Farnsworth Discussion
- Thread starter Gordon Gekko
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PeterLC
Sr Member
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth
Well I never said they won't be good quality. QMx makes a fine product, no argument. They should be exact copies given they had access to the originals and the CAD files. I would expect nothing less than perfect clones.
Again the colour should be right as they've seen the originals. It's probably going to be more correct than our best guesses from screenshots.
As for the black screen, well that is another matter entirely. It might be the same as the prototype(s) but certainly not what we saw onscreen from the first moment we laid eyes on one. Probably going to be a matter of taste and should be an option.
OK one can only imagine what prices any of the materials are on bulk orders.
R&D well yes there is the RPF for that and the prop dept and the CAD files.
Licence fee, packaging and profit all fair expenses.
And to a degree these are not "hand-made" one-offs. They will be made in batches using faceplates cut and etched and aged in batches. Probably a bit of finishing to the plate. Making 100 of them won't take 100 times as long as making one. Assembly by hand, fair enough - once all the rest is done, 20 minutes maybe.
We'll have to wait I guess for the Sfx version. It will likely go "beep", "buzz" and "blink" but it's probably going to add considerably to the price.
Well I never said they won't be good quality. QMx makes a fine product, no argument. They should be exact copies given they had access to the originals and the CAD files. I would expect nothing less than perfect clones.
Again the colour should be right as they've seen the originals. It's probably going to be more correct than our best guesses from screenshots.
As for the black screen, well that is another matter entirely. It might be the same as the prototype(s) but certainly not what we saw onscreen from the first moment we laid eyes on one. Probably going to be a matter of taste and should be an option.
OK one can only imagine what prices any of the materials are on bulk orders.
R&D well yes there is the RPF for that and the prop dept and the CAD files.
Licence fee, packaging and profit all fair expenses.
And to a degree these are not "hand-made" one-offs. They will be made in batches using faceplates cut and etched and aged in batches. Probably a bit of finishing to the plate. Making 100 of them won't take 100 times as long as making one. Assembly by hand, fair enough - once all the rest is done, 20 minutes maybe.
We'll have to wait I guess for the Sfx version. It will likely go "beep", "buzz" and "blink" but it's probably going to add considerably to the price.
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth
I understand costs can add up and they have licensing fees and labor to consider, but a static prop should be $50-$100 less than it is now. If it were only $50 less, I'd warm up to the piece a great deal more. I know it's only $50, but there have been tons and tons of props that have popped up for sale here for only $50. So that's the price of some other prop that they could shave off and I'd be happy.
PeterLC is right. They make these things in batches. So it's not like they spend 6 hours making each one separately. In 6 hours time they probably make a stack or two of them. And people have sold static props around there that they make one at a time for less than $200.
If it were the electronic version, no matter how simple the FX might be, I could understand $300-$350. But for a static piece, the it's just a bit overpriced.
I understand costs can add up and they have licensing fees and labor to consider, but a static prop should be $50-$100 less than it is now. If it were only $50 less, I'd warm up to the piece a great deal more. I know it's only $50, but there have been tons and tons of props that have popped up for sale here for only $50. So that's the price of some other prop that they could shave off and I'd be happy.
PeterLC is right. They make these things in batches. So it's not like they spend 6 hours making each one separately. In 6 hours time they probably make a stack or two of them. And people have sold static props around there that they make one at a time for less than $200.
If it were the electronic version, no matter how simple the FX might be, I could understand $300-$350. But for a static piece, the it's just a bit overpriced.
DARTH SABER
Master Member
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth
I agree with PeterLC.
I was considering getting one of these if the price was right, but this just way too much for a metal box that does nothing.
I made my farnsworth for a cost of about $100, and while the faceplate of the QMX version may be more accurate, it still doesn't justify a paying and extra $200 bucks for a few millimeters of changes.
Also, it is stated the the boxes used for the replica aren't even weatly fly boxes. This counters the whole "accurate" faceplate deal.
I agree with PeterLC.
I was considering getting one of these if the price was right, but this just way too much for a metal box that does nothing.
I made my farnsworth for a cost of about $100, and while the faceplate of the QMX version may be more accurate, it still doesn't justify a paying and extra $200 bucks for a few millimeters of changes.
Also, it is stated the the boxes used for the replica aren't even weatly fly boxes. This counters the whole "accurate" faceplate deal.
PeterLC
Sr Member
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth
I suppose it's possible that using a genuine Wheatley box might have meant paying Wheatley some kind of fee. However given that the show carefully obliterates any branding on these things, I don't see how Wheatley could be considered anything other than a supplier. They'd probably do a run of them with no logos anyway for a bulk order (gleaned from my considerable correspondence with Wheatley).
And one would need to have an original to compare it with anyway. I think our versions including those yet to be finished, are pretty damned close. Thanks in no small part to a lot of work by a good bunch of people.
I do have some doubt as to how the colour of mine will come out given I'm colour-blind.
I suppose it's possible that using a genuine Wheatley box might have meant paying Wheatley some kind of fee. However given that the show carefully obliterates any branding on these things, I don't see how Wheatley could be considered anything other than a supplier. They'd probably do a run of them with no logos anyway for a bulk order (gleaned from my considerable correspondence with Wheatley).
And one would need to have an original to compare it with anyway. I think our versions including those yet to be finished, are pretty damned close. Thanks in no small part to a lot of work by a good bunch of people.
I do have some doubt as to how the colour of mine will come out given I'm colour-blind.
phez
Sr Member
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth
From what I am reading these are not being done in a factory in China but being built in house by prop makers (everyone always bitches about this but the price needs to be higher if the labor is being done here .50 cents an hour don't cut it). I really do not think the price is that bad all things considered. If they are indeed doing the pieces for Season 3, $300.00 for screen used accurate made by the same person doing them for the show is not a bad deal.
I do not need buzzing and flashing, just a great copy of what is actually onscreen :love. When do these go on sale?
I am building two of my own but that will not stop me from picking up a season 1 & 2 Artisan version from QMX.
From what I am reading these are not being done in a factory in China but being built in house by prop makers (everyone always bitches about this but the price needs to be higher if the labor is being done here .50 cents an hour don't cut it). I really do not think the price is that bad all things considered. If they are indeed doing the pieces for Season 3, $300.00 for screen used accurate made by the same person doing them for the show is not a bad deal.
I do not need buzzing and flashing, just a great copy of what is actually onscreen :love. When do these go on sale?
I am building two of my own but that will not stop me from picking up a season 1 & 2 Artisan version from QMX.
SpectreGadget
New Member
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth
I like your point.
I don't know when they'll be available on their website, but QMx is selling them at Dragon*Con this weekend. I'll try to swing by tomorrow and see if I can get a date.
PeterLC
Sr Member
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth
There is no good reason to change them for season 3. We have Farnsworth's own unit and the agents' units. Let's face it, the only reason someone would come up with a new design for season 3 would be to sell licensed props.
$300 will never buy you a screen used Farnsworth but should buy you two screen accurate ones. Plus I never suggested they would/should be made in some factory in China.
There is no good reason to change them for season 3. We have Farnsworth's own unit and the agents' units. Let's face it, the only reason someone would come up with a new design for season 3 would be to sell licensed props.
$300 will never buy you a screen used Farnsworth but should buy you two screen accurate ones. Plus I never suggested they would/should be made in some factory in China.
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division 6
Master Member
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth
Seams to be inconsistencies between what was said at SDCC and DC.
Providing the guy wasn't just blowing smoke.
Seams to be inconsistencies between what was said at SDCC and DC.
SpectreGadget
New Member
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth
Carl from QMx told me today they were sourcing the boxes from the manufacturer that makes them for Wheatley, so they can get them sans logo, etc. He believed that most of the boxes (including mine from Barnsley Fly Co.) are sourced from the same manufacturer.
SpectreGadget
New Member
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth
I think I heard him wrong the other day, or he was referring to his prototype. He was looking at my WIP and said the case was right. I showed him it wasn't a Wheatley, and that's where the discussion led.
PeterLC
Sr Member
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth
Interesting because from what I gather from Wheatley, they make their boxes. Wheatley has been known for a long time for their fly boxes and the old leather covered cardboard ones were made by hand in their factory. They moved to tin boxes and around 1900 starting making them from aluminium. Initailly the box pieces were made outside and assembled in the factory but after the first world war they made the entire box in their factory in Birmingham and as far as I know they still do.
Interesting because from what I gather from Wheatley, they make their boxes. Wheatley has been known for a long time for their fly boxes and the old leather covered cardboard ones were made by hand in their factory. They moved to tin boxes and around 1900 starting making them from aluminium. Initailly the box pieces were made outside and assembled in the factory but after the first world war they made the entire box in their factory in Birmingham and as far as I know they still do.
PeterLC
Sr Member
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth
Barnsley does describe its aluminium fly boxes as "Wheatley style aluminium fly boxes" so I suspect they are pretty close to being the same. The dimensions are pretty much the same.
Barnsley does describe its aluminium fly boxes as "Wheatley style aluminium fly boxes" so I suspect they are pretty close to being the same. The dimensions are pretty much the same.
PeterLC
Sr Member
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth
This bunch in China is selling really cheap Wheatley type aluminium boxes on ebay.
NEW Aluminum Fly Fishing Box Flying Lure Hook Case FL26 - eBay Terminal Tackle, Fishing, Outdoor Sports, Sporting Goods. (end time 08-Oct-10 14:17:05 AEDST)
This bunch in China is selling really cheap Wheatley type aluminium boxes on ebay.
NEW Aluminum Fly Fishing Box Flying Lure Hook Case FL26 - eBay Terminal Tackle, Fishing, Outdoor Sports, Sporting Goods. (end time 08-Oct-10 14:17:05 AEDST)
SpectreGadget
New Member
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth
Thanks for the heads up. BTW, for anyone looking for boxes, the Barnsley fly boxes have a logo that apparently isn't painted. I used acetone to no effect, so ended up scraping and sanding. I don't know enough about such things to know exactly what it was, but blank boxes would be nice.
Thanks for the heads up. BTW, for anyone looking for boxes, the Barnsley fly boxes have a logo that apparently isn't painted. I used acetone to no effect, so ended up scraping and sanding. I don't know enough about such things to know exactly what it was, but blank boxes would be nice.
PeterLC
Sr Member
Re: Warehouse 13 Prop Research - The Farnsworth
Thought you'd all like to see that Intergalactic Trading Co is selling one of the QMx Farnsworths for US$349.95 plus shipping.
Warehouse 13 "Farnsworth" Communication Device Prop - eBay, Other, Science Fiction Horror, Collectibles. (end time 18-Sep-10 07:33:00 AEST)
Thought you'd all like to see that Intergalactic Trading Co is selling one of the QMx Farnsworths for US$349.95 plus shipping.
Warehouse 13 "Farnsworth" Communication Device Prop - eBay, Other, Science Fiction Horror, Collectibles. (end time 18-Sep-10 07:33:00 AEST)
