Categorize this under “Where’s this been all of my life!?” Stargate Atlantis fans are going to be able to own their own light up ZPM, just like the ones used on the series. A team of enterprising Stargate collectors secured one of the original ZPM props used on Stargate Atlantis, and have reverse-engineered it into a collectible that you will be able to buy.
Fan-made ZPM replicas have been around forever, but they’ve all been a little off, and not quite realistic. I’ve talked to countless fans who have been disappointed by what they bought from sellers on Etsy or Facebook. What I’m most excited about is the fact that this ZPM replica is going to be screen accurate to what was used on the series (and for those who know prop collectors, screen accuracy is THE holy grail).
We got a sneak peak at this prop at Gatecon, and caught up with the team behind it, SG1Props.com. They explained that the original props and costumes from the shows have what’s called production wear which tends to make replicas molded from original props look terrible when presented as collectibles. So what they did was completely disassemble the original prop, mold it, and then had artists go through a process known as remastering in the prop collecting and restoration world. Remastering is a process where artists are paid literally thousands of dollars to fix issues which will show up later in the casting process. Something like a scratch or a chip in the original prop is desirable for collectors of original props who use damage to screen match a prop to a specific seen, but ends up looking making replicas look cheap.
During my conversion with the SG1Props team they also told me about the fancy things that they would be doing with the inner workings of the ZPM replicas to give them that beautiful Atlantis glow that we all love so much! There will be accessories for displaying your ZPM prop replica as well, and I’m excited at the possibility of showing off the ZPM from multiple different angles.
The ZPM prop from SG1Props.com is a replica that I think any Stargate fan will want in their home. As a final word, I must say that I was impressed at their commitment to only using the finest materials and techniques for fabrication. The SG1Props people are truly the experts when it comes to Stargate prop replicas, and fans can be assured knowing that they are the ones bringing this fan-favorite prop to the world.
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