3 thoughts on “Pittsburgh’s Trek Chat’s Video Announcement of ‘25 Collection”
Kevin Dilmore
Thanks for sharing that review! I’m always happy to hear someone share my enthusiasm for the arcade game ornament haha!
A couple of fair points were raised regarding the U.S.S. Titan ornament and I wanted to offer some background.
As far as the version goes, we did weigh the option of issuing an Enterprise-G versus a Titan with this design. For me, it cooked down to this: not unlike a number of starships and other craft we’ve encountered over nearly 60 years, I felt the Titan became as much of a character as it was a starship with each episode of Star Trek: Picard season 3. The Titan got lots of screen time and plenty of cool and memorable moments along the way. The Enterprise-G was on screen for a bare blip in comparison, and the season leaves her future not yet written. The time feels more right for the Titan than the G.
Magic in our ornaments is a more complex issue. Advances in digital design have allowed for Star Trek ships that look great on screen but admittedly are harder and pricier to realize in 3D. They are sleeker, longer, less dependent on nacelle pylons (I’m looking at YOU, Discovery!), all of which can eliminate them from consideration for the tree. These designs are challenging and become even more complex to realize within acceptable price ranges (for you and for us) when we consider Magic elements such as light and sound. Running internal LEDs and wires requires more parts and assembly steps, internal speakers sends us into the equations of a speaker large enough to play higher quality sounds but still small enough to fit into a ship that approximates the scale of previously produced ships. And honestly, I’m just scratching the surface of considerations.
Take an ornament’s power source, which can put our buyers and collectors at odds. Constant-on lights would require a hardwired connector, which can lessen our ability to make a sculpt screen-accurate and requires the additional purchase of a power cord. Battery-powered lights require incorporating a battery compartment in the design—many times also affecting screen accuracy—and then we’re in the equation of battery life vs. number of performance pushes/length of illuminations as no one wants to be replacing batteries halfway through the season.
In full disclosure, friends, I’m the one who introduced the idea of removing Magic from the Titan. The moment that tipped the scales for me was a collector saying to me, “I can’t even press the buttons on my ships and step back to take a picture before they all turn off.” When cost and complexity issues were compounding enough to prohibit the Titan from consideration, I suggested we don’t light it rather than not do it at all. For the Galaxy Quest fans among us, that choice also is what got us the NSEA Protector on the tree and that proved pretty popular and to be honest I haven’t heard anyone comment on that sculpt lacking Magic.
We’ve all seen top-of-the-line realizations of Star Trek ships with spot-on dimensions and lighting down to the last window. Christmas ornaments aren’t competing with those. My hope is to help you capture a memory of something you love that you can share with friends and family at the holidays (or year-round but I can’t officially recommend that haha). I believe with all my heart that Keepsake Ornaments do just that better than anything else. The Titan is a heck of a ship with a terrific crew and in any form I’m glad we’re getting her for the tree. I hope you are, too.
Always good to chat at ya, friends! Thanks for your support this year and all the years I’ve been involved in these.
Thank you for the feedback and being a part of the community. It is always interesting to hear the reasoning for the decisions made.
The Titan is certainly worthy of ornamentizing over the Enterprise G, it certainly became a hero-ship during Picard Season 3. In fact, there seemed to be a bit of fan push-back across the net that they even renamed it the Enterprise G at the end of the series.
Although the lights will be missed, it is understandable and something I personally won’t miss terribly. My ships typically only have lights the first Christmas I own them and the batteries are removed at the end of the holiday. Rarely will I put batteries back in for the following holidays. My Storytellers tend to hog all the attention anyway.
Hallmark Star Trek Ornaments 
Thanks for sharing that review! I’m always happy to hear someone share my enthusiasm for the arcade game ornament haha!
A couple of fair points were raised regarding the U.S.S. Titan ornament and I wanted to offer some background.
As far as the version goes, we did weigh the option of issuing an Enterprise-G versus a Titan with this design. For me, it cooked down to this: not unlike a number of starships and other craft we’ve encountered over nearly 60 years, I felt the Titan became as much of a character as it was a starship with each episode of Star Trek: Picard season 3. The Titan got lots of screen time and plenty of cool and memorable moments along the way. The Enterprise-G was on screen for a bare blip in comparison, and the season leaves her future not yet written. The time feels more right for the Titan than the G.
Magic in our ornaments is a more complex issue. Advances in digital design have allowed for Star Trek ships that look great on screen but admittedly are harder and pricier to realize in 3D. They are sleeker, longer, less dependent on nacelle pylons (I’m looking at YOU, Discovery!), all of which can eliminate them from consideration for the tree. These designs are challenging and become even more complex to realize within acceptable price ranges (for you and for us) when we consider Magic elements such as light and sound. Running internal LEDs and wires requires more parts and assembly steps, internal speakers sends us into the equations of a speaker large enough to play higher quality sounds but still small enough to fit into a ship that approximates the scale of previously produced ships. And honestly, I’m just scratching the surface of considerations.
Take an ornament’s power source, which can put our buyers and collectors at odds. Constant-on lights would require a hardwired connector, which can lessen our ability to make a sculpt screen-accurate and requires the additional purchase of a power cord. Battery-powered lights require incorporating a battery compartment in the design—many times also affecting screen accuracy—and then we’re in the equation of battery life vs. number of performance pushes/length of illuminations as no one wants to be replacing batteries halfway through the season.
In full disclosure, friends, I’m the one who introduced the idea of removing Magic from the Titan. The moment that tipped the scales for me was a collector saying to me, “I can’t even press the buttons on my ships and step back to take a picture before they all turn off.” When cost and complexity issues were compounding enough to prohibit the Titan from consideration, I suggested we don’t light it rather than not do it at all. For the Galaxy Quest fans among us, that choice also is what got us the NSEA Protector on the tree and that proved pretty popular and to be honest I haven’t heard anyone comment on that sculpt lacking Magic.
We’ve all seen top-of-the-line realizations of Star Trek ships with spot-on dimensions and lighting down to the last window. Christmas ornaments aren’t competing with those. My hope is to help you capture a memory of something you love that you can share with friends and family at the holidays (or year-round but I can’t officially recommend that haha). I believe with all my heart that Keepsake Ornaments do just that better than anything else. The Titan is a heck of a ship with a terrific crew and in any form I’m glad we’re getting her for the tree. I hope you are, too.
Always good to chat at ya, friends! Thanks for your support this year and all the years I’ve been involved in these.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Kevin,
Thank you for the feedback and being a part of the community. It is always interesting to hear the reasoning for the decisions made.
The Titan is certainly worthy of ornamentizing over the Enterprise G, it certainly became a hero-ship during Picard Season 3. In fact, there seemed to be a bit of fan push-back across the net that they even renamed it the Enterprise G at the end of the series.
Although the lights will be missed, it is understandable and something I personally won’t miss terribly. My ships typically only have lights the first Christmas I own them and the batteries are removed at the end of the holiday. Rarely will I put batteries back in for the following holidays. My Storytellers tend to hog all the attention anyway.
Thanks again!
P.S. Don’t forget about Geordi.
LikeLike
Ha! Noted! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person