Rewrites: NONE YET
I know... I know... I have gone on and on in other articles about how I feel about the Star Trek: Discovery series of Eaglemoss models. I swore that I wasn't going to buy or collect Star Trek: Discovery models. I commented on how I'm not a fan of the show. I lamented on the cost and how the models are too big for my collection. In the end though, Star Trek: Discovery gave us something that I found to be very cool. The USS Enterprise from the time that Captain Christopher Pike was in command makes an appearance in the show. Granted, the ship looks different from what us long time fans would expect, but it is the Enterprise. AND... I do pride myself on having a rather nice collection of Enterprises. And so, I decided to bite the bullet and add this one to that collection. So here we are, taking a look at the Discovery Series model Issue #12, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701).
Per Memory Alpha and Beta, "The Constitution-class was a Federation Class I Heavy Cruiser in the Starship-class. They were the premier front-line Starfleet vessels in the latter half of the 23rd century. They were designed for long duration missions with minimal outside support and are best known for their celebrated missions of galactic exploration and diplomacy which typically lasted up to five years.". They go on to say this about the USS Enterprise, "The USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) was a 23rd century Federation Constitution-class starship operated by Starfleet. In the course of her career, the Enterprise became the most celebrated starship of her time. In her forty years of service and discovery, through upgrades and at least two refits, she took part in numerous first contacts, military engagements, and time-travels. She achieved her most lasting fame from a five-year mission (2265-2270) under the command of Captain James T. Kirk.".
If you would like to read more official stuff on this type of ship, feel free to check out the following links:
Constitution Class Information: Memory Alpha LINK and Memory Beta LINK
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) Information: Memory Alpha LINK and Memory Beta LINK
I had reviewed the original Eaglemoss model of the TOS era USS Enterprise, way back in Issue #50. I also reviewed several other manufacturers' versions of this starship. You may want to go check out that review at THIS LINK.
This model that we are looking at now is NOT that Enterprise. While the model is supposed to represent the predecessor to the TOS Enterprise, it looks rather different. Discovery Issue #12's model is the same size as the Special Edition models of the original Eaglemoss starship collection, so it fits right in with my other 4 USS Enterprise models from that model line, and it blends into the collection rather well.
Nacelle: Inner View
Special & Discovery Issue Models:
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:
Since I don't collect the Discovery Line of models, nor do I collect the XL Line of models, I can only share the following information, but I am doing so with little information to back my claims. From what I understand, you originally could only get as an XL Edition of this ship, which is what kept me from buying it. Honestly, those XL models are WAY too BIG for my collecting tastes. I wouldn't have any room for the XL ships, and my wife would not be happy with me taking up ALL of the bookshelves in the house. When I learned that Eaglemoss finally released this ship as part of their regular Discovery line, I justified buying it because of the similarity in size to all my Special Edition models.
Putting aside all of the Star Trek: Discovery hate, I have to admit that this is a nice looking Enterprise, and Eaglemoss has produced a decent looking model.
When it comes to larger and more pricey models, at least compared to the Standard Sized models we get with the Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection, I expect better quality. The larger model gives the model maker more of a "canvas" to hone their artwork on, and the higher priced model, should mean that the company has more material to work with as well, and quite frankly, should also mean better quality all around.
When it comes to paint work, most of the model is covered in what I can only describe as a dirty aztec pattern. It gives the ship a heavily used look, but I'm not sure if this was justified. The series doesn't say that the ship had seen some heavy actions, but rather, according to Memory Alpha, "...Following the end of the war in 2257, the Enterprise was tasked with investigating one of a series of unidentified signals detected throughout the galaxy. Unfortunately the Enterprise suffered multiple catastrophic systems failures, leading the Enterprise to be towed back to spacedock..."
What ever the reason for the darker aztecing, it does give the ship some depth, although, Eaglemoss seemed to skimp on certain sections of the model, like where the nacelle pylons meet engineering, or where the saucer support structure meets engineering. These spots make me self conscious of the bald spot on top of my head. Not cool Eaglemoss... not cool.
The model sports lots of painted on details, including the Starfleet swoops along the side of the ship. In the original collection of models, Eaglemoss often time had issues misaligning paint for windows with the molded details for those same windows. It looks like the Discovery Line of models might suffer from a slightly different malady, where the windows paint is aligned, but not painted in fully.
The rear of the saucer bears some additional paint work, highlighting both the impulse engine exhausts, as well as a docking port.
The underbelly of the main engineering section boasts some grey paint work as well.
I am pretty impressed with the sculpt and mold work on this model.
Looking at the rear of the ship. we can clearly make out the shuttle bay doors and panel line across the back of the engineering hull. The rear of the saucer section is easy to see and we can enjoy a view of a docking port tucked between the impulse engines.
I really like the attention to tactile details on the saucer section. The panel lines, phaser banks, cargo hatches and main bridge all are well defined and give the model a nice crisp look.
Depending on what angle you look at the model from, the join seam stands out like a sore thumb along the bottom edge of the saucer section.
The nacelles are represented well with this model. The sculpt work shows off all sorts of details. The paint work only serves to highlight and enhance the molded details. While I would have preferred that Eaglemoss had used their famous clear blue plastics for the warp grills, the blue paint still does a nice job of highlighting this part of the ship.
Nacelle: Outer View
The only part of the model to boast Eaglemoss' classic use of clear or opaque plastic parts is the bussard collector caps.
For those familiar with this series of articles from me, you will know that I typically go in for a close-up of the Starfleet ship's deflector dish. In my opinion, you can tell a lot about a company's attention to details by just looking at this area of the ship.
I really liked Eaglemoss' approach to this part of the ship. The dish is the right color (as opposed to their TOS era model) and the sculpt work is really well done and gives this part of the ship some nice definition.
And that is all the pictures and comparisons I have to share on this ship at this time. As for pricing, 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 writing (October 2021). It looks like you can get this model from a seller on eBay for around $69 (shipping included). At the time that I write this, you can also get it right from Eaglemoss' US based webshop for $55 (shipping cost unknown).
I usually am not impressed with Eaglemoss' Special Edition models. Often times, I'm disappointed with the quality of their work, especially given the cost of the models. This is one of the times that I was very happy with the outcome. For the price, you get a very nice looking model. If the rest of their Discovery Line models are this good, I am going to have to reconsider collecting them.... NOPE. Like I said, too big and too expensive for my collecting tastes. This model was a perfect exception to my concerns though. I certainly would not mind hearing in the comments what others think about the remaining Discovery Collection line. Are they as good quality?
BONUS ROUND!!!
Every once in a while, I'll have a little extra stuff to share with you that sort of fits in with my comparison articles.
I really am happy with my collection of Eaglemoss Enterprises. "It's been a long road, Getting from there to here. It's been a long time, But my time is finally near…," and my collection has grown to an impressive display.
Standard And Bonus Issue Models:
I have written a review of every one of those models during my time of collecting them. And for some of those ships, I even managed to collect and review other manufacturers' renditions of them as well. If you would like to read any of those reviews, just click on the ship's name below to be taken to it's corresponding article.
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:
NOTE: As far as I could tell, there are no written reviews about Issue #12. The one written review I did find for the Disco-prise, was one written about the XL Edition
Some Kind Of Star Trek [NO REVIEW YET]
Trek Core
Some Kind Of Star Trek [NO REVIEW YET]
Trek Core
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