The Merchandise GuideEagle Models: Product Enterprise Eagles
Compiled by Martin Willey
The Merchandise Guide
Released October-November 2019. Limited edition of 1000. £269.99
This is part of the Special Edition Episode Collection from Sixteen 12, first announced on 27 July 2017. The Eagle is an updated version of the 30cm long die-cast Product Enterprise Eagle, first released in 2004. Originally this was a special edition with no number; on release it became set 6. It was originally described as a "hanger dinorama", despite having no dinosaurs or capital punishment.
The two Eagles were originally the Metamorph Eagle (as in the 2006 Gift Set) and a Rescue Eagle with a boarding tube. In December 2018, the second Eagle became a winch Eagle, with corrected colours from the 2005 release. The Rescue Eagle would appear in a separate set.
The card box is 38cm x 40cm x 13cm, much larger than the other boxes in the set. It is similar in design to the 2006 Gift Set, with a front flap held with Velcro buttons. On the inside of the flap are more photos.
The back of the box contains 7 episode photos (only one of the Eagle with boosters, none of the winch Eagle). Most of the shots are from Space Warp.
Buried deep under the surface of the moon, beneath Moonbase Alpha, is the huge hangar where all EAGLE TRANSPORTER SPACECRAFT and ancillary vehicles are housed, maintained and repaired.
Here EAGLE TRANSPORTER sub assembly and pod selection is carried out for specific missions prior to launch.
Maintained by a team of engineers and diagnostic experts, they ensure that the EAGLE FLEET is ready to launch at a moments notice.
This DELUXE EAGLE HANGAR DIORAMA brings to life all the excitement from the show in stunning detail.
Featuring:
- Highly detailed Eagle hangar diorama
- Die cast laboratory Eagle with spine booster rockets and aluminium engine bells
- Die cast winch Eagle as featured in season one's episode Breakaway and aluminium engine bells
- Eagle access stairway
- In-scale eagle engineers and Alpha personnel figures
- Machine turned and hand finished aluminium engine bells on lab booster rockets
- Limited to only 1000 sets worldwide
Dedicated to the inspiration and memory of Gerry Anderson.
In the show continuity, there are several Eagle hangars, not just one. The scale of the figures is vague and debatable, but for the purposes of this display it looks good. It is interesting to see equal recognition given to diagnostic experts, who are normally relegated to a minor category of engineers.
The hangar is based on the model set used in Space Warp, but neither of these Eagle pods were used in that sequence. The Eagle with spine boosters is seen in the hangar in The Metamorph (with a rescue Eagle), but the hangar walls are different.
The grey base is 35cm square, with some markings based on the Letraset shower-stalls, just like the original model set. The green walls are 33cm wide (one of the two has a 2cm corner), and 18.7cm tall. They are fixed to the base and each other with pegs and tiny screws (a magnetic screwdriver is supplied, invaluable for those with big fingers). The triangles are far too pointed (2.5cm), and the green is too vivid.
The four figures are 2cm tall, with a thin base to stand them up (so approximately 1:72 or OO scale). One figure is an astronaut, holding his helmet. The other three are in uniforms, one yellow, two dark brown. One is doing a lunge exercise. At this scale they don't have much detail,
The steps are 3cm deep, 2.2cm wide and 3cm tall including railings (2cm to top step).
The Metamorph Eagle and spine boosters are identical to the 2006 Gift Set, upgraded with aluminium bells and less detailed Alpha insignia.
The winch Eagle is actually a combination of the first Breakaway Eagle cargo pallet from 2018, with the (loose) 2005 winch pod assembly, in corrected colours and more accurate markings. The dark grey interior cages of the 2005 model are obvious compared to the later Eagles.
Copyright Martin Willey