Last summer Eaglemoss Ltd., the prolific licensee that sold a multitude of Star Trek products through their Hero Collector brand, ceased operations and went into receivership (akin to bankruptcy). Now some of the popular product lines are getting a new life under new management from two different companies. The Build the Enterprise-D program is being taken over by De Agostini through their Fanhome brand, which has just officially relaunched the program. And later this year, models from the popular line of Hero Collector Star Trek Starships will go on sale again through Heathside’s Master Replicas brand. TrekMovie spoke to Eaglemoss’ former head of licensed products Ben Robinson who is working as a consultant with both companies.
Building the Enterprise-D again with Fanhome
The people most impacted by Eaglemoss going out of business were those who had subscribed to the “Build the Enterprise-D” program. Starting in 2021, subscribers would receive monthly shipments of parts to build a 2-foot-long Star Trek: The Next Generation USS Enterprise-D model complete with lights and electronics. But when the company ceased operations those subscribers were all left with incomplete models at various stages of completion based on when they started their subscription, with some as close as 80% finished.
Completed Enterprise-D with included stand
Now Italian-based De Agostini Collectibles has taken over the Enterprise-D program and added it along with a few other former Eaglemoss subscriptions to their Fanhome line, which already includes subscriptions from Marvel, Star Wars, and other licensees. They will now be distributing the parts for fans to complete their models, all made by the same manufacturer used by Eaglemoss. The first step for the company is sending out an email to all the former subscribers notifying them about the revival. Those who want to restart their subscription should visit the Enterprise-D page at fanhome.com and register their interest. According to Robinson, Fanhome will soon be reaching out to those who register with details on how they can restart their subscriptions, starting where they left off.
Pricing has not been officially announced, but Robinson says it will be close to the original price of around $55/month (which includes four building kits each month and a collectible magazine). The first shipments will be sent out in February in the UK and Europe, and in March in the USA. The first stage will be to cater to former subscribers, but De Agostini is also planning on offering fans a chance to start new subscriptions at a later date. Anyone interested in either restarting or starting from the beginning for the Enterprise-D subscription program should register at fanhome.com.
New Fanhome site for Build the Enterprise-D program
Star Trek Starship models remaining stock to be sold through Master Replicas
Eaglemoss is probably best known to fans for their long-running line of die-cast ship models from the Star Trek Starships Collection under the Hero Collector brand. When the company shut down there was still a significant amount of stock and according to Ben Robinson, that has been purchased by UK-based Heathside Trading, who distribute toys, games, and collectibles. Robinson says the stock is in a number of warehouses around the world and they are currently trying to assess what models are available with this remaining inventory, but he expects they have “some of almost everything.” This includes some models which were manufactured but never distributed by Hero Collector.
Heathside is currently in the process of setting up a way for fans to purchase these models directly online. This will be done under the Master Replicas brand, which some fans may remember as another seller of popular high-end Star Trek and other licensed replicas until it went out of business in 2020. Heathside is planning on reviving the brand, starting with the Star Trek Starship Collection sales.
Hero Collector USS Enterprise-D model
For now, nothing is on sale, but they have set up masterreplicas.com where you can currently register your interest. Those who sign up will be notified when sales will begin. According to Robinson, they are looking into releasing the current stock in tranches, starting sometime in 2023. Robinson expects the pricing for the models to be around the same as when they were being sold directly by Eaglemoss and via retailers.
The Master Replicas brand is coming back
Robinson promises to give us an update when they are ready to announce more details on the release of Star Trek Starship models through Master Replicas. In addition, there are also discussions about a licensee taking over the line to make new versions of popular models that are no longer in stock and even developing new ship models, including those from upcoming seasons of original Star Trek shows.
Robinson notes that the ship model line was very popular and at some point in the future he “expects the program to return in some form.” He also said there are negotiations going on to continue the line of Hero Collector books, including some Star Trek books that were in the process of being written when Eaglemoss ceased operations. Robinson hopes there can be some announcements on these books soon, so TrekMovie will provide an update when that information is available.
The bottom line is that Eaglemoss may be gone but starting in 2023 and beyond, many of their popular Star Trek products are coming back under new brands.
Keep up with Star Trek merchandise news and reviews at TrekMovie.com.
Are they also picking up Eaglemoss’s Star Trek graphic novels line? Eaglemoss took hundreds of dollars from me without sending me my product. I’m still pissed about that. It sucks because the series was getting so good, reprinting all sorts of cool stories never before reprinted. In the beginning, they were mostly reprinting IDW titles you could easily find elsewhere, and there were all sort of mistakes with the books like missing pages and typos. But so much cool stuff was added in the last 40 or 50 books, and the quality of the books really improved, but several of which I never received despite paying for them. And Eaglemoss sucked at customer service, completely ignoring me when I tried to get my money back or my paid-for merchandise. It was obvious that Eaglemoss didn’t care about its customers. Maybe Fanhome will do a better job of it.
That was my hope when I saw this article too. I had all but given up hope, so I started scouring eBay for my missing issues. I’m only missing 3 issues now. And yes, some I paid twice for. Once to Eaglemoss, and again to an eBay seller for much more than the original price. It’d be great if someone picked up the slack and allowed us to finish our collections. Or better yet, add more like the missing DC issues or any of the planned/canceled issues.
OMG, Lorna Dune, I’m SO sorry to hear that man!
That is NOT right. I heard about this when the company first shut down but I assumed they received long ago and gave people back their money. I guess the money you guys are out or too small but maybe think about doing action suit or something, IDK? I can only imagine how it much it sucks.
I know they had their problems but they are in the wrong, period.
Meant to say I assumed they received some assurance from the company long ago they were going to work it out and gave people back their money.
Nope, Eaglemoss and even its president, Ben Robinson, completely ignored all that many, many fans who were owed merchandise. I know a lot of fans who were screwed out of hundreds of dollars. I even know one person who kept canceling, only to have Eaglemoss keep charging.
That is really fcked up!!! I understand it a little more based on TG47’s informative post but still.
That really sucks. I managed to get all my money back for the items I pre-ordered and never received, including the Build the Enterprise D subscription annual pre-payments. When a business folds, they’re unable to either repay or supply the goods, you would be protected if you used PayPal or credit card to make the payments. You can claim money back from them within certain time limits (60 days from the transaction for PayPal). Claiming is dead easy with PayPal. Unfortunately the time limits have long since expired by now.
Incidentally, Ben Robinson is/was not the “president” of Eaglemoss – he ran the technical side of Eaglemoss’s major collections and build ups. I think you name him unfairly/incorrectly. He’s currently supporting the efforts to get the remaining stock of models available to the fans and the builds continued.
Sorry to hear this, but it’s what t would have expected in a receivership.
Eaglemoss management lost any and all control of the company the moment receivership was declared. The court-appointed Receiver is running what’s left of the company as it is liquidated.
It’s quite different than Chapter 11 or 7 in the United States where the original owners and management stay in place until the firm is close to wound up.
In receivership in the UK, Canada and Australia, as soon as the firm goes into receivership, the original owners and management are locked out of the premises and the financial accounts.
Receivers manage the company in a way to pay off all the creditors who are owed. Occasionally a firm is successfully ‘managed out of receivership’ and sold to a new owner. If there is a reasonable prospect of this, an Administrator is appointed instead and a plan is put in place to save the firm to sell it off. In neither case do the original owners stay involved.
Unfortunately, trade creditors who have advanced materials and customers with undelivered product more than 30 days who are usually the ones who are last in line to be compensated for debts owed. Their rights fall behind employees owed wages. Typically, banks come first, especially when they have secured loans with mortgages.
All to say that as Receiver gets payments, it is legally required to start paying off debts starting with the highest ranked creditors owed. Reimbursement of customers can only happen when those have been covered.
If you’re owed a significant amount, it may however be worthwhile to write to the Receiver in charge to make sure that they have a record of what’s owed to you.
That’s really interesting info I didn’t know about receiverships. Thanks for sharing!
I see so many of those Eaglemoss Star Trek graphic novels the past 2 years at Dollarama. They sell them for $4 each.
This is to be expected.
The Receiver has liquidated inventory of the firm’s less valuable-per-item products through a distributor at a fraction of the cost.
This would have both generated money to pay off the highest ranked creditors, as well as clearing out warehouse space. If Eaglemoss owned the warehouse building it would be sold, or if not it could be sublet.
The suggestion of recovering the amount via the credit card company sounds more viable. The customer could get their money back and VISA or Mastercard are associated with Banks and have greater standing to then recover the money through the receiver.
If you used a major credit card or PayPal you can get your money back by I filing a claim. Even if the company is bankrupt or corrupt, Visa, MasterCard and PayPal will reimburse you as is provided as part of their insurance
The big D is my favorite starship ever!!!
Mine too! :)
I loved it from the first episode on although I do go back and forth with the E. I think the E looks better but I still so much nostalgia for the big D!
Hey Tiger2, I’m not sure if you called it or if it was someone else, but the trailer for Picard S3 will indeed hit next weekend during the NFC title game half time show!
I was just watching the Bills Bengals pregame, and they were going to show a preview, BUT up here in Toronto we don’t get the US commercials
… so here’s hoping Trekmovie.com or someone on YT will post the preview of the trailer soon!
Sorry, my mistake. CBS will show the new trailer for Picard S3 on the AFC championship game halftime show!
All I want from the old line is the Vancouver, which I assume was made because I got a shipping notice but it never actually shipped.
Beyond that, I hope against hope (and probably against reason) that someone will actually pick up the line and make the dozens of new ships we’ve seen onscreen since EM folded.
It sounds as though the UK firm has just bought the stock to liquidate the existing inventory at a better price. They are a distributor rather than a manufacturer.
However, who knows what future business decisions they’ll make if this is successful?
Distribution issues seemed a significant part of Eaglemoss’ failure. If the sale go well, and the distribution network is established, there are certain high quality metal modeling firms in the UK that could take on manufacturing as a subcontractor.
If the quality control is much better than Eaglemoss, I will start buying these again. Simple shit like lining up the paint and decals with the diecast features needs to be done right.
They are only selling old Eaglemoss stock so it’s going to be the same quality as before.
Well that sucks, but thanks.
They are so stupid to limit the shipping to just a few countries! Don’t they realize they sell a lot more models by offering International Shipping? Perhaps it has something to do with the licensing agreement…
Sorry, 32 packages we $55 each so this model costs over $1,700! How is that good value?
Still beautiful!
Ich was really hoping to buy that Deadlus Class Cruiser from Stargate one day. Maybe they’ll gat that license, too …