album version of James Horner's brilliant soundtrack alongside the release of the film in 1982, but this new two-disc version will be the first ever vinyl edition of the complete score, which was first issued on CD by Film Score Monthly in 2009.

What makes this really special though is the stunning presentation, with new artwork by Matt Taylor adorning every surface, plus the dazzling Mutara Nebula styled discs themselves. Here are the outer covers, featuring views of Ceti Alpha V:

Roddenberry Vault: Week 1 - Star Trek Begins

A week into 2016, the fifthieth anniversary of Star Trek year, and that also means a week's worth of posts from the Roddenberry Vault, the archive of behind the scenes images and documents being posted on the Roddenberry Facebook page. In this first week we've been treated behind the scenes photos from the production of the pilot episode, The Cage, concept art for the USS Enterprise, and various documents relating to the earliest episodes, including production notes, scripts, and even censorship documents. Continue below for a round-up of contents of the Roddenberry Vault so far:

Day one saw three different posts, including this photo of Gene Roddenberry himself on the set:

There is also a fascinating pitch document for the series. This first page makes note of the diversity of story-telling Star Trek can offer, including outlines for possible episodes, some you might recognise. You can see further pages from this document on Facebook, as well as the third post of the day, the annotated story outline for The Cage.

New TNG soundtrack collection, plus Wrath of Khan vinyl

La La Land Records have announced the long awaited second volume of their Star Trek: The Next Generation soundtrack collection. The new three-disc release follows a similar arrangement to the volume one release (from way back in 2011!), with a wide variety of episodes featured, divided up by composer. Disc one features the work of Dennis McCarthy (plus the opening titles music), disc two is dedicated to Jay Chattaway, and disc three is nominally others, but is actually mostly McCarthy music again, save for one episode (six tracks) by George Romanis, and the closing title music. Continue below for a full track listing, and news of another new soundtrack release.

Starfleet Academy #2 preview

Out this week is the second issue in the bright and brilliant new Starfleet Academy series, written by Mike Johnson and Ryan Parrott. The competition is underway for the new generation of cadets, and the thread that ties to two eras of nuTrek together it starting to become clear - You can see how this chapter kick off in the five page preview below.

This issue is available in three covers, the main one by series artist Derek Charm, a darker toned subscription cover from Elizabeth Beals, and a beautiful and poppy retail incentive cover from George Caltsoudas.

New Visions: Mister Chekov preview

John Byrne's New Visions continues going strong, reaching its tenth issue this week (eleven really, if you count the unnumbered first issue), and very nearly the end of the entire universe! I imagine you can guess who is the focus of this issue, titled Mister Chekov.

The last few pages of this book also include a preview for the next issue, revealing the title, Of Woman Born, a sequel to Who Mourns for Adonais? But you're going to have to wait a couple more months for that one. Until then, continue below for a five page preview of the current issue, as well as some advance looks at other forthcoming issues:

DST's NX-01 and 1701 model upgrades

Due out in a few months from Diamond Select Toys, is the Enterprise NX-01, a substantially reworked reissue of the first ever ship in their Starship Legends range of electronic starship models. This release features a new and hugely improved paint-job, and a a host of new sounds and light effects, including dialogue clips, and a lights-on feature - All of which are demonstrated in this new video:

Trek your life: Shower curtain, snow globe, lunch tins, lights, decals, and more!

Here's a look at some of the latest creations designed to bring a little bit of Star Trek to every corner of your life, at home, and on the road. Continue below for the latest snow globes, lunch tines, lights, decals, and magnets.

But first, ThinkGeek have returned to the bathroom once more, with a new Enterprise-D shower curtain design. Their previous shower curtains have taken inspiration from Star Trek sets, but this time they've focused in on a different detail, with a lovely big reproduction of the blueprints for the USS Enterprise-D.

Lots of Deep Space Nine stamps!

It seems the US isn't the only place issuing Star Trek postage stamps this year, as both Palau and Guyana have just (on the last day of 2015) released sets of Deep Space Nine stamp designs.

The Palau issued stamps are focused on the ships of DS9. One set of six features various prominent designs from the series, arranged on a miniature sheet as if they were all flying around the station. There's also a single panoramic format stamp featuring the USS Defiant, released separately.

Cast and crew talk Star Trek Beyond, on set

The Star Trek Beyond creative team on set

Access Hollywood have released a new behind the scenes report, filmed on the set of Star Trek Beyond. If you can endure the presentation style, you'll find interviews with Chris Pine, Simon Pegg, and Karl Urban. There are no huge revelations, but they do reinforce some of the ideas in the film we've already had hinted: That by this point the crew are well into their mission, and Kirk trying to figure out what comes next for them, that during the course of the film our main characters end up separated, and that Spock and McCoy spend much of the film together: