Oct 7th Update:
Hi Everyone,
Unfortunately production of these keycaps is running behind schedule. Our manufacturer has pushed back their expected ship date to Nov 15th, which means we'd be shipping towards the end of November. We'll be posting regular updates in the discussions section as we continue to get more information and more accurate timelines. We appreciate your patience.
Oct 19th Update:
Our manufacturer has pushed back the date, yet again, this time with an expected ship date of Nov 29th, which means we'll get them around Dec 10th. We're pushing them to speed up the process (while maintaining quality) and will get back to you with updates as we hear them. Sorry to share the disappointing news.
Nov 25th Update:
We're a few days ahead of the previous update. The order was picked up yesterday and we're expecting delivery on Dec 7th. It takes a few days to get everything unpacked and shelved, I'll provide more updates when we get closer to the Dec 7th date.
jonschmiddyYes. Keycap producers usually end up with extras, because they have to fulfill orders that were lost in shipment, or were damaged or were missing pieces.
So once they are done taking care of those problems, the extra sets that were left over are often sold here. Look up the "Keycap Recap," for instance. And there have been others. Generally, large producers like GMK have lots of extras that were ordered by vendors, and they are sold after the Group Buy is fulfilled. The same happened with the last GB of dev/tty, and many extra sets were sold here both times.
KevinThanks for the update! It is sad to have it pushed back, but we are in a dire situation indeed. As a suggestion, please pin this and future updates at the top, so all people looking for an explanation can be aware of it more easily.
KevinWhat kind of delays are they citing? Is this simply an issue of too much work in too short a time with too limited a staff or is there some kind of re-tolling or quality control issue that needs to be resolved on their part? More interested in the inside baseball of why they are behind, not trying to be over pushy.
For the record, I understand that group buys get pushed back all the time, but I had hoped this would be different considering the volume of MT3 and /DEV/TTY caps your team sells at this point. Thanks for the communication and push.
KevinI got in on this drop because, these are made from PBT, which is the only material I use for keycaps these days. I noticed that this profile has been greatly expanded in a variety of new colorways, but all of them are made from ABS plastic, so I won't be getting in on those drops, I'll keep waiting for this to ship.
KevinAny chance we can turn the delay into something positive and reopen the group buy for a week for all the later comers like me?
(Hope dies last ...)
KevinI have to comment that I have participated in this particular products drops twice now and each time we seem to hit the same series of delay after delay. It is disappointing that we don't seem to be learning from previous experience to make each successive drop less eventful.
pmorrisConsidering we have been a part of group buys in the past, and that almost all group buys experience delays of some kind, It is disappointing that we don't seem to be learning from previous experiences.
Better get used to it or you will have a terribly disappointing time in the mech keys community in general. This sort of thing isn't a drop exclusive phenomenon.
pmorrisActually I was more aiming along the lines of; I'm pretty sure they aim to give us the most accurate information they have at the time they give it to us, and sometimes that changes along the way. Stop whinging and be thankful that they keep us updated as changes occur.
Is that better?
CronugsYour point is fair, except that no one should ever be “thankful” for the updates. We paid in full, months and months in advance. Its like we commissioned a product. These updates are the least I expect.
KevinThanks for posting this update today. Wonderful to hear the pickup was yesterday and delivery is set for early December. The delays are not great news, but also not totally surprising in the year of COVID. Mostly it's nice to have some transparency.