Category Archives: NEWS

The Ecto-1 is BACK!

The last time I received any parts for my 1:8 scale Ghostbusters Ecto-1 partwork build-up was October 2021. Then, in July 2022, the entire distributor Eaglemoss/Hero Collector just flat went out of business.

Now, after more than a year, our Ecto-1 is returning back to life through Fanhome! And thankfully, they are allowing ex-Eaglemoss subscribers resume our subscriptions from any point – in my case the next shipment will be Issue 29 with Stages 107-110. I actually have Stages 91-106 on hand, but have not built them because I was waiting for the replacement  Right Front Door (91A) that never arrived (hopefully in Stage 107).

As of right now, they can only ship to the USA, UK, and Germany. The links to the new sites are found below:

Shipments are expected to begin by July 2023. Additionally, Fanhome has said that FREE GIFTS will be included along the way, but they may be different than what Eaglemoss offered.

I have had a great experience with Fanhome so far and am looking forward to completing my Ecto-1!


UPDATE July 17, 2023:

As promised, the relaunch of this build is now live! We have another update from BAC @ Fanhome with additional details:

Todays the day!

 

What a difference a year makes, almost to the day after the pervious company folded, we are now finally at the end of the road and the last two collections are going live. Just a quick note to give a rough guide of what will happen today and over the next few weeks. Both collections will be going live today but this does not mean your order will be processed today, we will release orders in batches as not to flood the system but also to check for any errors or bugs (you can never be careful).

 

While we only have two collections going live, we have two types of customers for each collection based across three countries:
· Returning customers – those builders needing to complete the model.
· New builders – welcome to the FanHome club 😊
So, in real terms we have 6 mini launches to manage, hence why we release in batches. The goal is to have all accounts live within 2 days (UNLESS something major goes wrong, but nothing did with the last two collections and we are copying the same principle).

 

Once your account is live the payment process is started – we will request the full amount from your card or payment provider. Depending on if this request is authorised, we can than send your dispatch order to the local warehouse for picking and packing. Please note some providers return times are not always instant but normally within a few hours.

 

Next the orders will be sent for dispatch, this is where we will most definitely see some delays (no point in sugar coating it) in picking and packing than normal, with a new launch normally the staff will work from one position in the warehouse as everyone starts on the same issue aka stage 1!

 

The nature of these collections is that we have customers starting from stage 1 upwards. Staff will need to move around more frequently from different locations which all takes time. The warehouse team leaders are making sure we have all staff are on hand and available for the next several weeks.

 

Customers in the UK also bear in mind that our parcels are shipped from mainland Europe so will take up to 18 days to reach you once the parcel has (as Elvis would say) left the building. We use Royal mail to deliver our parcels in the UK and we are not able to provide tracking as the parcel needs to cross the border and change hands to the new courier. Therefore, taking all into account parcels will not start reaching customers for at least 2-3 weeks at the earliest. We ask for your patience, check your portal weekly for the most recent updates on your order/parcel.

 

A small request, please do not call our support team to ask for delivery updates they can only provide the same information as shown in the portal. Of course, contact our team if you have any questions e.g. payment/methods/declines/returns/missing items etc.

 

There is over 7k orders to be handed today hence the update above to give you some understanding of the project at hand. Yup the collections are live, but the real work starts TODAY!

UPDATE July 10, 2023:

With only a week to go before this model resumes distribution, we received a quick update from BAC at Fanhome:

WOW with only a week to go before we launch this collection, lets reflect on what has happened and also a thank you for the support and understanding from the groups as a whole.

 

Especially while we sorted out the stock, licenses, copyrights etc., the feedback as been overwhelming supportive and we would like to acknowledge that with a huge THANK YOU!

 

With that being said it has come to my attention that we have a small delay in some of the reprinted booklets reaching the warehouse in time for the launch.

 

Anyone who is affected will be emailed by Thursday to let you know that there will be a 3 week delay before your parcel is dispatched.

While this news will not delight, please bear in mind the enormity of the situation that we need to resolve and just one delayed truck has now impacted some returning customers.

 

I can not share the list of customers here but we are speaking of a very small number and if you are affected you will be contacted by the end of this week.

 

Kind regards
BAC

UPDATE June 22, 2023:

DeAgostini (the parent company behind Fanhome) will be releasing the Ecto-1 in Italy coming up in September 2023.

You can pre-order right now here: DeAgostini Italy!


UPDATE May 25, 2023:

Fanhome has said that returning US/UK/DE ex-Eaglemoss customers will have until around the end of 2023 to re-subscribe. This is to allow for excess stock to be released in other countries. If you have not subscribed yet and plan on it, now would be the time. If needed, you can subscribe and contact Customer Service to put up to 3-months hold on your deliveries.


UPDATE May 2, 2023:

The Ecto-1 is now available for pre-order (new customers) and re-subscribe (returning customers) in the US/UK/DE! I have signed back up and if you are doing the same, head on over to Fanhome.com!


UPDATE April 12, 2023:

Fanhome has announced that this build will be available for PRE-ORDER on April 26, 2023 in the US/UK/DE. At that point, we should be able to use the links above to re-subscribe. The expected shipping start date for these subscriptions is in July 2023.

Also, they have confirmed that the replacement Right Front Door (91A without the side mirror) *will* be supplied in Stage 107 as expected!


UPDATE April 24, 2023:

Fanhome is still expecting that pre-orders for the Ecto-1 will open on the 26th of April. They are awaiting approval from the copyright holders and their marketing teams are actively working with them to get it done in time. If there is a delay, it will be a very short one.


UPDATE April 27, 2023:

We now have word that the Ecto-1 will open up for pre-order and re-subscribing on May 2nd. The shipping start date is tentatively set for July 17th of this year.


UPDATE May 2, 2023:

Fanhome has now opened up the Ghostbusters Ecto-1 for pre-order and re-subscribing. If you are continuing an existing build, be sure to scroll down to the Continue My Subscription button to select the issue you want to start from. I am excited to get this build underway again!

In regards to the replacement Right Front Door (91A) that was supposed to arrive with Stage 107, Fanhome says they are working this out and that you should re-subscribe from your last received issue regardless.

Stages 107+ Delayed

I finally received the shipment that contained Stages 95-106, but Stage 103 was missing. I had to go through the new process of taking pictures of an stage that doesn’t exist and email them. And, now Stage 107 is out of stock. This is the stage that contains the replacement right front door without the side mirror. Who knows when I can get back to building this thing!


UPDATE November 8, 2021: Unfortunately, Stage 107 is still unavailable and there is no ETA.


UPDATE November 19, 2021: Eaglemoss Customer Service USA posted this update on Facebook:

Good morning,
Following on from the Enterprise-D update below is the status of the stock for the ECTO-1 build.
Currently there is no stock available for the following stages as of this morning:
3,23,54,56,94,107,108,109,110,115,116,117
Magazine – 115 to 118
Magazine – 71 to 74
(stock levels change throughout the day so the above may have changed)
If you next shipment includes any of the above stages/mags than I am sorry to say that we will not be able to dispatch until the stock is available.
Currently inbound we have the following stages:
79,80,81,82,91,92,93,94,95,96,97,98,99,100,101,102,103,104,105,106,107,108,109,110,123,124,125,126,127
The above is due to reach US soil from today into the new year across several containers.
Once these stages are in the system, your shipments will resume as normal. If you are not waiting on the above stages and have not received a parcel for some time this may be due to a “free” item being out of stock.
USA subscriptions are set up differently from the EU/UK and any “free bonus” items are locked into the cycle, this means the service team are not able to skip if out of stock. I arranged for the introduction of an IOU notice as a trail run, this has now been adopted for most of our subscriptions. If any “free bonus” item is out of stock an IOU will be included and once that item is available, it will be included in your next parcel.
Stages on route to be booked into the warehouse:
83,84,85,86,87,88,89,90,115,116,117,118,119,120,121,122
We advise that there is at least a minimum of 14-day difference from port to warehouse and once on site the stock will be booked and your shipments will continue again.
I hope the above helps to explain the current situation for this build
Kind regards,
Brett
N.B. any dates provided are subject to change

UPDATE December 15, 2021: Sadly, Stage 107 is still unavailable. I do have Issues 95-106 here waiting, but I still need the replacement right front door.


UPDATE January 3, 2022: I checked again today and Stage 107 is still out of stock.


UPDATE February 3, 2022: I checked again today and Stage 107 is still out of stock.


UPDATE February 28, 2022: An update from the Eaglemoss Customer Service USA page on Facebook. I am still waiting on Stages 107-110:

Good afternoon,
Today I am focusing on the status of the Ecto-1 stock levels
There is no stock available for the following stages as of this morning:
stages 106/110/114/117/124
(Please keep in mind that stock levels change throughout the day)
If you next shipment includes any of the above stages/mags than I am sorry to say that we will not be able to dispatch until the stock is available.
Once I have an ETA on when we can expect them to reach US soil I will update this post.
Once these stages are in the system, your shipments will resume as normal. If you are not waiting on the above stages and have not received a parcel for some time this may be due to a “free” item being out of stock.
We advise that there is at least a minimum of 14-day difference from port to warehouse and once on site the stock will be booked into our system.
Kind regards,
Brett
P.S. any dates provided are subject to change

UPDATE March 30, 2022: A general update from the Eaglemoss Customer Service USA page on Facebook:

Hi
You may all be wondering why I have not been posting of late stock updates for our active collections.
We are in the process of transitioning to our new warehouse. Right now, we are not going to be able to give you accurate stock information or guaranteed shipment dates.
While we are working to restock our merchandise as quickly as possible, we are also preparing for the move. Some of our restocked merchandise is being delivered to the new warehouse in preparation.
We may show an out-of-stock pop up for you right now when you call in. Until our move is complete the inventory counts and availability is only showing for one of the warehouse locations. This means anything is in stock at the new warehouse is not going to show as available to our agents until the move is complete.
While we are starting with the oldest collections stock levels are changing so much giving a clear figures now would be confusing and misleading.
Stay tuned for more updates soon
Brett

 


UPDATE July 8, 2022: I checked again today and Eaglemoss is saying the magazine for Issue 29 (Stages 107-110) is out of stock. No ETA.


UPDATE July 12, 2022: Today, Eaglemoss Limited (parent company of Eaglemoss US supplying this model) has filed for bankruptcy.

Stages 95+ Delayed

As of yesterday, September 26, 2021, this build is on hold again because the Issue 26 magazine for the next shipment is out of stock. There is no ETA when it will be available.


UPDATE October 11, 2021: Out of nowhere, I received a shipping notification for Stages 95-106!


UPDATE October 15, 2021: I did receive the shipment that should have been Stages 95-106, but Stage 103 was missing. I had to go through the new process of taking pictures of an stage that doesn’t exist and email them. Unfortunately, I still cannot continue with the build until I receive the replacement front right door that does not have the side mirror slot in it – this arrives with Stage 107.

Stages 91-94 Skipped

So, I have finally received Issue 25 containing Stages 91-94 of our 1:8 scale Ghostbusters Ecto-1 from Eaglemoss. However, they recommend not building these stages until the replacement Right Front Door arrives in Stage 107. I shared the email I received about this change in my Stages 91+ Delayed post. Therefore, I will skip publishing those articles until we can do it right the first time.

I am on track to receive the next shipments normally and we can build those in the interim. This should keep the build moving.

I did receive a request to share the parts lists from the Issue 25 magazine, so I can do that here for now:

Stages 91+ Delayed

I recently contacted Eaglemoss to check on the status of my various builds and was told that Stage 91 of our Ghostbusters Ecto-1 build was out of stock. I had to reduce my monthly shipments from 8 to 4 issues just to receive Stages 87-90. A few days later, I received this email:

I have been made aware of a production issue with part 91A with shipment 24, that is due to be dispatched very soon. The right hand door has been produced with the wing mirror attached.

This is of course not representative to the actual model seen in the movie, where the right hand side wing mirror is missing from the door panel.

We are advising NOT to assemble part 91A at this stage, as we have taken steps to provide the correct screen-accurate piece at a later stage. This issue is specific to the first wave of customers who ordered in 2020 and will be corrected for orders in 2021 and beyond.

This will not affect the build of your model going forward and will be easy to revisit once supplied.

The corrected door panel will be provided in issue 107 which is included in shipment 28 and will be included at our expense.

Please accept my apologies and be assured, I will keep you updated on any further developments moving forward.

Kind regards,

Brett Coles

Head of Customer Service USA/UK/Europe

If you have any questions about your subscription or wish to update your contact, shipping or payment details, please contact our Customer Service team:

Toll free number: 1-800-261-6898

Email: customerservice@eaglemoss.com

Customer Service is available 24/7

I don’t mind waiting until Stage 107 for the corrected door, but if the existing Stage 91 is unavailable, everything gets stalled out. Therefore, we are stuck in a holding pattern again.


UPDATE August 28, 2021: According to Eaglemoss, both Stage 91 and Stage 94 are now out of stock. The wait continues…


UPDATE September 2, 2021: I have received a shipment notification for stages 91-94. Go figure!


UPDATE September 7, 2021: Stages 91-94 in Issue 25 have arrived but it still contains the wrong door. I will post an update regarding this.

Stages 79+ Delayed

I did not receive an Eaglemoss shipment of our 1:8 scale Ghostbusters Ecto-1 last month or this month. I called Customer Service today and was told that stages 87-90 are out-of-stock with no ETA. It turns out I was on a 12 stages-per-shipment schedule and that was holding up the next two issues because the third was unavailable. I have dropped it down to 8 stages-per-shipment, so hopefully I will get stages 79-82 and 83-86 here shortly.


UPDATE Jul 17, 2021: Stages 79-86 have arrived and should be posted up shortly!

Stages 59+ Delayed

My last shipment from Eaglemoss of our 1:8 scale Ghostbusters Ecto-1 was almost two months ago. I called Customer Service last week and was told that stages 59-62 are out-of-stock with no ETA. It appears we are in a holding pattern again.


UPDATE Mar 16 2021: Stages 59-62 have now shipped and should arrive shortly.