SDCC08 - Dr WHO Replicas!

[NakedMoleRat]

My guess is that having this mass produced item available in a form that the BBC could easily afford 50 of, we'll see THIS prop on screen for series five, which will indeed make it an EXACT copy of the prop. Just as Enterprise used the AA phaser for their show, making a $30.00 toy, out of the box, an exact screen accurate replica. :lol

 

[Primrodo]

That would be insanely cool! Did not realise that Enterprise did that though, very cool. I know in The Phantom Menace, many Solo blaster toys were used and the Younglings in AOTC used toys from the Jedi lightsaber roleplay set.

Good business model! Let another company do all your work and you reap the benefits of a great prop and good price

 

[Birdie]

is this through the display case, or did u persuade them to take them off for the picture?!

I know i got a load, but i couldnt reli zoom in on the props to get an idea of sizes with a ruler i had.

blast!

Through the case, but got some good shots. Not able to broadband to my ISP at the moment, can anyone recommend a host that I can upload 2mb pics to?

 

[mfxreplicas]

Hi all

Thanks for all the positive repsonses we've had from SDCC. I'm back in the UK now after just tumbling off a plane a couple of hours ago.

To answer some of the questions regarding the sonics we had on display. These are work in progress prototypes. There are still some tweaks to make. The paint finish on the body wasn't great but it's was the factories' first stab at it. The colour was slightly off but only slightly. I had a preliminary prototype sonic with me for comparison that we built ourselves which uses exactly the same crackle paint as used on the show. Comparing the two we noticed the paint needed a tweak and the crackle needs to be smaller. Nothing that can't be fixed in the coming weeks before it goes in to full production.

The production sonic we used as reference has two yellow wires.

The emiter was duller than it should be as the aluminium hadn't been fully polished. That will be rectified also. The black cap on the prototype was also too shiny so that will be dulled down.

The button/slider debate is an interesting one. The Art department requested that we make it pop up rather than a slider. This is how they try and portray it in the show as they attempt to keep the slider hidden. In their minds this is how the sonic 'should' be and I'm trying to facilitate their request. The button itself is also temporary and we have a design from the art department for how it should look.

All said I'd say we're 90% there and all the little details will be ironed out before it gets out there. After all this is only the manufacturing prototype and a prototype is made to allow us to asses it and tweak the details before it gets produced.

These will be distributed in the US - details are being finalised at the moment. This will help keep the price competative as you won't have to ship from the UK. At the moment we're playing safe and saying the price will be 'under' $200. By how much we don't know but obviously we'll get it as low as we can.

Everyone who saw the sonic in person at SDCC really liked it.

The Cyberman prototype is also looking great and we're hoping this will be in the $300 - $399 price range. Again we have to wait for the factory to finish all their working out before we can know exactly but we're pretty confident it won't be more than that.

The first lot of these new prototypes will consist of the ring, the sonic and the cyberman head. The rest will follow on their heals.

I'm a bit jet lagged and crazy busy with work so I may be slow in responding to any more questions but I'll do my best.

Thanks again to everyone who came by the stand. It was great to see how popular WHO is in the States and it was great chatting with everyone.

Best
Neill

 

[JBReplicas]

Nice one Neill, get some rest man!! :lol If you do pop back, are those Cyberman heads essentially the same as the one I have? Mine is MFX number 23, the light up mouth is a nice touch :thumbsup

 

[Lcars47a]

Thanks for responding so soon, i wasnt trying to criticise you work at all, as i think its brlliant.
I also thought that it was yellow/ clear wire on the latest one, or it was a reflection on the drilled hole in the acrylic which made it seem like that.

The whole slider issue is quite interesting, but i canunderstand if the art dept wanted the 'real' sonic to have functionality that they couldnt acheive on the real prop, however I thing that the manual slider is a better engineered design than the popup idea.
Just a personal preferance i suppose.

Looking forward to seeing the finished article now!

 

[mfxreplicas]

Nice one Neill, get some rest man!! :lol If you do pop back, are those Cyberman heads essentially the same as the one I have? Mine is MFX number 23, the light up mouth is a nice touch :thumbsup

Essentialy the same as they're derived from patterns taken form the original moulds we use to make the ones we build. The big differences are that this one has a paint finish rather than cold cast aluminium but it's a bloody good paint finish. Fooled me when I first saw it. It also has the flashing mouth LED. The really BIG difference will be the price as I know the ones we make in the UK carry a bigger price tag but that's sadly unavoidable given labour and material costs here.

I'm hoping to offer both so the ones we make will attract buyers who want that bit more authenticity because they're made here at Millennium using the cold cast system but then these new ones will appeal to the collectors who love the design but can't afford the custom made to order ones. To be honest it'll be hard to tell the difference if you don't know the details of how they're made.

Best
Neill

 

[JBReplicas]

Amazing!! I know the time you guys spent getting those cold cast helmets polished up, I absolutely love mine and yeah it definitely adds the authenticity to it, its good that you'll be able to offer both types for sure!! :thumbsup

 

[Lcars47a]

Sorry If am annoying you about this, but how does the mechanism operate the sonic, can u select how far it extends, and also activate the sound/ lights as well?

 

[mfxreplicas]

Sorry If am annoying you about this, but how does the mechanism operate the sonic, can u select how far it extends, and also activate the sound/ lights as well?

No worries - veryy happy to answer questions.

The mechanism simply extends it to its full reach. There isn't a selector for 'inbetween'. The button will also operate the light both open and closed.

There's a question mark about sound at the moment but we'll hope to resolve that one way or another in the coming weeks.

Best
Neill

 

[Lcars47a]

OK, thanks for the info!

 

[RKW]

I just have one thing to say Neill regarding Davros.....

I told you so, I knew it was going to happen!
:lol

You did a fantastic job on him btw!

 

[franz bolo]

Here's Neill with both screwdrivers:

FB

 

[Lcars47a]

I like the one on the right!

 

[Primrodo]

Thanks for replying on here Neill! What exactly were the differences between each sonic? Just the sliding mechanism?

I am glad to hear about the changes that will be in effect! Look forward to seeing them, and owning one!

 

[silverskyes402]

Hey Niell,
Thanks for the updates and answering all our questions, you guys are doing a great job so far in my book, can't wait for al these! Just wondering if you might have a xpected release date for the first batch of replicas?

 

[JBReplicas]

I have to chip in again and say its so great seeing the level of care Neill and all the guys and girls at MFX put into these replicas, actually being on hand at SDCC to answer questions etc is a great touch, hats off to you mate :thumbsup

 

[Risu]

Wow, thanks for responding here Neill! It sounds like the sonic is going to be perfect when it's released. And it also makes me happy to hear "in the coming weeks" as opposed to "in the coming months." I'm also interested in the possible release date for these if you're able to let that out of the bag.

 

[mfxreplicas]

Wow, thanks for responding here Neill! It sounds like the sonic is going to be perfect when it's released. And it also makes me happy to hear "in the coming weeks" as opposed to "in the coming months." I'm also interested in the possible release date for these if you're able to let that out of the bag.

It's always tricky as so many factors can influence when a product is available but we're fingers crossed, and hoping and praying, for November for the sonic, Cyberman head and the Masters' ring.

Best
Neill

 

[Kadajiroth]

These are simply amazing, I can't wait, especially for the sonic and laser. If the sonic is indeed below $200, that would be brilliant. Thanks for the info, Neill.