EMvTW 99: Arctic One (Assimilated)

NOTE:  You can click on most pictures to get a larger view of them.

Next in line for our Eaglemoss vs. The World series is the Assimilated Arctic One ship that we are introduced to in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode that is titled, "Regeneration".

Take a moment to enjoy one of the only two pictures that I have of this thing sitting in it's stand.  I'll explain more later on.


There really isn't much information on this ship other than the relatively small article found on Memory Alpha, which says, "Arctic One was the designation for an United Earth Arctic One-type transport that was in service in the mid-22nd century. In 2153, this starship was assigned to the A-6 excavation team, an Arctic Archaeology Team, a branch of the Earth Sciences Institute, for an exploration of Earth's Arctic Circle.  During their exploration of the Arctic Circle, the A-6 team discovered a craft of unknown origin. As they investigated the crashed vehicle and its crew, later identified as Borg drones, the members of the team were assimilated, along with their ship, into the Borg Collective. The new drones then attempted a journey in Arctic One to the Collective's territory in the distant Delta Quadrant."

If you would like to read more official stuff on this type of ship, feel free to check out the following links:

Arctic One Information: Memory Alpha LINK and NO Memory Beta LINK

Here are a couple more photos of Eaglemoss' model.

 

 

 

 

WARNING!: Normally, I don't talk about the stands or the magazine as my reviews tend to just focus on the model itself.  HOWEVER, in this case, I'm going to make a major exception.  The stand for this model is... is... how do I say this nicely?  Complicated?

Paraphrasing Scotty from Star Trek (2009), trying to mount and keep this thing in its stand is like, "trying to hit a bullet with a smaller bullet whilst wearing a blindfold, riding a horse."  I am thinking that Eaglemoss hired Pinhead from the Hellraiser movies to design the stand.

It's like trying to solve the puzzle box to get the model onto the stand without breaking anything.  I simply can't bring myself to attempt to use this stand anymore.  I'm too afraid of breaking my model or having the model come off on it's own and falling and breaking.

And I'll try to stop now about the stand.  Like I said, I try to stay focused on the models themselves.  Which now brings us to the actual model.

How do I describe the sculpting and molded details on this model?  OMG?  😮  WOW?  Complicated?  All the above?  Those details are just simply awe inspiring.  There is so much stuff packed into the surface details of this ship that my pictures can't do it justice.

 

All those pipes and conduits and antennas and weapons that stick out are extremely fragile, yet super amazing.

 

Unfortunately, the paint work, or lack of paint work, is a big disappointment to me.  I just feel overwhelmed by a sense of "blah" by the overall color of the model.  I get that Eaglemoss was trying for the "Borg Look", but I feel like there just wasn't enough green dabbed onto the model to break up the overall monotonous black coloring.

Although the joins and seams are easy to find, Eaglemoss' choice of placement was brilliant in that they seem like they are part of the actual ship.

I am hoping that at some point, Eaglemoss will bring us a non-assimilated version of this ship.  As a completionist, it would be cool to have one in my fleet.

Let us now look at pricing for this model.  I will continue with the tradition of rounding up the most inexpensive Buy-It-Now prices from eBay at the time of this article's (re)writing (February 2018).

Eaglemoss = $26

NOTE: Prices were researched last on February 1st, 2018.  At the time that I write this, you can also order the model right from Eaglemoss for around $23 (shipping unknown).

We now come to the part of my articles where I give my opinion of whether the model is worth the money.  This model has me on the fence.  I'll be honest, the model is UGLY.  But part of that observation is not Eaglemoss' fault.  The ship WAS ugly by the end of the episode.  They did a great job with the molded details and up close, it is actually fun to look at and try to follow the pipes and conduits.  The coloring is what has me feeling ill at ease.  From a distance, the model looks like something my dog puked up.  

If you look at all the Borg models we have gotten from Eaglemoss up to this point, the other ships (minus that monstrosity of a Borg Cube), have a little more color to them.  In the end, I am forced to admit that with what I know now, that I probably wouldn't buy this one.  UNLESS... I knew that Eaglemoss was definitely going to produce the un-altered Artctic One.  Then the completionist in me would want to buy it and display it next to her un-altered state.  I don't like putting down Eaglemoss models, because for the price, we are usually getting some nice display models, but in this case, I can't say that this sentiment is true.

Editor's Update (August 2018): Six months after I wrote this article, I was able to acquire the newly released non-assimilated Arctic One which was not known about that the time that I wrote this article. 

Having now reviewed that new ship a THIS LINK, I have to admit that I need to re-think my feelings about the Borg version.  While I still feel that the paint work is not great on the Borg model, my feelings about buying it have indeed changed since we can now get our hands on the non-modified version of the ship.  I personally am a completionist, and having both ships in my fleet are a must to me.  So what I am now saying is that, if you bought the un-altered ship, then I would probably recommend that you get the Borg one too, as long as you can get it for under $30.

As always, I hope you found this article useful and informative.  If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please feel free to comment below.

So for now, "Live long and prosper!!!"

Additional Links To Photos Of My Collection:

Eaglemoss

Other Reviewers Take On The Eaglemoss Model:
Some Kind Of Star Trek
Star Trek Starship Collection