REVIEW: Is STAR TREK: PICARD - THE LEGACY COLLECTION Worth the Price, or Should You Give It a Miss? Well, That Depends...

DECEMBER 14, 2023 - With Star Trek: Picard having completed its run, several Blu-ray editions of the show were released last month, including the enormous box set Star Trek: Picard - The Legacy Collection. The box contains every screen property Patrick Stewart’s Captain Picard appeared in (except for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’s pilot episode, “Emissary.”) In addition, it includes several “exclusive” extras that you can’t find anywhere else. Well, sort of.

It’s an enormous release but with a price tag of $244.99, is it a worthwhile purchase? Well, that’s what I’m here to find out. Let’s take a look.

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Packaging

Like Maria von Trapp, “let’s start at the very beginning.” The first thing one sees when one pulls the set out of its packing is a beautiful red and black box with gold lettering. The box is solid and satisfying to open. My review copy was poorly packaged and had some damage on a couple of the corners, but hopefully, that won’t be the case if you’re ordering from a distributor like Amazon. As long as you’re not too rough with it, the box should live a long and damage-free life.

The only drawback is storage. If you want this to live on a shelf with your physical media collection, you can forget about that right now. This set demands a place of pride somewhere, rather than on a shelf, or perhaps in the bottom of a closet if you’re short of room. It certainly won’t comfortably sit among your collection of Blu-rays.

Once the box is open, we get a glimpse of the first of the extras, which I’ll discuss in a bit. They are situated in a tray and upon said tray’s removal, the rest of the extras and the Blu-Ray sets are revealed. The packaging is extremely well-designed, cleverly housing the various items in their own form-fitting spaces, for the most part. Again, with one exception, which we’ll discuss later.

The set is limited to 11,750 copies worldwide, and it includes a certificate proclaiming which numbered copy of the limited run you received, in my case 2,302.

Extras

The first extra you come across, in the top tray, is a book. But not just any book. In keeping with the theme, this book is Star Trek: The Wisdom of Picard, a small, square volume compiled and with chapter introductions by Chip Carter. The book, which includes many of Picard’s most memorable quotes over the past 35 years, is widely available, but this particular version is bound in a new cover exclusively designed for this set and, unlike the a la carte version, includes quotes from the final season of Star Trek: Picard.

Lift this tome out of its packaging and you’ll see a sheet of Star Trek: Picard badge magnets. Notice how I worded that. The description supplied for this item describes them as “magnetic badges,” leading some fans to expect to be able to cosplay with them. I own and have reviewed a couple of badges with magnetic backings that would go great on a uniform when attending a Star Trek convention. Those are what I (and many other fans) think of when one talks about “magnetic badges.” These are better described as “refrigerator magnets in the shape of badges.” See the difference?

My concerns about the marketing phraseology aside, these exclusive fridge magnets are actually pretty cool. They look great and are not cheaply made. In fact, they are stronger than many of the magnets I have on my fridge already, holding up pictures of loved ones and drawings my niece and nephew created for me over the years.

Now it’s time to lift out the tray. The last two extras are revealed beneath. First, you have a set of four Chateau Picard coasters. Keeping with the theme of the set, they are red with gold lettering, utilizing the by-now-familiar logo of Jean-Luc Picard’s 25th-century winery. They’re nice to look at, but if you want to keep them whole, I would avoid using them as coasters. They’re made of pretty flimsy cardboard and my guess is they won’t stand up to spillage. Picture a Budweiser or Guinness coaster you’d be given in a bar or pub, and that’s basically what you’re getting here.

The second extra in the bottom of the box is a deck of Star Trek: Picard playing cards. Another item exclusive to this set, the card backs and box present the United Federation of Planets logo (in black and gold this time, not red) and the fronts are the standard suit designs. Branded decks are easy to come by, and a quick online search reveals several places where I could order my own with whatever back design I wanted. It’s a good set of cards, but for an exclusive set, I wanted more. The King, Queen, and Jack cards might have been designed with likenesses of Picard, Beverly Crusher, and Data, for instance, with Q’s visage adorning the front of the Joker cards.

The bigger issue is how the deck is packaged. Unlike everything else in the set, the cards don’t have a form-fitting “docking bay.” There’s a cardboard divider that holds the coasters pretty securely and in that there’s a large, rectanglar hole in which the playing card deck has been dropped. They slide around underneath the divider unhindered, making them very difficult to pull out. Finally giving up in frustration, I decided to pull the entire divider out to retrieve the deck, only to have it rip slightly during the operation. For a boxed set which has clearly been so carefully designed, this was a bit of a bummer and I feel they could have spent a little more time thinking this part through.

The Main Event

All these extras are fun and add value to the set, but the focus must surely be the Blu-ray discs. Inside the box, you’ll find 5 sets of discs, two containing all seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation between them; one presenting all four TNG films, and one including all three seasons of Star Trek: Picard. It will take you 167 hours to binge through every disc, so if you plan to do that, you should microwave plenty of popcorn, plan the quickest route to the bathroom, and make sure you hydrate.

The discs include over 35 hours of special features, including episode commentaries, documentaries, deleted and extended scenes, and gag reels, among other things. For the completist fan, the discs are an essential part of their collection. Plus, the packaging for each disc set, again exclusive to The Legacy Collection, is beautiful to look at, with art on each one that complements the others.

The High-Definition transfers are also gorgeous. I watched a few select episodes of TNG and PIC and one of the films on my 55” 4k television and even the 35-year-old episodes were crisp and clear and beautiful to behold. The sound, too, was excellent. TVs aren’t made for excellent sound these days, with the speakers in the back, pushing the sound waves toward the wall, when they should be in the front, where people are actually sitting. That’s why sound bars are in such high demand and if you don’t own one, you should probably make that purchase, stat.

I don’t actually own a sound bar, hypocrite that I am, but my television’s sound is pretty great and my apartment’s living room is small enough that I generally don’t feel that I need one. Star Trek: Picard - The Legacy Collection proved my point, with crisp, clear sound so I could hear every phaser burst and understand every word.

The Verdict

The Legacy Collection is all very well presented, but is it worth the $250 price tag? Well, it’s complicated.

Taking the set on its own merits, the answer would be yes. Everything in the set is well-designed and cleverly executed (except the playing card storage) and it’s all beautiful to behold. The storage, as I mentioned earlier, is mostly sturdy enough to keep everything in the box safe. The Chateau Picard coasters are a bit cheap and I feel the playing cards could have been more cleverly designed to tie into the Picard theme, but on the whole, I really enjoyed each new discovery as it came out of the box and reveled in reliving select adventures of Jean-Luc Picard and watching the related special features.

That being said, there isn’t actually a lot new in the set. The TNG, film, and PIC discs are all available elsewhere and, with the exception of PIC season 3, have been for years. The Wisdom of Picard book, although this is an updated version with an exclusive cover, is basically just a reprint of a book that’s been around for a while. That, along with the coasters and the playing cards aren’t worth the price, even if you order it from Amazon, which is offering 18% off, making it $199.95.

If you’re a physical media collector who also happens to be a Star Trek fan, you probably own most of the discs included in this collection already. That means you’ve already added not just the shows and films but also the special features included. You might even have the earlier edition of The Wisdom of Picard in your book stacks. In which case, unless you love the idea of having every one of Picard’s adventures in a single box and/or you can’t live without those Chateau Picard coasters, your money is better spent elsewhere.

On the other hand, if you’ve just discovered Star Trek and are anxious to watch every tale involving Picard, or you’re just now developing a yen for physical media, this is definitely for you. There’s a Galaxy-class starship worth of special features for you to dig your teeth into at a fairly reasonable price. The set also makes a great gift for the Trekkie in your life.

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