Licensed Star Wars, Star Trek Costume Supplier Anovos Sued in $5M Class Action Suit

Anovos, the highly visible maker of props and replica costumes including including Star Wars, Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica, is being sued in a $5 million class action suit — along with the studios who gave them their licenses — for allegedly not fulfilling presale orders.

According to a complaint filed Monday in California federal court, Richard Dalton of Louisiana has apparently paid Anovos more than $40,000 for merchandise he never received.

The props and costumes Dalton ordered include Star Trek Spock replica blue tunic, a Star Wars: The Force Awakens Kylo Ren costume with helmet, an Imperial Shadow Trooper costume kit, and a $9,000 buildable replica of the starship Enterprise from the original series. Dalton had read on the web site that some orders may be delayed due to limited supply of materials or rushes on specific items.

After three years with no product on his doorstep, Dalton read an explanation on the company’s website. It said when products experienced production delays, some customers would cancel orders and fewer pre-orders led to an increase in the price of the raw materials and per-unit cost as well as cancellation of items that failed to meet the factory’s minimums.

To Dalton, this was obviously some kind of dodge, and by this time Dalton had made additional orders for items ranging from $10 to that $9000 starship model. According to the court filing, he never received any of his items, despite having made $40,000 in pre-orders, and despite repeated inquiries.

“Despite Anovos’ inability to fulfill the hundreds, if not thousands of pre-paid orders customers have already submitted, Anovos continues to market and sell pre-order items on its website and on social media in the same manner: requiring full upfront costs of the items in addition to shipping,” writes attorney Joshua Swigart in the complaint, adding that the company in April instituted an “all sales are final” policy.

Disney, NBCUniversal and CBS are also defendants in Dalton’s class action complaint, which estimates total damages will exceed $5 million. Dalton says the studios permitted Anovos to defraud consumers by renewing their licensing agreements with the companies.

The proposed class is currently defined as: “All consumers who paid for a pre-order product(s) from Anovos and licensed by Disney, NBCU, and/or CBS, and who have not received the product nor a refund from January 1, 2016, through the present.” If you have ordered products from Anovos during this time period and have not received them, you may be elligible to join the suit as a plaintiff. You may wish to contact the attorney’s office for this suit. That attorney is Joshua B. Swigart, 221 Camino Del Rio South, Suite 101, San Diego, California 92108, Phone: 619.233.7770, Fax: 619.297.1022, and his email address is josh@westcoastlitigation.com .

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