STAR TREK STARFLEET SHIPS ENCYCLOPEDIA

To celebrate STAR TREK DAY, a Geek Daddy is giving away an incredible book courtesy of HERO COLLECTOR. I love perusing through artwork, blueprints, diagrams, pictures and maps of science fiction settings and spaceships. Reading books with this content is such a great way to immerse yourself in a Sci-Fi fandom. 

So I'm geeked about getting my hands on Star Trek Starfleet Ships: 2294 - The Future. This hardcover, 311 page encyclopedia highlights more than 50 Federation starships that appeared in television series ranging from the U.S.S. Enterprise of the 24th Century seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation to the Starfleet spacecraft encountered by the U.S.S. Discovery when it time jumps from the 23rd to 32nd century. It even has the U.S.S. Zheng He from Star Trek: Picard featured inside this book! 

Star Trek Starfleet Ships: 2294 - The Future is filled with informative details about these Starfleet ships as well as FAN-tastic illustrations, CG artwork and photographs of original VFX models utilized in the production of Star Trek episodes. Star Trek fans are sure to be amazed by this encyclopedia of Starfleet spacecraft! It absolutely earned a Geek Daddy nod of approval for my personal enjoyment from flipping through its pages.

One lucky winner will be sent their very own copy of this book courtesy of HERO COLLECTOR. Just complete the rafflecopter entries below before 11:59 pm ET on Sunday, September 12, 2021 to participate in this giveaway. Must be a United States resident to be eligible for this promotion. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Hero Collector is the publishing arm of Eaglemoss Collections which is known for crafting highly detailed science fiction and pop culture themed models, toys, games and other collectibles. For more information go to herocollector.com

Discovery Kids: 7 in 1 Solar Space Fleet

 ** A Geek Daddy received the featured product for free to review**

Children and teens can have fun model building and learning STEM concepts such as how gears, electrical circuitry and solar energy works with 7 in 1 Solar Space Fleet from Discovery Kids available at toy retailers across the USA.  Start off building a lunar rover that fits in the palm of your hand and really moves across surfaces fueled by the power of the sun.  No tools required just pop out the plastic parts and snap them together.

Once you've built your lunar rover, pull it apart and rotate around additional pieces included with this space exploration themed construction kit to make up to six more different models that have a variety of functional movements powered by solar energy.  Switch out the parts from the Lunar Rover to create either an Astronaut, Battle Mech, Robot Dog, Orbital Station, Space Explorer or Shuttle to play with.  This do it yourself toy kit will get kids enthusiastic about space exploration, building things with their own hands and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) concepts.

Learn about energy and technology by building a solar panel that actively powers the movements of some of your space fleet creations.

Some of the other models you can build are powered instead by a rechargeable battery that is fueled by plugging it into the solar panel.  Insert the battery once it is charged into astronaut, robot dog or lunar rover to get them moving about.

The 7 in 1 Solar Space Fleet is a great hands-on activity that gets kids using their fine motor skills, develops constructive thinking through building the models, and provides educational lessons in an entertaining way.  Because the intricacy of constructing some of these models, this toy set is recommend for children 6 years old and up and parental involvement will probably be necessary for children on the younger end of this age scale.  Half the fun of these toys is putting them together so spend some quality family time constructing your space fleet models and make it a teachable moment by engaging your kids to discuss how science, technology, engineering, and math are relevant to both building these toys that can fit in the palm of your hand as well as for exploring the vast expanse of outer space.

Discovery Communications provides a variety of toys and products associated with the programming on their television channels (Animal Planet, Discovery, Discovery Kids, Destination America, ID, Science Channel, TLC, and Velocity).  Check out what they have to offer at store.discovery.com.

Some After School Fun with Space Scouts

As part of A Geek Daddy Blog's participating in the U.S. Family Guide Network we tested out the first two month's mailers from the monthly subscription service SPACE SCOUTS the other day when my kids returned home from school.   SPACE SCOUTS lets children explore the galaxy from the comfort of their own home through sending space themed boxes filled with arts and crafts projects, educational lessons and other fun treats each month.  From our experience, each month's mailer should occupy a kid's attention for about a half an hour and provides a nice opportunity for a parent to spend some quality time with children in a manner that is both entertaining and educational at the same time.  The SPACE SCOUTS program is probably best for children 6 to 8 years old.

The first month's mailer included a metallic lunchbox (which can be used to store all your Space Scouts stuff), a solar system poster, activity pages, a sticker scramble, a constellation collector ring, and a set of wikki stix that could be used for creative building.  We decyphered a code for a secret message, completing a space themed cross word puzzle, and answering astronomy themed trivia questions.

My daughter really enjoyed the sticker scramble where you have to match numbers on sticker sheets to the ones on an index card.  If you complete the puzzle correctly you'll see an interesting space image from the unscrambled stickers. 

 

The week two mailer included a grasping hand that amused my son to no end, some astronaut figurines, magnets to place on the Space Scouts lunchbox, a constellation card to include on the storage ring provided in the first mailer.  It also included some more activity sheets, another sticker scramble and some stickers to place on the solar system map that was initially provided.    Each package provides items that supports and builds upon items previously received to boast children's knowledge of math, technology, science and astronomy.

Pricing starts out at $11.95 + $3 shipping per month with additional discounted plans for multi-month purchases.  A GEEK DADDY blog readers receive a 20% discount on their initial purchase of any SPACE SCOUT subscription plan by using promo code USFAMILY20.

For more information, visit  www.atcssc.com/space-scouts 

DISCLAIMER: A Geek Daddy Blog was introduced to this product through its participation in the US FAMILY GUIDE Blogger Program.  A Geek Daddy blog was not provided any financial compensation for this post but was provided a complimentary two month subscription to the Space Scouts to review.  A positive review is not required of our blog to participate in this promotion. The opinions in this review are my own.

Help Your Child Explore Science & Technology With A Monthly Subscription To Space Scouts

Who doesn't like getting something delivered in the mail to their house? Admit it; there is a thrill to getting something delivered from your postal carrier that isn't a bill or junk mail but rather something fun or interesting you can enjoy...and when it comes to kids that thrill level of getting something special in the mail is escalated a thousand percent!  So if you are looking for something a little unique or different to give to a special child in your life you may want to check out a subscription service that recently caught my attention called SPACE SCOUTS that promotes creativity and imagination through sending space themed boxed filled with arts and crafts projects and other fun treats each month.

Join space scouts Roxy and Jett as they explore the galaxy engaging children with fun learning activities, hands-on discovery, and exciting challenges through this monthly subscription club.  Each month explores a new aspect of outer space -- astronomy, science and space exploration are just a few of the topics explored by the Space Scouts to help launch children's interest in science and technology.  A package will arrive each month filled with learning activities plus magnets, stickers, and toys to enjoy.

The subscription program is designed so that each month's package builds upon what you have already received in previous mailings.  Pricing starts out at $11.95 + $3 shipping per month with additional discounted plans for multi-month purchases.  SPACE SCOUTS is recommended for kids age 6+.

A GEEK DADDY blog readers receive a 20% discount on their initial purchase of any SPACE SCOUT subscription plan by using promo code USFAMILY20.

For more information, visit  www.atcssc.com/space-scouts

DISCLAIMER: A Geek Daddy Blog was introduced to this product through its participation in the US FAMILY GUIDE Blogger Program.  A Geek Daddy blog was not provided any financial compensation for this post but is being provided a complimentary two month subscription to the Space Scouts to review.  A positive review is not required of our blog to participate in this promotion.  A Geek Daddy blog had not received the product to review yet at the time this post was published.

Battlestar Galactica is going SteamPunk

Dynamite Comics is taking the Battlestar Galactica franchise steampunk in an upcoming 4 issue mini-series that is starting in August.  Steampunk is a genre of science fiction that has gained a tremendous amount of popularity over the last decade, this year's FREE COMIC BOOK DAY event included a Star Wars steampunk edition in its offerings for example, which features steam-powered machinery in an alternative history where technology didn't advance beyond that of the 19th century British Victorian/American "Wild West" time period in stories.  Other themes also include post-apocalyptic Earth where our technology has regressed back to steam power or fantasy alien worlds where steampunk is their current culture and technology level.  The mini-series will be titled "Steampunk Battlestar Galactica 1880."

This Battlestar Galactica mini-series removes the space faring element from the story and retells it with similar characters and elements taking place in a fantasy steampunk world.  Here's the new story:

After Professor Baltar's clockwork Cylonics destroy the Colonial Empire, Arch Duke Adama learns that his son Apollo is missing! It is up to Lady Athena to travel to the Sky Pirate world of the Rising Star and ask for help from the only hope she has - the disgraced Captain Starbuck and his humanoid / Daggit copilot Muffit.

Check out a sample of some of the artwork from Steampunk Battlestar Galactica 1880:

From the artwork and story description this looks to be a fun spinoff of the original Battlestar Galactica television show.  It should be really interesting to see how all the costumes and tech are steampunked in this comic book.  You can already see in the previews that they have giant and regular sized clock-work cylons and flying sailing ships battling it out.  I'm looking forward to picking up a copy of the first issue when it comes out in a few weeks and seeing all of the imaginative steampunk twists they take off of this classic science fiction space drama.