Monday 25 November 2013

I'm not asking for much...but the Citadel would be nice

One question and slightly irritation that has burned away at me for some time is the lack of commercially available replicas of ships from BioWare's Mass Effect series.

I may well be showing the geekiest of my stripes here, however growing up I remember collecting the Micro Machines packs of ships from Star Wars.  These were nifty collectibles (OK, let's call a spade a spade: they were toys), available in packs of three and encompassing vehicles from every corner of the Star Wars universe.

Please remember: no one ever said I was cool. 
From fan favourite X-Wings, TIE Fighters and Star Destroyers, to rebel ships rarely seen on screen for more than a few fleeting seconds.  One pack even included the 'blink and you miss it' appearance of Luke's T-16 speeder - presumably the same one that he used to bullseye wamprats - which is visible in the background of the farmstead's garage on Tatooine.

While I'd not necessarily expect the same kind of treatment for those vessels that turn up throughout the Mass Effect series, there are still some exceedingly memorable and, lets be honest here, really cool vehicles many of which are available as in-game collectibles that Shepherd can pick up along her/his travels.

These models are then available to view in the Commander's cabin aboard the Normandy. Like this:

That's some fine collectibles you got there, Commander...wanna play?
As a grown-up with an easily disposed-of disposable income, I'm more interested these days in the larger-scale replicas. Something that would look great on a shelf or in a custom built, climate-controlled and hermetically sealed display case. *ahem*

While there are a few commercially available models out there, the range is really limited with a few iterations of the Normandy, an Alliance fighter, Alliance and Turian cruisers and a credit card meltingly expensive model of Sovereign.

And that's it.

What about the Citadel? Where are the wasp-like Geth ships? And what about the Shadow Broker's base? Or Omega? Or the Collectors' Ship?!

Even ground vehicles like the Krogan's six-wheeled tank-slash-APC or the Mako, with it's loose concept of physics would be welcome additions.

With the trilogy having now been put to bed, it's looking doubtful that I'll ever be able to build my own replica of the display case seen in Shepherd's quarters, but should Bioware ever opt to licence out these models at any point in the future, my message is clear: