[IC]GMK Triumph Adler [LIVE!!!!]

[ninjadoc]

I would be interested. Probably in for a set

[Den441]

I would be fine with any platform for running this group buy, but Massdrop is unpreferable. As much as I like the platform, I don't know if this will appeal to the their usual customer base, and I heard all the horror stories of caps missing during the Granite R2.

But if GMK pre sorts them it won't be so bad.

Yeah the only reason I see them turning this down is if they think their community there has no interest in this because of the high cost. I personally think there is enough to at least help us get to MOQ considering the success of the ergodox, infinity keyboard, and SP caps they have sold. However, they may not think so. If they do decline, ask them if they'll reconsider if you start an interest check on their site and get the votes needed. They normally require 200 votes in their interest checks to contact a vendor about making an order. Typically that is how drops are started on their site unless one of their buyers thinks something is going to be a home run success without even having to have an interest check, or they have sold the item successfully before. Getting the 200 on there shouldn't be problem if it comes down to that as you could just post the link here like people do with the PMK ICs. It might set us back a month or so, but I think that is worth it if that's what gets it produced.

[HebrewHammer]

I would be interested in the set regardless of distributor, I have to pay tax to MD so I really do not mind option 3.

Donger awayyyyyyyy

[intelli78]

Unfortunately guys I think my wangzor is going to play it safe on this one, but I'll be talking with Massdrop tonight or sometime this week about the buy. I think that's the way it'll go.

[FrostyToast]

Unfortunately guys I think my wangzor is going to play it safe on this one, but I'll be talking with Massdrop tonight or sometime this week about the buy. I think that's the way it'll go.

So if the MassDrop doesn't get enough orders in, will you take out your wangzor to pick up the slack?

[Heliosphere]

I would be interested in the set regardless of distributor, I have to pay tax to MD so I really do not mind option 3.

Donger awayyyyyyyy

Sadly I do as well. California tax

[intelli78]

Unfortunately guys I think my wangzor is going to play it safe on this one, but I'll be talking with Massdrop tonight or sometime this week about the buy. I think that's the way it'll go.

So if the MassDrop doesn't get enough orders in, will you take out your wangzor to pick up the slack?

Maybe. It would depend how many are left and whether anyone else placed bulk orders for resale.

I did the math and if I paid for the whole thing, I would have to sell about 380 sets within 12 months @ $135 to break even. I think it's a fairly realistic scenario. But it's still a big risk just due to the amount of money involved and I'm not super sure about it. So I'd rather just have a normal drop if possible.

[radio_killah]

Dang I forgot about CA tax... Eff that. That really turns me off to Massdrop doing it..

[sethk_]

Dang I forgot about CA tax... Eff that. That really turns me off to Massdrop doing it..

Well, he said if it goes through Massdrop, it might bump the price down, as well as I am sure there are people willing to proxy so it's cheaper.

[Zeal]

Now if only Massdrop & their fulfillment center were located in Oregon, where there's no sales tax!

[MythicalWagyu]

Dang I forgot about CA tax... Eff that. That really turns me off to Massdrop doing it..

I hate sales tax too but it should only really add ~$8 to the order... much better than the poor int'l folks that have to pay import duties!

[sethk_]

Now if only Massdrop & their fulfillment center were located in Oregon, where there's no sales tax!

One of their fulfillment centers is near where I live, so I usually get mine within 2 days of shipping.

[Elrick]

I vote you take your dong out and make sweet love to GMK's CEO.

Is there like a sign up sheet for this?

Good idea but before we start making out with a 60 year old gent, let's first get some action on MassDrop, simply because you'll probably get the numbers faster then here on Geekhack.

Trying to meet 500 is a big ask almost anywhere, that is why GMK will only play with the BIG boys hence we need to get the numbers FIRST before showing ourselves to them.

[Heliosphere]

Dang I forgot about CA tax... Eff that. That really turns me off to Massdrop doing it..

And Massdrop has recently shipped most of their stuff from New Jersey, so tax + longer shipping. Someone should establish a competing company on the other side of the country and ship out of the west coast.

[Blackehart]

Not sure if I've already expressed interest in this, but down for a set.

[stoic-lemon]

I'll jump on this hype train.

[whentheclouds]

intelli, are you decided on the Massdrop route yet? there was a pretty large MD complaint thread on Reddit yesterday, where i saw lots of people sharing the sentiment that they try to avoid purchasing from it if possible. some of the anecdotes figures weren't so pleasant to hear.. 5 months for a Granite set, over 3 months for a CM board and counting, etc.

[monotagary]

intelli, are you decided on the Massdrop route yet? there was a pretty large MD complaint thread on Reddit yesterday, where i saw lots of people sharing the sentiment that they try to avoid purchasing from it if possible. some of the anecdotes figures weren't so pleasant to hear.. 5 months for a Granite set, over 3 months for a CM board and counting, etc.

MD is nice at times, but other times it's and absolute waste of time.

I'm not opposed to running this through MD, but with keycap buys they have a history of wetting the bed. And I'm not sure that the regular user would be able understand why a keycap set is so expensive, and complain because it's ABS.

[radio_killah]

intelli, are you decided on the Massdrop route yet? there was a pretty large MD complaint thread on Reddit yesterday, where i saw lots of people sharing the sentiment that they try to avoid purchasing from it if possible. some of the anecdotes figures weren't so pleasant to hear.. 5 months for a Granite set, over 3 months for a CM board and counting, etc.

MD is nice at times, but other times it's and absolute waste of time.

I'm not opposed to running this through MD, but with keycap buys they have a history of wetting the bed. And I'm not sure that the regular user would be able understand why a keycap set is so expensive, and complain because it's ABS.

The pbt >>>>>>> abs hype train is all over massdrop. For sure you will get hundreds of people complaining and asking for it in pbt.

[trizkut]

I don't think SP or MD expected the buy to reach anywhere near those quantities.  R1 got like what, 400 buys?

The pbt >>>>>>> abs hype train is all over massdrop. For sure you will get hundreds of people complaining and asking for it in pbt.

Then let the vocal minority complain.  The above picture shows that hundreds could be a small percentage of potential buyers

[dimmu]

i prefer a non massdrop route, myself but with such a high moq and an unprecedented custom color option from gmk, i think all the cons of using massdrop outweigh the risk of it not reaching the moq. i feel like this is like testing the waters for such an ambitious group buy but this needs to happen! and i believe that we may have to sacrifice a bit to make it but if/when this becomes successful, we can be a bit more picky in terms of how we handle the next group buy of this magnitude. 

[monotagary]

intelli, are you decided on the Massdrop route yet? there was a pretty large MD complaint thread on Reddit yesterday, where i saw lots of people sharing the sentiment that they try to avoid purchasing from it if possible. some of the anecdotes figures weren't so pleasant to hear.. 5 months for a Granite set, over 3 months for a CM board and counting, etc.

MD is nice at times, but other times it's and absolute waste of time.

I'm not opposed to running this through MD, but with keycap buys they have a history of wetting the bed. And I'm not sure that the regular user would be able understand why a keycap set is so expensive, and complain because it's ABS.

The pbt >>>>>>> abs hype train is all over massdrop. For sure you will get hundreds of people complaining and asking for it in pbt.

Yeah that's my biggest fear with this being run on MD. People just can't get it through their heads that PBT is not inherently better than ABS. It's the manufacturing process that makes the difference.

[greath]

This is the set I REALLY want. I hope it goes though!

[intelli78]

BUMP!

I am coordinating with Massdrop and GMK and the buy is very close to being finalized! We are even talking about color matching the gray too. But we need loaner caps or someone to sell me one of these boards! Either way works!

Need somebody to come through and be a hero... If you have connections to people with this board, send emails...

https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=59728.msg1371578#msg1371578

[inanis]

I have always loved the look of Triumph Adler, and this being a GMK set as me seriously excited.   

I seems like running it on MD will be the best chance of meeting MOQ.  As much as the typical MD user thinks that PBT is always better than ABS, there is also more "group think" than you can shake a stick at. If this starts off strong from the people that are interested here, the rest will come, and once they receive it they too will understand the sweet, sweet bliss of GMK ABS.

I hope you find someone who can pull through and provide some caps to donate to the cause.

[intelli78]

I hope you find someone who can pull through and provide some caps to donate to the cause.

To be clear it wouldn't be donating -- no one will keep or harm the caps -- just a loan.

[trizkut]

To be clear it wouldn't be donating -- no one will keep or harm the caps -- just a loan.

Have you tried contacting deviltiny23/neone23?  I know he has a few TA-filled boards and maybe he has some mods that don't fit lying around?

[intelli78]

Have you tried contacting deviltiny23/neone23?  I know he has a few TA-filled boards and maybe he has some mods that don't fit lying around?

Photekq knows him and is working on it, but sounds like he had some real life business to deal with so may not be available ATM.

[monotagary]

I'm glad to hear that this buy is almost ready to go live!

TA is such a great colorway that more people need to experience (like myself).

[whentheclouds]

so the GB's progress is reliant on getting an actual cap now? i'm strapping myself in, might be a long ride

[exitfire401]

so the GB's progress is reliant on getting an actual cap now? i'm strapping myself in, might be a long ride

Same, but at least that gives my wallet time to recover before we buy in.

[intelli78]

I'm going to see if they can math to a printed color swatch instead-- this will be much easier and more precise.

[Heliosphere]

I'm going to see if they can math to a printed color swatch instead-- this will be much easier and more precise.

That's a good idea. Hopefully GMK can replicate the color in plastic accurately.

[luckyryan333]

I am coordinating with Massdrop and GMK and the buy is very close to being finalized!

I'm glad to hear that!

BTW, How about adding R4 6 caps to sets as below if not exceeding the expected costs?
In my opinion, it seems as though ordinary people interested in keyboard would prefer R4 to R5 because they are used to R4 rather than R5.
Consequently it would help to hit MOQ on Massdrop, wouldn't it?

I REALLY hope it happens though!

[Heliosphere]

I am coordinating with Massdrop and GMK and the buy is very close to being finalized!

I'm glad to hear that!

BTW, How about adding R4 6 caps to sets as below if not exceeding the expected costs?
In my opinion, it seems as though ordinary people interested in keyboard would prefer R4 to R5, because they are used to R4 rather than R5.
Consequently it would help to hit MOQ on Massdrop, wouldn't it?

I REALLY hope it happens though!

Is there an image showing the side profile of R1 through R5? I'm assuming GMK is Cherry profile, like this?:



Which row number corresponds to which?

[luckyryan333]

I am coordinating with Massdrop and GMK and the buy is very close to being finalized!

I'm glad to hear that!

BTW, How about adding R4 6 caps to sets as below if not exceeding the expected costs?
In my opinion, it seems as though ordinary people interested in keyboard would prefer R4 to R5, because they are used to R4 rather than R5.
Consequently it would help to hit MOQ on Massdrop, wouldn't it?

I REALLY hope it happens though!

Is there an image showing the side profile of R1 through R5? I'm assuming GMK is Cherry profile, like this?:

Show Image

Which row number corresponds to which?

GMK is Cherry profile. As far as I know, each row number corresponds to the alphabetical row as below originally.

F = R0
E = R1
D = R2
C = R3
B = R4
A = R5

Rows of modern cherry keyboards are like this.

Function Row  (R0) : E
Number row    (R1) : E
Tab row           (R2) : D
Home row        (R3) : C
Bottom row     (R4) : B
Space bar row (R5) : B

For more information, you can refer to Numbering section at http://deskthority.net/wiki/Cherry_profile#Cherry .

[intelli78]

Thanks for the messages, but the current design was very deliberately selected and the rationale is in the OP. No additional keys will be added except possibly teal space bars.

[luckyryan333]

Thanks for the messages, but the current design was very deliberately selected and the rationale is in the OP. No additional keys will be added except possibly teal space bars.

O, I'm sorry but I understand it. I hope you would make it happen successfully.
Lead us to get in 

[intelli78]

[intelli78]

Some updates...

FYI we are going to color match to a swatch instead of a real cap so that problem is solved. I will be printing up a bunch of color samples at Kinkos and selecting the ones that appear truest to the photos in OP, and then mailing them to GMK. We do this to avoid any screwups/unexpected outcomes that may happen if they attempt to match to a JPG.

Also, we will be going back to V4 (blue) for the alpha legends. Though there are some good arguments for teal (that even persuaded me temporarily) I am making an executive decision on this one. I think the set is just much more visually interesting with the blue, and also truer to the originals.



Still talking with Massdrop and GMK but I still expect things to move forward via that route.

[Joey Quinn]

I'm so glad this is moving forward, thanks for all the work intelli!

Also I've been team blue legends the whole time so I'm really stoked that you are choosing to stick to the original caps.

[whentheclouds]

very conflicting.. i also prefer blue, but ultimately i'm on team TA, and based on the feedback in this thread so far, i feel like blue legends would hurt the overall interest in this set. here's hoping those who asked for blue legends to redouble their commitment so this GB can become a reality

[bazh]

yeah I'd prefer stay with the teal legends, the blue just doesn't fit in my view, and destroy all the effort of bringing custom beautiful teal color to the set


Also this is so interesting to see this to happen, if this GB can work through, we can expect more custom color set from GMK in the future

[CommonCurt]

I still like the blue alpha legends, but that mock-up with the teal did look good.

[LechnerDE]

yeah I'd prefer stay with the teal legends, the blue just doesn't fit in my view, and destroy all the effort of bringing custom beautiful teal color to the set

Yeah, I agree. I mean the aged blue looks good in the original, but I think trying to replicate that look with brandnew keys will fail.

I still vote for teal just because it's a one time opportunity to get that custom color made. Blue alphas can always be made later, if the demand is there...

After all it's OP's decision of course 

[ideus]

Some updates...

FYI we are going to color match to a swatch instead of a real cap so that problem is solved. I will be printing up a bunch of color samples at Kinkos and selecting the ones that appear truest to the photos in OP, and then mailing them to GMK. We do this to avoid any screwups/unexpected outcomes that may happen if they attempt to match to a JPG.

Also, we will be going back to V4 (blue) for the alpha legends. Though there are some good arguments for teal (that even persuaded me temporarily) I am making an executive decision on this one. I think the set is just much more visually interesting with the blue, and also truer to the originals.

Show Image

Still talking with Massdrop and GMK but I still expect things to move forward via that route.

But blue does not pair well with teal mods?

[intelli78]

Look at the photos in OP.  The legends are distinctly dark blue,  and they look just spiffy with the teal mods.

[ghostjuggernaut]

I'm really looking forward to this set. Thanks for all the hard work intelli.

[greath]

Look at the photos in OP.  The legends are distinctly dark blue,  and they look just spiffy with the teal mods.

I think this dark blue from the original set


looks better than the blue in this mock up.



If it's close to the original blue I'm fine with it, but I think that blue in the mock up is a bit too light.

[dimmu]

Some updates...

FYI we are going to color match to a swatch instead of a real cap so that problem is solved. I will be printing up a bunch of color samples at Kinkos and selecting the ones that appear truest to the photos in OP, and then mailing them to GMK. We do this to avoid any screwups/unexpected outcomes that may happen if they attempt to match to a JPG.

Also, we will be going back to V4 (blue) for the alpha legends. Though there are some good arguments for teal (that even persuaded me temporarily) I am making an executive decision on this one. I think the set is just much more visually interesting with the blue, and also truer to the originals.

Show Image

Still talking with Massdrop and GMK but I still expect things to move forward via that route.

good call on this, i was initially with team teal but after seeing the renders, teal on alphas just looks too washed out, and that shade of blue gives a nice contrast. i just hope it translates well on the actual keyset itself.