You deserve an answer that isn't dashed off during my lunch break- and you'll get one. I just need time to read through your post properly.
One thing to keep in mind here is that PMK's system is all guesses stacked on guesses stacked on guesses. How many of the 450 votes were drive-by's? How many are just people who like the set but aren't actually going to pay what custom legends on SA cost? Honestly, the biggest problem I run into is the lack of a commit to buy option, it means I have to balance people getting "something" with advertising a low enough price that more people will buy.
I settled on giving people more flexibility knowing it meant I'd have to encourage a lot of of buying. But just look at this set, don't you want a nice professional blue and black set you can take to the office? :D
With the PMK system already having one foot out the door it probably doesn't matter anymore, but it seems like some buys need to properly evaluate starting prices and tip quantities at the beginning of a buy, this one is not the only one I have seen that has appeared to have some issues.
The starting prices on this buy, like the SA escape key buy that is still up may be unnecessarily high, and I would be afraid that unless people suck it up for the first 25 sets on some options that the initial price may bar many people from entering. I would hate to have people pass it over since it is too expensive, when just having a handful of people buy in puts it in very reasonable levels. Like the mod packs (blue TKL is this example) which drop from $115 -> $81 -> $56 at 15, 25, and 50 sets respectively and then level out to more reasonable price drops from there, where the '50' price bracket is a place where I assume many people would buy it initially. Ideally I think people would be less inhibited to buy in at a high MOQ with a low price than a high initial price with a low MOQ with the prospect of future discounts (the wallet speaks louder than future promises). Though I know for all things it is also a balance of low MOQ to tip some kits so that people can get what they need for their esoteric boards, vs low prices/high MOQ to entice people in, but I think for the common sets that are almost a guarantee, they should be adjusted accordingly (higher MOQ but lower prices), especially where there are so many custom legends to distribute the costs better.
Another thing to take into account would be to see that the price of 60% and TKL sets are about the same ($2-$8 difference from what I can tell depending on price bracket), and that there is only about 9 keys extra in the 60% not in the TKL kit. So the question would be, could you hit lower price brackets and leverage volume if you lumped them together instead of splitting them into separate sets?
Hopefully people want the set enough to buy over the hump of the high initial prices as I really wanted one of the TKL sets as the new legends look good and can mix well with other sculptured SA sets, but if not I don't think I will be going in before the 50 mark as I can get other sets for cheaper that are more complete (like SA retro at $80 for a full TKL set that also includes the tsangen set). Hopefully the interest check votes turn into purchases early on, and I will be watching at the end and will contribute to hitting 50 if things are close.
I also agree they should have a commit to buy option, though I think they would need less price brackets, as the more brackets the more spread out the commits are, so everyone might just buy into 200 sets and then nothing tips (well based on most PMK SA profile buys that seemed to end around 100 sets or so, pulse would have been the only one to break that mark). So the upper buy in should probably be 100 and then have it that as more sales go they drop the price as brackets are passed. That way there is a reasonable discount to shoot for but no penalty for setting it lower than what could be achieved in the market. As you can tell I have thought about this a bit as I have looked at how some buys have been ran, either on PMK, massdrop, or the old school google form way and tried to think of how the process could be improved.
And yes, I do want this set, I technically have some round 5 leftover black alpha keys coming my way sometime later this year, and getting the black modifiers for them is exactly what I was hoping for in this set, well and maybe the blue too, and some other things as I have some red keys from round 5 coming too, so a nice mix and match is in order.
This is wrapping up pretty soon, I really hope those black mods tip.
I don't think I'll be rerunning the black mods, though.
will probably start with a base set that looks something like this (http://www.keyboard-layout-editor.com/#/layouts/7f214d53bbc60ad528395af439973a9b).
It's supposed to ship any time now. Looks like you may be one of the first! I haven't heard anything yet.I emailed Melissa and she confirmed it!
Wow, that blue was a really great choice.
I've been talking to Signature Plastics about some of the legends on Modern Selectric. There were a few that were made incorrectly.Seriously, Melissa is awesome. Not only does she handle most of the communication from designers and vendors, but she also managed to answer my measly questions in no more than two days. That's including weekends.
- The colemak set received an R3 2U backspace, not the R3 1.75U backspace they should have.
- The \| key was too far right to properly align
- The Unix pack and the 60% set's R3 1.75U ^ key was too far left to properly align
The good news is that SP will be making corrected legends in both black and blue. You can contact SP with your order number, and once they've made the new keys they'll get them out to you.
Thank you everyone for your support and enthusiasm through this entire process. It's been a lot of work to get to this point, and seeing what you are doing with my keyset has been amazing.
And a special thank you to Melissa at Signature Plastics. She's the most overworked person I know in the keyboard community, and yet she still manages to do a great job.
Who else is getting theirs? Show them off here!
This is my first post here. After a bit of wait for Her Majesty's Customs and Excise to work out how much they were going to embezzle me for importing them, mine arrived today.
Here they are on my Filco MiniLA Air. The MiniLA has a bit of an unconventional layout so had to make a few substitutions. The Space bar and left shift keys being the obvious ones. This is my first SA set and I love them. Thats pretty much all I can say, they're a joy to type on. Apologies to the purists for my dodgy layout choices.
Order away! Those are the extras that go up after every traditional PMK group buy. They did the same for Think Different, Eve, and a few others. You should get them sent out immediately.
Were row 4 shifts ever made for Modern Selectric?
Order away! Those are the extras that go up after every traditional PMK group buy. They did the same for Think Different, Eve, and a few others. You should get them sent out immediately.
So if something says out of stock, it's actually out of production and won't be restocked?
Order away! Those are the extras that go up after every traditional PMK group buy. They did the same for Think Different, Eve, and a few others. You should get them sent out immediately.
So if something says out of stock, it's actually out of production and won't be restocked?
Correct. I may run another round at some point.
Order away! Those are the extras that go up after every traditional PMK group buy. They did the same for Think Different, Eve, and a few others. You should get them sent out immediately.
So if something says out of stock, it's actually out of production and won't be restocked?
Correct. I may run another round at some point.
I wait on the edge of my seat. I had an opportunity to get the ortholinear modifiers, but balked at the price. And when I was finally going to get them, they were gone. :(
Correct. I may run another round at some point.
It's a great looking set on my Atreus
(https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8037/29193527631_2602a3f102_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/LtJsFi)
Atreus 40% (https://flic.kr/p/LtJsFi) by Morten Teinum (https://www.flickr.com/photos/mortenteinum/), on Flickr
It's a great looking set on my Atreus
(https://c8.staticflickr.com/9/8037/29193527631_2602a3f102_c.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/LtJsFi)
Atreus 40% (https://flic.kr/p/LtJsFi) by Morten Teinum (https://www.flickr.com/photos/mortenteinum/), on Flickr
I've seen you post the Atreus more than other boards. Is it your favorite?
Here's another vote for this set. I bought the last Dvorak set just to see what they're like for real. Not so interested in the blue colour though.
Is it too late to throw another vote in the ring? I've been drooling over a black modern selectric keycap set all morning, and created an account just so I could post here.
I've been wanting this set since I first saw it. Following suite and showing very early interest in the next round if it happens :)
Oh I really need those black alphas and modifiers......me too. If someone want to sell I am ready to buy ;D
So, I finally polished all matte Maxkey Black caps needed to put them on the Poker. I put on some non-polished F1-F5 caps for comparison and here's the effect:All you used was your thumb?
https://imgur.com/a/Qm4wTb5
I may run another round at some point.
DSS?