When the LEGO Star Trek Enterprise NCC-1701-D launched at the end of last year, it was one of the most wanted LEGO sets for the holiday season, remaining on backorder for months. Now, seven months later, the supply has finally caught up with the demand. After building and photographing the set in full, it’s clear what the fuss was about. This is the quintessential ‘adult’ build – highly specific and highly technical. It is also, without hyperbole, an exquisite end result.
In addition to the Enterprise itself, you also get nine minifigures of the Next Generation crew: Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Commander William T. Riker, Lieutenant Commander Data, Lieutenant Commander Geordi LaForge, Lieutenant Worf, Dr. Beverly Crusher, Counselor Deanna Troi, Guinan, and Wesley Crusher.
The minifigures are well-designed and detailed; Data has his signature yellow eyes, and Worf has a unique head accessory depicting his ridges. Troi is wearing her purple civilian jumpsuit from earlier seasons, before Captain Jellico ordered her to wear a standard uniform in “Chain of Command.” The only missing crew member you could make a good case for would be Tasha Yar, although no doubt, someone has already figured out a minifigure equivalent.
Each LEGO minifigure comes with a unique accessory that dedicated Trek fans will appreciate. For Riker, it’s his trombone (“Nightbird” sheet music not included). For Data, it’s his cat Spot. Dr. Crusher has a tricorder. Worf, the security guard, has a phaser (no Bat’leth?). I especially loved Guinan’s hat, which has its distinctive, vaselike appearance. The minifigures are displayable on a small, long platform bearing the TNG logo on its front.
The LEGO Star Trek Enterprise NCC-1701-D is divided into 30 separate bags and two instruction booklets. In the first half, you build the ship’s base, which consists of its Engineering Hull and warp nacelles. In the second half, you build the ship’s saucer and slide it into place.
The build is methodical and slow. You’re creating futuristic curves with plastic rectangular prisms, which means you’re gradually layering bricks, each slightly staggered from the preceding one. This process can often feel disjointed; you labor over a single section of the ship for a length of time, not quite understanding how it fits in with the rest of it. But it definitely will. An incongruent section could be one half of a larger symmetry, or it could be a tiny part of a greater, more cumulative effect.
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