Posted in: Movies, san diego comic con | Tagged: Batman, Ben Robinson, Comics, doctor who, eaglemoss, entertainment, figures, star trek, Vehicles

Learn More About Eaglemoss Collections With Company Chief Editor Ben Robinson

If you've been in comics shop and seen small painted lead figures of Marvel or DC characters with an accompanying magazine… then you have seen the creations of Eaglemoss Collections. The company produces collectibles for many fan favorite lines like Doctor Who, Star Trek, James Bond and their newest line, Batman Automobilia – the vehicles featured in the Batman comics, films, television and animated series.

I got a chance to talk with Eaglemoss' chief editor Ben Robinson about the company, the subscription process and how they choose what will be offered next from each line of products.

BLEEDING COOL: Eaglemoss began doing Marvel and DC related figures / statues and then moved on to chess pieces. And now a line of Batman vehicles. How did all of this come about?

BEN ROBINSON: Eaglemoss does all sorts of different genre collections not just Marvel and DC figurines but the Marvel Fact Files, various Doctor Who collections, Star Trek ships, and James Bond cars. Until now only a few of those have been available in the States, though you've been able to find them in lots of different countries all around the world. That seemed wrong to us and we've always wanted to get our products out there, but the way we sell stuff everywhere else just doesn't work in the US. We've done some products through Diamond and that's going to continue to be a really big part of our business, but at the same time we know that there are supply issues and that these things were designed to be bought as collections so we're now offering people a way of joining Collector's clubs so that they can be sure of getting every issue.

We've got a team of people who are absolutely passionate about this stuff. Lots of the people working on the comic book collections are actually veterans from Marvel UK, and one of our editors used to be Tharg. If you came into our office you're likely to find people having arguments about the exact height of a Dalek, the colour scheme of a Star Trek ship or whether a Batmobile from 1972 would have had a concealed smoke gun.

A large part of what I do is talk to my boss – our creative director, Maggie Calmels – about what kind of products we could do. As long as it's a collection that enough people will want and we can produce it at a reasonable price, then we're interested. Turning an idea into reality isn't normally too bad – most of our products are licensed by the big companies whether that's DC, Marvel, the BBC or the Hollywood studios. We have a really good relationship with them and they normally like what we propose. Then all we have to do is actually make it!

BC: What is the design process for each item? Do you have a team of designers? Since there is a 3D lenticular background with some of your products, do you base the designs from a single image from a movie/comic or do you design the car and then come up with the background after?

BR: All the stuff we do, whether it's a Batmobile or a Star Trek ship is based on something that's appeared on screen or in a comic book. We're not interested in making stuff up; we're here to turn that might have made a fleeting appearance in your favourite show or comic into a physical object that you can hold in your hand or put on your desk. So we spend a lot of time doing research. If it's a Batmobile, we look for every panel it's ever appeared in, collate all the reference and send it out to an artist who draws up orthographic views, which we then discuss with the team at DC Comics. For figurines, we go through a similar process, deciding which version of a character to do and exactly what pose they should be in. It's a little easier if it's a Star Trek ship, since we're actually working with the people who created the visual effects in the first place and we can get our hands on the original CG models. In every case, the point is to be as faithful to the original material as possible.

The lenticular backgrounds for the Batmobiles are a bit of a special case. When we're doing a Batmobile we look at all the stories it appeared and pick an iconic scene. You might think they're just pretty pictures, but if you go back and read the comics you'll find they all make sense and have been chosen for a reason.

BC: You have a very diverse line of products and I see, for example with the Batman vehicles, you have some from the movies, comics and animation. Just how big of a pool do you have to choose from? How is it decided which characters or vehicles to do and when?

BR: One of the huge advantages we have over a lot of other companies is that we do a lot of different models. I mean who else has produced figurines of Wiccan and the Trapster? For a lot of people that's the appeal of what we do – these are big collections with lots of stuff in them that no-one else will ever do, and we want to give people something they'd never get any other way. We're going to get a lot more obscure than the Jokermobile! For example, we're doing the Mothmobile, which is what Killer Moth drove in the 50s. On our Star Trek collection we'll end up doing every Starfleet ship, even the ones that only ever appeared for a few seconds when they were fighting the Borg in First Contact.

Again, the rule is that we do things that are 'real' i.e. appeared in some kind of official story, whether that's a TV show, a movie or a comic. The rules are a little different depending on which product we're talking about and there are one or two cases where we can't do something for legal reasons, but a big part of the fun is finding things that people don't expect. The longer a collection goes on, the more likely you are to get those kind of rare models.

BC: With each product, the subscriber also gets a collectible magazine. What can folks expect to see in the magazine? Does your company do all the research on their own or do you collaborate with property owner on them?

BR: The mags are a real labour of love. We always try to make sure that they are packed with the kind of stuff you won't find anywhere else, whether that's in-depth research into a character or a vehicle or interviews with people who worked on TV shows or movies. We do a lot of the research in house, before sending it off to the rights holders for their approval. We make a point of employing real experts. We know that genre fans are a demanding lot, because we're fans too.

And, when it comes to the Marvel Fact Files, we put an enormous amount of effort into commissioning artwork, which again is carefully based on something that actually appeared in a comic.

The Batmobiles are a little different to other projects because there's a certain amount of work that goes into fleshing out what you saw in the comics. We discuss all of that very carefully with the team at DC as we develop the models and, in particular the cutaways that are inside every mag. By the way, those cutaways are produced by some incredibly talented artists, who build them as full CG models.

BC: Now I mentioned above the word subscriber because this is offered as a subscription service. Why do it that way? And how does the subscription service work?

BR: In the rest of the world our products have always been designed as subscription products. It's a way of keeping the costs down and the quality up. If you tell me you'll buy three Batmobiles, I can afford to do it at a better price than if I think you're only going to buy one. Of course, you can still buy these models individually in comic book stores, though you'll normally have to ask the store to order them in specially.

What we're saying is if you know you want them, sign up with us and we'll give you some loyalty gifts and make sure that everything gets delivered direct to your house. You pay the same every month on a credit card or PayPal and that's about it. It's about making it hassle free. There isn't even much of a commitment – it's no different to a pull list and you can cancel at any point. Going forward, we're looking at making the subscription service in to something more ambitious and are thinking about them more as collector's clubs where we can offer some unique products.

BC: And finally, how many vehicles do you think will be in each set? With the Batman Automobilia, will you be branching out into other DC heroes. say the ship Superman came to Earth in, Wonder Woman's Invisible Jet, Aquaman's. uhm.. Sea horse?

BR: For now the idea is to do as many Batmobiles, Star Trek ships and Doctor Who figurines as we can. We don't want to stray too far from the promise the title makes you, so while you'll see some Jokermobiles and sidekick bikes and cars the Batman Automobilia collection is going to be just that – vehicles driven by characters in Batman movies, TV shows and the comics.

For more on Eaglemoss Collections you can click here… or to check out the Batman Automobilia you can click here.

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