QMX Star Trek General discussion thread

[Entropy]

Real hair has a problem. Settings. Owners need some amount fair skills to maintain the character's hairdo. Currently, most manufacturers are leaning to using rooted hair with long hair style (so the head can move).

I, myself, don't see Uhura needs rooted hair, but couple replaceable hair pieces.

I only see her body as the most important part, and not cheap to make because the cost is difficult to amortize with small quantities comparing to other figures.

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I hope you can solve this issue. Uhura is my #1.

 

[Koloth]

Nanjin, I do not agree with you.
1# "Real" hair should not be an issue as Mattel made a though skinny Uhura with "real" hair, the figure is ridiculous, but an artist repainted the face and made a better hairdo, see the picture below.
2# I am not happy with the painted hair, considering Spock V1 and V2, I must confess that I miss his shiny hair he had in TOS.
3# Uhura would be quite a big sales success if she'd be done properly, that means a body that suits her real apperanace in TOS, petite, with curves, a lovely waist, chunky thighs. And not the like the Barbie monster. And the boots, the boots! they are tiny with the tiny cuban heel. The males also had boots with the cuban heel, but Qmx made kind of western style (too wide at the ankle) which is not genuine or authentic.

I will buy you anything TOS (except Chekov, Sulu, Chapel) supposing it is well done.

Your prototype with plastic hairdo (facial expression is quite ok, the hair is not, it looks like a helmet!!):

[/URL][/IMG]

The Barbie Uhura (below original, above redone):

[/URL][/IMG]

Uhura with real hair can be done! Why not by you, Nanjin?

Uhura's petite figure:

 

[nanjin]

Agreed! I loathe doll hair with a passion although I accept that female characters with long hair require it. If your plastic hair gets dusty, just wipe off the dust. If your doll hair gets dusty you ends up with stray hair everywhere. I feel your pain regarding Uhura's body. Alternate hair pieces would be cool!

The Windstorm body with slightly narrower shoulders would not look too bad compared to the others although she's a bit pale and presently stuffed in her boots with no feet to make her shorter. A standard body with darker skin and shorter legs would probably do in a pinch.

I worked in Las Vegas before QMx. My office had couple figure shelves. All the rooted hair figures had standing or flying hair because of static during winter time... I have some phobia with rooted hair.

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[nanjin]

Agreed! I loathe doll hair with a passion although I accept that female characters with long hair require it. If your plastic hair gets dusty, just wipe off the dust. If your doll hair gets dusty you ends up with stray hair everywhere. I feel your pain regarding Uhura's body. Alternate hair pieces would be cool!

The Windstorm body with slightly narrower shoulders would not look too bad compared to the others although she's a bit pale and presently stuffed in her boots with no feet to make her shorter. A standard body with darker skin and shorter legs would probably do in a pinch.

Generic body can only work with ms Yeoman, even nurse chapel will need her own body.

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[Pauln6a]

Nanjin, I do not agree with you.
1# "Real" hair should not be an issue as Mattel made a though skinny Uhura with "real" hair, the figure is ridiculous, but an artist repainted the face and made a better hairdo, see the picture below.
2# I am not happy with the painted hair, considering Spock V1 and V2, I must confess that I miss his shiny hair he had in TOS.
3# Uhura would be quite a big sales success if she'd be done properly, that means a body that suits her real apperanace in TOS, petite, with curves, a lovely waist, chunky thighs. And not the like the Barbie monster. And the boots, the boots! they are tiny with the tiny cuban heel. The males also had boots with the cuban heel, but Qmx made kind of western style (too wide at the ankle) which is not genuine or authentic.

I will buy you anything TOS (except Chekov, Sulu, Chapel) supposing it is well done.

Your prototype with plastic hairdo (facial expression is quite ok, the hair is not, it looks like a helmet!!):

[/URL][/IMG]

The Barbie Uhura (below original, above redone):

[/URL][/IMG]

Uhura with real hair can be done! Why not by you, Nanjin?

Uhura's petite figure:

Noel Cruz's effort is the main reason I am considering repainting Barbie but he re-did her hair and costs $1000.00. You have to be realistic about what is achievable for a price people will pay. You have said you would not even consider three of the other recurring characters. If Uhura is too expensive you risk nudging her onto the other side of the fence for a lot of people.

 

[nanjin]

Nanjin, I do not agree with you.
1# "Real" hair should not be an issue as Mattel made a though skinny Uhura with "real" hair, the figure is ridiculous, but an artist repainted the face and made a better hairdo, see the picture below.
2# I am not happy with the painted hair, considering Spock V1 and V2, I must confess that I miss his shiny hair he had in TOS.
3# Uhura would be quite a big sales success if she'd be done properly, that means a body that suits her real apperanace in TOS, petite, with curves, a lovely waist, chunky thighs. And not the like the Barbie monster. And the boots, the boots! they are tiny with the tiny cuban heel. The males also had boots with the cuban heel, but Qmx made kind of western style (too wide at the ankle) which is not genuine or authentic.

I will buy you anything TOS (except Chekov, Sulu, Chapel) supposing it is well done.

Your prototype with plastic hairdo (facial expression is quite ok, the hair is not, it looks like a helmet!!):

[/URL][/IMG]

The Barbie Uhura (below original, above

Hate this part.... sometime this will tilt the figure from an art piece to toy....

I did examine how to do ?fake hair? hairdo with ?Flirty Girl? -- a 1/6 scale 60s style wig.

Sculpted hair with hair threads add-on then paint if necessary. It worked but not practical....

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[Pauln6a]

Generic body can only work with ms Yeoman, even nurse chapel will need her own body.

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Yeah I think I am a bit more relaxed as I want TMP uniforms which cover most of their bodies. There are quite a few taller Caucasian bodies for Chapel although they might be a bit muscled.

I think the Uhura prototype looks great.

 

[Stryker2011]

I personally don?t have a problem with rooted hair, but for Uhura, I agree, we need to be realistic in our expectations ? sculpted hair is fine, since her hair isn?t long enough to restrict her head movement.

 

[Koloth]

Nanjin, you would be nearly the only one still producing plastic hair sculpts... tss... tss... tss...
Imagine you would put your plastic hair Uhura aside another female figure having "real" hair? The other girl would ask Uhura :"Gee, why are you wearing that silly black matte helmet?"
And Uhura? She would be left crying.

 

[nanjin]

Nanjin, you would be nearly the only one still producing plastic hair sculpts... tss... tss... tss...
Imagine you would put your plastic hair Uhura aside another female figure having "real" hair? The other girl would ask Uhura :"Gee, why are you wearing that silly black matte helmet?"
And Uhura? She would be left crying.

For 3 yeaes, I am tunnel vision'd to Uhura's body, and how to leverage the cost so Uhura cost won't sky rocket'd to Mars.

In average, a new body needs to produce more than 5k in order to ?start? seeing a penny of return, and Uhura will not sell more than 5k...

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[Pauln6a]

For 3 yeaes, I am tunnel vision'd to Uhura's body, and how to leverage the cost so Uhura cost won't sky rocket'd to Mars.

In average, a new body needs to produce more than 5k in order to ?start? seeing a penny of return, and Uhura will not sell more than 5k...

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Well, I think that there is some demand for African bodies and there are not many options out there, especially ones with more realistic proportions. Maybe we could crowd fund some of the cost if the body is available separately?

Definitely some websites that review African dolls, just check out what African head sculpts are out there so you can point people in the right direction, maybe include ankle extenders like the Xing bodies for those that want to add a bit of height.

 

[FlyAndFight]

Something to keep in mind is that a large number of custom figure builders will welcome a Uhura figure just for the body, at the very least. Also consider that by just replacing the body and head sculpt, additional crew members can be made. That would help with sales, too, I suppose.

Uhura is a must-have in our collection, even more than Chekov, in my opinion but we definitely need both. A complete bridge crew is a must.

By the way, I was watching the TOS Star Trek episode "Journey to Babel" on TV last night and we definitely need a green wrap Kirk. To be honest, also a dress uniform Kirk, Spock and McCoy, which also appear in the same episode. They would look fantastic on display. Love those uniforms.

 

[nanjin]

Something to keep in mind is that a large number of custom figure builders will welcome a Uhura figure just for the body, at the very least. Also consider that by just replacing the body and head sculpt, additional crew members can be made. That would help with sales, too, I suppose.

Uhura is a must-have in our collection, even more than Chekov, in my opinion but we definitely need both. A complete bridge crew is a must.

By the way, I was watching the TOS Star Trek episode "Journey to Babel" on TV last night and we definitely need a green wrap Kirk. To be honest, also a dress uniform Kirk, Spock and McCoy, which also appear in the same episode. They would look fantastic on display. Love those uniforms.

View attachment 495916

View attachment 495917

....and she is not doing well lately.

I believe I am the most anxious person in Sector One who wants to complete Uhura.

Out of all the pictures I posted, Uhura was the least to nothing because I care the most.

Observe, any ?big boss? 1/6 company sells bodies?

HT and EB sold theirs for a very short time then stopped completely.... then those companies who surfaced after didn't sell any bodies either. There is a reason behind this for 1/6.

Phicen started out as an 1/6 body company then forward integrated to include 1/6 figures. Note, no 1/6 companies wanted to backward integrate to include selling bodies.

I solved the hair issue by making the hair piece as removable part. Whoever complain about the ideal hairdo for Uhura can make their own without any fuzzing with the original head (most important piece of the figure). This is why I only have one critical path in making Uhura - body. Thats no acceptable compromise or shortcut around this.

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[FlyAndFight]

Yes, I met Nichelle and Walter at a local ComicCon several years ago and she told me that she had gone through some health issues but was very happy to be there and was very talkative to everyone that came by. Walter was on the quiet side, at his table (they were next to each other).

We desperately need figures of them.

 

[gin007]

Kaustic Plastik sells their muscle bodies next to their figures but they aren't a huge company.

Regarding hair, most 1/6 collectors prefer sculpted hair because rooted hair is difficult to make look right, especially for more complex hairstyles or, especially short hair. I have been surprised by the consensus of collectors preferring sculpted hair in other groups. Having said that, I prefer rooted hair myself, but I think not everyone is able to deal with it because it does require skill to make it look good and maintain it. There are a lot of people who want something to look perfect off the shelf. Take for instance the Hot Toys Leias: sculpted hair (are any Leias not sculpted? -- I'm only aware of sculpted ones). Even so, for people that want it, there are some very talented customizers that can take a head, dremel off the sculpted hair and replace it with rooted hair. A (very) few can do complex hairstyles and make it look pretty good. I've done one rooted head and it takes loads of patience.

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[jlacivita]

Regarding hair, most 1/6 collectors prefer sculpted hair because it is difficult to make it look right, especially for more complex hairstyles or, especially short hair.

I find rooted hair to be a crap shoot, whereas sculpted is more reliable (especially for mass produced figures)

Kjun recently did a rooted Dude figure and even though the sculpt is great, it just looks awkward.

However, i have Marla (fight club), Chucky & Beattlejuice with rooted hair and they are great looking (and also characters with comical or disheveled hair)

I do agree with Nanjin that the body for Uhura is a bit more important, and having interchangeable sculpted doos would be a very good exchange for Uhura.

Whoever mentioned custom designers reusing the body was spot on, too, but not sure that would help much with Nanjin?s cost model.


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[ebor]

Nanjin if you offer the Uhura figure please go with sculpted hair--this will keep costs reasonable. She is a must to complete the Bridge Crew so please make this happen. I enjoyed listening to her stories at several Trek/Comic Conventions that I saw her at. She is a gem of a woman!

 

[Mike86]

Not sure it's been mentioned here or this is news or helpful at all to anyone, but the QMX Star Trek Captain's Chair is for sale for just $49 on Walmart.com. It's listed everywhere else at about $200 so I thought it was a mistake when I saw it on Walmart. I had to order it 3 times (two orders got "stuck in processing" and were cancelled) so I just kept assuming it was sold by a third party and was priced wrong on the website and that was why the order was never going through. But the third time I tried it went through and I received the chair the other day.

Sean

Thanks for the heads up on this. Definitely going to order the chair now. I almost got it from Sideshow. Glad I waited.

 

[Asta]

I vote for sculpted hair for Uhura as well.

Mass produced rooted hair can look good for simple styles (i.e., straight hair), which are easy to tame and maintain. Uhura's hair, being short and complex, is more suited to being sculpted.

 

[Pauln6a]

....and she is not doing well lately.

I believe I am the most anxious person in Sector One who wants to complete Uhura.

Out of all the pictures I posted, Uhura was the least to nothing because I care the most.

Observe, any ?big boss? 1/6 company sells bodies?

HT and EB sold theirs for a very short time then stopped completely.... then those companies who surfaced after didn't sell any bodies either. There is a reason behind this for 1/6.

Phicen started out as an 1/6 body company then forward integrated to include 1/6 figures. Note, no 1/6 companies wanted to backward integrate to include selling bodies.

I solved the hair issue by making the hair piece as removable part. Whoever complain about the ideal hairdo for Uhura can make their own without any fuzzing with the original head (most important piece of the figure). This is why I only have one critical path in making Uhura - body. Thats no acceptable compromise or shortcut around this.

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Hmm. Xing bodies have a seamless torso shell and seamless legs. I suppose you would just need to bulk up those two elements of the basic body and darken the skin...