Polar Lights Nabs STAR TREK License

By: JEFF BOND
Date: Friday, August 30, 2002

Back in the late '60s a company named AMT practically invented the sci fi model kit industry when they launched a kit based on the U.S.S. Enterprise from NBC's STAR TREK. The Enterprise kit went on to become one of the biggest selling model kits in history and launched an entire series of STAR TREK models done by AMT (which later became AMT/ERTL). AMT/ERTL held the TREK license for several decades before giving it up after releasing kits from the movie STAR TREK: INSURRECTION, and since then no one has had the rights to produce new STAR TREK kits, despite the obvious opportunity of a new TREK TV series in the form of UPN's ENTERPRISE.

Now Polar Lights, which has cornered the market on sci fi kits with their Aurora reissues and new Godzilla and FORBIDDEN PLANET models, has announced their intention to make new STAR TREK kits starting in 2003. The first kit will be a new, 11" model of the classic STAR TREK Enterprise which will include optional parts to build the earlier "pilot" versions of the ship as well as the more familiar "production" model that was seen through most of the show's three-year run. Following that kit will be a large, two-foot long model of the NX-01 from ENTERPRISE. The success of these first two releases could lead to a wide variety of new STAR TREK spaceship models in varying sizes. Look for an official announcement from Polar Lights soon.

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