I was wondering, in everyone's honest opinion, what is better fanmade props, or props from companies

[darkesword2020]

During the time that I've been a part of costuming, and prop making in general. Not just here on the 405th, but as well as the RPF, and with the 501st. My opinion has been that anything that is fan made, is "most of the time" made with LOVE, DEVOTION, and PATIENCE, and of course...skill. Look at Bluerealm for instance, we've ALL seen his work; quite amazing, but....he spent time, money, patience, and put a lot of practice into his sculpts to get his armor to look the way it does.

Now, look at a company like Master Replicas...where they take the prop and mass produce it, I'm waiting to see what they do with their Halo line of products, but in essence......would you guys agree with me, that fan's have a greater love for their creations, and thus spend a greater amount of time, money and skill to get their "props, costumes, and the like" to look accurate, and thus, create that, which creates "shock and awe"?

So I guess what I'm saying.....



Fanmade costumes/props/helmets with love, patience, and devotion? OR....Mass produced costumes/props/helmets with no love, little patience, and machine made devotion? For examples..think of the legendary spartan helmet that came with the game....and the Master Replica scaled battle rifle and covenant rifle versus Adam's armor, and Bluerealm's armor, and some of the 501st's armor, weapons and the like...

That is my question.

Now I would ask for mature and intelligent responses to this question. Please...no arguing...yes this is OPINIONATED! Everyone is entitled to their opinion.....And please..no thread hijacking!

Fire away my fellow spartans!

 

[AoBfrost]

I'd want my suit to be unique, I dont want 1 million of the same suit to be made and easily purchasable from a store.

 

[RedTogusa]

I like both.
Why you ask?
Well personally i'm like the Borg I assimilate in that I like to buy goods from mass producing companies ans then modify it to make it my own and possibly make it better.

 

[smick6]

I think it depends on a persons skill and budget. Alot of people cant pay for a hand made prop costing a a few hundred dollars. The people that dont have the money will buy the mass produced stuff and enjoy it as well as something that cost alot. Any of the stuff I have seen on the market is worth its cost. I am more of a creator/maker of props not a collector so most of the small things I have are mass produced thigs. I dont even have a Spiker of my own. I build things because I enjoy it and for the challenge.

Skill is another factor in it as well. It takes a long time to aquire skills to make a really good prop. Its usually not something that you try once and it comes out perfect. The proper tools and work space is something that also needs to be considered.
There are alot of fan made items that are great and some not so great, but everyone can only do their best, unfortunatly you can buy something online and not be very happy with it when you receive it. Mass produced stuff you see in the store and you know what your getting. If you only look at the best fan made stuff I would have to say the level of detail and care taken with the subject matter is better than the mass produced stuff. The best stuff is also the most exensive.

Making your own stuff is very rewarding, but usually thats only if it turns out good.

 

[Vrogy]

It's a tradeoff.. company props can generally be relied upon for quality, whereas fanmade props... vary from halloween pep to bluerealm and his ilk. I say go for something on the upper end of the fanmade scale, and you'll get something cheaper than the average company piece, and the same quality.

 

[rvb4life]

mass produced is cheaper, but you can get it easier, so its not like you are one of a kind, so its kind of a tough decision.

 

[AoBfrost]

How would you like it if we all wore the same MC suit? It would be really boring and uncool, because we all make our suits unique, it's just more fun and more gratification in the end.

 

[Ironcobra3000]

Mass produced suits are not made with love.

 

[SPARTAN II]

As everyone else has said here, one of the great benefits of fan-made props and costumes is having one's own fan-made pieces being unique from everyone else's. A fan can detail his own work the way he/she wants it. With licensed, mass-produced props and the like, it's all based on the same master build, and so look identical.

For the die-hard fan (be it HALO, Star Wars, Star Trek or something else), it's not as kewl to own a prop that everyone else has the exact same copy of.

As far as mass-produced props go, many are very well done, very accurate to the original screen-used/game-used piece, but for the scrutinizing prop enthusiast/collector if there's even one thing out of place either detail-wise or material-wise (something other than what the original piece used) then that can ruin thier full appreciation of the prop.

Take Master Replicas' line of licensed Star Trek props, for instance. A few years back, they released all of the standard Landing Party pieces from the Original Series; Tricorder, Phaser, Communicator. Although all very eye-catching display pieces, with fully working electronics, and using many of the same materials used on the screen-used versions, people still upgrade/modify thier Communicators to get it looking and feeling more like the originals.

Never really heard anything bad about thier Tricorder (I guess they nailed that one), but another issue with many Trek prop enthusiasts was some of the design aspects of thier Phaser. Whereas the screen-used originals were made of fiberglass (the smaller Phaser One, Phaser Two body and handle), Master Replicas made thier reproduction of that piece entirely out of metal.

Of course, that's far more durable than fiberglass and will last a very long time, but for a lot of fans wasn't representative of the original prop. Another design aspect that fans had an issue with was that some of the contours and proportions of the Phaser were grossly inaccurate; the Phaser One wasn't the correct shape, and the Phaser Two didn't have the correct curvature above the trigger housing.

Compared to a more accurate fan-made replica, which in almost every detail mirrors the original screen-used prop (sometimes with a direct comparison to reference material available; ie. screen caps), such inaccuracies are painstakingly obvious. And again, like I said earlier, to the most scrutinizing prop collector would not be acceptable.

The same can be said of the Tricorder kit available through Roddenberry.com. Although the first licensed kit to come out, and made by HMS Studios (the prop house that did made most props for TNG, DS9, VOY and ENT), according to some product reviews I've read by other fans they kinda skimped on being consistent with the materials they include in thier kits.

For the most part, the Tricorder kit included the correct brushed aluminum components, but for the metal divider between the spinning moire and data discs in the body of the Tricorder, and the door handles they were made out of poured metal (kinda like pewter). Everyone I have seen build this kit has resorted to fabricating the correct aluminum details, and discarded the original pieces included, for those areas so as to make thier build as accurate as possible.

So, I think it really comes down to what kind of prop hobbyist/collector you yourself are, and just what you consider an acceptable replica and not. With what I've seen of licensed replicas, depending on the company and the people who actually had a hand in developing the molding master the level of quality and accuracy can be sorta hit-and-miss.

Fan-made prop creators take into account the fan's desire for correct detail and accuracy, and so incorporate those high standards into thier work, making it the absolute best they can. Licensed companies don't really take notice of the fan's opinions/input and often times are content with reproducing close facsimiles, then boasting thiers is the best out there, and readily charge customers an arm and a leg for them.

Personally speaking, I'd prefer a fan-made prop over mass-produced any day. As has also been said by everyone else, I know I'm getting a high-end, high-quality replica because of all the dedication, time and effort that went into it. In my mind, the cost of a well-made, fan-made prop is more than worth its weight in gold compared to a mass-produced prop.

That's my two-cent's worth...

 

[Newspartancreator]

Good point, and a very true one. When we create a prop, it does have a better standard, because we are the ones (other than Bungie) that really know the characters, weapons, and props... When it gets passed off to a third party it's their job to mass produce it, cheap as possible, in mass, and still turn a profit after the original makers get their cut....

 

[GruntOfAction]

Personally I want to buy some McFarlane figures because lets face it, I have no idea how to make an actionfigure anyway..

 

[PillowFire]

big companies also have access to professional tools and machines.

Imagine if a fan who was very devoted and spent time and money, and put love into his work....had access to a rapid proto-typing machine, and an entire assembly line.


Pretty easy at that point, and no effort involved, right?


That's why the big companies put no "love" or "effort", it takes no effort or love when you can simply make a 3d model and get an exact replica 1:1 scale using a high-tech piece of machinery.

 

[Sigma LS]

I think it's also awesome that you can actually get to know the artist besides just having a quality prop. You can't do that with a company!

 

[bilsy28]

I personally like fan-made. But if you could get the armor or any helmet from Bungie, That would be cool.

 

[airgunfreak]

well i personally like larger companies this is just a mini-hobby for some of us and i'm voteing on larger companies just because they have more resources and machinery so they can have a bit more detailed armour


!!!and yes now i'm back after like 9 months of not being here!!!

 

[Zaso117]

Each suit/weapon/creation is a work of art, you won't find that is mass production.

There's always a certain amount of care, caution for detail and effort put into each piece.

Gotta love it

 

[rowan]

If you have a suit that you made u always feel like you have achieved something. i would take my yet to be finished suit over some licensed crap with absolutely no hard work, no sweet, blood and love put into it. (the amount of times I've cut myself while shaping amour with a scalpel i CAN say theres blood in my amour)
plus ill be entering mine into cosplay contests, if another 3 MC'sturn up wearing the same bought costume and i have mine that i made with love, devotion, lots of planning and hoard work, I'm gonna win