Sidewinder
Super Freak
Who's gonna spend 10K on this though? Star Trek has been around for decades with a much larger fanbase comapared to Firefly/Serenity.
QMx-Serenity 1/124 Replica
- Thread starter darthviper107
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It is very strange. They couldn't get anywhere near their initial forecast production run for the smaller model at $3K+ so they produce a much larger more expensive one?
Only way that makes sense to me is if they're going to surprise us on price. Maybe production costs aren't that different between the previous ones and this one.
Potentially this could be only $5K+ and that price point with the much larger size could tempt people.
Doubt it though.
For me if it's like more than $3,000 then it's not possible. Even $3,000 is pushing it.
So not going to happen, especially given that the original BDR went from $2500 with a $500 discount for pre-order sign ups to $3500 before it was pulled from the market.
All the development work alone on the new one wouldn't have been cheap and since only around 200 of the BDR sold, even if the new one was say $5000 (which it won't be) I can't see how any more then 50 will be sold, but I bet they will set the ES at 100.
Maybe they know something we don't.
They may have been contacted by like 1000 people who said, "if only this were slightly bigger and three times the price!"
My guess is that development of this one might not be as high as the last one, which took years to do and was one of their early projects. This time around they know more and can make better decisions about how to create it. But--they also probably realized the price on the first one was too low, so this one is going to be more realistic.
dao2
Super Freak
Why do people keep throwing this 10k number. Only 2 of their pieces have been 10k, and that's only the largest (and not even newest) Star Trek one. I don't know how it stacks up to this and it may be 10k but it may not be. I think 10k for this is pretty excessive even for QMX.
It's actually considerably larger ><
The first one was not too low... it was actually quite highly priced, especially considering how the paintwork came out.
Maybe they know something we don't.
They may have been contacted by like 1000 people who said, "if only this were slightly bigger and three times the price!"
It's actually considerably larger ><
The first one was not too low... it was actually quite highly priced, especially considering how the paintwork came out.
I guess some amount of development time would have already been done, in so much as the research into the plans/layout of Serenity and all that, tho the new one is a TV series version, so already changes are needed.
And while more experience should make things easier to build, they were fairly seasoned model makers to start with and no matter what, it takes time to model each part and build it all up, plus this time, there's interiors to plan/think about and build.
I know a number of people considered the price too high on the original BDR, but at $2000 for those of us that had a discount, when you consider all the overheads, admin, the screw holding the reactor flaps in place that then had to be solved/fixed. Mine ended up going back after a bit of time for a spot of patch up work and to fix some of the lighting (so that's postage cost from Australia to USA and then back to me, none of which I paid for). I really suspect they took a loss on a number of the early Serenity's and maybe broke even by the end of it.
And while more experience should make things easier to build, they were fairly seasoned model makers to start with and no matter what, it takes time to model each part and build it all up, plus this time, there's interiors to plan/think about and build.
I know a number of people considered the price too high on the original BDR, but at $2000 for those of us that had a discount, when you consider all the overheads, admin, the screw holding the reactor flaps in place that then had to be solved/fixed. Mine ended up going back after a bit of time for a spot of patch up work and to fix some of the lighting (so that's postage cost from Australia to USA and then back to me, none of which I paid for). I really suspect they took a loss on a number of the early Serenity's and maybe broke even by the end of it.
My guess is that the cost of the manufacture was higher than they originally expected, painting probably took longer, things like the brass pipes in the back that had to be cut and bent by hand and then installing the electronics. They had said it takes 40 hours for each one, if you hire someone good then you're already losing more than half the value just on labor. They also vastly overestimated the amount they would sell. Originally they were planning for 500, but then they got a good response at Comic-Con so they upped that to 1,000. In the end though they sold something like 200.
Part of the problem was the cost, when compared to what other companies do with that type of thing like the MR Millennium Falcon which was less than $2,000. But other companies also do all their manufacturing in China.
Part of the problem was the cost, when compared to what other companies do with that type of thing like the MR Millennium Falcon which was less than $2,000. But other companies also do all their manufacturing in China.
True, only two of the Star Trek ones are $10k, but then the other two are $7k and even the Viper is $2k. Of course that's just the base cost in USD, you still got postage and if you're outside the US, exchange rate, local taxes, etc, etc.
Could it be under $10k, sure, will it be at least $5k, no doubt, likely to be around $7k, very possible.
dao2
Super Freak
Yes, I can see 5-7k (not including an extra charges). 10k seems to much for it even by QMX's massively inflated standards. They charge so much cause they make it in the US (they used to use the FX company IIRC, or at least for my BDR) and that would be great if it translated into quality. But the my BDR was horribly done, and compared to my cheaper and much larger and better painted china-produced MR Falcon it's pathetic. The paintwork on everything but the cockpit was abysmal and they cheaped out on packing it which caused it to break off a piece during shipping. If they can get it to look good I'm willing to pay, hopefully they will with this.
How was yours packed, mine was in a wooden shipping crate, inside a cardboad box, with the whole ship sitting inside multilayer, custom cut foam all around it and warped in paper.
dao2
Super Freak
How was yours packed, mine was in a wooden shipping crate, inside a cardboad box, with the whole ship sitting inside multilayer, custom cut foam all around it and warped in paper.
Yeah I know how they originally went out and I wish I got that. But later on they cheaped out a lot. Inside instead of the custom cut grey foam cutouts it was just thrown in with a bunch of packing peanuts and one large hard piece of styrofoam on top. And that piece of styrofoam broke off the bit on top of the reactor with the engine on it. I had no nice cutouts and no cardboard box inside my wooden crate, such a jip.
Well, that's a bit of a shame, I wonder why they would even do that, since it then cost them more to fix yours then it would have cost to package it the saem as mine.
dao2
Super Freak
They probably just made a bunch for the original run and said **** it later (I bought it about a year+ after it first released, didn't have money to PO or get it early). The paint work is also noticeably lazier then originally as well, and the rear portions weren't great to begin with. I also had an issue with my base where they one of the holes had gunk in it and it couldn't fit. Which you know it happens fine, and I got a replacement. But upon receiving my replacement I immediately asked them if they wanted it back with no response until more than a week later I just got a return packing slip and an email after that saying they wanted it back, couple all that with the 6 months build time over what they originally promised the whole experience with them was pretty lame.
I REALLY hope they don't use the FX company anymore because they're middling in what they produce. It's nice sure but they charge a lot for stuff that people on the RPF (even just paint work of existing models, like the paint up of the RC blockade runner they did) do better and they don't seem to handle a lot of work well.
That's pretty sad then, even more glad I got mine right away (mine was from the second lot they made, after fixing the reactor flap screw issue, so I managed to avoid that as well).
Makes one wonder if something happened at the FX Company in between, since given the cost, I really wouldn't have been happy with what it sounds like you got, compared to the one I do have.
Will be interesting to see what production ones of the new BDR look like, tho given the no doubt higher price and much more limited production run, they should all look like the prototype, if not better.
Makes one wonder if something happened at the FX Company in between, since given the cost, I really wouldn't have been happy with what it sounds like you got, compared to the one I do have.
Will be interesting to see what production ones of the new BDR look like, tho given the no doubt higher price and much more limited production run, they should all look like the prototype, if not better.
dao2
Super Freak
Hopes and dreams... And the weathered screws they sent out to the first lot looked pretty good IMO so they didn't really get the sore end I don't think.
I don't think anything really happened to the FX company, I've just never seen them try stuff like that before. I saw em on modeler magic and stuff every once and a bit but I think they just bit off more then they could chew, and as it went on they failed at devoting the proper attention to them (like I said mine was pushed back a lot, every month they'd tell me "oh it's in the batch that's in the finishing stages"). Same thing happens to commissioners that take on a run they're not really equipped for :/
I don't think anything really happened to the FX company, I've just never seen them try stuff like that before. I saw em on modeler magic and stuff every once and a bit but I think they just bit off more then they could chew, and as it went on they failed at devoting the proper attention to them (like I said mine was pushed back a lot, every month they'd tell me "oh it's in the batch that's in the finishing stages"). Same thing happens to commissioners that take on a run they're not really equipped for :/
Serenity Film-Scale Artisan Replica – Quantum Mechanix
$7,495
Good luck to the (few) people that get this
$7,495
Good luck to the (few) people that get this
For the rich or financially foolish. Christ you could buy a car for that!
Sidewinder
Super Freak
You're not wrong!
I'd have to be earning 500K a year to spend that much just on one collectible!
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