In just over one day following Monday’s reveal, Factory Entertainment sold out of their USS Enterprise-A teacup set — and due to the unexpected fan demand for the product, they’ve done a slingshot maneuver around the sun to bring in their planned 2021 follow-up to fans today!
UPDATE: This teacup set sold out in less than two hours!
Announced today and up for preorder now, their companion USS Excelsior teacup-and-saucer set has just joined the party — a replica of the blue-and-white dishware set used by Captain Hikaru Sulu in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
Originally planned for release during next year’s convention season, the unexpected fan demand for their Enterprise-A release earlier this week drove the company to move up their planned follow-up to this summer instead!
From the official release:
A prop replica cup and saucer set, from the USS Excelsior NCC-2000 as featured in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country! Crafted in fine porcelain, this set is suitable for tea of coffee and is presented in a gift box with a numbered certificate of authenticity.
The teacup and saucer formed part of a ‘Ship’s Dinnerware’ service, the prop used on set was found object with applied stickers.
This officially licensed, faithfully accurate prop replica features a silk-screened logo with metallic gold accents to the striking blue-marble design. Saucer measures 6 ¼” in diameter.
Tom Vargas from Factory Entertainment talks more about this surprise release in today’s Consolation-Con video:
It got a close-up appearance in the opening moments of the film, and then the captain’s fine serving ware found a quick end by smashing to the deck as the ship encountered violent shockwaves caused by the Praxis explosion.
The Excelsior tea set was also seen in use during the recreated events of Star Trek VI during Voyager Season 3’s “Flashback,” seen when the captain takes a moment to appreciate one of young Tuvok’s Vulcan blends.
Of course, old-school collectors will remember the line of Excelsior and Enterprise-A dishware released by Pfaltzgraff in the early 1990’s; for those fans who missed their chance at that long-out-of-production run — or don’t want to pay exorbitant prices for surviving sets in the eBay market — this makes a great second chance.
That said: this run of teacups is even smaller than the Enterprise-A batch, and is likely to sell out just as quickly — if not faster. Limited to just 250 sets in total, the Excelsior teacup-and-saucer set was available to preorder now at Factory Entertainment’s webshop for $35 per set.
The company also revealed in today’s video announcement (above) that they’re working on a full-size, 1:1-scale Ressikan Flute from “The Inner Light,” the classic episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation where Captain Picard lives an entire alternate life as Kamin of planet Kataan.
While the entire project remains under development — still working to finalize the finish on the metal flute as well as the design on the included display box — the planned release also is expected to include a built-in audio chip which will play the iconic “Inner Light” flute theme.
As explained in the video above, there is still a lot of licensing negotiation to be completed before the product’s availability can be announced, so as soon as there’s official word on how you can get one for yourself, we’ll have the details here!