The Merchandise GuideEagle Models: Eaglemoss Eagles
Compiled by Martin Willey
The Merchandise GuideEaglemoss announced their Space: 1999 collection with the Eagle in May 2021, originally scheduled for July release but pushed back to August. While some models were available in August in the UK, other markets seem to have not had stock until September. Like Sixteen 12 and Round 2, all manufacturing is in China, and was probably delayed by the Covid pandemic.
The card box is 30.5cm x 17cm x 11.5cm. The Space: 1999 logo features on all sides, with a picture of the model on the top and a smaller picture of the base. Inside the box are two expanded polystyrene blocks encasing the model.
The booklet is 15cm x 19.5cm, and 16 pages long.
The booklet is written by Simon T Diplock ("The Story", p4-7) and Nick Abadzis ("Behind the scenes", p10-13). Abadzis is a British comic book artist based in New York. The articles are short and accurate. The illustrations on the cover and interior prominently feature a CGI Eagle which rendered in gun-metal grey. These CGI images are mediocre; either they should have used the actual Eaglemoss model, or the original studio models.
The model comes with a black oval base (the text is only on the underside) and a short clear plastic stand.
The model is closely based on the first 44 inch Eagle model, with detailed decals. It includes the year 2 tubing around the engines, with dark grey engine bells. The rear leg pods have a domes that should only be on the front.
There are two obvious inaccuracies in this leg pod. The black cross behind the side rockets is too thick. The upper assembly of the legs has solid white struts, probably for strength, but the colour is distracting; they would have been more inconspicuous in dark grey or black. The feet pads themselves are very light grey, which is not inaccurate to the early model but probably should have been a more familiar dark grey.
The command module window insets are a little too big, and dark grey rather than black. There should be a white outline around the windows. The framework on the main body is a little thick. The rear engines, and the side dishes on the command module, should be silver-metallic, not dark grey.
The pre-production photos show the rear feet are on backwards, but this has been fixed.
Overall, despite these small inaccuracies, it is a good representation of the Eagle.
The inevitable comparison is with the Product Enterprise/ Sixteen 12 die cast Eagles, which are available at the same time. Both UK-based companies are producing the Eagles in the different configurations seen in the series. Eaglemoss is a much larger company (112 employees/ £50million turnover versus Sixteen 12 with 1 employee and £152k in net assets in 2020). The Eaglemoss Eagle is a little smaller (25cm versus 30cm for Sixteen 12), considerably cheaper (£60 versus £125 or more), and comes with a booklet.
The Eaglemoss have superior additional details to the Sixteen 12 Eagles, especially the decals, but it has some inaccuracies that Sixteen 12 got right (the dark grey command module windows, the leg pod black cross, and the leg assembly are the most notable). The Sixteen 12 die cast Eagles have shiny aluminium bells, while the Eaglemoss bells are dark grey. The legs are fixed on the Eaglemoss Eagle, but sprung on the Sixteen 12. The Sixteen 12 passenger module is detachable, but is fixed for Eaglemoss.
The Eaglemoss Eagle has Year 2 tubing around the rear engines. None of the Sixteen 12 Eagles had this feature until the Dragon's Domain Eagle, also 2021, seen here.
The underside of the Sixteen 12 Eagle passenger module includes the copyright text, but the Eaglemoss Eagle has no text, and better detailing.
In these photos, the Sixteen 12 Eagle looks a more creamy white, and the Eaglemoss is greyer. In reality the colour difference is less obvious.
Copyright Martin Willey