Star Trek: Starships Model/Magazine Subscription

[t_smitts]

Neither the Karemma, Excelsior Prototype III, nor Melbourne have been in stock for more than a year. In fact, it seems the only Melbournes anyone has for sale are Japanese. The other two are even rarer. (I preordered all three through my local retailer, he never received any.)

I joke when I say the ship carrying them must have sunk, but I really would like to know the true story behind this bizarre shortage. Corona doesn’t explain it all.

Well, glad to know it's not just me, I suppose. I'm not really interested in the other two, I don't think. I don't really like the look of the Melbourne or any of the Excelsior concepts. I do hope to get that Karemma at some point. I also called my local retailer about that one, and it's also been on preorder for a year.

Did any subscribers get it?

The Bonaventure is one I missed that they never have in stock.

I had to get the Bonaventure and Enterprise-F (the gray version) off eBay and I paid a truly atrocious price for them.

 

[Robert April]

I guess I'm not the only one then with EM issues. They have a F rating on the Better Business Bureau site.

I ordered about 8 ships a week before Christmas which qualified me for free expedited shipping. After a month and several emails, they finally sent me a replacement order which showed up about 5 weeks after my initial order. They shorted me the Enterprise J which is still listed as in stock, the NCC-1701 Phase 2 came missing a nacelle not even in the box, and they shorted me magazines for 3 of the ships. They finally after 2 months sent me the NCC-1701-F magazine.

I didn't have good luck ordering the NCC-1701-A off Amazon either. It wasn't until the 4th shipment I finally got a model that arrived in one piece. The nacelles on that one must be more fragile than most?

FYI for any other newbies, the Collector's Edition / Box Display versions contain a smaller version of the magazine. I sent back a couple of the first models of this version to Amazon without opening them until I realized there was a magazine in the box. It would have been nice if they would have stated this change somewhere.

 

[Paul755]

Oh yeah, I’ll never order from EM directly again. It’s probably gonna be Amazon or from a local hobby shop.

 

[137th Gebirg]

It’s really quite sad. Ben’s team generally does an amazing job researching many of these models. Some with nothing more than a few fuzzy 35 year old photos. The Merchantman was one of the more recent ones that comes to mind as going above and beyond. Then you have the logistics branch that fails miserably at getting the models sent out on time and in order, and an even worse customer service branch that we invariably have to call when things go missing. It isn’t fair to the artists who did all the hard work in making the sculpts. I feel bad for them.

 

[dantini]

Looks like the Zheng He really has no clear parts

 

[137th Gebirg]

Huh! That IS weird. I can understand why the grille-work on the impulse engines and main deflector would preclude allowing clear parts (not really though, they could have painted the raised areas to simulate the effect), but I was fully expecting the usual clear red bussards and blue coil areas in the nacelles. I wonder if this is an attempt at cutting some costs, with no clear parts on any new models from now on. If true, that would suck.

One would think that now that all of the future model masters they're going to be doing will be printed directly from on-screen CGI assets, zero extra investment would be required in rebuilding them from scratch, as with other models from the past. That alone should save them a metric ass-ton of cash. Why do the new models completely on the cheap like this unless they're really hurting logistically from the pandemic (production & shipping out of China) and doing everything they can to stay afloat? This almost feels like an act of survival desperation.

 

[dantini]

I just read that the impulse engines are in fact clear plastic. Weird decision, considering that they're much more hidden than the bussard collectors and warp grills, and that clear parts look less impressive in places where no light can shine through them.

 

[Tuskin38]

Looks like the Zheng He really has no clear parts

Did someone get the model already, or was this posted by someone from the company?

I need all the info from the booklet lol

 

[dantini]

Several people already received the model:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/eaglemossstartrekfangroup/permalink/2901182140205110/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/eaglemossstartrekfangroup/permalink/2900956340227690/

 

[Markonian]

The HeroCollector website announces 2 new BSG models:
(1) Golden TOS-era Centurion
(2) Heavy Cruiser Loki (Blood & Chrome)

Source: https://www.herocollector.com/en-gb/Article/battlestar-galactica-loki-gold-centurion-reveal

So cool!
I normally don't get people figures but I'm a sucker for shiny/goldy stuff.

 

[137th Gebirg]

That Loki is really a cool looking design. Although I would have sworn that we would have gotten B&C’s Osiris first, but this is still an awesome addition. Thanks for posting that!

 

[Robert April]

It’s really quite sad. Ben’s team generally does an amazing job researching many of these models. Some with nothing more than a few fuzzy 35 year old photos. The Merchantman was one of the more recent ones that comes to mind as going above and beyond. Then you have the logistics branch that fails miserably at getting the models sent out on time and in order, and an even worse customer service branch that we invariably have to call when things go missing. It isn’t fair to the artists who did all the hard work in making the sculpts. I feel bad for them.

The ships look amazing and I was impressed by the Merchantman. It looked awesome for a ship with little screen time. I was surprised to find that one available. They do an awesome job creating the ships. I just think I'm better off ordering somewhere else rather than direct. They don't seem to be able to handle the direct sales at all.

 

[NCC-73515]

I got the best version of the Husnock ship kitbashes (the smuggler's ship), cause the Husnock ship itself looked oddly bland and boring. I'm still trying to get the best version of the Merchantman kitbashes (the Sheliak ship), cause it has interesting stuff added to it and looks nicely dark, just like the smuggler's ship.

 

[Tuskin38]

Several people already received the model:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/eaglemossstartrekfangroup/permalink/2901182140205110/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/eaglemossstartrekfangroup/permalink/2900956340227690/

Damn it.

I need to know what the booklet says

 

[Markonian]

Had ordered the Chargh class and Zheng He on Monday, when the latter was still Add to Basket but after the Eaglemoss public notice that this had been unintended.
Only Chargh was delivered. Cool ship but sooo disappointed that I won’t be getting my hands on the last canon Starfleet ship of the 24th century anytime soon.

The confirmation email included a not that my order would be delayed due to Brexit, though.

 

[Tuskin38]

Clearly the worst part of brexit

/s

 

[dantini]

Ben said there will be 10 Picard ships in the main line for now, of which the first six are known and two more appear in the box artwork. Which ships do you think will take the last two slots? The 2385 Mars shuttle and the remaining Romulan Warbird seem likely to me, but there's also the synth attack ship and several other smaller craft.

 

[thribs]

The Mars Shuttle was a unused model from the TNG movies. It’s pretty evident since it’s one of the few ships that actually look era appropriate

 

[Tuskin38]

I’d really like the Mars shuttle

 

[F. King Daniel]

The Mars shuttle looked like a reuse of the military transport shuttle from ST'09, which in itself looked like a minor modification to the Argo shuttle from Nemesis.

All John Eaves, of course.