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Happy New Year, fellow Core-Techs! Thought we’d kick off the year with a sneak peek at a fun little item we currently have in development – the Firefly Keychain.

We’ve been working on this one for over a year now. If making a big Firefly replica is challenging, then making a small one is no less so, as you try to decide what details to keep, what to reject, and how to take a ship that in “real life” is over 269 feet long and shrink it – convincingly – down to two inches.

Cast is solid metal, the keychain has real heft to it. We used the studio CG effects files, shrunk down to a ridiculous extent, to capture the design, but obviously had to make many tweaks along the way. But our designers love a challenge, and we just couldn’t resist the idea of a Serenity that fits in your pocket and that you can carry around with you, where ever you go.

Hey there Core-Techs, just thought I’d put up a quick post letting you know the “I Aim to Misbehave” Little Damn Heroes Maquette just became available for preorder. We’re only making 1,000 of these limited-edition statues, and judging by the way the website is lighting up right now, I expect them to be moving fast.

If you’re interested in getting in on the action, click here to go to the product page. And if this is a holiday gift for that special Browncoat in your life, don’t forget to download the “Wanted” notice for under the tree.

Hey gang – just wanted to give you a quick heads-up that nifty Cerberus – Desert Camp poster we showed you all over a month ago is at last in stock. First in what we hope will be an entire series of Serenity: Unification Wars themed prints, this poster shows the “Big Dog” in one of her rare moments of rest, watching over an Independents encampment.

The reason this took a little longer to get out the door is, after seeing the test prints, we decided to make it a lot bigger. Sean Kennedy’s rendering has all this really cool detail that was getting lost in the smaller print size. So now the poster is 12.5″ x 19.5, rather than the original 11″ x 14″. But it’s still priced at just $12.95.

Marian’s performance Saturday night was, in a word, stellar. I can’t quite describe the feeling, but maybe you can get a sense of it by putting Marian’s new signed, limited-edition CD in the stereo, cranking it up and closing your eyes. Hm. Yep, that’s the ticket.

Wait, you mean you don’t have the CD? Why not? Oh, riiight. Well, you’ll be happy to learn the copies I promised to reserve for you are on sale right now over at the QMX store: Just click here to go to the product page.

As for other items of interest at the show – well, let’s just say we got a couple of updates coming we think you’ll really enjoy.

But, first, back to the music…

Despite appearances, there really is an underlying method to our madness: A QMx product must be unique, expertly designed, drool-worthy (although you shouldn’t need to be a fan to think so), and, most importantly, if we didn’t do it, it probably no one else would.

With that little bit of info, perhaps our decision to become a music publisher might not seem so strange. Okay, maybe it’s still a little strange. But whatever you may think of QMx publishing a CD of original music, here’s the thing – I don’t think you’ll take issue with the result: Nine brand new tracks from Geek Diva Marian Call about what it means to be a geek and her love for Serenity and Firefly (and a bit of Battlestar thrown in for good measure).

If you’ve never heard – or heard of – Marian Call, it’s about time you did. Her music is as evocative and it is intelligent. The kind of stuff you could listen to with your non-fan friends and they’d be enthralled by the sheer artistry of her work. When we first heard her play almost a year ago, we were rendered speechless. When we found out she was a Browncoat, the wheels began to turn.

The result is this album.

“Got to Fly” will debut in two weeks at the Creation Serenity show in Burbank, CA. It will retail for $15.95 and will be hand-numbered and signed by the artist. Only 1,000 will be made.

To hear samples of “Got to Fly”, use the embedded players below or go to www.qmxonline.com/gottofly. To hear other stuff by Marian, go to www.mariancall.com.

Oh, and this is not the big announcement I was referring to yesterday. (Not that Marian isn’t big, well, she isn’t big, but her music is… well, you know what I mean.)

]]> http://www.fireflyshipworks.com/goodies/swag/marian-calls-geek-music/feed/ 14 http://www.fireflyshipworks.com/about-ffsw/cortex-update/more-big-haul-1-million-credits/ http://www.fireflyshipworks.com/about-ffsw/cortex-update/more-big-haul-1-million-credits/#comments Fri, 24 Oct 2008 02:22:00 +0000 admin http://www.fireflyshipworks.com/?p=583 Just in case you’ve ever wondered what a million Alliance credits looks like, here it is: We’ve got ‘em bagged in authentic replicas of the big heist money bags from Dark Horse’s Serenity: Better Days comic books and also spread across the floor, ready to be rolled in by the lucky winner.

Speaking of the lucky winner, I’m happy to report Gary Diana, long-time loyal Browncoat, is the winner of The Big Haul Grand Prize (he gave me permission to post his name between girlish squeals of delight). Gary reports he’s never won anything in his entire life up until now. What can I say? I guess he was overdue for a Big Haul, eh?

If you’ve won, you should be getting an e-mail from us shortly. Do be sure to reply back as soon you can so we can get you your shiny swag!

We’ve redesigned the frame a bit, going to a durable polycarbonate with white lettering on black. We also cut the price – by 33% – to just $9.95. Because, you know, it shouldn’t cost you a lot to warn your fellow drivers you’re likely to pull a Crazy Ivan without warning. Consider it a safety tip.

Speaking of pimping your boat, l also wanted to thank you all for your thoughtful input on the Serenity Valley bumper sticker design. After carefully considering everyone’s comments and suggestions, we’ve decided to go with the three character design. I really enjoyed the interactive design process we tried out here and I definitely think you guys helped make this a better product. Expect to see us do more of that type of thing at the Ship Works in the future!

Speaking of the Ship Works, it’s clear from your responses and continued support that the FFSW is here to stay and is going to be about more than just our Serenity replica. But this has turned into such a great place for discussion, feedback and drool-baiting, I was wondering if you’d be interested in seeing some non-Serenity projects we’re working on here? Rest assured, the vast majority of what we’d cover on the Ship Works would continue to be Serenity-related. But from time-to-time, there might be some cool Stargate or Battlestar projects we could share.

So, what do you think? Interested?

]]> http://www.fireflyshipworks.com/goodies/swag/wash-in-my-copilot/feed/ 16 http://www.fireflyshipworks.com/about-ffsw/serenity-valley-sticker/ http://www.fireflyshipworks.com/about-ffsw/serenity-valley-sticker/#comments Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:57:54 +0000 admin http://www.fireflyshipworks.com/?p=542 UPDATE: Thanks for all your feedback; incredibly helpful, as always! I’ve added another version of the sticker, this time with the single-character (simple) version of “Valley” and a heavier font overall. What’cha think?

And just for contrast, here’s the original, four-character version of the sticker again. Remember, the spelling of “valley” in both versions is considered correct. Below is the more formal, traditional spelling of the word: