[IC] GMK CYL Prussian Alert - Final Update before GB

[mashhh]

Amazing bese kit! A REAL alert kit!

[AMZ]

Can't wait for the GB!

[Gtour]

Added a photo comparison with GMK CYL Blue Alert R2 colors.

[FitLabb]

Really love this set, especially because of that gorgeous shade of blue.  Looking forward to the GB.

[Gemmmmmmmmmmmmmy]

Just made an account to tell you I am all for this. 

[Adelscott]

I love this, 100% in

[CrlaoSvloadr]

With GMK Prussian Blue seemingly postponed until Q1-Q2 of 2025, could we still see late Q4 of 2024 for GMK Prussian Alert?
Hoping for an update in regards to the timeline, eagerly waiting to join this GB!

[Gtour]

With GMK Prussian Blue seemingly postponed until Q1-Q2 of 2025, could we still see late Q4 of 2024 for GMK Prussian Alert?
Hoping for an update in regards to the timeline, eagerly waiting to join this GB!

We are deciding with the lead vendor the most appropriate time for the group buy. I cannot guarantee it will be this year, but I will make sure to update the IC once I have precise information on this matter.

Thank you (and others) for the kind comments btw, I do appreciate it

[Moe7688]

Any update on the GB date? 

[SiYanMihou]

Any update on the GB date? 

According to tour (posted in the discord server), the gb will run in april 2025, AFTER prussian blue has had its gb. This wasn't his decision, it was made by the lead vendor.

[linearscringe]

can we go back in time and just call this set teal alert so it can get made instead of getting cucked by a completely different design

[NoPunIn10Did]

can we go back in time and just call this set teal alert so it can get made instead of getting cucked by a completely different design

As this set is intentionally using the same color as GMK Prussian Blue, and I have worked with GMK and Tour to verify the official samples against the standard (even going so far as to send GMK a clipping of the sample when their first attempt came out wrong), calling this "cucked" is both foul and completely incorrect with regard to the situation.

Tour and I are trying to navigate (1) making sure we don't run at the same time (or in too close proximity) and (2) varying vendors' schedules. It's a headache, but a necessary one to make sure we don't cannibalize one another's sales. GMK sales are not quite as massive as they used to be, and we both want our sets to actually get made.

[Gtour]

Some clarification:

• The delay of the original GB date was in no way influenced by NoPun.
• As I already mentioned in the IC post, thanks to him the second round of Prussian Blue samples turned out perfect.
• As NoPun pointed out, it’s crucial to prevent the sales of the two sets from overlapping and cannibalizing each other.

Looking back, I’m grateful for the delay. It allowed me to optimize the kitting based on community feedback and ensure that all three samples were flawless.
Just a few more months of waiting, we are close

[tactilesbad]

take a hint from GMK LoV kitting and put the non-accent numrow in base



if they managed to, there's no excuse why you shouldn't, unless you want to purposefully blow up prices

[dvorcol]

Orders for GMK Blue Alert R2's Blue Stripe kit were 88% of its Base kit orders (384/437).

More

I'm very curious to see how popular Prussian Alert's Alertless kit will be.

[tactilesbad]

Orders for GMK Blue Alert R2's Blue Stripe kit were 88% of its Base kit orders (384/437).

More

Show Image

I'm very curious to see how popular Prussian Alert's Alertless kit will be.

that's what I'm saying - they both are forcing buyers to add a child kit for a higher total price than having it in base. of course they bought the ****ing accent row, it's the whole point to the set. gmk gobblers blindly buy their **** no questions asked but it doesn't mean it's anywhere near a good practice that should be perpetuated

or LoV is doing something that we don't know about

edit: rubrehose worth mentioning as well with a huge basekit, both numrows, 100% custom colors for a $10-15 increase over a standard basekit. what's the excuse here

[Bobatype]

So there's three approaches:
(A) Base kit only has alert stripe, with a separate alertless kit (current GMK Prussian Alert)
(B) Base kit has both Alert row and Alertless row (GMK LoV)
(C) Base kit has no Alert Row, with a separate Alert stripe kit (GMK Blue Alert R2)

Option (C) is the worst, as I agree that for sets with Alert in its title, it seems ridiculous to have the main aesthetic design that attracts people to the set to require purchase of an additional kit to meet the theme. So I don't think it's fair to accuse the designer here has done the same thing.

For people who would also run an alertless variation of the design, option (A) is more expensive than option (B). [Plus there's also a chance/risk that the Alertless kit may not meet MOQ].
However, option (B) requires a lot more keys, and makes each base kit more expensive, which makes the set less affordable to more people. For the majority of people interested in the set that would not run the alertless variation, that extra $10-15 cost is not good value, despite it being overall a cheaper option for the group that would rock the alertless variant as well.

Personally, I prefer (A) as I think the Alertless variant in this particular colourway is rather uninteresting to me, and I would never rock it (this varies from set to set), so it's just excess plastic waste that will sit in its packaging forever more (like the numpad and 40s keys in most GMK Base sets for me).

[Gtour]

The current kit configuration was chosen based on feedback I received.

Here’s the data from an IC form created by Geon during the early stages of the set's development, before the introduction of the Alertless Kit. (Thanks to Google Translate for the translation.)


In my opinion, the data clearly shows that the majority of people don’t care about non-alert keys. However, there is still a minority who do want them. Unfortunately, I no longer have a graph from my own IC form due to a deletion error, but the feedback I received reflected a similar sentiment.

Based on this, I later decided to include the "Alertless Kit," as there’s likely (hopefully) a market of at least 100 people (the MOQ) who would be interested in it.

I like the approach taken by GMK LoV, and I’m confident it will work well. However, I still stand by my decision.
Additionally, my set features an R5 bottom row, which should slightly increase the price compared to R4 (Don't have confirmation on this, correct me if I'm wrong).

[dvorcol]

So there's three approaches:
(A) Base kit only has alert stripe, with a separate alertless kit (current GMK Prussian Alert)
(B) Base kit has both Alert row and Alertless row (GMK LoV)
(C) Base kit has no Alert Row, with a separate Alert stripe kit (GMK Blue Alert R2)

More

Option (C) is the worst, as I agree that for sets with Alert in its title, it seems ridiculous to have the main aesthetic design that attracts people to the set to require purchase of an additional kit to meet the theme. So I don't think it's fair to accuse the designer here has done the same thing.

For people who would also run an alertless variation of the design, option (A) is more expensive than option (B). [Plus there's also a chance/risk that the Alertless kit may not meet MOQ].
However, option (B) requires a lot more keys, and makes each base kit more expensive, which makes the set less affordable to more people. For the majority of people interested in the set that would not run the alertless variation, that extra $10-15 cost is not good value, despite it being overall a cheaper option for the group that would rock the alertless variant as well.

Personally, I prefer (A) as I think the Alertless variant in this particular colourway is rather uninteresting to me, and I would never rock it (this varies from set to set), so it's just excess plastic waste that will sit in its packaging forever more (like the numpad and 40s keys in most GMK Base sets for me).

I agree with your ranking of A B C. I want to mention that there are two more approaches:

(D) Accent row only, plain row not offered:
      • DCS Lam Alert (Aug '24)
      • DCS Red Alert R4 (Aug '24)
      ...and many more sets that don't have "Alert" in the name

(E) Plain row only, accent row not offered:
      • GMK Blue Alert (Mar '17)
      • GMK Red Alert (Mar '15)
      • DCS Red Alert R2 (Jun '12)

(D) ignores the interests of some, so likely a percentage of sales are lost. Is it a large percentage in the current market? Use option (A) and find out if the Plain Row child kit reaches MOQ.

(E) shows that "Alert" did not originally mean "accent row." LightningXI went into more detail in GMK Blue Alert R2's IC.