QMX Star Trek General discussion thread

[john hbk]

You could start with some other sci fi licenses. Id love a line from Land of the giants!!! Love that show bet rights are cheap cheap.

 

[davejames]

Nanjin start your own 1/6 company and take the trek licence from Qmx when they ditch it or mess it up, which ever comes first!!!

Yeah I think most of us would be willing to pay a bit extra if it meant we could actually see some more Trek characters get produced.

 

[Johnny Utah]

I wonder what this means for Pennywise.

 

[nanjin]

Yeah I think most of us would be willing to pay a bit extra if it meant we could actually see some more Trek characters get produced.

If Trek under my wings, I have strong confidence to revolutionize the 1/6 production cost using Trek.

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[jal76]

I wonder what this means for Pennywise.

Probably nothing...Nanjin can correct me if I am wrong but it sounds like this is all a specific issue where Nanjin has a vision for how the Star Trek line should be produced moving forward and QMX is failing to share in his vision.

 

[DinoMan]

-------11001001

 

[nanjin]

Corporate ineptitude and tunnel-vision will always squash true and talented passion if it's left to its own devices. The only way up to the light is escape, and when that happens, true passion gets a breath of fresh air. Take a breather Nanjin -- rejuvenate and become introspective. The answers will come to you in time.

I heard this guy told a designer, you have design the product at this or that price point. This constraints the artist.

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[dukefett]

I wonder what this means for Pennywise.

From their Q&A they did on this site; they said what they show at Cons may not be licensed and they're just trying to gather steam behind them. I pretty much doubt they'll produce 1/4 of what they showed.

 

[DinoMan]

-------11001001

 

[Pauln6a]

This does seems to be a dynamic that always follows creative minds when dealing with numbers people. Of course it is important to be aware of the numbers, but only to a degree. This is where creative management comes into play, and it sounds like you had that all figured out. Perhaps one day you can implement your production philosophy without the constraints put on you by corporate bean counters?

It can be difficult for the money men I suppose, especially with no emotional attachment to the product. External factors like other releases, global economic upheaval, even weather events can impact in sales so everything is a calculated risk and the less elasticity they have to absorb risk factors, the more conservative they may be, which could lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy of failure but who can be sure in advance? There must be a sweet spot where greater investment in the product is outweighed by the number of extra sales likely to be generated.

I think Star Trek figures lack the visual flare and variety of Star Wars, which has evolved with merchandise marketing in mind. I bought all the cantina aliens as a kid never once questioning why the more prominent Aunt Beru didn't get a figure. Trek is about our love for the characters rather than visual flare and, because Trek is spread across different eras, the style of the characters differs as well so you have competition between completists vs dippers for your next release. Its tricky.

A Captain's line, the Borg, key aliens like Klingons, Romulans, Cardassians, and Seven might all be popular. Andorians? Yes please!

 

[thebreen]

All of this is truly heartbreaking. Nanjin Tam, the quality of the Star Trek figures you have helped produce is something you can always be proud of! I am so sorry to see you leaving, but thank you so much for all you’ve done.
When I first got started on 1/6 collecting, there were five characters I wanted on my shelf to represent my favorite ‘geekdom’ Franchises: The Fourth ‘Doctor Who’, Darth Vader, Gandalf, Batman... But somebody very important was missing. A good quality 1960s Spock was nowhere to be found! Then along came an announcement from QMX! Thanks to you my core ‘geekdom’ shelf was finally complete!

That was a couple of years ago... My collection has expanded, but Spock still has the place of honor among my collection.
Thanks so much!

 

[spindrift]

We don't know if QMX will even do any more Trek- and as usual they aren't saying other than show protos at shows that won't get made...

 

[ymba]

Well if you look at BC and their Bond lineup
, you will see the final product with Connery
was a mess.

I would die to get a TWOK from QMX but now
my good friend Tam is gone, I am actually
hoping they don’t get made because my hunch
is the end result will be not up to par.

I have know Nanjin for many years and I know
heartbreaking it is for the guy who put so much
heart into these figures.

Scotty might be the last hurrah . Still can’t believe
TOS is done not to mention the ST lineup

 

[nanjin]

This does seems to be a dynamic that always follows creative minds when dealing with numbers people. Of course it is important to be aware of the numbers, but only to a degree. This is where creative management comes into play, and it sounds like you had that all figured out. Perhaps one day you can implement your production philosophy without the constraints put on you by corporate bean counters?

The way I approach is proto the best “producable” figure. Then selectively discount the “discountable” parts. I call this skimming.

Will diecast look better? Will it have trouble in assembly? Print or paint? If I dont believe what they told me, I go find out myself. This happened numerous times, like the TOS comm. I ended up doing 14k Gold plated screen. printing didnt yield the desire results? ok I consulted the plastic guy and made PVC wrist braids (was the best selection 3 years ago). SN, castiel wants lighted eyes? Clear plastic doesnt work, I go find a scale modeler about fiber optics. Because I am the team leader, I have to set examples. They will duplicate me. With correctly attitude can be injected to this group of people, a Team Spirit will be in placed, then everyone in this team is Nanjin. One stone many many birds.

This is the fun part of production. Spending time with proto and production, laughing, talk about their family, life, or just plainly fxxking around with the factory guys and gals. Motivation on a personal level, everybody is happy. I took out “$” sign between them and reduced a lot of workplace conflicts.

These are the reasons why I am able to proto and produce these figures better than a lot of companies, and why oir production can closely match or even better than the protos.

I am not an artist. But I have artist attitude that similar to the Japanese 匠人 where perfection is the ultimate goal. Arming with this attitude, people wont deviate too far away. More importantly, being the 2nd Largest Producer is our ultimate goal. If there is no such goal, everything change. I wont be so stressed out making sure we CAN reach that goal.

Goals determine strategies and tactics. Different goals different approaches. Not to mention different sets of barriers.





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[DinoMan]

-------11001001

 

[nanjin]

That's a pitch-perfect philosophy on life. Your personal contacts and friends in this field are still there regardless of recent events, and will no doubt continue to be so. So in that way you will continue to be a powerful influence on any upcoming ST 1/6 releases. Friends will always share, discuss, strategize, etc. regardless of boundaries.

The major problem is....

We are all Nanjin because that was how I created the group (just like the Borg and similar to Negan). I am also their leader and we have a set and defined goals, so we are know what to do when one of us is absent... What happens to me will spill over to them.

Did you see Capt Pike in Disco? I did the similar thing. I show them my weakest link and shortcoming, which translate to I need team work and they need to have it covered because I rely on their expertise. Love this Pike, matches my style of leadership [emoji4].

Shxt, I just created another temptation for myself [emoji28]

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[nanjin]

It could be seen as a major problem, or a major challenge...

I have not seen the new Season 2 episode of Disco yet, but I plan to. I like the trailers I've seen so far. The vibe is lighter and Anson Mount's Pike seems way more the charismatic and likable leader -- which this show needs badly IMHO. I am one of those die hard old school Trek hangers-on kind of guy that have a hard time seeing Disco as a real canon version of Star Trek. I only saw maybe 3 episodes of S1 before I bailed. I'm not saying I don't think it's good, just that it doesn't seem to be my kind of ST. But I am open-minded by nature, and am certainly willing to give it another watch. I already like Saru and Tilly the best, so the addition of Pike is only going to improve that short list. BTW, the figure of Capt. Georgiou in sixth-scale I've seen is really fantastic.

I know on Pike... you might just have to go there!

Different Treks are like different Batman movies, different taste.

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[davejames]

Well if it wasn't looking unlikely before, it's almost a certainty now that we'll never see any DSC figures get made. Let alone figures from DS9 or the Kelvin movies.

 

[spindrift]

Naturally NO ONE from QMX says anything about this.....playing close to the vest doesn't look good and I still say line is over

 

[Terrapin]

Naturally NO ONE from QMX says anything about this.....playing close to the vest doesn't look good and I still say line is over

Yeh there are always two sides to everything.