Originally published July 15, 2022 | Updated: July 24, 2022, 9:23 p.m. ET
Update: The Eaglemoss websites are now down and show a “404 Page Not Found Error” and the phones have been disconnected. At this time, there is no information available regarding the potential for refunds or a potential suitor that could potentially step in to save the company or continue its programs.
Original story below…
Eaglemoss, one of the longest-running “partworks” companies in the business, has reportedly closed its doors.
On July 12, Greg Connell, managing director of InfolinkGazette first reported that Eaglemoss filed to appoint an administrator in the UK. Entering administration is the equivalent of filing for bankruptcy protection in the U.S. The Toy Book has independently confirmed the report. According to Connell, “revenue peaked at £68 million but had fallen to £31.6 million in the last filed accounts.”
The downturn for Eaglemoss has been swift, following years of growth and expansion into new categories and markets worldwide. Just two years ago, the Eaglemoss Hero Collector brand made a big push into the U.S. market with a Walmart deal in place and distribution through Hot Topic, BoxLunch, GameStop, Calendar Club, Spencer’s, and more for its licensed products, including figures, vehicles, and prop replicas. Eaglemoss maintained licensing deals with Warner Bros., Universal, Paramount, Sony, the BBC, and more for items based on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Trek, DC Comics, Harry Potter, Doctor Who, and more.
On the partworks front, the business most recently evolved to focus on the Eaglemoss Die-Cast Club and its large-scale Build-Ups collection of model vehicles. Major projects, including the Gone In 60 Seconds “Eleanor” Ford Mustang, the Back to the Future DeLorean Time Machine, and the Ghostbusters Ecto-1 were offered through the Club with monthly deliveries of parts, printed materials (instructions, magazines, and archival assets), and exclusive collectibles that would ultimately result in a completed, 1:8-scale model. The combined fees for each project were in the thousands of dollars.
Sadly, hints to the status of Eaglemoss were starting to emerge as executives began defecting to other companies in the collectibles space, including Zavvi, Mighty Jaxx, and others over the past year.
In the U.S., Eaglemoss opened a new warehouse in 2020 that was supposed to expedite shipping but was plagued with logistics problems almost from the start. Now, many consumers that have already invested thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours in building models from Eaglemoss will potentially be left with unfinished projects, most notably the Ecto-1.
The Toy Book first received word of problems regarding shipments for Ecto-1 parts last year, but those issues accelerated in recent months. On February 9, Ecto-1 subscribers received an email regarding the logistics issues.
We have been facing some challenges on dispatching stock on a regular basis and for that apologize. Without going into all the nitty gritty, we are excited to announce that Eaglemoss has partnered with a new fulfillment center in the US, that we feel will provide a better service than experienced in the last few months.
From a Feb. 9, 2022 email to Eaglemoss customers.
Less than two weeks later, the Ecto-1 project lead left the company. Since that time, shipments to consumers have been erratic, with several months’ worth of “issues” arriving in bulk in some cases. Similar issues were reported overseas nearly two years ago, with pandemic-related challenges taking the blame.
In another curious move, back in February, the Eaglemoss Hero Collector Facebook Page (archived) which had been dormant since March 2020, began posting a barrage of NFT-related articles from the official Eaglemoss blog, perhaps signaling that the company was eyeing a play in the digital collectibles space. The article shares continued with increasing frequency through April, at which time the page went dormant again.
As of July 15, consumers visiting the U.S. Eaglemoss website had either received notice that orders cannot be placed “due to a technical error,” or that products were out of stock. At that time, all products, including the new RMS Titanic, were listed as unavailable or sold out with an email form to “register interest” on their product pages.
While going into administration or bankruptcy does not always mean that a company is done for good — they could reorganize or be purchased — The Toy Book will continue to monitor the situation and will report future updates on the status of Eaglemoss as we have them.
