Star Trek Vault Review

• 18th Oct 2011

Editor: Scott Tipton

These Book/Vaults are becoming quite the collectors’ trend at the moment, and with Sci-Fi being the major player in the field it was only a matter of time before this Star Trek tome appeared.

The vault comes with page upon page of retrospective information and images on the entire franchise that is Star Trek right from its inception in the 1960s right up to present day. The book divides up the various shows and films and has a particularly fascinating look at the marketing materials printed at the time from around the globe, as well as promotional materials, magazine covers, illustrations (oh yes and that all important supporting text to divulge the details!).

Now here is what makes these vault collections extra specials:  The interactive artefacts. There are various documents and pull outs throughout the book. On one page you will find perhaps a blueprint for a ship, on another a reproduction of a colouring book, then you are face to face with a few collectors cards, stickers, posters and even production designs.

Some of these added extras are great for furthering your knowledge of how franchises have been marketed across the globe. The majority of the pull outs are great fun, but some may appeal more to the hardcore fans (Casual readers may not care how the captain’s chair was designed for Star Trek: First Contact).

You have to admire how concise this book is. At just over 120 pages it really is compressing the details right down to almost the bare essentials on each major entry into the Star Trek canon. The major fan base are likely to pick this up without a second thought – but they may also be the biggest critics of this due to the fact that only so much attention is given out to each of the afore mentioned areas of the franchise. It is worth noting know that the text itself does address each segment of the franchise and gives an honest account of each success or failure within the canon.

But with that in mind – it will only be a matter of time before the shows and films are given their own Vaults which will we suspect go much further in depth that this book already achieves. For those with a passing or non-lethal interest in Star Trek this is a very interesting, fun and well presented block for your coffee table.

Steven Hurst