Following their previous Star Trek: The Next Generation hero prop replicas including the small Type I “cricket” phaser, Factory Entertainment is expanding their Federation arsenal with the early-season Type II “dustbuster” phaser.
Used in Season 1 and Season 2 of The Next Generation, this redesign of the classic Starfleet hand phaser was seen in such episodes as “Too Short a Season,” “The Arsenal of Freedom,” “Time Squared,” and others, the curvy phaser is the only Next Gen phaser design never to receive its own licensed toy or replica release in the 30+ years since it was seen on screen.
One of the last surviving dustbuster-style Type II phasers from #StarTrek TNG's first season; it has a light in the emitter which shines through the translucent red areas to simulate the internal energy discharge — and lets the digital arts know when to paint in the fired beam. pic.twitter.com/ZBWoTyDFph
It was phased out and replaced with the well-remembered “cobrahead” design beginning in Season 3 — and now Factory Entertainment is bringing the “dustbuster” phaser back with a new hero replica featuring internal lighting and sound elements for fans to bring home.
Up for preorder today with an anticipated June 2023 delivery, the Factory Entertainment “dustbuster” phaser will feature “an impressively heavy all metal body” and a design meant “to capture the best elements from all variants in a single blended execution.” It will also come with the display case and numbered plaque now standard with FE’s Trek replicas.
Factory Entertainment — STAR TREK: TNG 'Dustbuster' Phaser
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We got to check out Factory Entertainment’s prototype at 2022’s San Diego Comic Con, and you can see photos of that early edition here:
Prototype ‘dustbuster’ phaser at SDCC 2022. (Photo: TrekCore.com)Prototype ‘dustbuster’ phaser at SDCC 2022. (Photo: TrekCore.com)Prototype ‘dustbuster’ phaser at SDCC 2022. (Photo: TrekCore.com)
If you want to add Factory Entertainment’s Star Trek: The Next Generation “dustbuster” phaser replica to your personal armory, you can preorder today at a factory-discounted price of $499 — note however this introductory price ends February 15, when it will increase to $549.
Keep checking back to TrekCore for all the latest Star Trek merchandise news!
Star Trek: Picard reunites the Next Generation crew when the series returns for its third and final season beginning September 16 on Paramount+, and today the streamer released the last big trailer for the upcoming adventure during the AFC Championship football game.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CoBQz6rAiVT/
We hear from Worf (Michael Dorn) warning of an impending attack, Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) warning Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) not to trust anyone, Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) on a dangerous planet, Vadic (Amanda Plummer) and Professor Moriarty (Daniel Davis) making threats, Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) arguing with Picard, Lore (Brent Spiner) taunting La Forge, Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) in a firefight, Worf fighting Raffi, Crusher firing a phaser rifle… and the whole gang back together once more.
Along with the new preview, Paramount+ has also released the final key art for Picard Season 3, the second poster design unveiled after the first one arrived in early January.
Joining all of the returning stars on the poster is the first of two new cast members joining the series for the final season.
Actor Ed Speleers, best known for appearances on Outlander (Starz) and You (Netflix), is described as “a series regular who aids Beverly Crusher’s medical efforts on worlds Starfleet has forgotten.” The character’s name was not revealed in today’s announcement — so his identity is likely tied to the Season 3 storyline.
Picard Season 3 showrunner Terry Matalas also brings one of his 12 Monkeys leads to the 25th century this year, as actor Todd Stashwick beams aboard the USS Titan as the captain of the season’s hero starship. Stashwick will appear in a recurring role throughout Season 3.
Ed Speleers (L) and Todd Stashwick join STAR TREK: PICARD’s Season 3 cast. (Paramount+)
This won’t be Stashwick’s first trip into the Star Trek universe, though; the actor played a Romulan infiltrator inside the Vulcan High Command back in Star Trek: Enterprise, appearing in Season 4’s “Kir’Shara.”
Along with Speleers and Stashwick, Star Trek: Picard Season 3 stars Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, Jonathan Frakes as Will Riker, Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi, Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher, Michael Dorn as Worf, LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge, Brent Spiner as Lore, Michelle Hurd as Raffi Musiker, Amanda Plummer as Vadic, and Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine.
We’ve seen the first six episodes of Star Trek: Picard Season 3 — be on the lookout for our spoiler-free preview review on February 10!
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 will debut February 16 on Paramount+ the United States, and on CTV Sci Fi Channel and Crave in Canada. Outside of North America, the series is available on Amazon’s Prime Video service in most international locations.
We’re back from hiatus with a review covering some of Factory Entertainment’s new Star Trek prop replicas, announced last fall and finally arriving into waiting fans’ hands in December.
Following their Ressikan Flute and Starfleet Medical set prop replicas released in 2021 and 2022, the company launched their next high-end Star Trek: The Next Generation replicas last September with a pair of early-season Type 1 “cricket” hand phasers.
Modeled after the Starfleet hand weapon first used in the series pilot episode, “Encounter at Farpoint,” but was largely obsoleted after the first year due to its lack of visibility on screen — though it did appear occasionally in later episodes such as “Up the Long Ladder,” “The Bonding,” “The Mind’s Eye,” and even Star Trek: Voyager Season 5 story “In the Flesh.”
The company has produced two versions of the Type I phaser, based upon its two appearances: the first is the dark-barreled edition meant to represent the weapon as it appeared in TNG Season 3 and beyond, and a second limited-run edition featuring a painted silver barrel representing its initial design in Season 1 of The Next Generation.
We thank Factory Entertainment for sending us both versions of their cricket phaser replica to check out for this review.
Each features identical electronic light and sound integration, controlled through the two copper-colored beam intensity buttons. Once powered on — by holding down the left beam button for a few seconds — this allows users to raise the phaser’s strength from a low-level stun setting (Level 1) to a high-powered vaporization setting (Level 8) with a simple press of either button.
The phaser also has two additional engagement options, starting with a power overload. By holding town both beam intensity buttons for a few seconds, a power buildup sound plays as the beam strength indicator rises rapidly, resulting in a loud ‘explosion’ when the overload discharges.
The standard edition (left) and the Season 1 limited-edition variant.
The second is a setting called “Crusher Mode,” named after Wesley Crusher’s use of the cricket phaser in TNG Season 5’s “The Game” — press the trigger and the right beam intensity button at the same time, and the phaser goes into rapid-fire mode for about five seconds, flashing the red beam light in time with the discharge sound to emulate Wesley’s tactic.
Thankfully, unlike some replicas these additional settings aren’t a hidden feature — the included instruction pamphlet clearly spells out how to activate each mode, so there’s no need to press random button combinations just to figure out how to make it work. (The electronics themselves are powered by four LR44 batteries, located below the removable trigger panel.)
Each phaser replica in their included display cases.
Finally, like the TNG medical set last year, the cricket phaser replicas come packaged in a wood-and-glass display case, which also includes a metal plaque indicating the product’s edition number. It’s kind of overkill for a product this size, honestly, since the phaser itself measures in at less than 3.5 inches in length — but if this is the only replica in your collection, it does make for a nice display piece when it’s in the case.
While it looks nice, unless you’re a completist — or if you prefer the early look to the later color scheme — there’s not really a reason to buy the Season 1 limited edition over the standard dark-barrel version of the cricket phaser. All of the electronics and sound effects are the same, and the $50 price bump isn’t really justified for the simple addition of silver paint around the front of the device.
The silver band and barrel unique to the Season 1 variant.
It’s also not quite as accurate to the early-look model as it could be: the original had silver ‘lips’ at the front of the device (seen here in “Justice”) not replicated on Factory’s build, and the silver paint has a bit of castoff where the pattern was stenciled for application.
That said, both versions of the cricket phaser replica are nice pieces to hold, as their weighty all-metal bodies and clicky, responsive electronic buttons make each a remarkable upgrade from the old 1990s-era Playmates Toys playtime edition, which was inflated to a size nearly three times larger than the actual prop.
…compared to the mid-1990’s Playmates Toys cricket phaser (top).
The price on each is nothing to scoff at, either — the standard edition is $299, with the Season 1 variant running for $349 — but in this case, for the build quality and functionality of each one, these replicas are very much in line with the cost you’d face if you commissioned a fan-built replica to the same specs. (We know it’s not affordable to everyone, of course, please don’t misunderstand us!)
These are just the first phaser replicas in Factory Entertainment’s planned Star Trek arsenal; the company has already teased plans for a TNG Season 1 “dustbuster” phaser which we expect to see go up for preorder fairly soon, and there’s certainly more Trek to come from this company in 2023 and beyond.
Factory Entertainment — 'Star Trek: TNG' Cricket Phaser Replicas
Keep checking back to TrekCore for all the latest news on Factory Entertainment’s plans, and more from the world of Star Trek merchandise and collectables!
In addition, stick around to hear Stephen’s wish for a Star Trek anthology series that could explore all the different parts of the Star Trek universe — and Alex lays his cards on the table, giving some big predictions about which legacy characters will be appearing in the upcoming third season of Star Trek: Picard.
WeeklyTrek is available to subscribe and download each week on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, YouTube, and Spotify— and we’ll be sharing the details of each new episode right here on TrekCore each week if you’re simply just looking to listen in from the web.
Do you have a wish or theory you’d like to share on the show? Tweet to Alex at @WeeklyTrek, or email us with your thoughts about wishes, theories, or anything else about the latest in Star Trek news!
While Season 3 of Star Trek: Picard won’t be here until February 16, Paramount+ is already teasing the last pre-season look at the upcoming episodes with a teaser giving us a first look at the Next Gen gang back in action.
Paired with today’s NFL football programming, the teaser features Patrick Stewart’s narration over a mix of gameplay footage and snippets from Star Trek: Picard Season 3 — hyping up the final Season 3 trailer set to arrive January 29 during the 6:30PM ET AFC Championship game halftime break.
Allies and adversaries will go head to head in an epic clash. Watch the AFC Championship Game on @NFLonCBS next Sunday, January 29 to see the official trailer for #StarTrekPicard's final season during halftime. pic.twitter.com/J8JNhvEGoz
Along with some snippets of things seen in previous trailers — like the Enterprise-F and a skirmish between Worf and Raffi Muskier — today’s quick teaser features flashes of new baddie Vadic (Amanda Plummer), Starfleet commander Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan), and the former Enterprise-D and -E command crew meeting in the USS Titan’s conference room to discuss a serious situation.
Riker (Jonathan Frakes) and Picard (Patrick Stewart) aboard the USS Titan. (Paramount+)Admiral Picard leads a conference. (Paramount+)Captain Riker listens to Picard. (Paramount+)Troi (Marina Sirtis) and Worf (Michael Dorn) listen to Picard. (Paramount+)La Forge (LeVar Burton) and Crusher (Gates McFadden) listen to Picard. (Paramount+)Geordi La Forge. (Paramount+)Deanna Troi. (Paramount+)Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd). (Paramount+)Commander Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan). (Paramount+)The USS Titan flees from the Shrike. (Paramount+)Vadic (Amanda Plummer) sends in her forces. (Paramount+)
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 stars Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard, Jonathan Frakes as Will Riker, Marina Sirtis as Deanna Troi, Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher, Michael Dorn as Worf, LeVar Burton as Geordi La Forge, Brent Spiner as Lore, Michelle Hurd as Raffi Musiker, and Jeri Ryan as Seven of Nine.
Keep checking back to TrekCore for all the Star Trek: Picard Season 3 news as it breaks!
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 will debut February 16, 2023 on Paramount+ the United States, and on CTV Sci Fi Channel and Crave in Canada. Outside of North America, the series is available on Amazon’s Prime Video service in most international locations.
In addition, stick around to hear Will’s theory about what role James T. Kirk will have in Season 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, and Alex’s wish for additional scheduling announcements for Strange New Worlds and Discovery once Picard concludes its run!
WeeklyTrek is available to subscribe and download each week on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, YouTube, and Spotify— and we’ll be sharing the details of each new episode right here on TrekCore each week if you’re simply just looking to listen in from the web.
Do you have a wish or theory you’d like to share on the show? Tweet to Alex at @WeeklyTrek, or email us with your thoughts about wishes, theories, or anything else about the latest in Star Trek news!
On this week’s episode of WeeklyTrek, brought to you in partnership between The Tricorder Transmissions Podcast Network and TrekCore, host Alex Perry is joined by David Stephan from EXO-6 to discuss what’s coming next for Star Trek sixth-scale action figures.
In this supplemental episode, Alex and David discuss what it takes to make sixth-scale Star Trek action figures, what’s coming up for EXO-6 in 2023 (spoiler alert: start saving your money now!) and other types of products that the company is considering moving into.
An edited transcript will be forthcoming on TrekCore soon. In the meantime, check out some of our other coverage of EXO-6’s Star Trek products from the past two years!
WeeklyTrek is available to subscribe and download each week on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, YouTube, and Spotify— and we’ll be sharing the details of each new episode right here on TrekCore each week if you’re simply just looking to listen in from the web.
Do you have a wish or theory you’d like to share on the show? Tweet to Alex at @WeeklyTrek, or email us with your thoughts about wishes, theories, or anything else about the latest in Star Trek news!
Star Trek: First Contact — The Making of the Classic Film from visual effects artist and magazine editor Joe Fordham provides a deep dive into what many fans consider to be the best Star Trek: The Next Generation movie, and the movie I consider to be the best of all the Trek films.
Published by Titan Books, this the latest large format book to look at a key aspect of the Star Trek universe. Unlike other similar recent books, like Star Trek: The Motion Picture — Inside the Art and Visual Effects, the First Contact book is a comprehensive look at the making of the movie, not specifically focusing on just the film’s art. And while there is still a focus on the art and visual effects, the expanded scope allows for the book to look at the casting, filming, and genesis of the movie too.
I found a lot to enjoy in Star Trek First Contact: The Making of the Classic Film. I have read quite a bit about the movie over the years, and found some new things that I did not already know about in this book. I also appreciated — like I always do with the Titan large format Star Trek books — that the extra page space allows for including bigger versions of concept art, model pictures, and behind-the-scenes photos.
(Titan Books)
There’s also a good balance in the content, as most of the important sections of the movie are covered in the book, ranging from the design of the Enterprise-E through to how they completed the Borg Queen introduction sequence (where her disembodied head connects with her body). The book also provides a little detail on the genesis of the movie — and other concepts and time periods that the Borg could have interfered with — that writers Ron Moore and Brannon Braga considered before settling on the post-World War III setting.
The book also devotes a decent amount of space to the redesign of the Borg and Alice Krige’s casting as the Borg Queen. I had no idea before reading this book, for example, that the Borg sequences are all accomplished with only eight Borg performers. The book also talks at length about the process of creating the Borg costumes, including for the Queen, and some of the creative decisions that went into getting the Borg ready for the big screen.
(Titan Books)
But while there are some good sections that focus on important parts of the movie — I learned about how they filmed the Phoenix missile silo sequence — there are some parts of the movie that fans are really interested in that feel under-explored in this book. The fleet of ships in the opening Battle of Sector 001 sequence, for example, and the new Starfleet ship designs created for the movie are not really explored in any detail.
The outside-the-Enterprise battle on the deflector dish also gets only a few paragraphs, where perhaps some more information about the complicated filming and wirework action would have been interesting. It’s possible that Fordham decided not to include more on either of these sequences because they have been covered in more detail in other sources, but I feel like works like this should stand alone — and not require readers to track down some other book or material in order to have the full story about the movie.
(Titan Books)
The included art, particularly from John Eaves and a number of fun behind the scenes photos, is also great. But the movie stills that make up the largest part of the art in this book are overly-enlarged and rather blurry on many pages. That may be because there was not a higher-resolution source for movie stills to work from, but it detracts from the overall look of the book when some of the spreads that have very little text don’t feel like the best presentation possible for images from the movie.
It is a definite disappointment, and means that this book feels like the least polished of the Titan reference books on Star Trek.
(Titan Books)
Despite that, though, this book is still an easy, breezy read that will tell you interesting things about a great Star Trek movie, give you some things to look at, and make you want to revisit the film and watch it again — so for me, that counts as a success.
We’re just over a month away from the return of Star Trek: Picard, set to feature the long-awaited return of the Star Trek: The Next Generation cast, and today stars Patrick Stewart, Jeri Ryan, Gates McFadden, Micahel Dorn, and Michelle Hurd joined executive producers Terry Matalas and Alex Kurtzman at the annual winter Television Critics Association event to share some updates on the impending adventure.
While we couldn’t be in the room for the panel itself, we’ve gathered up all the most-notable bits of information which made its way out through several live-tweeting social media accounts today.
Jonathan Frakes as Will Riker and Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard. (Paramount+)
While the third season of Picard has been long-planned to conclude the series, Patrick Stewart noted that there is “enormous potential” in what they’ve been doing on the show, and that there are still “doors left open” to additional story (as reported by attending TCA member Marisa Roffman) — something that showrunner Terry Matalas has been indicating in interviews going back to October’s New York Comic Con.
But should this Picard-era production continue in some capacity, would Stewart return? “If we can maintain the work that we did,” noted TCA attendee Saloni Gajjar, “then absolutely. Yes. There’s still enormous potential for narrative in what we’ve been doing.” Stewart also indicated that his views on turning Picard into a TNG reunion story as the first season story evolved, noted attendee Laura Sirikul.
Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard and Michael Dorn as Worf. (Paramount+)
“Worf has always been on a journey, he’s always been looking and searching for who he is,” said Dorn (via the official Star Trek Twitter account). “You have to take a risk, you have to trust the people. I was really happy with everything that turned out with the character.”
Gates McFadden as Beverly Crusher. (Paramount+)
Gates McFadden’s Dr. Beverly Crusher gets to “kick ass” in Season 3 said the actor (via Carly Lane-Perry), finding the new place in the galaxy her character occupies a much-needed improvement from her “matronly role” during the latter years of The Next Generation.
“I really loved Terry and Patrick’s ideas on where Crusher would be now,” said McFadden (via the official Star Trek Twitter); “I feel like there is a much bigger range of Crusher in this season, which I love.”
Finally, showrunner Terry Matalas indicated that Daniel Davis’ malevolent hologram Moriarty won’t be the only additional returning face we’ll see this season, with a few additional “Next Gen and Next Gen-adjascent characters” still to be revealed (per TCA attendee Kayla Cobb).
***
In addition to the new comments from cast and crew, Paramount+ also released this new full-cast poster for Star Trek: Picard Season 3, which features all seven returning Next Generation actors — along with returning Picard castmates Jeri Ryan and Michelle Hurd — as the USS Titan (NCC-80102-A) warps away from the imposing Shrike vessel captained by Vadic (Amanda Plummer).
(Paramount+)
Star Trek: Picard Season 3 will debut February 16 on Paramount+ the United States, and on CTV Sci Fi Channel and Crave in Canada. Outside of North America, the series is available on Amazon’s Prime Video service in most international locations.
Just a week after its 2022 run brought Star Trek: Prodigy’s extended opening season to a close, the first round of episodes which began the animated adventure are now dropping out of proto-warp on Blu-ray and DVD.
The two-disc set from CBS DVD and Paramount Home Entertainment is in stores today, where Star Trek: Prodigy — Season 1 (Episodes 1-10) includes the two-part series premiere, “Lost and Found,” along with the subsequent eight episodes of the 2021-2022 airing: “Starstruck,” “Dream Catcher,” “Terror Firma,” “Kobayashi,” “First Con-tact,” “Time Amok,” “A Moral Star, Part 1,” and “A Moral Star, Part 2.”
The Nickelodeon and CBS Studios animated series features a group of wayward young aliens who find themselves flying around the galaxy in a stolen Federation starship, the experimental USS Protostar, guided only by a hologram programmed with the personality and insight of Star Trek: Voyager captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew).
Through the first ten episodes, Dal (Brett Gray), Gwyn (Ella Purnell), Jankom Pog (Jason Mantzoukas), Zero (Angus Imrie), Rok-Tahk (Rylee Alazraqui), and Murf (Dee Bradley Baker) slowly become a new type of Star Trek crew, united by their desire to find the Federation and escape The Diviner (John Noble) and his robot henchman Drednok (Jimmi Simpson).
Along with the first ten episodes, the initial Prodigy Blu-ray features a handful of interview-based, behind-the-scenes special features, each detailing some element of the show’s design. Here’s what’s included:
Trek Tradition (11:06) — The segment you’d expect on the first Blu-ray release for the series, this focuses on the origins of Star Trek: Prodigy and how the Hageman brothers were essentially recruited to pitch a kids’ Trek show to Secret Hideout.
The interview segments generally contain information shared in other forums over the last two years, but for those who don’t follow Trek news the way the rest of us do, it’s a nice recap of the desire to build an “on ramp” for younger viewers to find their way into Star Trek fandom.
Kobayashi Maru (4:04) — This short piece features a few soundbites from Prodigy creators Kevin and Dan Hageman about the legendary Kobayashi Maru Starfleet test.
Beyond a brief mention of the work writer Aaron Waltke did to find the best bits of archival audio used in the episode, there’s virtually nothing shared about how Nichelle Nichols, Leonard Nimoy, Rene Auberjonois, or James Doohan’s voices came to be part of the story — or the return of Gates McFadden to voice new dialogue for Beverly Crusher. In fact, most of the legacy actors aren’t even mentioned by name — a disappointing segment given we know how much work it really took to pull “Kobayashi” off.
An audio clip of Rylee Alazraqui’s audition, supplemented by Rok-Tahk concept art. (Paramount Home Entertainment)
Creating Character (28:33) — This eight-part feature focuses on the seven main Prodigy cast (Dal, Gwyn, Jankom Pog, Rok-Tahk, Zero, Murf, and Hologram Janeway), along with some interviews with a few of the cast who voice each character, and comments from the showrunners on the assembled cast.
Senior director Ben Hibon and the Prodigy animation team also share their insights on the design of each character, though much of the animatic and concept artwork featured is relegated to a small section of the screen alongside video interviews or episodic footage.
The Prime Directive (3:15) — The shortest of the set’s features, Prodigy prop designer Jack Rossi shares his delight in creating the first full-text portrayal of Starfleet’s Prime Directive for “First Con-tact.”
Concept art for the Runaway all-terrain vehicle. (Paramount Home Entertainment)
Trek Gadgets and Gear (17:22) — The third and final eight-part feature, spending time with Prodigy prop designer Jack Rossi and concept artist Gus Mendonça as they run through some of the primary props and devices found around the USS Protostar.
One of the more engaging pieces on the Blu-ray set, the discussions range from adding necessary detailing to the mess hall replicators, bridging the look of Starfleet technology to its most recent in-universe designs (in Star Trek: Voyager), how the ship’s Vehicle Replicator serves as a lesson learned from the USS Voyager’s seemingly-endless collection of shuttlecraft, and that the inspiration for the Runaway off-road-vehicle design came from Mendonça’s dog.
While the concept art and related animatic sequences are intriguing, once again they are primarily presented in small portions of the full-screen picture, making it difficult to make out details.
Design notes on the Protostar bridge station layout. (Paramount Home Entertainment)
The USS Protostar (13:37) — Another eight-part feature focuses on the hero starship of Star Trek: Prodigy, with Hibon and several other members of the art and animation teams commenting on their design process for both the exterior and interior sections of the ship “sets.” Along with the starship itself, other short spotlight time is spent discussing the bridge, the transporter room, crew quarters, engineering, the holodeck, the ship’s three warp nacelles, and the hangar bay.
Unfortunately, there’s no audio commentary offered in the first Prodigy release, and even some of the cast aren’t part of the interview segments (Ella Purnell, Dee Bradley Baker, John Noble, and Jimmi Simpson do not appear) — nor is there any focus on the lovely musical score from composer Nami Melumad, or the theme song by Michael Giacchino.
In addition, while many members of the Prodigy writing staff have been quite active on social media and in interviews with various outlets (including several hereat TrekCore), the only representatives of the show’s writers’ room in these features are Prodigy creators Kevin and Dan Hageman.
Finally, we have to again lament the lack of language translation options on this release; while the Prodigy Blu-ray set does include English, Germany, Latin American Spanish, and French dialogue tracks (and associated closed captions), there are no other language choices available for viewers of other backgrounds.
While a future release geared towards the larger international community may be released at some later point, it’s disappointingly limited set of selections.
Beyond the video content, the new Prodigy Blu-ray set also includes both a gloss-print slipcover (for those who were disappointed by the lack of one on the Discovery Season 4 release in November), as well as a four-pack of character art cards, each of which includes information about the Protostar crew crosses paths with the Starfleet way of life.
If you live in a region where Star Trek: Prodigy isn’t yet available on either Nickelodeon or Paramount+, this new Blu-ray set may be the easiest way to catch up on the show — the discs are region-free and can be viewed on Blu-ray players around the world without issue, so any version of the retail release will work if you choose to import to your country.
As physical media fans, we’re always happy to see the Star Trek universe continue to expand on Blu-ray — and while the gorgeous visuals and wonderful Prodigy score are served in a lovely presentation, the bonus content on this first two-disc release has left us a bit underwhelmed.
When the second half of Season 1 eventually makes it to disc (sometime in 2023, we hope!), here’s hoping that the included arrives with some more substantial extra content — but as it retails for less than $20 USD as of this writing, you can’t go wrong adding this first Star Trek: Prodigy Blu-ray set to your home collection.
Star Trek: Prodigy Season 2 is expected to air sometime in late 2023.
