Serenity RPG 101 » Swag

Cerberus – Desert Camp Now Available

Serenity RPG 101 — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 02:05:25 +0000

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 Call’s “Got to Fly” Now Available For Order Online

Serenity RPG 101 — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 04:56:02 +0000

Hey there Core-Techs – just got back from one heck of weekend. I’ll leave it to those of you who were there to say whether you thought the Creation show this weekend was a success, but I for one had a blast. There really is nothing better than spending a few days with a couple hundred of your closest friends. Except maybe listening live to the uniquely energetic music of a fabulously talented group of performers, like Marian Call and her travellin’ band, The Independents, with a couple hundred of your closest friends. 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…

More Big Haul: 1 Million Credits

Serenity RPG 101 — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 02:22:00 +0000

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?

Big Haul Winners Are Chosen

Serenity RPG 101 — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:55:25 +0000

As Core-Techs I assume most if not all of you entered The Big Haul Giveaway. You’ll be happy to know all the winners have been selected via random drawing by our own Senior Director of Giveaways and Other Random Acts of Kindness, Savannah. 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!

Serenity Valley Bumper Stickers – In Stock

Serenity RPG 101 — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 05:19:12 +0000

Hey there Core-Techs – just a real quick update to let you know the Serenity Valley bumper stickers you all helped design are in stock over in the Black Market Beagles section of the QMx store. They measure 4″x6″ and are printed on nice, durable polyester that should stand up to rain, snow, sun and the occassional hard burn: http://store.quantummechanix.com/Serenity-Valley-Oval-Bumper-Sticker_p_8-46.html

Wash in my Copilot

Serenity RPG 101 — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:26:08 +0000

Heya Core-Techs, look what just arrived at our fulfillment center: The “Wash is my Copilot” license plate frame of Black Market Beagles fame! 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?

Would You Put This Sticker on Your Car?

Serenity RPG 101 — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 00:57:54 +0000

Okay, Core-Techs, I’m am once again in need of your sage advice: Based on the terrific feedback and excellent suggestions you all posted on the last FFSW article, we’ve come up with a design for a Serenity Valley location sticker. Now the question is, do you like it? And how can we make it better?

Serenity Valley Abbreviation and Other Mysteries

Serenity RPG 101 — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 23:16:31 +0000

It feels like I’m just pummeling you all with PD (product development) questions this week. But, heck, you Core-Techs are so full of good advice, guess I just can’t help myself. As you might have guessed, we’re working on a lot of cool swag right now. This is due in no small part to Black Market Beagles joining forces with QMx. But it’s also an acknowledgment that during these challenging financial times, we need to do even more to ensure maximum fun can be had for minimum credits. Rest assured, though, these efforts will not in any way impede progress on Serenity (more on the Serenity schedule below). But first, some sorely needed swag advice: We’re cooking up a line of those country code bumper stickers you see all over Europe, and that civic-minded towns sometimes offer their residents. Only, we thought it would be really cool to do a few of these for Stargate, Battlestar and, of course, Firefly/Serenity locations (you can see the Stargate design below). But, we ran into a little snag of the Serenity sticker: What *is* an appropriate abbreviation for “Serenity Valley”? We’ve tried “SV”, which some said is too obscure. We also pondered “SER VLY”, which is actually a little on the long side – keep in mind that the more letters on the sticker, the smaller the font. We want to make sure other Browncoats can see this from a distance! So, what do you Core-Techs think? Seriously, we’re open to suggestions. Okay, on to other news: Wolvster and I have been talking about the final stages of the Serenity pattern development, which is moving along at a very nice clip right now. Based on where things are and what’s left to do, it looks like we (or should I say Wolvster) should have the pattern done by the end of the month – give or take a week. At that point, everything goes over to the build team who will work up the paint master and electronics. Based on that schedule, I wanted to let you know that it now looks like Serenity will hit the streets Q1 2009. I know a number of you are saving your credits toward the replica, so wanted to give you the latest ETA as soon as possible. Just please keep in mind this is a “best guess” on the schedule – your mileage may still vary. Sorry, still nothing solid on pricing, but at least you have a better sense on the schedule. Guess this is the downside of having all this advanced information, eh? Speaking of updates, Wolvster put a little pictorial guide together on the master casting process which I hope to have posted next week. One last thought I wanted to share with you all. It’s not about any specific product or some such, so feel free to click forward to your next destination on the Information Superhighway if introspective posts are not your thing. Okay! So, for the rest of you that stayed for the end, wanted to share something that’s been on my mind this week. And that is, how incredibly lucky we are at QMx to be serving customers like yourselves. A couple things happened that brought this to mind. But the biggest was the outpouring of positive feedback from you folks on the Cerberus t-shirts. You know, there’s just no way hearing your customers appreciate the extra effort you put into the quality of your goods is ever gettin’ old. A lot of people in this business think it’s nuts to pay extra for really nice cotton or 100-pound paper stock or any of the little things we do because we know we’d want it that way. So it’s awesome to know you notice and that it matters to you, too. All that good will also made me realize that, while none of us are likely to retire from this life of crime any time soon, we are unbelievably lucky that we get to do this job – do what we love for people we care about – and keep flying. And, really, what more could any Browncoat ask for? Okay, now you went and made me cry.

Cerberus T-shirts: Now Available!

Serenity RPG 101 — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 21:02:34 +0000

After much laboring, wrangling, sweating, cursing, praying and just generally going without sleep or sustenance, the new QMx store is live at last (although for the moment I prefer to think of it as a late-stage beta). And, the first new product to become available on our brand new store? Why, those Cerberus T-shirts! Click Here to go directly to the product page. But be sure to read on for a special Core-Tech surprise. So here’s your special surprise: As thanks to all you Core-Techs for your patience and support, I’m going to give you a personal demonstration of one of the store’s cool new features – coupons! Just enter the code “coretech” into the coupon field in the shopping cart (either in the left column or on the cart page) and you’ll instantly get 10 percent off any Serenity or Black Market Beagles item in your cart, including your Cerberus T-shirt. The coupon is good only until Friday, September 27, so you best hurry on over as quick as you can. We have limited stock on those shirts, but we did try to get some of the more exotic sizes, like 3XL (although we only have 4 of those). Whew! Okay, out of breath. I’ll let you go now. But be sure to come back here and let me know what you think of the store.

Cerby Shirt Status, FFSW Wallpaper and More

Serenity RPG 101 — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:42:02 +0000

Hey there Core-Techs – we’re all still recovering from the 4th of July festivities here at the Ship Works, so just a couple random bits for you today. Also, wanted to let you know the Ship Works was closed in honor of the U.S.A.’s b-day celebration, which is why no FX Friday last Friday. However, we will pick up our regular publishing schedule this week and might even look to having a special update this Friday! Cerberus Shirts. We’ve had a smattering of e-mails requesting the Cerberus shirt we promo’d last week, but thus far interest has fallen a bit short of what’s need to do a shirt run. So, we’re going to leave things open for another week, just to make sure we’ve captured all the folks who want one. If you know someone who might like a shirt with our Big Dog on the front, send ‘em our way. Also, based on the feedback we’ve gotten, it looks like t-shirts are winning out over hoodies. Most folks seem okay with either green or brown as the primary color. So, if you differ on either of these points, be sure to register your opinion here or by dropping a note to me at admin@fireflyshipworks.com , before the die is cast. More Wallpaper? We Browncoats never tire of new desktops/wallpapers, even if most of us only have one screen to adorn them with. Thanks to the outpouring of requests, we’ve begun to assemble our first official FFSW Serenity wallpaper. And what better way to do that than with a complete, exposed wireframe of Kaylee’s girl: Weigh and let us know if you like what you see; we’ll be sure to get this done up in the usual assortment of shapes and sizes. Adding to the Family. This is just a tease to let you know there is… another… Skywalk… no, no, just kidding. But we may have a very shiny surprise for you soon – another member of the Firefly family rendered up for your enjoyment. Stay tuned and stay shiny!