NOTE: You can click on most pictures to get a larger view of them.
The next two Eaglemoss models that I am going to review are not something that I would normally have purchased. There are several reasons for this, but the first is, had Eaglemoss not gone out of business, then these probably would not have been available to me at a somewhat decent cost.
This set of ships was part of Eaglemoss' "Star Trek: The Next Generation Build The USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D" subscription. Described by Memory Alpha (at THIS LINK) as "a British partwork that debuted in March 2021 in the UK, the US, select EU countries, and Japan. Available by subscription from Eaglemoss Collections' websites and published under its Hero Collector imprint, collectors can build their own seventy centimeter-long (~27.5 inch-long) replica of the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D, constructed from hand-painted ABS and die-cast metal parts, and featuring electronic lighting. Each four-week period, subscribers typically received with each issue four kit "stages" with parts for the model and a (220 × 284 mm) 32-page magazine containing the relevant sections of the assembly instructions."
I would not have normally acquired these models because, while I do like building and painting models, I found this particular project to be a rather expensive undertaking. Once again, referring to Memory Alpha, they better describe these Shuttle Packs as "Double-model packs offered exclusively to subscribers of this particular partwork alone (and therefore never offered through the company's webstores), which, while coined as "bonus", had to be paid for nonetheless by those subscribers who opted to receive them. Larger scaled than the ones from the Official Starships Collection, each shuttle model came with its own 20-page magazine, which was actually twelve pages longer (and larger) than the ones that accompanied those from the Official Collection shuttle sets. The extra content is taken up with production background information that was not included in the Official Collection shuttle set magazines, which only contained in-universe information. Each individual model/magazine combo came within their own "Collector's Edition" format style packaging as introduced in 2018, two of which included in a box set."
Thanks to the groups I follow on FaceBook, I had the unique opportunity of seeing this partwork fail and be canceled by Eaglemoss in several unmentioned countries, leaving builders in those countries with partially built ships, and no way to complete them without breaking thier bank. I therefore opted out, and apparently, it was a wise decision in the United States as well since Eaglemoss ended up belly-up and thus stranding everyone with unfinished models. Rumor has it, that another company has acquired the dies and rights to continue the subscription, but, as I said in my last article, when it comes to Eaglemoss stuff these days, "I will believe it, when I see it."
Lastly, you may be noticing that I am reviewing these Shuttle Packs out of order. That is because, the companies that are liquidating the leftover Eaglemoss stock, are doing so in a seemingly random fashion. The reality is, they are consolidating the stock from all over the world, inventorying those assets, then trying to turn it around and sell that stuff to the consumers at a reasonable price. I took a chance buying this set, in the hopes that I can acquire the other two sets as well. We will see if my gamble pays off.
Shuttle Pack #2 consists of larger version of the Hawking and the Calypso.
