geekhack Marketplace > Interest Checks
[IC] GMK CYL Black & Gold | GB live 'til 20th March - New deskmats/renders!
cthalupa:
Can confirm that Boba was working on a black and gold set long before Manu posted the IG pictures.
However, I am kind of confused by the existence of two black and gold sets though, - seems like combining them with more child kit options is more likely to succeed in the current hobby climate - I think having two sets that are so similar would likely just divide sales between them. I'd probably be in for the Black & Gold Base, an alternate alphas from Kin to Kuro, and the Casino Royale and Kintsugi novs
The One:
Is it possible to get 2 pieces of 1.75u spacebar and 1 more of that 1.25 shift key like many 40s kits from ePBT? Very interested. Only a few GMK sets provide this demand :(
NixieType:
--- Quote ---Prior to this IC, I wasn't aware that Manu had been cooking something similar that he titled as Midas, nor was he aware of my project (it was only hinted in my discord, and I wasn't following his socials). It's unfortunate but not surprising that we independently came up with the same/similar colour combination at the same time following GMK revealing its new materials. It appears that we both asked and received same samples from the manufacturer months ago too. I just happened to have posted here earlier than he did. We've since had a discussion and Manu's decided graciously decided to pivot and step away from pushing forward his proposal under GMK.
--- End quote ---
Not gonna like, this is quite disheartening for those of us who prefer the white alphas. Personally from the teasers he's posted, Manu's novelties look more interesting and refined than these. Please consider asking Manu if you can work together instead of outright killing his set.
Aside from that, the kitting here needs work. There is no chance all these child kits will meet MOQ and frankly, most of them are unnecessary. Stick with one novelty kit to go with the usual necessary child kits. Also, I think the novelty kits you have are way too large to be reasonably priced. Please go through and overhaul the kitting to more closely resemble sets that have succeeded recently in the current state of the hobby.
cthalupa:
--- Quote from: NixieType on Mon, 09 September 2024, 15:22:07 ---Aside from that, the kitting here needs work. There is no chance all these child kits will meet MOQ and frankly, most of them are unnecessary. Stick with one novelty kit to go with the usual necessary child kits. Also, I think the novelty kits you have are way too large to be reasonably priced. Please go through and overhaul the kitting to more closely resemble sets that have succeeded recently in the current state of the hobby.
--- End quote ---
I do think there are some kits that are unlikely to be worth it - how many people in the hobby have keyboards that make use of media keys? - but Carbon R3 just ran with a 33 key novelty kit at $45, and other sets have been in the same ballpark. We made a lot of kitting choices with ZX around keeping costs down while doing the whole R0-R5 thing and a TON of custom molds + UV printing, and the final pricing we were able to run with with Drop was a pleasant surprise - we had initially not even thought it was worth discussing with GMK the cost for doing the sublegends based on things we had previously known to be true, particularly since there would still need to be UV front print, but it ended up being possible. It's not like GMK is a black hole where you get no feedback on things until the final quote process, so it's probably worth talking to them to see what options there are for making things happen.
Bobatype:
--- Quote from: cthalupa on Sun, 08 September 2024, 16:10:41 ---Can confirm that Boba was working on a black and gold set long before Manu posted the IG pictures.
However, I am kind of confused by the existence of two black and gold sets fro, - seems like combining them with more child kit options is more likely to succeed in the current hobby climate - I think having two sets that are so similar would likely just divide sales between them. I'd probably be in for the Black & Gold Base, an alternate alphas from Kin to Kuro, and the Casino Royale and Kintsugi novs
--- End quote ---
That's a fair point and very possible route I might take instead.
I really want the kana base kit to succeed, which is why I posted it as a separate thread/IC but it's probably a bit awkward doing it as a separate GB.
I'm considering that the best route for me is to merge it all under the same Black & Gold umbrella/IC to avoid confusion; since both IC set have overlapping identical child kits (media and accent spacebars) to meet MOQ.
Perhaps I could go with a latin base kit, a kana base kit (potentially with kana sublegends on alphas instead of kana-only monolegends). [I will hope/pray for vendor support/community interest in the second base kit], and look to have a kana alpha kit (not sure if it should be monolegend or sublegend).
--- Quote from: The One on Mon, 09 September 2024, 01:52:50 ---Is it possible to get 2 pieces of 1.75u spacebar and 1 more of that 1.25 shift key like many 40s kits from ePBT? Very interested. Only a few GMK sets provide this demand :(
--- End quote ---
There's actually 2 x 1.75u spacebars in both the add-ons kit and the gold spacebars kit specifically for 40 users.
I don't think there's enough demand and need for an additional 1.25u shift key... as that key can be physically substituted readily with a R4 1.25u novelty or fn key.
--- Quote from: cthalupa on Mon, 09 September 2024, 19:38:32 ---
--- Quote from: NixieType on Mon, 09 September 2024, 15:22:07 ---Aside from that, the kitting here needs work. There is no chance all these child kits will meet MOQ and frankly, most of them are unnecessary. Stick with one novelty kit to go with the usual necessary child kits. Also, I think the novelty kits you have are way too large to be reasonably priced. Please go through and overhaul the kitting to more closely resemble sets that have succeeded recently in the current state of the hobby.
--- End quote ---
I do think there are some kits that are unlikely to be worth it - how many people in the hobby have keyboards that make use of media keys? - but Carbon R3 just ran with a 33 key novelty kit at $45, and other sets have been in the same ballpark. We made a lot of kitting choices with ZX around keeping costs down while doing the whole R0-R5 thing and a TON of custom molds + UV printing, and the final pricing we were able to run with with Drop was a pleasant surprise - we had initially not even thought it was worth discussing with GMK the cost for doing the sublegends based on things we had previously known to be true, particularly since there would still need to be UV front print, but it ended up being possible. It's not like GMK is a black hole where you get no feedback on things until the final quote process, so it's probably worth talking to them to see what options there are for making things happen.
--- End quote ---
I totally understand the concerns about the number of child kits. I'm not 100% sure what is viable, but since it's still interest check phase, I really wanted to test the waters and propose what I can, such as the standalone gold accent spacebar, media kit and the larger novelty kits. I won't know unless I try.
The novelty kits are large, but I like offering multiple options as I find it gives the most personality and unique look. By offering some extra novelties, I can provide a fun substitute in terms of coverage for uncommon layouts (i.e. XT macro columns; ortho/split that run with mainly 1u modifiers). Multiple bot row novelties also means that those who choose get an additional alpha kit, will have more flexible options when it comes their bot row modifier layout if they want to cover 2 keyboards as well.
Thanks for the insights cthalupa on your experience from the ZX GB on this topic!
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