Most iconic spaceships?

[Tonguez]

 

[Richards]

Hey, I have the image on the post above as my computer background wallpaper at home! It kind of freaked me out, seeing it there, in an EN World post.

Johnathan

 

[Autumnal]

In the universe inside my head, the list has to include:

I grudgingly admit this is not true for the universe outside my head. But it should be.

 

[Enevhar Aldarion]

I see some of the conflict in this thread over including both named ships and generic ships that are well-known designs. A named ship like the Enterprise or Millennium Falcon will always be more iconic than some random X-Wing or Tie Fighter. Iconic named ships will always win out over iconic ship designs.

 

[Clint_L]

Like I said, a big, big drop-off.

I think anime fans -- and I wouldn't consider myself one -- wildly misunderstand how niche of a fandom it is.

Ummm...anime is more of a niche than Dr. Who? I would not call anime a niche fandom. Not remotely. Globally, Dr. Who is a niche fandom. Star Trek is a slightly larger niche fandom. Star Wars is pretty well known but not nearly as popular outside of the English-speaking world (that's why Avatar keeps crushing it with global audiences).

Anime is extremely popular. Most teenagers at my school are into anime to some degree. A lot more than are into Dr. Who!

 

[Tonguez]

Ummm...anime is more of a niche than Dr. Who? I would not call anime a niche fandom. Not remotely. Globally, Dr. Who is a niche fandom. Star Trek is a slightly larger niche fandom. Star Wars is pretty well known but not nearly as popular outside of the English-speaking world (that's why Avatar keeps crushing it with global audiences).

Anime is extremely popular. Most teenagers at my school are into anime to some degree. A lot more than are into Dr. Who!

except you're comparing a single product with an entire genre. Afterall saying I like anime might mean I've watched Naruto, Pokemon and One Piece which have absolutely nothing to do with this thread about iconic Spaceships...

 

[JEB]

U.S.S. Enterprise (original)
Millennium Falcon
"Flying saucer" (as seen in multiple 50s SF movies and homaged by others since)

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Ummm...anime is more of a niche than Dr. Who?

That's not what I was saying.

 

[Deset Gled]

except you're comparing a single a single product with an entire genre. Afterall saying I like anime might mean I've watched Naruto, Pokemon and One Piece which have absolutely nothing to do with this thread about iconic Spaceships...

Even in the genre of anime, Yamato is pretty far from the top. While it's often cited as influential, other sci-fi series like the Gundam universes and the Macross franchise are orders of magnitude bigger in terms of number of shows, movies, sales, spin-offs, and overall popularity. To give you an idea of the disparity in popularity we're talking about, Neon Genesis Evangelion has more sales in pachinko machines than the last internationally released movie from the Yamato series made worldwide.

Don't get me wrong, Star Blazers is on my list of top anime series, and it's one I have shared with my kids. But realistically, SDF-1, Gundam RX-78, and EVA 01 are all more iconic spaceships than the Yamato.

Now, it's worth noting that the Spaceship Yamato is (in the anime) literally the real battleship Yamato, raised from the ocean and refitted for space. So obviously there's a lot of iconic-ness due to it's real life history in WWII. It's probably fair to say that there's an entirely different population that would recognize the Yamato in that context. I think it got mentioned in one of my high school history classes. But that fame really shouldn't be transferred to it's recognizability as a spaceship.

 

[Tonguez]

Even in the genre of anime, Yamato is pretty far from the top. While it's often cited as influential, other sci-fi series like the Gundam universes and the Macross franchise are orders of magnitude bigger in terms of number of shows, movies, sales, spin-offs, and overall popularity. To give you an idea of the disparity in popularity we're talking about, Neon Genesis Evangelion has more sales in pachinko machines than the last internationally released movie from the Yamato series made worldwide.

Don't get me wrong, Star Blazers is on my list of top anime series, and it's one I have shared with my kids. But realistically, SDF-1, Gundam RX-78, and EVA 01 are all more iconic spaceships than the Yamato.

Now, it's worth noting that the Spaceship Yamato is (in the anime) literally the real battleship Yamato, raised from the ocean and refitted for space. So obviously there's a lot of iconic-ness due to it's real life history in WWII. It's probably fair to say that there's an entirely different population that would recognize the Yamato in that context. I think it got mentioned in one of my high school history classes. But that fame really shouldn't be transferred to it's recognizability as a spaceship.

that raises the question - do Mecha count as Spaceships?