MattMunson
Master Member
Executive Summary:
Pros - The BEST finished resin prop I've purchased off the RPF in YEARS. Possibly ever. Great casting, strong paint job. Cast from an original. Will look awesome on the shelf. For your money, you simply cannot do better.
Cons - Grip paint job could be better. TINY bubble in remote area.
Because of all the smoke in the air, we were given the word that we could telecommute today. On the way home, I swung by the post to pick up whatever was there, and was pleased to find that my Mal Pistol had arrived!
With all the controversy surrounding this piece, I was very excited to get it home and open it.
I cut that open to reveal another box inside! This time, a QMX branded black box. Very nice presentation so far. Good graphic on the outside too.
So far so good. I tore off the plastic, and sliced open the box from the back side. I didn't want to ruin that pretty graphic. Looks like they saved a few bucks by simply using packing peanuts instead of an injection molded styrfoam saddle. Fine by me. I don't care!
I pulled out the roll of paperwork and the gun itself. Again, all pretty good so far.
And here it is, the gun itself:
I'll be the first to say without hesitation that its pretty darn stellar. The casting is VERY clean. ACME did an awesome job with the molding and casting. The gun arrived free of paint chips, nicks, dents, or anything at all to detract from the overall presentation. There's only ONE TINY little trace of a seam line, and I can see how it would have been highly problematic to clean it up. No problems there.
Personally, I don't understand all the fuss about the moving trigger, so the fact that it doesn't have one doesn't detract from the piece at all. I view pieces like this exclusively as DISPLAY pieces. It will sit on a shelf. If it looks good on the shelf, I'm happy with it. Heft, trigger, type of resin... these things don't factor in for me. So from that stand point, I'll say again, it's a great casting.
Paint job is decent. I'd even go so far as to say it's very nice. head and shoulders nicer than any of the paint jobs that I've seen on weathered MR pieces. Han Solo blaster comes to mind. The application technique is very nifty. Doesn't look like airbrush, doesn't look like brush marks. neato. Very cool.
Two nits. The grips are kind of a let down. Let me rephrase. The paint job on the grips is kind of a let down.
They actually look BETTER in this picture than they do in real life. They look very monochromatic. It looks like they cast them in brown, then did a nice dark wash over it. Don't get me wrong, it's nice. I would just like to see it better. But, these could easily be repainted, or replaced. And yes, I know that QMX says they're not removable. I own a dremel. Not worried.
The only other TINY nit I have is that there were a couple bubbles in the casting. VERY tiny bubbles, and I had to search for them.
If you look at the little allen head screws around the barrel, you can see tiny bubbles. I don't even care, but they're there.
Here's a pic of the hammer, for those interested:
The paperwork that comes with the piece is a pretty nice little extra. For those of you who don't like it, try to remember that you purchased a GUN REPLICA, that comes with some free paper stuff
The illustrations are very nice, and the layout very 'Verse feeling. Two thumbs up.
A detail that made me laugh out loud is the inclusion of Steve Dymszo's signature on one of the papers. For a dude who's ego has gotten him in SOOOO much trouble over the years, i would have thought he would reign it in for this one, but I guess not. If you're going to go non-canon, I would have preferred to see the names of the entire QMX team. I think they deserve some recognition too. Though you'll never hear a peep about it, I'm sure that rubs a few folks the wrong way. But oh well. I remember reading about all the ruffled feathers when MR refused to allow "credits" on a prop. And now all we get is Steve's siggy??? Come on, that's worth a laugh :lol
But like I said, I did NOT buy this for the paper. I got it for the gun.
To recap, it's a beautiful piece. And that's not to say "it's a beautiful piece... for the money". The fact that it's dirt cheap aside, it's still great. Throw in the fact that it's dirt cheap, and it's an even better deal.
I think this will fill a great niche in the collectors market, as there are no doubt TONS of casual Firefly/Serenity fans who would love to pick up a replica Mal pistol at a reasonable price.
Though the RPF is often known for it's highly vocal detractors, I personally think QMX hit it out of the park on this one.
EDIT:
Couple of things I forgot to mention.
1. BIG shout out to BlueFive, who sold this piece to me. EXCELLENT transaction, slicker than snot. He responded to my PM's very quickly, kept me notified of shipping, and got it to me within just a couple days of payment. I only wish I could be as sharp with MY sales!!!
2. One of the things I love most of all about this piece is such a no brainer that I forgot to mention it entirely. It's a FINISHED piece. That's right. It's not a kit. it's doesn't need sanding, it doesn't need painting. I already HAVE 2 mal pistols in kit form that have been sitting "on the bench" for a couple of years now. I haven't even cleaned up the seam lines on them. So the other thing worth mentioning about this piece is that there's nothing you need to do to it. Now, I know a lot of us RPEffers are big fans of kits, and building them ourselves. Most of the RPF folks I've met in person are more kit hoarders than kit builders. C'Mon folks, admit it So for a few bucks more than what castings were going for when they first came out, you get a professionally built, finshed peice that is pretty nice.
Ok, that's it for sure. Go buy one.
Pros - The BEST finished resin prop I've purchased off the RPF in YEARS. Possibly ever. Great casting, strong paint job. Cast from an original. Will look awesome on the shelf. For your money, you simply cannot do better.
Cons - Grip paint job could be better. TINY bubble in remote area.
Because of all the smoke in the air, we were given the word that we could telecommute today. On the way home, I swung by the post to pick up whatever was there, and was pleased to find that my Mal Pistol had arrived!
With all the controversy surrounding this piece, I was very excited to get it home and open it.
I cut that open to reveal another box inside! This time, a QMX branded black box. Very nice presentation so far. Good graphic on the outside too.
So far so good. I tore off the plastic, and sliced open the box from the back side. I didn't want to ruin that pretty graphic. Looks like they saved a few bucks by simply using packing peanuts instead of an injection molded styrfoam saddle. Fine by me. I don't care!
I pulled out the roll of paperwork and the gun itself. Again, all pretty good so far.
And here it is, the gun itself:
I'll be the first to say without hesitation that its pretty darn stellar. The casting is VERY clean. ACME did an awesome job with the molding and casting. The gun arrived free of paint chips, nicks, dents, or anything at all to detract from the overall presentation. There's only ONE TINY little trace of a seam line, and I can see how it would have been highly problematic to clean it up. No problems there.
Personally, I don't understand all the fuss about the moving trigger, so the fact that it doesn't have one doesn't detract from the piece at all. I view pieces like this exclusively as DISPLAY pieces. It will sit on a shelf. If it looks good on the shelf, I'm happy with it. Heft, trigger, type of resin... these things don't factor in for me. So from that stand point, I'll say again, it's a great casting.
Paint job is decent. I'd even go so far as to say it's very nice. head and shoulders nicer than any of the paint jobs that I've seen on weathered MR pieces. Han Solo blaster comes to mind. The application technique is very nifty. Doesn't look like airbrush, doesn't look like brush marks. neato. Very cool.
Two nits. The grips are kind of a let down. Let me rephrase. The paint job on the grips is kind of a let down.
They actually look BETTER in this picture than they do in real life. They look very monochromatic. It looks like they cast them in brown, then did a nice dark wash over it. Don't get me wrong, it's nice. I would just like to see it better. But, these could easily be repainted, or replaced. And yes, I know that QMX says they're not removable. I own a dremel. Not worried.
The only other TINY nit I have is that there were a couple bubbles in the casting. VERY tiny bubbles, and I had to search for them.
If you look at the little allen head screws around the barrel, you can see tiny bubbles. I don't even care, but they're there.
Here's a pic of the hammer, for those interested:
The paperwork that comes with the piece is a pretty nice little extra. For those of you who don't like it, try to remember that you purchased a GUN REPLICA, that comes with some free paper stuff
The illustrations are very nice, and the layout very 'Verse feeling. Two thumbs up.A detail that made me laugh out loud is the inclusion of Steve Dymszo's signature on one of the papers. For a dude who's ego has gotten him in SOOOO much trouble over the years, i would have thought he would reign it in for this one, but I guess not. If you're going to go non-canon, I would have preferred to see the names of the entire QMX team. I think they deserve some recognition too. Though you'll never hear a peep about it, I'm sure that rubs a few folks the wrong way. But oh well. I remember reading about all the ruffled feathers when MR refused to allow "credits" on a prop. And now all we get is Steve's siggy??? Come on, that's worth a laugh :lol
But like I said, I did NOT buy this for the paper. I got it for the gun.
To recap, it's a beautiful piece. And that's not to say "it's a beautiful piece... for the money". The fact that it's dirt cheap aside, it's still great. Throw in the fact that it's dirt cheap, and it's an even better deal.
I think this will fill a great niche in the collectors market, as there are no doubt TONS of casual Firefly/Serenity fans who would love to pick up a replica Mal pistol at a reasonable price.
Though the RPF is often known for it's highly vocal detractors, I personally think QMX hit it out of the park on this one.
EDIT:
Couple of things I forgot to mention.
1. BIG shout out to BlueFive, who sold this piece to me. EXCELLENT transaction, slicker than snot. He responded to my PM's very quickly, kept me notified of shipping, and got it to me within just a couple days of payment. I only wish I could be as sharp with MY sales!!!
2. One of the things I love most of all about this piece is such a no brainer that I forgot to mention it entirely. It's a FINISHED piece. That's right. It's not a kit. it's doesn't need sanding, it doesn't need painting. I already HAVE 2 mal pistols in kit form that have been sitting "on the bench" for a couple of years now. I haven't even cleaned up the seam lines on them. So the other thing worth mentioning about this piece is that there's nothing you need to do to it. Now, I know a lot of us RPEffers are big fans of kits, and building them ourselves. Most of the RPF folks I've met in person are more kit hoarders than kit builders. C'Mon folks, admit it
So for a few bucks more than what castings were going for when they first came out, you get a professionally built, finshed peice that is pretty nice.Ok, that's it for sure. Go buy one.
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