No but what yellowjacket says is correct in that it's a bit sketchy. It's fine if they cut a run short, but when you leave the original ES up on the site and say SOLD OUT to anyone who doesn't know better (most people) it seems like you sold out of 1000 of them and that it was quite desirable. They may not be doing this on purpose as that's probably the option on their website to effectively stop selling it but I do think they should update the information if they are going to leave it available (what's the point of having incorrect archived information other then to make you look nicer? :|).
My real issue with QMX is that they are basically **** and I hate that they have the firefly license. I have bought exactly 4 things from them, in this order.
A couple tshirts (I'm counting this as one thing since it was one order) and while they look nice they decal or whatever quality is pretty horrid. It cracked and started peeling quite fast and I've had (and still have) $10-20 shirts from ebay that hold up longer and nicer and never have had a shirt lose the art work on it that quickly. Now I haven't heard this from other people so maybe it was just the shirts that I bought and their newer ones are ok?
Next order: and I only bought this cause I love firefly, I was already a bit worried on the price and the fact that it basically was a ripoff but the BDR. And after waiting 6 months longer then they told me it would take (originally 6 months, 1 year total) I finally got it. Now I want to mention I did not preorder it (no money for it when that was an option) so I preordered it a year or so after release but before the price increase. Stuff takes time, ok whatever, it would have been great if they didn't keep telling me every 2 weeks that it was in the "finishing stages and is about to ship" when clearly it was nowhere near that but moving on.
When I get it and opened it up I was expecting to see the nice foam grey layers that I've seen that everyone else got. What did I get? A large piece of hard styrofoam (might as well have just thrown in a fake rock) and a bunch of packing peanuts. Way to ****ing cheap out, and unfortunately that large piece of styrofoam was on the top not the bottom and actually broke off the top engine light which I had to glue back on. And the paintwork was some garbage, the head and neck were great, but the farther you got down the sloppier it went down the body and up close it looks pretty ugly. I am all for paying more to get it done in the US, but when every single one of my MR or other chinese made models look better you ****ed up.
And lastly to add insult to injury I had an issue with the base where some gunk was left in one of the leg holes and the stand would not fit. Not really a big deal **** happens as long as I get a replacement. I contacted them and they got me a replacement in a timely matter which was great. And that as normal with this sorts of thing I immediately contacted them saying I received it and that it fits great and do they want the old one back. So they tell me no, and as you normally do when they don't want it back I disposed of it. About a week later I get an email from fedex saying I got a shipping label from the FX company, after a minute of putting 2 and 2 together I realize they are expecting the base back. So I send them an email and basically say WTF? and they say that now the FX company guys who made it want the base back. ****ing awesome, fortunately they dropped this quite easily when I said I didn't have it especially as it's basically their fault but it helped me realize how they basically have none of their **** together and they're a pretty crap company. Talking to a few other BDR owners and showing/seeing pics they weren't too enamored with their paint job but also agreed that mine definitely looked worse, so it seems to me that basically all standards went out the window and the FX company stopped giving a **** for what was already a substandard high-end replica which is just pathetic.
So after this I decided to pretty much stay away from QMX, especially their high end stuff as much as possible (which is hard cause they have the firefly license). But they announced the pistol and it looked already at $99. I received and for $99 it's not the worst thing ever. I do regret buying it because I expected it to look better but basically it is a cheap looking replica, I think $99 is a bit overpriced as it looks no better then a toy but it's pretty fair, especially for QMX (I also purchased the stung replica they made a long time ago from a forum member for a fantastic price, and I would not have gotten it if it wasn't that great price and it looks a lot better despite the fact that it's a stunt copy).
My last order with them was for the Mal tags, and the price isn't too bad, though maybe a bit much for just a few small metal bits but it's not astronomical at all. I couldn't see how they could screw these up since they're so damn simple, and fortunately they didn't. They are as advertised and I'm happy with them.
Now they announced the newer even greater Serenity (tv show version) which I would absolutely love to have. Despite the massive rip off price (a post once described it as only for the really rich or financially foolish and I have to agree with that post :|) I do really want it cause I love firefly and I think it looks great (at cons and on the web page, though the solar panels leave a bit to be desired even if they are accurate). So I'm a bit torn, I would love to have it but I haven't ordered basically because I fear I'm going to get another box of broken promises like the BDR.
And those are the reasons why I hate QMX and I do in fact hope ill on the company so that it fails and someone (even no one is better imo) gets the firefly license. I know it sucks for employees as that is their jobs but who they work for is garbage, and I hope they can move on to a better place.
sorry for the long post >< also just a note even though it's been a few years my LEDs still work on my Serenity, though I barely use them and they still work on everything else I own as well (likely cause I barely use them
and I don't run electricity through them at all when I'm not using them). And I don't really mean to hurt the feelings of any QMX employees that read this, unless your from the FX company (not really a QMX employee) or if you had a direct hand it letting the FX Company send out what it sent out, in which case I do hope you feel bad.
edit: And I know it's a business to make money and all that, but there are lines :| Like have you seen the chevron tapes? Or what nestle water does. Just because a company can do something doesn't mean it should. And I'm not equating QMX to Chevron but really most of the people in this business probably got into it because they love props and the like, not because they saw it as an amazing money making opportunity (there are easier and better ways to make more money
). In which case you should just step back and take a look and see if why you started out: was it to basically be a dick, or put sub-par material out, or do morally questionable anything? Probably not :|
Just cause a company *can* do something doesn't mean it's right, and basically saying that we shouldn't complain on a forum about it is basically like saying people shouldn't say a company can't do something. If they can do what they want within the rules, why can't forum members also bitch and whine about practices as well as voting with their wallets? It can help as well, I certainly have purchased far fewer products from QMX and stayed away from some companies entirely based on what people have said on them on forums and I know that I have steered some of my RL friends from QMX when they were interested in their products when I told them what I think of them.
TL;DR
qmx = teh suck and let people complain about companies on forums