Whoa... I'd better chip in! I understand there are some concerns about XM’s origins and whether Xenomorph and XM are one and the same.
As a company accountable to all of you collectors, we need to be honest and open about things so here’s my official statement on this matter.
- XM Studios Private Limited is a completely separate and different entity from Xenomorph (Which FYI is defunct).
- XM Studios has a 100% legit contract to design and produce licensed Marvel statues.
- XM Studios is committed to deliver our very best – premium collectibles that represent characters we all love and adore by listening to the community.
I could probably stop right here because really, the above 3 points are what matters IMO when you hold a good honest XM Studios product in your hand. But I know it won’t stop some folks from digging out the past so I would like to tell a story to my fellow friends here. (yes all of you!)
A long time ago, in a sunny island far far away (Singapore), there were 2 very talented craftsmen who worked for many years painting garage kits in a humble little corner shop named Xenomorph. I used to visit these brothers to get my garage kits painted, and I was always amazed at their paint work quality.
As the years went by, with the emergence of high end statues appearing on the market, some collectors turned up at the shop, often asking for paint repair, or to fix a broken arm/leg. In time, due to the humid weather in Singapore, some customers even asked the brothers to recast and change cloth to stone, which as a service they did very well indeed. Very often, the customers wanted to keep the original mixed media statues safely stored and chose to display the fully sculpted/modified recasted versions instead.
Some customers even sold the recast versions. The 2 brothers had also created more pieces due to demand as some of the statues were hard to obtain so yes, they recasted. No excuses. They committed an action that is unacceptable in the respectable collectable community. It didn't go unnoticed and they were contacted by Marvel with a cease order and hatefully shunned on forums.
And the 2 brothers stopped. They put up a sign on their website that they have joined the anti-recasting movement and pledged never to make this mistake again.
Yet, the brothers' dreams of bigger things beyond private commissions, repairs and modification work did not die. Sadly they just never had the capital to realize that dream. (Licensing is expensive as you can imagine)
One fine day in 2013, 2 gentlemen knocked on their doorsteps with a company proposal, ideas and also funding to actually get things done proper. A company that would focus on producing the most beautiful and committed collector pieces. A company based on collaborative efforts made of the best people we could find all over the world. A company that understands the core of our business are our customers and that’s why we listen.
That company is XM Studios.
Not Xenomorph.
And yes I am one of those lucky gentlemen to have been able to help these brothers realize their dreams. I count not just these two brothers, but many other new collaborative talents (you can see the list on our website
http://www.xm-studios.com/creative-collaboration.aspx) as family - Artgerm, Erick, Alejandro, Studio Hive and many more brothers-in-arms.
My friends, I am not ashamed of 2 members on my team having a less than perfect history. I accept and respect them for their talents and no matter what anyone tells me, I am proud of what they have achieved and become today.
I do not have the right to ask for everyone's forgiveness or acceptance of my team members' past but I sincerely hope the future will be proof that people do make mistakes but sometimes, a 2nd chance is all they need.
I end with a real-life scenario; One of my favorite restaurants has a chef that used to be a convict - he stole, fought and got into gangs as a young man. I continue to be a patron to that restaurant, quite simply because I go there for the food - there's really no need to ostracize.
The XM Brand is what it is today not because of the past but because of what it has done from day one till today. And we will continue to do what we've set out to do, for many more years to come.
