{"id":312907,"date":"2025-11-28T19:56:07","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T19:56:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/312907\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T19:56:07","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T19:56:07","slug":"legos-first-star-trek-set-should-be-a-sign-of-great-things-to-come","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/312907\/","title":{"rendered":"Lego’s First ‘Star Trek’ Set Should Be a Sign of Great Things to Come"},"content":{"rendered":"

After what\u2019s felt like years of waiting, hoping, and speculating, earlier this year, Lego finally confirmed<\/a> it would be boldly going forward with a\u00a0Star Trek set that has become the centerpiece of the brick-maker\u2019s annual Thanksgiving celebrations. Can it live up to the hype?<\/p>\n

Thankfully, the answer is a resounding yes. Lego\u2019s first foray into\u00a0Star Trek, the\u00a0Enterprise-D<\/a> from\u00a0The Next Generation, is a fascinating tribute to the legendary series while also being an extremely compelling build experience for diehard Lego fans, packed with fun techniques to maintain Star Trek\u2018s famously smooth-lined starship design in the world of Lego. io9 recently received a review copy of the\u00a0Enterprise from Lego, so we\u2019re here to take you inside and see what makes it so good\u2014and why we hope it means it\u2019s the first of many<\/a>.<\/p>\n

How long does it take to build Lego\u2019s Star Trek Enterprise-D set? <\/p>\n

Clocking in at 3,600 pieces, the Lego\u00a0Enterprise-D is a pretty sizeable model, resulting in a replica of the Galaxy-class starship and a sturdy display stand to pose it mid-flight on that measures around 23.5\u2033 from fore to aft and 10.5\u2033 tall (aided by the fact the ship is held at an upwards angle on its stand). While it is a major undertaking, the build is broken into three distinct sections: the secondary hull and the Enterprise\u2018s nacelles, the stand itself, and then half of the 30 bags in the set are dedicated to the main saucer.<\/p>\n

Given the nature of the\u00a0Enterprise-D\u2019s design, once you get going, there are a lot of similar techniques repeated over and over again, so if you\u2019re a familiar builder, you can go pretty quickly and even duplicate some steps to speed up the process. Overall, though, if you\u2019re taking things leisurely, you can be done in 9-10 hours\u2026 or around 12 episodes of Deep Space Nine, if you\u2019re like me and like to put something on while you\u2019re building (sorry\u00a0TNG fans, but I\u2019d recently just restarted a rewatch and decided to continue that rather than put on a more thematically appropriate bit of background noise!).<\/p>\n

How many minifigures are in Lego\u2019s Star Trek Enterprise-D set? <\/p>\n

Even though the focus of the set is the ship replica rather than a playset environment, it would be a crime if Lego\u2019s first\u00a0Trek set didn\u2019t go all in on minifigures. Thankfully, the\u00a0Enterprise-D comes with nine minifigures to faithfully recreate the bridge crew you know and love: Picard, Riker, Troi, Worf, La Forge, Data, Dr. Crusher, and Wesley Crusher in his famous jumper. Joining them to round out the set is a welcome but slightly oddball choice in Guinan, hostess of the Enterprise lounge Ten Forward, but she, like Wesley, breaks up the sea of similar Starfleet uniforms with some lovely unique elements to recreate her fashionable wardrobe.<\/p>\n

Each minifigure comes with an accessory, some more unique than others, even if they\u2019re all appropriate. Wesley gets a very unique accessory in the form of a mini replica of the portable tractor beam generator from \u201cThe Naked Now,\u201d as does Riker with his beloved trombone. Picard naturally comes with a teacup, Guinan has a green bottle of something from Ten Forward (it\u2019s never explicitly noted what it is, but it seems like a nod to the Aldebaran whiskey Data offers Scotty in \u201cRelics\u201d), Data gets Spot the cat, and Geordi comes with an engineering kit. Perhaps the least interesting ones are ironically the most typically Star Trek: Worf gets a handheld phaser, which is cleverly constructed with a wedge piece and a handle, at least, while Deanna and Beverly get a PADD and medical tricorder\u2026 both of which are just printed 1\u00d72 tiles. Which are\u00a0fine\u00a0and probably the best Lego could do at minifigure scale, but just kind of boring.<\/p>\n

What is nice is that, in a rare move, the\u00a0Enterprise-D comes with a little separate stand to put the minifigures on in a row, complete with a cute little\u00a0Next Generation title card (albeit as a sticker, rather than a printed piece). It\u2019s a nice acquiescence to the fact that the build is more about the display model than the minifigures themselves, but it was still nice that Lego built something more structured to display them on, instead of just leaving them as-is.<\/p>\n

Is Lego\u2019s Star Trek Enterprise-D set difficult to build? <\/p>\n

Building a Lego model out of a ship like the\u00a0Enterprise-D is a risky endeavor, given its peculiar shaping and weight distribution, on top of the fact that, well, it\u2019s mostly grey. But Lego puts a lot of interesting techniques in throughout the build to not only effectively capture the curvature and shaping of the Galaxy-class but also to keep your fingers busy and not have things blur into a long series of similar patterns being used to build similar-looking, similar-colored pieces.<\/p>\n

There are definitely a few places where more seasoned Lego builders can start duplicating builds to speed up the process: the build of the secondary hull of the Enterprise is split into two halves, for example, before you build the two nacelles that are identical in structure. Once you\u2019ve built the skeleton of the main saucer, you\u2019re then essentially repeating little plate sections of the hull to sandwich over it. While the repeating can be a bit, well, repetitive, there are enough interesting techniques used for experienced builders and enough simple patterning for Trek fans who might be embarking on their first-ever Lego build of this scale.<\/p>\n

On top of that, even though the\u00a0Enterprise-D is a display set rather than a playset, the design team still snuck in a few fun little features and Easter eggs. The aforementioned main saucer section, for example, is secured into place by a little floating shuttlecraft coming in to dock at its aft shuttle bay\u2014which can be removed so you can separate the saucer from the secondary hull to replicate the Galaxy-class\u2019 unique feature. And even though you don\u2019t get to build its iconic bridge, the center of the saucer does hold a little replica of the Enterprise\u2018s dedication plaque! Even as someone who is on the record on the D being far from my favorite Enterprise design, I couldn\u2019t help but be charmed at just how well Lego managed to bring it faithfully to life.<\/p>\n

How much is Lego\u2019s Star Trek Enterprise-D set? Is it worth the price? <\/p>\n

Alas, this is going to be the sticking point for a lot of\u00a0Star Trek fans. At $400, the\u00a0Enterprise-D may not be quite so eye-watering as some of Lego\u2019s other recent set prices, but it\u2019s still a big ask, and especially difficult considering it\u2019s the first time (and potentially last) the company has tackled Star Trek. You\u2019re definitely getting something that feels worth the price in terms of size and scope, but it\u2019s not hard to wonder if Lego should\u2019ve started out at a smaller scale or with different ideas beyond ship replicas to test the waters and see if Star Trek could become just as enduring a Lego series as\u00a0Star Wars has, if the alternative was a very pricey one-off.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t know what the future for Lego Star Trek holds beyond the Enterprise-D\u2014this could be the start of a yearly release schedule akin to Lego\u2019s approach to Lord of the Rings, a line that exclusively stays in the upper echelons of adult-focused, high-end (and high-cost) sets. It\u2019s undeniable that as a build experience and as a replica of one of the series\u2019 most famous starships, the Enterprise-D is a\u00a0Star Trek and Lego fan\u2019s dream: it looks great, it\u2019s a fun, big build, and it\u2019s got a great collection of minifigures that feels complete in the way that, if this is it, at least you got everything you\u2019d want.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s equally undeniable that a lot of\u00a0Star Trek fans and a lot of Lego fans are going to be put off by Lego\u2019s decision to go big as it did here to justify asking such a high price, in an age where the company\u2019s products feel like they\u2019re only getting pricier and pricier. There\u2019s a lot more value in the Enterprise-D compared to some of 2025\u2019s other big-ticket sets, sure, but $400 is still $400.<\/p>\n

If there was some kind of indication from Lego that this wouldn\u2019t be it and that there would be more, smaller-scoped sets, it might be an easier pill to swallow, knowing Trek fans can wait and see what else the company does if they don\u2019t want to throw down this much cash in one go. Even as great a set as it is, it\u2019s a tough sell to anyone but some of the most diehard Star Trek fans without some Ferengi-level justification to your wallet.<\/p>\n

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel<\/a>, Star Wars<\/a>, and Star Trek<\/a> releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV<\/a>, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After what\u2019s felt like years of waiting, hoping, and speculating, earlier this year, Lego finally confirmed it would…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":312908,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[49,48,75,57370,9487,114114],"class_list":["post-312907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-lego","tag-star-trek","tag-star-trek-the-next-generation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=312907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/312907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/312908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=312907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=312907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=312907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}