Now, they have a Serenity latte cup and a mug with a vanishing ship up for pre-order.  The botched mugs are listed as out of stock.  Here come the questions – were the shot glasses cancelled because of the sheer awfulness of the mugs?  Are the newly announced products going to actually be released, and if so, are they going to be any good?  Or, WTF?

I’m eying these with caution.  The new designs actually look cool, but…..will they be?  And will they actually be shipped?

Like the Serenity ornament, it arrives packaged in a beautifully designed box and protected in fitted styrofoam.  It comes with a stand just like the one on the Serenity ornament, which holds it up and allows it to “fly” realistically at various angles.  There is a tiny gold screw in the top with a string to hang it from should you choose to use it as an ornament, but it can be easily removed for display on the stand.

The ship is cute and pretty nicely detailed, and of course a fun addition to the merchandise of the ‘verse.  It’s not to scale with the Serenity ornament (if it were, it’d be about a half inch long!), so you may want to display it in a different location to avoid a certain oddness.

There are a few things that irritate me about this, though.  The ship is a simpler craft than Serenity, so logically it’s going to have less detailing, and be less inherently impressive than Serenity.  This leads to a certain crudeness of appearance when you compare the two.   

What really confounds me is the fact that for a simpler and less detailed model, the price is higher!  You’ll be expected to fork over $30.00 for Inara’s shuttle, and just $20.00 for the Serenity ornament.    Not so much with the making sense, or value.   The upcoming reaver ship, which looks no more impressive than the shuttle, is retailing at $40.00, with pre-orders at $32.00!  Looks to me as though Dark Horse is looking to see just how much they can gouge the wallets of browncoats, and I’m not ecstatic….in fact I’m going to pass on the reaver ship.

So….you may want to pick this up.  It’s a fun addition to your collection, and limited to an edition of 5,000 so it won’t be around forever.  But unlike the Serenity ship ornament, this one isn’t making my “top picks” list.   I’ll take photos and get them on here as soon as I can.

Rating:  Worth The Cashy Money

Approximate Price: $27-30.00

Available From: www.tfaw.com

I received it in the mail from TFAW (paid almost as much for shipping as I did the mug!) and pulled it eagerly out of the box.  Even if the design was incredibly basic, I expected high quality because that’s what Dark Horse has typically delivered in their Serenity products.

Um.  Not.  This mug is really, really underwhelming.  The print quality (for lack of a better term) of the logo is awful.  Far from being crisp and bright, it has underdeveloped colors, an almost matte finish, and the printing is muddy – the elements of the logo almost run together.  The words Serenity are printed in grey, not white.

I’m not sure if printing it this way was a stylistic choice or just an awful printing job, but either way the result is the same….it looks like an awful printing job.  The mug was packaged in bubble wrap, no cool box for added value or anything.  Not that I demand a box, but it would have been a nice touch especially given the sheer badness of the actual product. Can’t recommend this to much of anyone.

Rating:  Reaver Food

Approximate Price: $8.99

Available From: www.tfaw.com

When Razor’s Edge first posted photographs of their prototype of the Mal bust, I was not impressed.  While I’d seen worse (let’s face it, the Mal action figures and the Diamond Select character statues are just plain awful), this still failed to impress me, and at $50.00 it was certainly not added to my list of things to buy.

That changed when I saw the far more appealing final product photos, and after some pondering, I bought one.  It didn’t look perfect, but it was close enough that this Mal fanatic just had to have one.  Interested?  Get yours soon – it’s limited and many have already been sold.

The good:

• This is the closest anyone has come to a realistic-looking Mal figure.  There are no glaring errors, and the resemblence is quite decent.  It blows away the action figures and PVC figure, and all the fan custom-made figures I’ve seen.
• For the Mal fan, this is the best figure available, hands-down….and it may forever be.  On that basis, it’s hard to resist.
• The pose is quintessential Mal, with the gun and the determined look and all.
• The detailing is great, even the clothes and the gun are spot-on.  The hair is worth an honorable mention – they got the Mal hair right
• It’s half the price of the Diamond Select statues of River, Inara, and Zoe, and a far better likeness than anything they seem prone to crank out.  If you want a higher-end, realistic Mal figure, you’d best pounce on this one, because I don’t see a better option on the horizon.
• The gun is shiny – they did a really good and accurate job on the detailing.
• This was produced with care by fans, and I’m always willing to give extra leeway to such things.

The bad:

• For all that it’s better than previous attempts, the face just doesn’t capture the essence of Mal.  It’s not absurdly far off like the action figures, but without the costume and the gun I wouldn’t recognize it as a likeness of Mal.  That said, it’s the best likeness that’s ever been made, and quite possibly the best we’ll ever get.  The decision of whether it’s worth the money is an individual one.
• One particular downfall is the eyes – they are poorly painted and simply don’t have that determined spark that our captain’s do.  The paint is matte, which is perhaps a mistake.  Something glossy might make them look more like eyes, and specifically more like Mal’s.
• The pose is a bit odd.  Aiming the gun is good – quintessential Mal.  But I can’t recall Mal ever shooting with one hand held behind his back.  It certainly isn’t a trademark pose and makes him look more like a gentleman dueler than a rough-and-tumble outlaw.
• Bust = creepy.  I love my captain, and I prefer him with his legs attached, thank you very much!  This is where my non-collector-ness shows through; busts are common, but it’s a new concept to me and I’m having a hard time seeing Mal’s dismembered torso sprouting out of the top of my DVD player.
• It’s really expensive for what you get.  It seems poised in an odd price range between the awful $100.00 Diamond Select statues and the cheap and equally awful action figures, but I can’t get over the fact that this is, essentially, half an action figure selling for fifty dollars.  On the flip side, this is a limited edition of 1,000 and represents a lot of hard work, so I can see where they need to get their money out of it.  I guess it would make more sense to me to see this in the $25 range of the Dark Horse Serenity ornament and be an unlimited run.  At that price point it would be an excellent value, and more fans would have a chance to partake.

Rating:  Collector Bait

Approximate Price: $50.00 retail ($60.00 shipped), future ebay pricing unknown.

Available From: Razor’s Edge Collectibles

I’ve tried to show the bust from a variety of angles in my photographs here; these aren’t the best pictures I’ve ever taken but they do a fair job.  If you do an internet search for reviews of this bust, you should be able to find quite a few additional photographs.  My color tones aren’t spot-on here; the skin is a little less yellow, and the coat is a slightly truer brown than the photos reflect.  The face is the make-or-break feature of this, so I’ve photographed it from a number of angles.  I’ll go so far as to say this is the best Serenity action figure/statue made to date; unfortunately, the bar has been set so low by previous products that my praise has a hollow ring to it.

Still…..he has a handsome mug

They have produced 8×10 photo collages for Mal, Wash, Simon, Inara, and River.  I’m not overly fond of the River one, but the others are just gorgeous, and the tiny thumbnails don’t do them justice.  No idea how long they’ll last, but they also have a few signed versions of these under Autographs as well, including some signed by Nathan Fillion.

They come carefully packed and protected in shipping, and not only is the graphic design excellent, the print quality is nice and sharp.  I like these because among other things, they are something you could get autographed by an actor that would look really good on your wall, if you so chose. 

Rating:  Worth The Cashy Money

Approximate Price: $6.00 without autograph, Nathan autographs $32.50, other character autographs $18.00.

Available From: www.creationent.com

Serenityverse Top Pick:  One of those items every Serenity fan should own; top-notch quality and value.  There are very few items that earn this rating.  I consider what I would counsel the Firefly fan on a very limited budget to buy, or recommend who wanted a strong core collection of only the best and most key products, and those become my Top Picks. 

Worth the Cashy Money: Well worth buying if it suits your taste.  There are some supurb products with this rating; some of them may be a little too expensive, or fill slightly too small a niche to become Top Picks, but these are all things I don’t hesitate to recommend.  Once you own the Top Picks, there is much fun to be had by expanding your collection into this area.

Yes, We Noticed You Have a License (or, The Serenity Logo Plastered on Stuff):  This distinction is awarded to those products whose maker invested absolutely no actual brainpower, originality, or graphic designers in the development process.  Welcome to Zippo lighters, coffee mugs, and shot glasses.  Please note that we are still willing to purchase said products, however.

Collector Bait:  Those items that really should be reaver food, but since Browncoats really will buy anything, the die-hard collector probably won’t be able to pass this one up.  Action figures that resemble David Duchovny more than Mal are a prime example.

Reaver Food:  The Special Hell of Serenity and Firefly merchandise, reserved for those products afflicted with problems so severe that I really can’t imagine ever wanting to buy them, even if I had a private floaty island of my very own.

The next quality entry into this arena was www.outtotheblack.com with their Independent patch, the first released with the newly canon blue star (rather than the black).  Prior to the release of the Firefly Visual Companion, fans had assumed the star to be black.  The Out To The Black patch is excellent quality, and sold by one of the most respected sellers in the browncoat community.

Now there is a new kid on the block, www.PatchesNPins.com – a site that recently added Firefly and Serenity to their lineup of film and TV patches.  They say they don’t actually produce the patches, they just distribute them.

They are the first company to provide screen-accurate Independent triangle patches, using the photos in the Firefly Visual Companion as reference.  PatchesNPins offers three different versions of the patch, one for each variation in the Visual Companion.  The average price of their patches is $7.00, which is a bit high compared to previous offerings (Out To The Black, for instance, offers their Independent patch for $5.00) but does include free shipping.  They also sell a set of all three variants of the patch for $18.00.

In addition to the Independent patches, they offer up a Serenity logo (the Firefly based one, not the movie logo), several variations on the Alliance logo, both the red and the blue Alliance security shield patches, a medical patch, an Alliance troop patch, and of course Blue Sun.

I have a set of the three Independent patches here, and they are quite impressive – not quite as thick as some of the other fan-made patches I’ve seen, but the quality seems very good – they are precise in design and there are no loose or out of place threads.  They are extremely accurate replicas of the patches shown in the Visual Companion, and I recommend snagging a set for your collection.  When I ordered from their site I recieved my patches quickly and in great shape.  This site could well end up being an excellent resource for collectors and costumers as they are continually adding new patches; I’d like to see a Serenity movie logo patch and Kaylee’s bear patch added to the selection. 

Lyndono patches:  There are significant differences between the Lyndono patch offered by Patches ‘n Pins and the one formerly sold by browncoatpatches.com – and I have to admit I don’t know which is the more accurate.  The original Browncoat Patches patch is on the left; the Patches ‘n Pins version is on the right.  It’s smaller and more vividly colored.  Anyone?  I should use this as an excuse to plug in my Serenity DVD, but I’m busy and lazy!  I notice the colors on the Patches ‘n Pins version are similar to the Independent colors.  Interesting……

Independent patches:  Shown in the top row is the set of three screen-accurate Independent patches from Patches ‘n Pins; below is the one formerly sold by browncoatpatches.com.  I wanted to include the blue-starred Independent patch sold by Out To The Black Outfitters in the photo, but I couldn’t find it! It’s very similar to the black-starred patch on the bottom, only it has the canon blue star.  The star appears black on screen and was used until the Firefly Visual Companion revealed it to be blue.  The patch was officially intended to be worn point down, but during the Firefly combat scenes Mal is shown wearing his with the point up – reportedly a mistake in the wardrobe department.  However, a case can be made that whatever the original intent was, the point-up patch is canon, at least for Mal, because that’s how it actually appeared in the series.  You choose!

Serenity Patches:  Unfortunately, you can’t buy either of these right now.  The patch on the left is a rare collectible; they were given to members of the old, official Serenity movie forum as rewards for collecting a certain number of points by completing tasks on the website.  There were very few of these patches ever distributed; perhaps at some point someone will make a replica?  It’s a very nice patch.  The one on the right was produced and sold by the no longer operating Browncoat Patches.

Rating:  Worth The Cashy Money

Approximate Price: $7.00 each

Available From: http://www.patchesnpins.com

DVDs

• Firefly series DVDs
• Serenity 1-disk DVD release
• Sereinty 2-disk Collector’s Edition DVD
• Serenity Australian release DVD in collector’s tin
• Serenity Canadian release
• Done The Impossible Documentary
• Various con panels on DVD
• Browncoat Cruise DVD

Collectibles

• Serenity ship ornament
• Reaverized Serenity ship ornament
• Dark Horse PVC figures (Mal, Jayne, River)
• Razor’s Edge limited edition Mal bust 
• QMX Mal stunt pistol replica
• Limited edition Serenity blueprints
• Blueprint reference pack
• Alliance money pack
• Mal action figure
• Final battle Mal action figure
• Serenity lunchbox (pre-ordered)
• Inara’s shuttle (pre-ordered)
• Serenity shot glasses (pre-ordered)
• Serenity mug (pre-ordered)
• Serenity Zippo lighter
• Mal dogtags (QMX)
• Zoe dogtags (QMX)
• Independent, Alliance, Serenity logo, Blue Sun, and Lyndono patches

Books and Comics

• Serenity Visual Companion
• Firefly Visual Companion, volumes 1 and 2
• Serenity movie novelization
• Firefly sheet music
• Serenity Those Left Behind comics, all variants first printing
• Serenity Those Left Behind trade paperback
• Serenity Those Left Behind hardcover
• Finding Serenity
• Serenity Found
• Serenity Role-Playing game book

Art and Posters

• Mike Phillips original Mal drawing (quite possibly the most treasured item in my collection!)
• Jason Palmer Mal print
• Blue Sun Travel Posters
• To Be Bound Mal print by Geoff Mandell
• Limited edition Serenity ship print from QMX
• Browncoat Cruise travel poster
• Browncoat Cruise travel poster signed by Ron Glass, Nectar Rose, Michael Fairman, Jonathan Woodward, and the Bedlam Bards
• Serenity American movie poster, full size
• Serenity UK quad movie poster
• Serenity movie mylar
• Blue Sun travel poster wavecards
• Those Left Behind TPB promo poster
• Various other promo postcards, sheets, buttons, keychains, and posters

Trading cards

• Serenity base set
• Serenity Nathan Fillion autograph card
• Serenity Alan Tudyk autograph card
• Serenity Mal Pieceworks card
• Serenity Wash Pieceworks card
• Serenity Zoe Pieceworks card
• Serenity Simon Pieceworks card
• Firefly base set
• Firefly Nathan Fillion autograph card
• Firefly Jewel Staite autograph card
• Firefly Gina Torres autograph card
• Firefly Sean Maher autograph card
• Firefly Gregg Henry autograph card
• Firefly Jonathan Woodward autograph card
• Partners set
• Outlaws case loader
• Battle of Serenity set
• Firefly Forever puzzle set, cut and uncut
• Various promo cards from both series

Autographs

• Jason Palmer Mal print signed by Ron Glass, Jewel Staite, Adam Baldwin, Morena Baccarin, Christina Hendricks, Jonathan Woodward, Mark Sheppard, Michael Fairman, and Nectar Rose (in person)
• Mike Phillips print signed by Tim Minear, Greg Edmonson, Jonathan Woodward, Mark Sheppard, Geoff Mandell, Shawna Trpcic,
• Those Left Behind TPB signed by Brett Matthews (in person)
• Those Left Behind hardcover signed by Brett Matthews (purchased from Dynamic Forces)
• Done the Impossible DVD signed by Brian Wiser and Jeremy (in person)
• Done the Impossible DVD signed by Brian Wiser (in person)
• Alliance money pack, one bill signed by Geoff Mandell (in person)
• To Be Bound Mal poster, signed by Geoff Mandell (in person)
• On the Drift CD, signed by the Bedlam Bards (in person)
• Firefly Soundtrack CD, signed by Greg Edmonson (in person)
• Australian edition Serenity DVD signed by Alan Tudyk (acquired for me by a friend who was at an Australian convention he attended)
• Serenity movie novelization signed by Keith RA DeCandido (by mail)
• Serenity comic signed by Jewel Staite (purchased from a fan)
• 8×10 photo of Jonathan Woodward, signed by Jonathan Woodward
• Blue Sun Londinium travel poster signed by creator Adam Levermore-Rich (in person)
• Browncoat Cruise travel poster signed by Ron Glass, Nectar Rose, Michael Fairman, Jonathan Woodward, and the Bedlam Bards
• Limited edition Serenity ship print from QMX, autographed by Jonathan Woodward
• Serenity comic signed by Ron Glass (purchased)
• Serenity comics signed by others – have to check collection
• Various photos of me with the actors, some signed by them

Nathan Fillion autographed items

• Canadian edition DVD signed by Nathan Fillion (acquired from Fillion’s brother)
• White Noise: The Light R2 DVD signed by Nathan Fillion (in person)
• Mug signed by Nathan Fillion (in person)
• The Softwire novel, signed by Nathan Fillion and PJ Haarsma
• Kids Need to Read collector’s card, signed by Nathan Fillion and PJ Haarsma
• Mal lithograph signed by Nathan Fillion (acquired from Fillion’s brother)
• Movie-used Alliance currency 100 note signed by Nathan Fillion (acquired from Fillion’s brother)
• Movie-used Alliance currency 500 note signed by Nathan Fillion (acquired from Fillion’s brother)
• Serenity mini-poster signed by Nathan Fillion (acquired from Fillion’s brother)
• Mal Stunt Pistol card signed by Nathan Fillion (acquired from QMX, was signed in person for QMX)
• Serenity Mal autograph card (signed for trading card series)
• Firefly Mal autograph card (signed for trading card series)
• Serenity comic autographed by Nathan Fillion (from ??? West Authentic)

Want to have autographed in person if I can ever track him down at a con:

• Jason Palmer Mal poster
• Mike Phillips prints
• My Mal stunt pistol replica

Wanted items:

• Serenity movie press kit
• Firefly promo items
• Serenity ship papers from QMX
• Screen accurate Wash dinosaurs and palm tree
• Screen accurate browncoat
• Mal belt and holster
• Pretty much anything QMX comes out with

1. Firefly DVD Box Set
2. Serenity Collector’s Edition 2-disk DVD
3. Firefly Visual Companion, volumes 1 and 2
4. Serenity Visual Companion
5. Serenity Ship ornament (from Dark Horse)
6. Serenity Blueprint Reference Pack (from QMX)
7. Firefly Soundtrack CD (by Greg Edmonson)
8. Serenity PVC Mal, Jayne, and River mini-figurines  (from Dark Horse)
9. Serenity Those Left Behind hardcover or trade paperback
10. Serenity: Better Days comic books
11. Firefly trading card base set
12. Serenity trading card base set
13. Done the Impossible DVD
14. Some art – check out Mike Phillips’ beautiful character prints, Jason Palmer’s official line, Adam Levermore-Rich’s Blue Sun travel posters, and the Serenity movie posters from various countries.

Very shiny cards featuring images from the movie. You can buy them in packets (6 cards in each), boxes, or cases if you want to do the trading-card collecting thing. Inkworks guarantees 1 autograph card and one pieceworks card in each sealed box purchased.

Alternatively, buy a base set of all 72 of the basic cards on eBay, which may become your only option now that the cards are officially sold out through Inkworks. The base sets are pretty cheap. The rarer cards (which include autograph cards signed by each cast member, pieceworks cards which have small pieces of the actual costumes worn by the cast, and other special cards) can also be had on eBay, but they tend to be expensive! To actually trade the cards, a very nice database has been set up on www.bigdamnboard.com. Full information on all the available Serenity trading cards can be found at the maker’s site, www.inkworks.com.

Serenity Trading Card Binder There is also a full-color Serenity binder available to put them in for a list price of 19.95; It’s sold out from official sources, but can sometimes be found on eBay. These are very nice if you can get your hands on them; they are padded, adding a quality feel that comes almost close to justifying the hefty price tag.

Sample Serenity Autograph cards:

Sample Serenity Pieceworks cards:

Serenity trading card binder: