Anovos is Outta Business and Star Trek Fans SOL

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Looks like Anovos has finally collapsed under the weight of delays and never delivering orders. It's gone, replaced by a new successor company, Denuo Novo (which translates to New Anovos). The new venture is in conjunction with NECA and Rubies.

It's uncertain who from Anovos is involved with this "replacement".

The Anovos site now redirects to Denuo Novo, which has picked up the Star Wars licenses and promises to fulfill orders Anovos never did for that line.

From their press release:

RUBIES II ANNOUNCES WHOLLY-OWNED SUBSIDIARY DENUO NOVO EXPANDING INTO HIGH-END COLLECTIBLES AND REPLICA COSTUME PRODUCTS WESTBURY, N.Y., [DATE] –


Rubies II LLC and National Entertainment Collectibles Association, Inc. (NECA), today announced that it has formed Denuo Novo LLC, a new wholly-owned subsidiary, that will specialize in the creation of high-end collectibles including replica costumes and props from various pop culture franchises.

Denuo Novo will combine the world-class innovation and creative capabilities of NECA with Rubies’ best-in-class supply chain and omni-channel retailing capabilities. The new product assortment will include replica helmets, high-end cosplay quality costumes perfect to wear at the next big comic convention, life-sized statues, and more.

Rubies has been making Halloween costumes for over 60 years while NECA has been a force in the licensed product and collectibles space for over 25 years. The creation of Denuo Novo allows the talented designers and product developers from both powerhouse companies to create a new destination for cosplay and replica costumes and high-end collectibles.

Looking ahead, the newly formed Denuo Novo seeks to be the single stop for premium quality costume replicas and high-end collectibles for generations to come. New products supporting Star Wars and other franchises are on the horizon. They also plan on fulfilling many of the existing orders of Star Wars replica and high-end collectible products originally produced by Anovos Productions.

"NECA has been a powerhouse in licensed collectibles for years and we’re incredibly excited to grow our presence in the high-end collectibles space with replica costumes and helmets,” said Joel Weinshanker, managing partner of Rubies, adding, "Furthermore, we are thrilled to offer the quality and attention to detail that these discerning customers have come to expect."

Visit www.denuonovo.com to see the assortment of products and learn more about the company. If you have a question you can reach out to customerservice@denuonovo.com. STAR WARS and related properties are trademarks and/or copyrights, in the United States and other countries, of Lucasfilm Ltd. and/or its affiliates. © & TM Lucasfilm Ltd.

So far Trek orders and those who paid in full for them are shit outta luck. That's me. I'm among them. Paid in full, $500+, for a Beyond survival jacket. Five years ago at SDCC 2016. Five years and nothing to show for my money. And I'm not alone.

Trek Twitter is ablaze at this.

 

[STEPhon IT]

I'm one of the victims. I ordered a season two wrap outfit in January of 2020 and was told by a person named Reggie it was delayed because of the pandemic. He mentioned to be patient and I was but I trusted him and the company in good faith. I don't know if I should go to my credit card company and inform them about this or wait and hope this new company will take over the Star Trek license and honor my order?

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

Go through the credit card company just in case? Since it's more recent than my order.

The card and account I used doesn't exist anymore, so I can't go that route. There are several class action lawsuits now out there against Anovos.

 

[STEPhon IT]

I am sorry to read this, Ryan, is it possible you could join the class action suit if you still have your order confirmation and emails of those delays?

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

I am sorry to read this, Ryan, is it possible you could join the class action suit if you still have your order confirmation and emails of those delays?

Thanks. I'm also sorry about your situation. I've already joined one. Thankfully I pulled all that info off the Anovos site a month ago before it went belly up and the site taken down.

 

[fireproof78]

That's crazy. So sorry for all the losses. Ryan, I hope the case is a win.

 

[Markonian]

Did anyone ever get their Anovos artisan starship models?
https://www.thetrekcollective.com/2018/07/anovos-reveal-discovery-uss-enterprise.html

 

[Maurice]

Did anyone ever get their Anovos artisan starship models?
https://www.thetrekcollective.com/2018/07/anovos-reveal-discovery-uss-enterprise.html

“Artisan”?

 

[publiusr]

I’m beginning to hate that word more than “synergy”

When my mean cousin broke my AMT Enterprise, my Dad made a wooden…approximation…that looked a bit like the playmobile. That’s artisan. I wish I still had it.

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

“Artisan”?

The models are baked by hand with loving care.

 

[publiusr]

Autoclaves do have a place in spaceflight

 

[David cgc]

The models are baked by hand with loving care.

Back when those models were still QMX-branded (I don't think Anovos even existed at the time) I got a tip about a job in north-central Florida at their shop assembling them. It was a bit too much of a commute for me, but, you know, you gotta wonder what my life would be like if I'd spent a couple years hand-painting Enterprise-Refits, Reliants, and Serenities for the extremely upper-middle-class collector.

 

[F. King Daniel]

How do dodgy companies like this end up with official licenses?

 

[Kamen Rider Blade]

I'm one of the victims. I ordered a season two wrap outfit in January of 2020 and was told by a person named Reggie it was delayed because of the pandemic. He mentioned to be patient and I was but I trusted him and the company in good faith. I don't know if I should go to my credit card company and inform them about this or wait and hope this new company will take over the Star Trek license and honor my order?

How much $ did they swindle from you?

 

[seigezunt]

I'm sorry for all the people who were ripped off. Good that they are gone and no one else will be. I literally only ever purchased one thing from them, and it was in person at a con, because I'd already heard the horror stories.

 

[Neumann]

I’m on the same boat with 2018, 2019 and 2020 purchases. What happening to those? Did they just evaporate?

 

[Ryan Thomas Riddle]

UPDATE: I emailed Denuonovo's CS, and, as of now, the Star Trek items are vaporware. They are "trying to get the Star Trek license".

I'm including my original email to them, their response, and my followup questions. My reporter hackles are up.

Initial email:

Their response:

My follow up questions:

I've also emailed NECA's media relations with a slew of questions:

A few questions for clarification: If you did not buy Anovos, why fulfill their backorders? How can you take on that debt if you didn't buy out the company? Is NECA and Rubies, through Denounovo, eating the cost then? Will customers with backorders be asked to cough up more money to have their orders finally fulfilled? Is this fulfillment part of your license agreement with Disney/Lucasfilm?

Also why a similar name and look to Anovos? And is anyone from Anovos currently staffed at Denu Novo?

I'd like to also say I don't blame the line workers at Anovos. There were some good people there. This boils down to bad management and a problematic business model.

 

[drt]

It seems weird they would start a company with such a similar name without having someone from Anovos involved.

Also, without buying some assets such as a customer list, how would they even know how to fulfill any of the Star Wars orders?

 

[fireproof78]

It's possible that leadership at Anovos saw the writing on the wall and started selling assets, which can include customer lists. Usually that is a part of bankruptcy proceedings but they didn't do that. Looks like the leadership cut and ran, taking what money they could. Strange there is little news.

So, they sold what parts they could. Odd that Rubies didn't have the Trek license though to bring under the new brand. This whole thing stinks.

 

[Indysolo]

So far Trek orders and those who paid in full for them are shit outta luck. That's me. I'm among them. Paid in full, $500+, for a Beyond survival jacket. Five years ago at SDCC 2016. Five years and nothing to show for my money. And I'm not alone.

I'm sorry to hear you're out this much cash.