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The newest entry in Diamond Select\u2019s long-running line of \u201cStarship Legends\u201d is a Romulan Bird of Prey<\/a>\u00a0– but not just any <\/em>Bird of Prey!<\/p>\n It\u2019s the very vessel that covertly crossed the Neutral Zone in 2267 to destroy three Earth outposts. It\u2019s the craft that Decius, one of its crew, called \u201cthe Praetor\u2019s finest and proudest flagship.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, that status couldn\u2019t keep it from being bested by Starfleet\u2019s<\/em> flagship, the U.S.S. Enterprise<\/em>, under the command of Captain James T. Kirk!<\/p>\n Meeting the Romulans in \u201cBalance of Terror\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n In December 1967, the classic episode \u201cBalance of Terror\u201d (written by Paul Schneider, who also wrote \u201cThe Squire of Gothos\u201d and the animated Trek <\/em>episode \u201cThe Terratin Incident\u201d) introduced Star Trek<\/em> viewers to the Romulan Star Empire, one of the Federation\u2019s oldest, most mysterious enemies. \u201cEarth believes the Romulans to be warlike, cruel, treacherous,\u201d Spock says at one point, \u201cand only the Romulans know what they think of Earth.\u201d<\/p>\n The episode takes us not only aboard a Romulan vessel but also into a Romulan\u2019s mind. Mark Lenard (who would return to Trek <\/em>on several occasions to play Spock\u2019s father, Ambassador Sarek) plays an unnamed commander torn between duty and weariness from a life spent waging war. Anxious to get his ship and his soldiers safely home, he engages Kirk in a tactical contest that lead him to conclude that, \u201cin a different reality,\u201d he could have called his clever, courageous enemy a friend.<\/p>\n \u201cBalance of Terror\u201d is one of the original series\u2019 most engrossing hours: a suspenseful, psychological drama that immediately helped the Romulans gain ground in fans\u2019 imaginations that they\u2019ve never lost.<\/p>\n Diamond Select\u2019s Electronic Romulan Bird of Prey<\/strong><\/p>\n To celebrate the golden anniversary of this seminal Star Trek<\/em> episode – and just in time to help build excitement for Star Trek: Discovery<\/em><\/a>, which former showrunner and executive producer Bryan Fuller had said uses \u201cBalance of Terror\u201d as a \u201ctouchstone\u201d for the new series\u2019 story arc – Diamond Select\u2019s electronic Romulan Bird of Prey<\/a> recreates the \u201cfinest and proudest\u201d but ill-fated vessel in faithful detail.<\/p>\n Measuring 9-inches long and boasting a 12-inch wingspan, the model sports the distinctive avian markings on its hull that give this class of craft its name. Every press of its tail \u201cfin\u201d makes the white hull and orange nacelle lights illuminate as a clip from the episode\u2019s soundtrack plays. When one of several weapons bursts sounds, the red light in the forward plasma weapon also shines. When you hear the sounds of the Romulan bridge exploding, all the lights flash.<\/p>\n But most of the clips (a full 15 of them, by my count) come from Mark Lenard\u2019s dialogue. The sound bites evoke the full range of Lenard\u2019s memorable performance as Captain Kirk\u2019s worthy Romulan adversary – his military decisiveness, his noble bearing, his deep sadness at the waste of war.<\/p>\n
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