When I ordered the Battlestar Galactica space ships last year, I signed up for the email notices from Master Replicas to get their new offerings and sales. Over the holidays, they sent one out for the dedication plaque for the NCC-1701A version of the Enterprise (I also ordered and am waiting for the one from the TOS Enterprise). I thought it looked nice online and had a reasonable price. I have a little alcove area in my basement gaming room that it would fit very nicely in!
The box showed up with the first plaque and I got to work unpacking it. The plaque itself comes in a nice black cardboard box. This is very similar to the Star Wars Black Series packaging. The front has a graphic of the Enterprise and the back shows the plaque.
The plaque is then packed in a styrofoam tray and wrapped in a thin paper sleeve. Everything pops out easily and protects the plaque. I will probably save the packaging, like my other stuff, should I ever want to sell it again as a collectible.
Because of the price, I was expecting a resin cast that was machine painted. However, the plaque is actually made of wood! Something you do not see that often these days. As such, it has a bit of heft! It looks like it was hand painted to give an aged look. I think the gold is done very well. I am not as big of a fan of the aged or worn areas. They photo well, but look a bit off to the naked eye. I will go back as some point and pimp these areas up, once I decide on what paint to use….
The mounting is old school, with two loop mounts, so the owner can add some picture wire for hanging. I am going to have to swing by Micheals and get some! Overall, not bad for the price!
- Manteuffel