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girafffe
0
Jan 20, 2016
Does anyone know when they will drop this again? I just found out about Massdrop today and found this on /r/mechanicalkeyboards.
This keyboard looks so so nice. Who would I be able to contact for an ETA on this board?
Odus
45
Jan 20, 2016
girafffeJust be sure to hit that request button. They're normally pretty good about bringing back products that people enjoy. From what I remember reading during the time, they had a lot of production problems during the initial drop. A lot of people were predicting that they weren't going to run it again. In fact, this most recent drops seems to have been a way for them to sell off the remaining boards that were returned or didn't pass QC during the last drop, so they really haven't run it a second time yet.
I'd imagine they probably won't run another drop until they were certain of the quality and consistency of their sources, however, the more interest that's shown in it by the community, the more interest MD will show in it, and the more likely it will be for this to get a rerun.
TL;DR: Just be sure to hit that request button :)
girafffe
0
Jan 20, 2016
OdusI most certainly did. When MD says, "at 200 requests we will contact the vendor to launch the drop" does that actually mean they have already contacted the vendor? Are they pretty good on keeping up on that? Or will it possibly be a few months before they get around to re-dropping it?
Odus
45
Jan 20, 2016
girafffeIt's hard to say. There are a bunch of other products that have 600+ requests. I'm not sure if MD hasn't started a group buy for those products because they've been DC'd, because they can't work out a deal with the vendors, or for some other reason, but the KC60 -did- manage to get over 200 pretty quickly. This most recent drop ended less than a few weeks ago, so who knows. The interest in certainly there.
To answer your question, though, I can't see why they wouldn't follow up with vendors when they reach the 200 request mark. It just doesn't mean that it's guaranteed to happen.
I'm not Massdrop though, so you'd have to ask them if you wanted a definite answer. They have a really solid reputation for getting products that are popular, though.
If I had to guess, they probably gauge the popularity of an item by how quickly it reaches the 200 mark, rather than just waiting for it to hit the mark and then contacting the vendor. If an item takes a year to reach the 200 mark, it probably won't have as many orders as an item that reaches 200 in a few days.
CJD-Anthony
35
Jan 21, 2016
OdusYou're right in some parts of your assumption, but for the KC-60 specifically, I believe that this product might not get a 2nd/3rd run because AFAIK, this was a custom built keyboard that took way too much processing and ran into too many issues during production. I don't know who the manufacturer was, but the drop was incredibly messy and a LOT of people dropped out of the buy (hence the 72 units being available for this "2nd drop"). Because of the fact that this wasn't a mass produced keyboard with super reliable connections, it was delayed more than a couple of times, to the point where Massdrop offered full refunds to people who weren't okay with waiting. It's just what happens when you basically hire a guy essentially working from his basement to make 200+ of whatever is being made. lots of back end, planning, and talking to people to get what you need
Odus
45
Jan 21, 2016
CJD-AnthonyHahaha, believe it or not, I almost had exactly what you'd just written -word for word- written out before I decided to delete that portion of the text. I didn't want to say anything that sounded too discouraging. However, I'd add that there's a good chance that Massdrop managed to determine which supplier was reliable and which wasn't, and they'd be able to plan better for a drop like this in the future.
I found it pretty bizarre how similar the problems were with the GH60 drop that was going on around the same time. I'm not going to say names, but the original creator ended up way too deep in over his head and just couldn't manage the mess. His board is incredible, it's my absolute favorite mech (it's the reason I wanted to grab the KC), but he just couldn't manage coordinating a massive group buy.
I haven't ordered too many items from MD, but I've been following their catalogue for quite a while now, and I've noticed that items ordered from NPKC (the manufacturer of our KC60) tend to have some serious production issues. What's interesting is that it's almost impossible to find any information about NPKC online. I'd always just assumed it was a network of production facilities that Massdrop uses for custom items like this. I figure it's the 'brand' they use for items they create using their overseas connections, or something to that effect.
Anyway, part of me thinks that they're still going to have another run at this. All-in-all, it's a great keyboard. There were plenty of mistakes, but those mistakes would have been for nothing if they aren't able to better organize themselves for the next one. While the KC60 isn't exactly a consumer-mech, it's a great piece of a equipment, and I think there's enough interest around it for MD to organize another order. I'd be willing to bet that some of the parts would be different (different caps, possibly different plate, PCB manufactured from a different manufacturer, etc.), but it would still be the same board, if you get what I mean.
Anyway, here's to hoping! I'd be in for another, especially if they narrows down the options to make it easier on themselves. Choice of: a) Zealio switches, Zealio switches, or Zealio switches. b) Tex Aluminum case or the same Plastic case (or a winkeyless case?) c) Gateron Dyesubs or PBT SAs from SP
I guess that'd be a bit more pricey, haha.
CJD-Anthony
35
Jan 22, 2016
OdusYeah, it'd be great to see this get another run, since, if you ARE right and NPKC is something affiliated with Massdrop, they probably learned a lot about the production of a custom keyboard. who knows lol. but yeah, id like to see another run of those dyesubs, still bummed i couldnt get em. but i already joined a groupbuy for Gateron PBT dyesubs on Geekhack :)
beesings
83
May 15, 2016
CJD-AnthonyLo and behold they did another drop anyway! I was once bitten twice shy though. I didn't join this drop, despite my KC60 currently having hardware problems (usb hub is loose/glitchy)
CJD-Anthony
35
May 16, 2016
beesingsfor real.... i am super surprised... haha but i guess they figured out their shit and are gonna go for a 2nd shot
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