So, now what?

[Jiraiya1969]

Now that Shapeways has gone under, will someone else be printing miniaturess now?

Will it still be way too expensive?

[mjwest]

You still have the metal ships available on the ADB web store. For 3D printed ships, ADB is looking at other options. Unfortunately, that effort has been slowed down by Steve Cole's health issues.

It is being worked. It's just gonna take some time.

[Captain Nebula]

If you just want some basic ships, there's MicroMachines on eBay for sale all of the time.

You can get the Enterprise, Klingon d7, and Romulan Warbird.

[mjwest]

And ... if you are willing to kit-bash, you can get a Fed DD or even Tug. If you are willing to repaint, you can get a KR or D7H, too.

[Steve Cole]

Jean is working with a new supplier and slowly bringing stuff to readiness. I am not really involved in it other than the occasional comment to Jean to "do what you think best" so I'm not slowing things down.

For those who do not know, eight months ago I broke my hip, and only last week was I able to walk well enough without a cane to enter a small cafe and get lunch without having to lug around the aforementioned cane. Even so, the last decade has "taken a lot out of me" and I'm never going to return to the 80-hour weeks of ten years ago. During those ten years I broke my left knee, had a kidney removed for cancer and came within weeks of dying, had severe blood poisoning and came within hours of dying, had weight loss surgery and spent months on a liquid diet to lose 150 pounds, had my right knee replaced due to arthritis, had my upper teeth replaced by having bolts screwed into my jaw bones, had skin cancer cut out of my hide 19 times since 2005, and broke my hip taking months to learn to walk again. It's been a trip and now being 73 I realize I should have passed the torch to a new generation ten years ago.

[Captain Nebula]

Glad to hear you are up and about after all of that.

Keep it up!

[michaelarrington]

The market’s adapting fast, so keep an eye on forums like Reddit’s r/PrintedMinis—folks there are already sussing out the best post-Shapeways options. PolyTrack

[Steve Cole]

If someone would email Jean (sales@starfleetgames.com) about that reddit thing I would appreciate it and she would look into it.

Thanks to all for the support and kind words. When the day comes for me to step aside, leaving you guys will be the sad part.

[schoon9953]

Though I'm a bit late to the party on this topic...

I wish you a speedy recovery and hearty health in the future, Steve.

SFB/FC has always been a community, which is more valuable (IMO) than any element of the game itself.

I'm coming back to FC after a bit of a hiatus and as I love playing games with miniatures, I'd love to support whatever the new miniature supply solution may be.

Will all the scales make a reappearance? For me, the Elite/7000 makes to most sense due to space limits...

[schoon9953]

Getting this back to the original topic, would it be possible to get an update on the progress/status working towards making the miniatures available again?

[Steve Cole]

Progress/status report: Jean is talking to the potential vendor. We have seen samples that are swell. I ask her almost every day when this will happen. I don't get a definitive answer other than "working on it".

[jamieoliver]

Yes, miniatures are still going to cost more than the average boardflat plastic, but small-batch quality resin or pewter models will always carry a premium.

[schoon9953]

Thank-you for the update, Steve.

That it's actively being looked at is all we can ask.

[Steve Cole]

Jean told me over the holiday weekend that there are boxes of samples from the vendor and she and I will have to go over them together before the next step, which is still a bit from a product availability status. Film at 11.

[schoon9953]

Exciting news. Thank you.