And I have to say…… I was initially impressed with the pistol QMX produced, but that wore off quickly. The Paint job seemed innaccurate so I took a Look at the serenity shootout scene at the Bank Job and Yep Bottem of the Magazine is supposed to be more Brassy looking. Back of the trigger wasnt even Painted. On the upside (Also Down Side) the Weathered color Flaked away rather easilly with normal handling, exposing the brassy look…. That was a dissapointment.

I know a lot of people didnt like the trigger portion of the pistol. but its Blocky looking because its cast off the STUNT pistol. Its not the one they used for close ups just the one for the rough and tumble wear.

I have to say in retrospect I dont feel the QMX was worth the money. The Sidkit had its problems but I was quite happy with what I got vrs Cost. Phils pistols are rare and hard to come by, and you dont get more accurate than cast from screen used hero. The Arsenol Models was verry disspointing and extreemly small, its a Kids toy not a 1:1 replica. If you want a Pistol thats fairly accurate and wont break the bank, buy Bills from Wilco Models. Placed side by side with the Phil, and QMX its a cut above most Garadge kits. Correct Size and basic details and really if you were to take elements of the Firefly version and combind them with the Serenity version its excellent!

I spent a Year and a Bit telling people that the QMX Metal Pistol will be better because they promised us a hero version. I saw a wonderful little video about the process of the research. And yet we see nothing.

I have to say Shame on QMX! I dont give a hoot about this Maquette or Lithograph Luh Suh. While I think that Ben "Whitefall" does good work and bringing him onboard was a Great thing. Over the past years we have seen repeatedly "limited edition" Items re-releaced at the same or reduced prices! Beyond unacceptable when I buy somthing thats Rare I expect it to stay that way. Thats why We paid the high price.

Instead of Re-releacing Whitefalls stuff, or coming up with Non Cannon tourist trap items. Lets see what we expected to see out of QMX. Innovative, High quality collectors items. Thats what they used to try and do.

Its been YEARS…. so lets see it, Mals Metal Hero pistol.

Yes I'll buy one…….

Untill I see that Item, I will remain Sorely Dissapointed.

Mike

I would, however, suggest you take Ben up on his offer to e-mail him with specific suggestions (screenshots from the show/movie to prove your point would be helpful). I can attest that he takes useful criticism very well: I've seen most everything he's done during the planning stages, and every paper product he has made for QMx has gone through weeks of the beta test team — which, again, includes Mandel and occasionally Tim Earls — picking at it with tweezers. The fact that he takes all that, absorbs it, and continues to be a nice guy amazes me.

I have to respond to the claim that QMX paper props are half assed and overpriced. I own the Alliance currency pack (two of them, actually), the blueprints, and the Blue Sun posters. I have sold the blueprints and posters in my shop. I have to say that there is nothing half-assed about a single one of them. They have all been meticulously detailed, with high-quality printing on quality paper. The Alliance money is an EXACT replica of that used in the movie. I own two of the actual bills used in the movie, and I own the money pack. They are the same thing. They are from the same digital file even, supplied by Geoff Mandell. The box is beautiful.

Overpriced? Have you priced an official license to produce Serenity merchandise? Then look at labor to design the products, manufacturing costs, full-color printing costs, advertising, credit card fees, packaging materials, packaging and order-processing labor, the discounting to wholesale when they sell to retailers – suddenly they seem pretty reasonable. The blueprints were autographed by Geoff Mandell and Tim Earls, and sold in a limited edition, limiting the profits that could ever be made on them. Last I checked, autographs at a convention ran $20.00 or more per person, adding greatly to the value of the set. The blueprints sold out almost instantly, and I've not heard a single complaint about them from customers. I don't plan to let anyone get their paws on my set, that's for sure! The Blue Sun posters were a novelty item, not a replica. Buy them if you like them, skip if you don't. Based on the large numbers of people who lined up to purchase them, I'd say a lot of people liked them! I certainly do, and they are worth the $30.00 price tag to me.

And what pricing factor did I save a whole paragraph for? Supporting the franchise. One part of the built-in cost of these products is licensing. Firefly and Serenity fans have always understood the importance of purchasing licensed goods to show support (and dollars) to the studio. Here, we are lucky enough to be able to support the franchise by buying really well-made products from a company run by browncoats. We have been willing (and still are) to pay good money for official goods featuring the logo plastered on nonsensical stuff (one Serenity Zippo lighter, $30.00. Yes, I own it) simply because we like it and it votes with our dollars. With QMX, we actually get something relevant that happens to be a labor of love with those products. I'm guessing that wasn't the case with the lighter. The best of both worlds is buying fan-made goods that happen to be officially licensed. That's QMX.

I'm going to withhold my opinion on the Mal stunt pistol replica until I actually have it in hand. But I can say it already looks better than the fan-made resin casts I've seen for sale. Does it look, in the photos, cheaper than what QMX originally planned? Yes, it does. Huh, Actually, $100.00 cheaper. But it hardly looks painted with a rattle can to me! The details are crisper than anything I've seen in a fan resin cast, and compared to paying someone to assemble and paint a crude resin replica for me, the price is very reasonable.Oh, and more licensed dollars spent! I also appreciate that is was cast from the actual stunt pistol, so the details are 100% accurate.

Pennausamike, just because I choose to lurk on forums doesn't mean I have not contributed to the prop replica hobby. I have contributed to many projects of note from behind the scenes and have done more research and found many details to props that no one had ever noticed. Of course you won't believe me because I choose to not put my name on everything I have had a hand in.

As for the Mal pistol. It looks cheap. I have stated already that it looks like it was painted with a rattle can, and pretty much looks like most of the fan painted resin ones out there, and the metal Sidkit replicas. If you can't see the problem in this then you never will. QMx is selling licensed replicas they should be better than what the average fan makes.

Also their plans to have sidkit produce the metal hero guns only means they are using an inacurate base to start from and will be too expensive for most people to even concider.

People paid for something that QMx promised would be made, and now they are trying to look good by not offering the quality for the price they repeatedly promised. Now try to appease us with something for those who want something cheaper, and those that want something extremely costly, but not something for those that wanted what they promised.

If they read THESE comments then they should read the many comments and complaints about how unhappy people are with this new offering on other forums. If they even painted them nicely, so they didn't look rattle can painted, then I wouldn't complain, but now there's nothing for those that want accurate quality without paying 3 times as much for something that's overkill.

Thanks!

Your right. Sorry this bickering has gotten out of hand. I'm sure that is not what you intended this site to be. But, since Stan addressed me personally, I just want to do a quick response and then shut up about it for good.

Stan
Yes, I am serious. QMx should and does listen to comments and suggestions but that is not what you did. You jumped into the conversation and said QMx offers half #%$@ products, the designer has no talent and anyone that actually likes these products are idiots. That doesn't help anyone. I'm sure your a decent guy and seem passionate about what you like and don't like. A little discretion in how you get your point across is all we are saying here. I for one am glad to be able to get some really great Serenity products and not break the bank. I think that is one of QMx's goals.

OK, enough out of me.

jim

Qmx has shown themselves more than willing and eager to accept criticism, so it's not exactly like what you have to say isn't going to be heard. Ben even asked you for your opinions, but you haven't backed them up here. Do so and, even if there's a few people who will argue against you simply out of blind loyalty, you're going to come across much better than you currently are. You have the potential to be taken seriously; why give that up simply so that you can be insulting?

The very fact that they're doing two guns now instead of one shows that they care what their potential customers have to say. So again, why be irrationally negative when the things you say could actually have the potential to be taken seriously and could actually make a difference?

Honestly now.