Star Trek Universe: The Official Starships Collection

Real World article
(written from a Production point of view)

Star Trek Universe: The Official Starships Collection is a British partwork magazine and product line that premiered in March 2021 ^[1] and is published by Eaglemoss Collections under its Hero Collector imprint.

The line is available to the UK, EU, and US, and will be marketed in a number of other countries. Subscriptions are available to select countries,^[2] and products are widely retailed by the company's international webshops and other retailers.

Each issue includes a sixteen-page magazine (measuring 168 × 217 mm ^[3]) and a 150 to 240 mm-long hand-painted ^[4] scaled replica of a starship from Star Trek: Picard and/or Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.

Also featuring vessels from Star Trek: Discovery as part of its scope, this line will supersede the Star Trek: Discovery The Official Starships Collection ^[5], and may grow to encompass future Star Trek projects that are currently in production.

Received directly from the shows' VFX teams, production-used CGI studio models are adapted for use as printable 3D miniatures (and for 2D renders in the magazines) and converted into CAD files by Fabio Passaro's Meshweaver Productions, under the supervision of Eaglemoss' Development Manager, John Ainsworth. [3]

Cast in ABS and die-cast metal, a number of starship designs are reproduced here (as miniatures) for the first time by any manufacturer.

Once again, Ben Robinson is the senior manager of the project and a co-author and co-editor of the accompanying magazines, which currently bear the titles, Star Trek: Picard The Official Starships Collection and Star Trek: Discovery The Official Starships Collection.

Gift premiums have been released to subscribers and larger Special Edition starship models have been scheduled. Additionally, XL Edition models of some popular "hero ships" from the aforementioned Star Trek shows are available in the Official Starships Collection.

A number of starship profile articles from this series were also published in the second edition of the Star Trek: Shipyards - Starfleet Ships 2294 to the Future reference book.

A sister publication of the Star Trek: The Official Starships Collection, Star Trek: The Next Generation Build The USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D, and Star Trek Online Starships Collection lines, it is authorized and licensed by CBS Consumer Products.

Issues

No.	Title/Contents	Lng*	Scale
(01)	La Sirena 07/03/2021 ^[6] Contents, p. 2 La Sirena Specification, p. 3 La Sirena, pp. 4-7 Designing The La Sirena, pp. 8-14	190 mm	1:450
(02)	USS Zheng He 09/03/2021 ^[7] Contents, p. 2 USS Zheng He Specification, p. 3 USS Zheng He, pp. 4-7 Designing The USS Zheng He, pp. 8-14	209 mm	1:3019
(03)	Romulan Bird-of-Prey 09/05/2021 Contents, p. 2 Romulan Bird-of-Prey Specification, p. 3 Romulan Bird-of-Prey, pp. 4-7 Redesigning The Romulan Bird-of-Prey, pp. 8-14	116 mm l 146 mm w	1:788
(04)	Seven of Nine's Fenris Ranger Ship 28/06/2021 Contents, p. 2 Seven of Nine's Fenris Ranger Ship Specification, p. 3 Seven of Nine's Fenris Ranger Ship, pp. 4-7 Designing Seven's Ship, pp. 8-14	220 mm	1:76
(05)	Romulan Vessel 19/07/2021 Contents, p. 2 Romulan Vessel Specification, p. 3 Romulan Vessel, pp. 4-7 Designing The Romulan 'Fighter', pp. 8-14	~110 mm ~216 mm w
(06)	Narek's Snakehead 24/09/2021 Contents, p. 2 Narek's Snakehead Specification, p. 3 Narek's Snakehead, pp. 4-7 Designing Narek's Snakehead, pp. 8-14	145 mm	1:58
(07)	Wallenberg Class Tug 04/09/2021	~216 mm
(08)	Romulan Flagship 30/09/2021	~125 mm l ~140 mm w
(09)	Section 31 Deimos-Class 11/2021	~216 mm
(10)	Romulan Warbird 12/2021	~216 mm w

Size and scaling info courtesy of Wixiban.com. [4]
*Starship length as measured from bow to stern, where applicable.

Confirmed upcoming issues

Temp. cover	Title	Image
	Book's Ship
	Hunhau Transport Ship
	USS Curie NCC-81890-J
	USS Discovery NCC-1031-A Refit
	USS Dresselhaus NCC-325019
	USS Excalibur NCC-1664-M ^[8]
	USS Nog NCC-325070
	USS Tikhov NCC-1067-M
	USS Voyager NCC-74656-J

Pin badge set

First previewed as a forthcoming retail product through the company's US webshop in early 2021, this set is also distributed as a gift premium.

Title	Set
La Sirena Pin Badge Set

Limited Edition prints

The line's first Limited Edition print began to ship to UK subscribers in July 2021 and is limited to 850 copies. EU subscribers began to receive the print between issues 4 and 5, in an edition limited to 3500 copies. ^[9]

Each 30 × 40 cm (including the border around the image) print's artwork was created by DIS starship designer Ryan Dening, is reproduced on 310 gsm Hahnemühle German Etching paper, and includes a Certificate of Authenticity.

No.	Title	Print
1	"USS Discovery NCC-1031-A"

Gifts

Gift premiums are dispatched to subscribers at predetermined delivery milestones during the duration of the partwork's run and vary in different territories.

Delivery	Title	Gift
1st	La Sirena Pin Badge Set (early subscriber bonus)
2nd	Collector's binder
3rd	'The Speed of Light Club' metal plaque (USS Leondegrance)
5th	Metal mug with Starfleet Headquarters logo ^[10] (early subscriber bonus for UK/EU)
6th		Inquiry-class (USS Toussaint)^[11] Contents, p. 2 Inquiry-class Specification, p. 3 Inquiry-class, pp. 4-7 Designing the Inquiry-class, pp. 8-14
8th	Star Trek Universe-themed print (UK/EU)

Background information

In July 2020, the company announced that its Discovery starship line and its subscriptions would be suspended after the release of issue 33, due to production delays with the third season of DIS and the resulting lack of new CG assets.

Eaglemoss further reported in October 2020 that it planned to release more starship models from DIS in a future starships line, combined with ships from Picard and Strange New Worlds, [5] and later indicated that the 32nd century Federation fleet from the third season of DIS would be produced. [6] Additionally, a number of unused Klingon starship designs from the DIS partwork may eventually be put into production. [7]

In February 2021, Robinson reconfirmed that the Universe line will begin with ten ships from Picard and then pivot to Discovery vessels. Robinson had yet to receive any CG assets of starships from the Strange New Worlds production but revealed that he had received four variants (two unique physical models in two distinct liveries) of the Inquiry-class starship from PIC's producers. [8]

Appendices

Footnotes

↑ Originally slated to premiere on 1 April 2021, limited quantities of the first two issues were inadvertently shipped to some UK customers in early March.
↑ As had been the case with the preceding Discovery Starships Collection, non-British EU customers were allowed to take out a subscription through the UK website, if a local official website was not available to them in their home countries, which had been the case for countries like the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark.
↑ The partwork's A5 format magazines are the same size as those from the preceding Star Trek: Discovery The Official Starships Collection.
↑ The models are painted freehand and with the use of paint masks (templates), alongside pad and tampo printing processes. From CAD files made from conversions of the original CGI studio models, the earliest prototypes are 3D printed in resin and, once approved by Eaglemoss and the licensors, are tooled and manufactured in China using a variety of injection, vacuum, and compression molding techniques. [1]
↑ Alongside a few Discovery (XL Edition) ships in the Official Starships Collection, this partwork will present the company's future (regular) DIS starship releases, following the release of the thirty-third numbered issue of the Discovery Starships Collection.
↑ Originally slated to premiere on 1 April 2021, limited quantities of La Sirena were inadvertently shipped in early March to some UK customers.
↑ Originally slated to premiere on 21 April 2021, limited quantities of the USS Zheng He were inadvertently shipped in early March to some UK customers.
↑ The USS Excalibur's identification, class (Constitution), and registry appeared on page 245 of the second edition of the Star Trek: Shipyards - Starfleet Ships 2294 to the Future reference book.
↑ The Limited Edition print is part of the partwork for which customers have taken out a subscription and should not be confused with the "Star Trek Universe-themed" print (gift premium) shown above.
Incidentally, the variant release numbers for the UK and EU editions, reflect the company's respective customer base sizes; see also the footenotes of its main article in this regard.
↑ The metal mug is identified as a "Starfleet Archivist Beverage Container" on its box.
↑ The USS Toussaint variant of the Inquiry-class model features a different nacelle design than some of its sister ships (like the USS Zheng He) from the same class. Both variants were seen on-screen, and each design was rendered with two distinct liveries. [2]
Additionally, some variants display red nacelle elements rather than yellow parts, as rendered in the second edition of the Star Trek: Shipyards - Starfleet Ships 2294 to the Future reference book. All these variants were also showcased in the in-universe chapters of the magazine that came with this gift issue, though the design chapter was lifted one-on-one from the magazine that came with regular issue 2.

External links

Eaglemoss.com – official international webshop
HeroCollector.com - official collector portal
Star Trek Universe - official YouTube playlist with model turnaround videos
Ben Robinson (project manager) at Twitter
HeroCollector Star Trek & Sci Fi Collections Fan Group at Facebook – unofficial fan forum
Wixiban.com – Star Trek Universe index

[1] Originally slated to premiere on 1 April 2021, limited quantities of the first two issues were inadvertently shipped to some UK customers in early March.

[2] As had been the case with the preceding Discovery Starships Collection, non-British EU customers were allowed to take out a subscription through the UK website, if a local official website was not available to them in their home countries, which had been the case for countries like the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark.

[3] The partwork's A5 format magazines are the same size as those from the preceding Star Trek: Discovery The Official Starships Collection.

[4] The models are painted freehand and with the use of paint masks (templates), alongside pad and tampo printing processes. From CAD files made from conversions of the original CGI studio models, the earliest prototypes are 3D printed in resin and, once approved by Eaglemoss and the licensors, are tooled and manufactured in China using a variety of injection, vacuum, and compression molding techniques. [1]

[5] Alongside a few Discovery (XL Edition) ships in the Official Starships Collection, this partwork will present the company's future (regular) DIS starship releases, following the release of the thirty-third numbered issue of the Discovery Starships Collection.

[6] Originally slated to premiere on 1 April 2021, limited quantities of La Sirena were inadvertently shipped in early March to some UK customers.

[7] Originally slated to premiere on 21 April 2021, limited quantities of the USS Zheng He were inadvertently shipped in early March to some UK customers.

[8] The USS Excalibur's identification, class (Constitution), and registry appeared on page 245 of the second edition of the Star Trek: Shipyards - Starfleet Ships 2294 to the Future reference book.

[9] The Limited Edition print is part of the partwork for which customers have taken out a subscription and should not be confused with the "Star Trek Universe-themed" print (gift premium) shown above.
Incidentally, the variant release numbers for the UK and EU editions, reflect the company's respective customer base sizes; see also the footenotes of its main article in this regard.

[10] The metal mug is identified as a "Starfleet Archivist Beverage Container" on its box.

[11] The USS Toussaint variant of the Inquiry-class model features a different nacelle design than some of its sister ships (like the USS Zheng He) from the same class. Both variants were seen on-screen, and each design was rendered with two distinct liveries. [2]
Additionally, some variants display red nacelle elements rather than yellow parts, as rendered in the second edition of the Star Trek: Shipyards - Starfleet Ships 2294 to the Future reference book. All these variants were also showcased in the in-universe chapters of the magazine that came with this gift issue, though the design chapter was lifted one-on-one from the magazine that came with regular issue 2.

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