There Are Pandas, and Then There Are Pandas.
And this isn't either of them! The Pandas we're talking about here, are watches, not bears. And what got me thinking about them (again) was a link posted this morning by @cm.rook who pointed a few of us to the very attractive (and not terribly priced) Yema "Rallygraph" Panda which, in it's most traditional arrangement, looks like the one on the left, but can also be had in the version on the right: The model on the left is a true Panda, while the model on the right is called a reverse Panda. The reason for that distinction is clear--Panda bears, only come in the first arrangement. Now at this point, everyone should be thinking about the most well-know Panda, The Rolex Panda, which is actually a Daytona, and among Rolex Daytonas, the most famous of which is the Paul Newman Daytona, which was famous first, because it was Paul's, and second because it sold at auction for $17.8 million (US Dollars). The story of that auction is well-known so I'll only...
Nov 8, 2019
All of us buy products made overseas, and no doubt we'll all continue to do that. However, there are few places online that focus specifically on American Made products. This community would distinguish Massdrop, and would likely attract many people who search for these products and have a hard time locating them.
Part of the inspiration would be the connection with the companies themselves. I'd feel better about buying from smaller American companies, knowing I'm helping them, and feeling a connection when wearing/using their products. It allows Massdrop to connect to a part of my identity at a different level than they do currently with their value/money proposition.
I suspect if there aren't a large number of items offered at first, we'll find more via polls, as we do in other communities. These products exist, and it takes research. But crowdsourcing that research to the community, and it gets far easier. In fact, I think the collection of well-made American manufactures goods will end up being impressive and even inspiring.