I bought one of these about three years ago.

ZodKneelsFirst | April 13, 21:14 CET

Well it couldn't have been from ThinkGeek cos this has only just been posted.

(do they have a UK branch yet ? Probably just as well if they don't really, the shipping/exchange rate issue is all that's standing between me and wasting a whole load of cash on techytat and T-shirts that're really clever because they're in binary)

Saje | April 13, 23:05 CET

I think I bought mine from Out To The Black a zillion years ago. Still looks good too.

madmolly | April 13, 23:21 CET

I got mine from either Hot Stuff or Stylin' Online, these shirts have been in production at various places pretty much continuously since the movie. ;) Isn't QMx doing one now too?

I'm pretty sure the 28 is the unit's number, not a person's number. I've always imagined the 28th "Fighting Elves" whatever-it-is was a mercenary unit or something along those lines since Jayne was never in the army per se.

cabri | April 13, 23:25 CET

The QMx Persephone Travel Poster depicts the Fighting Elves as a Sports Club of some kind.
That would make 28 a player's #, and it's likely the QMx tee is what Think Geek is peddling.

TDBrown | April 14, 02:06 CET

Yep, this is the QMx shirt as far as I know. They wholesale to a variety of online vendors. Also, the only other previous versions were all fan-made (again, as far as I know). So probably not found in any stores.

danregal | April 14, 03:02 CET

With delivery to the UK of $23 - $28 depending on service, I think i'll be giving it a miss!

cdm22 | April 14, 11:44 CET

I recently got three shirts shipped to the UK from them. You obviously have to pay for customs too. As much as I love my Captain Hammer shirt, the money does make me feel a bit sick. It just makes no sense to me, I can buy an independently produced tee for next to nothing from America but when going from places like TG or any TV store, it's an awfully high shipping price. NBC's is unbelievable.

Jaymii | April 14, 12:33 CET

Something worth remembering is that you don't pay customs on packages valued at £18 or less so in some cases it actually makes sense to order individual items from abroad separately.

But yep, we often get absolutely rinsed on shipping/VAT. Rip-off Britain, 'twas ever thus.

Saje | April 14, 13:34 CET

Mine wasn't fan made.

And I didn't pay that much shipping.

Those were the days!

ZodKneelsFirst | April 14, 13:47 CET

I expect the shipping was cheaper because kids respected their elders and this was all fields back then.

Saje | April 14, 13:50 CET

No, I think it was because America was still a colony.

I mean y'know, officially.

ZodKneelsFirst | April 14, 15:34 CET

cabri wrote:


I think it's just supposed to be a shirt Jayne bought (or stole). What the costume department was thinking with "fighting elves" is unknown.

The "fighting elves" translation didn't even become canon until the 2nd FF companion came out in 2007 (p. 15). Before that it was just what I was claiming most likely on my Firefly-Serenity Chinese Pinyinary site for three years, and other people started using the back translation in their design descriptions. Shawna Trpcic may have just adopted the translation because it was in the ether. The costume department could have meant "militant elves" or "the elves that combat," or the Fox-library translator may have taken liberties with the English-to-Chinese translation.

Anyway, it says "zhan4dou4 de5 xiao3jing1ling2," or in Firefly respelling: jan-doh duh shao jing-ling.

[ edited by Ying on 2011-04-14 21:11 ]

Ying | April 14, 21:03 CET

@Saje Yeah, but in those days you had to walk to school in the snow year-round--uphill both ways.

Ying | April 14, 21:09 CET

Got mine a few years back from Blue Sun Shirts (IIRC) just about the time they got the cease-and-desist from FOX. I also have a "Trouble Maker" tee that I like better than the version Think Geek sells. I don't wear them too often-- want to keep them pretty-- but I'm very fond of them.

Darkest Wicca | April 14, 23:24 CET