FIRST LOOK: QMx's TNG Communicator Badge

You want to beam up, but can’t. You want to confer to Captain Picard, but you’re missing something. Well, now that something – a Star Trek: The Next Generation Communicator Badge – is almost within reach. QMx will offer the badge next year, but we thought we’d give you a First Look right now.The upcoming badge is extraordinarily screen-accurate, as QMx crafted it using one of the only remaining sets of original molds, which were painstakingly restored in their artisan model shop. That restoration process enabled them to precisely replicate the prop’s shape and size. To perfect the colors, the design team studied an actual screen-used badge. And then QMx went where no badge-maker has gone before: rather than use painted resin, as was done on TNG, they rendered the replica props in gold- and silver-finished metal. Finally, to finish off the piece, QMx added short-field magnets – rather than a pin clasp – enabling fans to wear their badge without putting holes in their clothes.