Eaglemoss have revealed they are working on something really original for Christmas this year, a Borg Cube advent calendar! Details are limited at the moment, but the initial report on the product by Toy News states it will be filled with a "host of merchandise and collectables", and that "each calendar can also be used as a storage and display unit with the idea of keeping single-use packaging to a minimum." - Said packaging certainly looks cool:
Every item in these calendars has been specially designed and is exclusive. We’ve brought all our expertise and love for these brands to bear.
One of the things we hear a lot is that people are nervous about buying things for fans because they think they might already have it. The great thing about these advent calendars is that you can absolutely guarantee that the content is brand new, and there is stuff in there that will make true fans smile. That and Christmas are a pretty good combination. We’re so pleased with the final products, so we’re looking forward to revealing them to fans.
I'm sure more detailed information will soon be forthcoming, as it wont be too long until advent calendar sales ramp up well ahead of Christmas. The Borg Cube is one of three designs Eaglemoss are launching this year, along side a Doctor Who TARDIS, and a The Beatles collection - You can check out both on pages 50-51 of Toy News.
The Borg Cube's shape has often lent itself to being adapted into playful packaging, see my Trek Collective List of Borg Cubes for some previous examples. While for more Eaglemoss updates, check back through my Eaglemoss tag.
Hat-tip to Trek Central to pointing me towards the original Toy News article.
I had to google the term just to find out what an "Advent calendar" is:
ReplyDelete"An Advent calendar is a special calendar used to count the days of Advent in anticipation of Christmas." "Advent is a season of the liturgical year observed in most Christian denominations as a time of expectant waiting and preparation for both the celebration of the Nativity of Christ at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming."
It seems rather peculiar and surprising for a Star Trek licensee to be selling an overtly religious item such as this.
Really they're no more overtly religious than most other aspects of christmas, which is in large part just a massive exercise in commercialisation and over-indulgence, and for many (maybe most?) is wholly divorced from the religious celebration. Many non-religious people celebrate christmas, as indeed do many non-christian religious people. In the UK at least advent calendars are most often filled with little chocolates, and appeal to people with a devotion to chocolate probably far more than with an affinity for any deity!
ReplyDeleteAlso, there's loads Star Trek Christmas stuff every year: Christmas decorations, Christmas jumpers, Christmas cards, etc. Christmas is one of the biggest commercial opportunities where it is celebrated, and Star Trek is most popular in countries that are historically and culturally christian where christmas still has a lot of cultural capital (US, Canada, UK, Germany, Brazil); that translates into profits for Star Trek licensees that can tap into it.