Whedonesque Mobile : Comments on 18096 : QMx "I Aim to Misbehave" Mal Maquette.

Hmmm. In contrast to the cute Kaylee maquette, I don't think I would have recognized this one as Mal has it not been identified as such. But I supposed that it's an improvement on Mal's Spirit Fox.

[ edited by BrewBunny on 2008-11-11 23:21 ]

BrewBunny | November 11, 23:21 CET

So not my thing.

redeem147 | November 11, 23:30 CET

I would have to agree, I think it's the black hair color/style that gets the most in the way of recognizing him.

guardian_owl | November 11, 23:30 CET

Um.....what's with the hair?

DaisyButtercup | November 11, 23:44 CET

That's what happens when you connect your blow dryer to your space helmet for a quick dry.

willbueche | November 11, 23:48 CET

While the black hair may be the problem, it might also be the figure looks like a six year old (which I sheepishly conceed may have been the point) playing with a cap gun. That is just too far of a jump for me to go from thinking of manly chiseled jaw Malcolm to black haired kid with an obnoxious noise maker.

Rebekah | November 11, 23:55 CET

The Kaylee macquette was adorable, albeit rather "smallish" as Inara would say. This? They want more for it than they charged for Kaylee! True, they made 500 less of them, but... geez.

TDBrown | November 12, 00:02 CET

Yeah, I'm pretty much in agreement. Kaylee's maquette was absolutely adorable (and I LOVE mine). This one is just . . . well I don't even know. Aside from it not really screaming Mal to me, it doesn't quite seem in style with the Kaylee design. Or is that just me?

Hmmm. In contrast to the cute Kaylee maquette, I don't think I would have recognized this one as Mal has it not been identified as such. But I supposed that it's an improvement on Mal's Spirit Fox.

Good lord tell me that was an April Fool's joke, please?

ceo | November 12, 00:24 CET

Good lord tell me that was an April Fool's joke, please?

As far as I know, it wasn't. It was in an email circulated by QMX in what appeared to be a sort of trial balloon. And in light of the widespread ridicule and scorn that the concept got on message boards and blogs, I can see why it never went much further.

I'd be curious to know whether anyone has questioned the QMX crew about this particular hairbrained idea at any of the conventions.

BrewBunny | November 12, 00:44 CET

I think they mixed up Neo & Mal. This actually Keanu Reeves maquette from The Matrix trilogy but without the sunglasses.

Spacegirl3200 | November 12, 01:07 CET

It doesn't really capture his essence. Or his hair.

Sunfire | November 12, 01:17 CET

Well, that's... Disappointing.

The Li'l Kaylee was cute, but I don't think they realized all the characters as fully in their concept art before going to production. (The real Mal doesn't have black helmet hair, for example. And where's his Captainly smirk?)

I'm almost afraid to see what they might do with Li'l Inara.

Grotesk | November 12, 01:29 CET

So all the characters are going to be cutesy?

[ edited by kazzmere on 2008-11-12 04:35 ]

kazzmere | November 12, 02:35 CET

I am just a little sad and mostly disappointed.

madmolly | November 12, 02:43 CET

I think they all were supposed to be cute, just going by the name. And I think this one is. It's Mal cute-i-fied.

NYPinTA | November 12, 03:11 CET

Wow, this is the most negative I've heard since the Diamond statues, and I don't think it's deserved. Do you guys really not remember the Little Damn Heroes stuff Adam (lexigeek) did for Black Market Beagles? They were all cute-ified, that was the whole point. Lots of people were doing anime versions and cartoony versions and Adam did them one better. I may get yelled at for bringing this back out, but this was the original Mal pic. Personally I like the maquette's pose better. (Although I have no idea why his hair is black, but with any luck that's fixable before the release).

Here's the Kaylee pic, by the way. They were all cute, even Zoe, and some of them were even cartoonier. Jayne was mostly hat, as I recall...

[ edited by C. A. Bridges on 2008-11-12 03:44 ]

C. A. Bridges | November 12, 03:43 CET

I think it's cute! The coat, the pose, the slanty gun belt, we all know the "Slanty Gun Belt" is what makes Mal so appealing don't we? I don't get how people can't identify this as Mal, I think it's great!

Beth | November 12, 03:44 CET

I saw this maquette in person at San Diego Comic-Con and it was very, very cool. I especially love the detailed gun in his pudgy fingers, the billowing browncoat and the kickin' boots. The maquettes are intended to be child-like, cartoonish interpretations. All of the pieces will match in spirit. You can't have the girls look cute and the guys look rough. I think Adam creates beautiful designs and every maquette I have seen so far is wonderfully and thoughtfully designed.

Yes, I direct KNTR, which benefits from the generosity of QMx with this Mal figure, but as I said, I think ALL of the maquettes are beautifully crafted. Well-done, QMx! I think Mal is awesome!

Ninja MALi | November 12, 03:44 CET

You know, I don't even have a dog in this hunt, but I don't see anyone here who doesn't understand that the figures are supposed to be cute. And the earlier Kaylee once has been referenced at least a couple of times, so clearly people do grasp the general idea.

It is possible, after all, to understand something and still have it fail for you. I'm really not seeing comments that suggest that people don't understand the idea. I'm seeing comments that say this one just isn't working for some people.

And that's perfectly fair.

The One True b!X | November 12, 04:02 CET

I like the figure very much, I just think the black hair is a mistake.

Charmuse | November 12, 04:12 CET

The maquettes are based on the original "Little Damn Heroes" cartoons by lexigeek, which you can see a sampling of here.

The designs included Shiny (Kaylee), Thrilling Heroics (Jayne), Mal, Simon, I can hurt you (Zoe), Wash, No Power in the Verse (River), That Went Well (Nekkid Mal), Book, and a very saucy Inara.

I wouldn't mind seeing the Wash, Zoe and Book designs in Maquette form... and Nekkid Mal and Inara. But the current Mal one doesn't really match the original design.

Edited to add: Ah, I see C.A.Bridges has already noted this... it just took me forever to find the original images. The Jayne is super cute too.

[ edited by JenskiJen on 2008-11-12 04:27 ]

JenskiJen | November 12, 04:21 CET

I think it is very cute. My hats off to the creator! One of the cutest Firefly dolls I've seen.

JessLovesJoss | November 12, 04:23 CET

b!x, I was responding to "While the black hair may be the problem, it might also be the figure looks like a six year old (which I sheepishly conceed may have been the point) playing with a cap gun. That is just too far of a jump for me to go from thinking of manly chiseled jaw Malcolm to black haired kid with an obnoxious noise maker." and "Maybe all the characters are going to be....cute."

If the design simply doesn't work for folks, no worries. I just got the impression reading those comments that some here didn't quite get it, and wanted to rectify that fact.

C. A. Bridges | November 12, 04:36 CET

I think the Mal maquette is a big improvement over the original design. It has a much more dynamic pose. I do still proudly wear my original button though. :)

Ninja MALi | November 12, 04:45 CET

I dig it a lot.

Brian Lynch | November 12, 04:47 CET

The Mal is the only one so far based on a new drawing, done specifically for the maquettes. Found that out when we did the prototype charity auctions last June.

danregal | November 12, 05:03 CET

After taking another look, I think it's really just the colors that don't work for me. Besides the aforementioned hair, the coat really isn't very brown. If those were fixed I think I'd like it nearly as much as the Kaylee one.

Rachelkachel | November 12, 05:24 CET

BTW, Kaylee is just cute personified so of course her Little Hero figurine would be cute. It's just natural. Mal... well, he has a cuteness about him, but not nearly so much. So seeing him so cutified I can see being something the brain might not be able to handle as easily. ;)

NYPinTA | November 12, 05:30 CET

What NYPinTA said (way more eloquently than I did!)

Which is why I'm diggin' on the giant-hatted Jayne. His character simply lends himself to caricature.

kazzmere | November 12, 05:49 CET

I love the Mal maquette! I loved the original Little Damn Heroes that Adam did-it only follows that these would be cute as well and I'm ok with Mal being cute. ;)
I also think it's wonderful what they're doing in support of KNTR and I thank them. :)

FollowMal | November 12, 06:02 CET

Yep, lightening the coat and the hair color would go a long way in improving the likeness.

guardian_owl | November 12, 06:06 CET

I also like the idea of lightening the coat & hair color. And there is nothing wrong with a cutified Mal :-)

Spacegirl3200 | November 12, 09:01 CET

Ninja MALi-
Are you suggesting if we buy the Mal maquette that certain procedes go to KNTR much like the comic book special edition? If so that's pretty shiny.

Spacegirl3200 | November 12, 09:11 CET

Sigh.

Guess I'm the only one, then, who doesn't like "cute" when it comes to my figures-based-on-characters-I-love?

Oh well.

Y'all buy what pleases ya. Me, if I had the money, I'd get me a Mal what looks like Mal, and a Jayne who's a manly man.

And I'm not dissin' the creator, here. Just sayin' not my cuppa. Creativity's all good, 'specially when it comes from Love of Things Whedony.

But speakin' of nekkid Mal...mmm....nekkid Mal....hmm? Oh. Right. What's his hip tat? Anyone know?

ShadowQuest | November 12, 09:13 CET

Love all the detail and can't wait until they do the Jayne one if it's anything like lexigeek's designs:)

elles | November 12, 09:25 CET

Cute design for a great cause. I have zero problem with that! :)

Libertine | November 12, 10:26 CET

It looks like you can still buy items with the original "Little Damn Heroes" designs from Cafepress

JenskiJen | November 12, 12:15 CET

Spacegirl3200 - It's right there in the description at the link in the title:

"Only 1000 "I Aim to Misbehave" limited-edition maquettes will be made. And, through special arrangement with Nathan Fillion and PJ Haarsma, co-founders of Kids Need To Read (www.kidsneedtoread.org), a portion of the proceeds from sales of "Aim" will be donated to this worthy cause."

Jen, Adam might not want that link out there. Can you check with him (or did you)?

danregal | November 12, 14:50 CET

I like the idea as a concept and the Kaylee maquette that came out was very good indeed. It's just that in this case, Mal looks a bit like Sam Waterson from Law & Order.

Simon | November 12, 15:10 CET

As much as I would love to have an actual Mal Reynolds on my shelf...
I love the maquettes of the LDH. I think that they have such great character! Plus it looks like he just pulled his gun out, cute or not.
:)
Nicely done again- can't wait to see the rest of them!

mifeng | November 12, 15:41 CET

I like the idea as a concept and the Kaylee maquette that came out was very good indeed. It's just that in this case, Mal looks a bit like Sam Waterson from Law & Order.

Ouch. (But, I do kinda see it.)

[ edited by NYPinTA on 2008-11-12 15:43 ]

NYPinTA | November 12, 15:42 CET

Very nicely done. I see nothing wrong with it. It's cute--as it's meant to be.

death is my gift | November 12, 18:37 CET

I'm still waiting and hoping and praying for the figurine based on Lexigeek's drawing of Joss Whedon (and I hope they don't try to make that one more dynamic...).

embers | November 12, 18:54 CET

LOL at embers! A "dynamic" Joss just wouldn't do! :)

Ninja MALi | November 12, 21:26 CET

November 11 2008