QMx’s Official Serenity Ship’s papers set is on sale now at QMx and TFAW.com, and you’ll want to snag it quick because only 1500 were produced and they sold 250 of those in the first six hours.
Those of you who have been SerenityStuff visitors for some time might have been wondering what fan-favorite replica maker Whitefall (Ben Mund) has been doing since he got picked up as one of QMx’s Artisans. Folks, he’s been taking one of his best unofficial prop replicas and making it into an even better official one. This is his set of ship’s papers, with all the documents a captain would want to have handy the next time the Alliance comes calling, in a custom-made leather holder.
Ben’s original replica was a faithful recreation of the one from “Firefly,” which didn’t contain much in the way of actual ‘versy stuff. The pages contained mostly filler, legal boilerplate, and was never intended to be seen up close. After a great deal of work, with input from “Serenity” graphic designer Geoff Mandel and access to tons of source material, this is a brand new, built-from-scratch set of ship’s papers the way it should have been. Insanely detailed, plain fun to read.
In this set of 13 full-color sheets of various sizes up to 8-1/2″ x 14,” the certificates are hand stamped with the official seals of the Alliance and hand signed in English and Chinese by the appropriate Alliance officials. The documents contain endorsements required to operate a variety of ship systems along with system maps, operating licenses, safety inspections and a wealth of background material on what it takes to operate a Firefly-Class Transport in the ‘Verse.
From the press release:
“As part of our research into creating the Ship Papers, we went back to some originals props from the series, but were disappointed to find there was really nothing there,” said Andy Gore, QMx Director of Marketing and project manager for the Ship Papers. “They were just some trust documents that someone slapped a new title on to look good on camera, but they didn’t have any actual ‘Verse content in them.”
Operating alone and with no support either from the studio or Serenity’s creative team, Mund had already done a tremendous job prototyping a set of “idealized” ship papers. QMx wanted to take Mund’s concept, but make it as real and authentic as possible.
“We went to Ben to help us make the Ship Papers so realistic, they look like you just walked into Mal’s cabin and found them laying on his desk,” Gore said. “Ben has a track record of creating paper props of excruciating detail and breathtaking beauty. But we think he’s outdone himself with the Ship Papers.”
The company offered Mund complete access to QMx’s considerable resources – including an extensive archive of original drawings and background materials, and the Serenity Brain Trust (the team responsible for advising on the development of the Official Serenity Blueprints) – and told him “go crazy!”
He did.
“Five hundred additional years of history gives you a lot to draw on, so I spent a good deal of time going through official documents from civil war parchments to digital customs regulations to get a blend of elements that felt right,” said Ben Mund, QMx artisan and design lead on the Ship Papers project. “Artistically, I worked to stay within the design ethos of the ‘Verse – blending a little bit of the Old West look with the cold, hard high-tech look of the Alliance.”
“With access to the source material as well as input from Serenity’s graphic designer, Geoffrey Mandel, these papers are far and away better than anything I could have done on my own,” Mund said. “Every single page was built from scratch, with information, graphics and other details true to the source material.”
The Official Serenity Ship Papers includes a hand-signed certificate from the designer and come wrapped up in a fashion-grade, hand-crafted leather wallet with brass fittings and a hand-made screw-down plate. The papers feature rich details – such as gold ink, duo-tone stamps, an embossed metal clip and paper watermarked with Alliance emblems. It damn well feels official.
QMx’s Official Serenity Ship Papers set goes on sale at 6 p.m. EDT today for $119. Sales will be limited to 1,500 pieces. You can find more information and pictures at the QMx site.
The Offical Serenity Ship’s Papers set is available from QMX or you can order it from TFAW.com.
*drools*
Me wants, me does. This would help out a lot with my Serenity RPG.
Holy crapoly! That is one amazing little bit of nicey-nice! Now, where the hell am I going to find the cashey money to pay for it, for me must have!!!
Couches…. start with the couches. There is always some stray money between the cushions…
I wait with baited breath… and an open wallet.
😉
im constantly amazed at how many amazing people worked on this uber amazing show!
Oh i wonder where im gonna get the money to buy this second DVD. hopefully by the time the 3rd and 4th DVD versions of the film come out i’ll have enough money and Joss will have enough money for a sequel and the whole thing will continue when that appears on DVD in multiple versions that are specifically designed to rip off the fans. Give me the definitive version, let me buy it and lets move on. Life’s too short to keep being forced to buy the same film again and again just to finance a sequel. Joss should be ashamed of himself, and if it wasn’t his decision, then he should be a little more vocal rather than complicit about it. Rip-off city here we come with our heads firmly up our arses.
WHAT? At the QMX website, the Serenity Papers are showing as already SOLD OUT???
It’s only August 18th, not the 21st or the 25th…. what gives?
It’s not on the QMx site yet, unless you’re seeing a different one than I am. The Serenity Blueprints are shown as sold out, maybe that’s what you saw?
Sorry. I confused the Blueprints with the Ship Papers. My Bad. 🙂
Dang it, I bought an original set from Whitefall, but this looks just different enough that I have to have one of these too. At least it’s cheaper…
If I win the $300 million Powerball on Saturday, I’ll buy one. Otherwise, I’ll just hope someone else here in Portland gets one so I can drool over it. Or, near it. Wouldn’t want to accidentally drool ON it.
I’ll expect you to fund more movies or a few miniseries if you win that Powerball.
I ordered this ship paper set 2 min. after the release of the set, however I have not been contacted, as indicated by QMX in regards to supplying my info for this exclusive sheet extra that is suppose to be included with my Serenity Ship Papers set and my Alliance bank heist money set, too. Please let me know what steps I need to take to be able to acquire this document?
Thanks,
B. Nash
Ordered mine! Not sure how many have sold yet…
…and the “time stamp” of my order says 4:51 am, Sunday, 26th, even though it’s 10:10 Saturday, 25th (Mountain time) – which should make it 12:10 Eastern…. or are they using that “new math”. 😉
Anyways, I plan to give this as a gift, so I am hoping the email about my “personalized Amnesty & Discharge papers” will allow me to specify a name different from the name on the order. I’m pretty sure it will.
Keep flyin’!
Hi all,
Brad – Chris is right. The instructions will go out after the 24-hour promo period has ended.
YodaMac – No sweat. You can have any name and picture you want on the Amnesty sheet.
b!X – How’d that Powerball work out?
– Ben
Heh, beat me to it, Ben 😉
I’ll just add this – we’ve been overwhelmed by the response to the ship papers. Browncoats once again blew away our most optimistic projections, which is just wonderful! So, please give us a couple of days to get the e-mail off to you. But, not to worry, everyone will be taken care of as quickly as humanly (and printerly) possible.
Thanks, again to the Browncoat community. I’m a Browncoat, and yet I continue to be blown away by the support QMx and our humble offerings have received.
Stay shiny!
– Andy
b!X – How’d that Powerball work out?
Some fool in Indiana won my money!
Ordered my Serenity Papers yesterday. If they are in line with the quality of the Blueprint set, I’m sure I won’t be disappointed.
NOW,,,,,,,, Where is that Large Scale Serenity Replica?
jim
Seriously, I’ve been saving up money for the large scale replica… but now some of it is being spent on all of the other new QMX goodies. I just hope I have enough to get it when it finally does come out.
Not to worry Bix…you may drool near mine….
Has anyone got their email for the bonus sheet yet? I’ve not had mine yet and I’m worried it may have got lost/deleted in a spam filter…
I got my e-mail about the bonus sheet a couple of days ago.
Not to worry Bix…you may drool near mine….
Duly noted!
Tim,
The e-mails went out Monday, so if you didn’t get it, it may have gotten nabbed in a spam filter. I just sent you an e-mail through your website – I’ll keep an eye out for a response.
– Ben
The e-mails went out Monday, so if you didn’t get it, it may have gotten nabbed in a spam filter.
I also did not receive an email about the bonus sheet. Should I contact QMX directly?
jim
Hi Jim,
Send your e-mail directly to me at ben.mund@snet.net.
Best,
Ben
Did anyone receive their order yet?
Still waiting.
jim
i also am starting to worry: i never received an email regarding the bonus sheet, though i did get an email assuring me i ordered in time to qualify. also, i received the travel posters, but not the money pack or the ship papers. is this normal?
ben, i tried to email you at the address you provided above, but it didn’t work for some reason.
thanks,
susan
I did receive an email from USPS that my order had been shipped. After leaving a phone message with QMX customer service, I was called by Steve who told me that the response for the Ship Papers was so great, that getting them all out is taking time. Steve called me pretty late in the evening so they must be working long hours there at QMX. I’m sure if we are all patient, we will get our orders.
I also received an email from Ben saying he was working on the bonus sheets.
jim
ARGH! My Ship Papers have arrived but I am out of town for work. My wife had to call and tease me about it. I wouldn’t let her open it. I will have to wait until Thursday to report.
jim
can not wait to get my copy of the papers plus really looking forward to the amnesty papers, hopefully it is suitable for framing