• Welcome! The TrekBBS is the number one place to chat about Star Trek with like-minded fans.
    If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Star Trek: Starships Model/Magazine Subscription

lfHvzca.gif
 
Alright, so I'm a dumbass. WTF is an "NFT"?
A "Non-Fungible Token" is a derivation of "cypto-currencies" like bitcoin. It's a type digital file whose ownership is publicly logged so, in theory, it can't be duplicated or replaced (that's the "non-fungible" part, something "fungible" would be like a dollar or a gallon of gasoline where one is exactly the same as the next, as opposed to a painting, which is non-fungible, as a Rembrandt and a Picasso can't be viewed as interchangeable).

In practice, it's basically a digital certificate of authenticity, but considering the thing it's certifying as authentic is typically a digital file (a 3D model or an image or something) that can be duplicated endlessly, that doesn't mean much.
 
I just don’t know what they could possibly offer as a strictly Trek collector that could get me to buy into the club. The signature series stuff for example holds no interest for me. And I have all the ships I want.
CBS seems to license pretty broadly, I think from the period 2013-2017 we had at least five different companies selling prebuilt ship models (Diamond Select, Hot Wheels, Eaglemoss, QMx and Polar Lights). I’d say the only Eaglemoss ships that still sell consistently well are the XLs, I could see MR obtaining a license to continue making XLs of the more popular ships, plus add in some of the newer P+ ones that have yet to be made. I think releasing 2-4 of those a year is probably a reasonable target that wouldn’t oversaturate the market.
 
It'll depend on what the collectors' club actually entails, but if most of the EM/MR business is a la cart purchases, and the more obscure ships don't necessarily sell well outside of subscribers, offering some kind of inducement (be it a discount, priority pre-orders, exclusive items) for a small ongoing fee might be a more attractive option to more people than a subscription. I mean, the idea of having literally hundreds of Eaglemoss models to find a spot for makes me break out in a cold sweat (no offense), but if this "club" means I could make sure to get the ones I really want when I want them, that's much more attractive, and if it subsidizes more obscure models for people who really, really loved some one-off monster from Doctor Who or a ship-of-the-week that was operated by three different aliens from opposite corners of the galaxy on DS9, VGR, and ENT, more power to them.
 
Species 8472 arrived yesterday. I'm not sure what's metal on this one, but clearly not much, given how light it is. I had a bit of trouble getting it on the stand. Beyond this, I might get the Captain's Yacht from Insurrection, but there's not too much left out there that I'd buy for Trek. I've really got everything that's worth getting to me, save for the D5 tanker and some Orville ships.
 
That's probably something they should elaborate on, if they want people to pay an extra $100 in good faith. Right now, they're asking people to trust them and take their statements at pure face-value.
 
99 bucks (US) to join the collectors club.
Even though I watch most of the shows they've licenced, other than the occasional one-off, I don't really collect merchandise from any of them, so most of their currently announced exclusive products hold no interest for me. I may have joined for something like $25, but at this point I have almost everything I want from Eaglemoss (although that 10% discount would have been nice the past nine months, lol).
they mention exclusive Trek ships (among others) launching next year. I wonder what they mean there.
As I mentioned above, I have the feeling they might try to relaunch the XL line. Both because it seems the most viable based on how quickly things tend to sell out versus the regular releases, plus none of the other current licencees seem to have that market niche carved out already. I also have the feeling that size has the best return on investment, they're probably not that much more expensive to develop and produce as the smaller ships, but can be sold for 4-5x as much.
 
I wonder if they’ve made some kind of distribution deal with one of the other Trek licensors. And they are able to do newer stuff that Eaglemoss couldn’t. Nu and TOS era Stargazer, Titan/Enterprise G, etc…
 
I almost can't believe it, but I finally got a shipping note saying the Cerritos and Nog are on their way to me! Only took them four months. :crazy:

Hope they won't take too long getting to Germany. Not sure if I'm ever ordering from them again after this, to be honest. When I ordered this there was no indication on their site saying they didn't have the merchandise ready to ship. I shouldn't have to wait four months and have to reach out to customer service twice before they finally mail my order. But oh well …
 
Another Collectors Club exclusive will be the Hammond from Stargate, which is obviously just a repaint of the Daedalus. Maybe their license allows them to do something similar for a few Star Trek ships? This wouldn't require expensive new molds, and it should be doable within the next six months before Fanhome starts releasing ships. Starfleet ships with different names and registries, a Romulan D7, a brown Valdore or even another gold-plated model come to my mind...
 
I wonder if they’ve made some kind of distribution deal with one of the other Trek licensors. And they are able to do newer stuff that Eaglemoss couldn’t. Nu and TOS era Stargazer, Titan/Enterprise G, etc…
I'm not sure they would need to do a distribution deal.

Here are what I believe to be the current starship model licensees:
  • Fanhome (small ships, subscription based)
  • Polar Lights (models kits, including "prebuilt" versions of same)
  • Revell (model kits)
  • Playmates (electronic toy ships), not sure if Diamond Select still has a license for the slightly fancier electronic ships anymore
  • Corgi (diecast ships, but no evidence that they're doing anything new yet, all of the announcements are of their old molds)
  • I think I saw one of the tabletop gaming companies was going to launch(relaunch?) a Star Trek game with ship miniatures
  • Tomy (pretty sure they're not doing any more)
Aside from maybe Fanhome, none of these seem like they really need a broader distribution partner. Most of what MR is doing with their other licences seems like continuations of Eaglemoss’ business, but likely not to the same scale. I think they can utilize the contacts they'd made with the Chinese factories, etc., and do something similar for Trek without overlapping with Fanhome’s license.
 
If you are not already a member then please register an account and join in the discussion!

Sign up / Register


Back
Top