My wife has spent a scary amount of time creating her Firefly Barbies, making a lot of the materials by hand when she couldn’t find a substitute. So it’s always interesting when someone else does the work for her…

The Toy Smith, maker of small scale weapon reproductions, has begun making weapons and holster rigs based on the Firefly versions, perfect for your own doll creations. For sale now is Zoe’s carbine and rig, and Mal’s holster (the gun’s on the way). We had already bought his 47 Colt Walker revolver to serve as Mal’s piece, but I’m looking forward to seeing what he comes up with.

New! The first official additions to the Serenity role-playing game by Margaret Weis Productions are here, and they look great. An invaluable aid to the GM, the screen is a four-panel foldout with a gorgeous Serenity-in-battle image on the outside and some important charts and reminders on the inside so you don’t have to keep digging through the book every time someone does something. Besides, players get more nervous when you roll your dice behind something and cackle. Read on for more descriptions and pics.

Read the rest of this entry »

Who needs Magic the Gathering? Throw out your Pokemon cards! (Seriously, throw them out) You need to get busy playing the card game that blows them all away, in a very literal and precise sense: BWAH!

Read the rest of this entry »

Unhappy with the first set of Serenity figures? Maybe the faces weren’t close enough, or you were just frustrated that they stopped with three characters? So was Sasha, so she started making her own.

Sasha Powell creates custom figures. BtVS, Angel, her own family and friends, and (wait for it) Firefly! She’s done one of each of the core cast and a few extra versions such as the frou-frou Kaylee (pictured) and busts of Mal, Inara, and the Hero of Canton. Starting from off-the-rack figures from Moore and McFarlane she cuts, slices, sculpts, melts and even boils them until she produces our heroes.

Read the rest of this entry »

I’ll warn you ahead of time, they aren’t for sale. Sorry.

I tend to get caught up in good TV shows, fiction, and movies. My wife loves artwork, crafts, and sewing. Both of us tend to throw ourselves headfirst into whatever we’re currently interested in. Last year our obsessions meshed: Teres started making me Firefly Barbies.

Read the rest of this entry »

You may have already seen Chris Doyle’s awesome LEGO Serenity – made of 3,000 bricks, with light-up interiors and Firefly drive — and been astounded. I certainly was, which was why I was glad when he offered “Bag-O-Bricks” sets last year to make your own “snack-size” Serenity. I bought one and put it together in about two hours, with very little cussing (click the image for a larger pic). It came with illustrated instructions, a bonus stand, and a little LEGO Wash figure with a tiny dinosaur.

Even the small one (pictured) is incredible, with an amazing amount of detail packed in. The engine nacelles on the sides swivel and the Firefly drive in the back opens up, while a hidden hinge gives the neck that graceful arch. It’s about 9″ long, and, as promised, “swooshes” nicely. It also looks fantastic on display. There’s a lot of detail and playing with it is a careful endeavor, but I was very happy with the results. My son has already plotted to steal it. You can download the free instructions here to make your own. 

He’s also made Big Damn LEGO Heroes: Wash, Mal, River, Simon, Kaylee, Book, Inara, River, a Reaver, even Saffron! And you gotta check out the Naked Mal Diarama!

But that ain’t all. Thanks to a generous donation of a few truckloads of bricks Chris has started on several ambitious projects. First, he’s rebuilding his big ship and documenting it along the way so you can see how to make your own. Second, he’s working on an even bigger one that’s to scale with his Big Damn LEGO Heroes. And he’s creating a ‘versy town for them to visit.

Check out the Browncoat Central section of his LEGO page for details, along with pics of his amazing LEGO Mule.

Build your own Serenity! Chris Larson of MiniModelMadness has created a simple and not-terribly-detailed Firefly-class model for you to assemble and paint.

4 and 1/2 inches long, consisting of 5 separate pieces.

Once my order arrives and I take a swing at painting my first model in 30 years I’ll post pictures and comments. For now, I refer you to Jim O’Malley’s excellent review of his experiences with this model.

Simon: “Tall card plum. Plums are tall.”
Book: “I’ll take two.”
Simon: “Two. No tall card claim.” (deals) “Three. Dealer forced to claim the tall. Tall card’s around my neck like a weight.”

Seen during the episode “Shindig,” Tall Card was either invented by episode writer Jane Espenson or faked during filming as a pokerish kind of game, depending on which source you like. To my knowledge there is no deck being sold, but there are a variety of deck designs you can download and print yourself. Some of the rules created for Tall Card can be found here.

Read the rest of this entry »

There is absolutely no reason not to have your obsession with you everywhere you go, and that’s why India Games has created the Serenity Renegades game for your cell phone.

You’re “Captain Malcolm,” apparently, and you’re fighting to get to the planet Miranda to unlock the secrets hidden within River Tam’s mind. You’re also fighting (or sneaking) past Alliance ships, Reaver ships, and ground attacks, and trying to pick up friendly ships for points you can use to upgrade your ship with more weapons and shields.

Read the rest of this entry »

Juggling geese! Goslings! They were juggled!

And you too can get into this highly competitive sport with a boxed set of three fluffy, adorable, easy-to-hurl goslings. Even if you have no interest in goose abuse, this makes a fantastic gift. Packed in a huge Chinese take-out box, the goslings come with specialized instructions and a few goodies. You can’t beat it for the price; I was very happy when I opened mine (pictured). And it turns out that goslings are a good weight for juggling. Who knew?

You need this.

Wash-O-Saurus also sells Browncoat silicone wristbands in brown and black.