One thing I'm still uncertain of in the new PMK is how the pricing will compare. Being that it's the manufacturer, the prices should end up lower (no Massdrop fee), but since they set the pricing themselves and it's probably going to be based on how many "IC votes" / preorder requests they get for it, you can't actually tell. The only way is to have a brave soul get quotes for different MOQ's for their set from SP, quotes from Massdrop for fees (processing, packaging, designer fee, etc) and then run the set through PMK to see how the prices differ.
On the other hand, SP seem to be paying more attention to the community. Could have something to do with community run sets getting enough orders to make them work overtime and have their machinery running two shifts a day for the forseeable future, maybe?... As a result, the PMK license agreement has been amended:
"3. Signature Plastics has the right under the license to:
a. decide whether or not to produce and sell keysets from the submitted design;
b. combine and/or eliminate child deals from the submitted design;
c. determine the quantity of keysets to produce and sell;
d. schedule when the keysets will be produced and sold;
e. establish the selling price of the keysets produced from the design;
f. use the design for marketing and promotional campaigns.
4. The Designer has the right under the license to:
a. pre-approve and authorize any changes to their design that Signature Plastics may suggest;
b. submit the design to other manufacturers/sellers;
c. rescind the rights given to Signature Plastics under this agreement provided a 60 day written notification is given to Signature Plastics prior to termination of the license. Signature Plastics retains the right to complete all work-in-process and sell all inventory related to that design following termination of the agreement."
So they no longer have rights to change the design itself (only altering the composition of kits) and the designer can rescind the agreement if they're not satisfied with how things are going. Anyway, I think it's a viable alternative to Massdrop (and there are many who really dislike Massdrop for various reasons) and once the website is finally fully functional should be considered. The other advantages are that SP takes care of rerunning the set and the more popular sets should continue to be available after the initial GB run.
The big draw for Massdrop, though, is the visibility and the resulting order quantities. A good design run there will have more sets made and thus possibly lower final pricing than going through PMK, although if the set is "marketed" well at the usual places it could reach similar numbers on PMK once PMK gets established.