GB Dates: April 3 to April 30
Price: $119.99 + shipping
Delivery: Q3 2020
Site: DixieMech (https://dixiemech.store/products/dcs-red-alert-r3) (https://dixiemech.store/products/dcs-red-alert-r3)
GB Thread: https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=105473.0
Kit:
To keep the price low and also meet the requirement of Dixie's fulfillment service, only one base kit will be offered. The only change from the design I posted previously is full text mods for the bottom row.
(https://imgur.com/cVOlCgQ.jpg)
Background Information:
The original GB was run by OTD user "uranium" and Deskthority user "sixty". I have reached out to them but both have been inactive since 2014. I have yet to receive a reply and I doubt that I will. So, I will not be using any of the custom legends from the original GB. A round two was run by Geekhack user “Ragnorock” who I’ve shared brief messages with. And the colorway was run once more by Geekhack user “tjcaustin”.
Design:
Rebel / Red Alert is a classic colorway. It has had many variants but the one that I love the most and the one that I will be running is the all Red on White with the option of a White on Red num-row which I’ve extended to the navigation cluster. The original colors were WFK for white and RBV for red. However, the red will be changed to RDD, a stock color, to keep the prices down. I have also opted for text + icon modifiers.
Updated GB Information:
I have decided to run the GB through DixieMech's fulfillment service explained here: https://dixiemech.com/fulfillmentservices
The keyset will be purchasable through a direct link on DixieMech's site. It will not be listed or accessible through their front page.
Pricing is based on 75 MOQ with 100 MOQ being ideal. If by some chance we reach 150 MOQ, then additional keys will be added to the kit. For additional keys, the following would be considered: red spacebars, 6u spacebar, white-on-red arrow keys, extra b, one relegendable key for each row, split spacebars, and/or 10u spacebar (for the memes, lol).
There are a few things I took into consideration when I decided on pricing and fulfillment.
- Conversations with knowledgeable community members, designers, and vendors.
- Main piece of advice I was told by multiple people was to set the MOQ below what I think I could hit. I thought I could hit 100 MOQ so my decision and pricing is based off of reaching 75 MOQ.
- Lack of renders.
- I have asked around. No one can render DCS profile yet.
- I could have gotten renders in cherry profile. However, personally, I would only accept that if they could be rendered with legends similar to Gorton Modified (standard DCS legends). Request for those renders were either turned down or quoted a higher price than usual because of the extra work involved.
- It would be difficult to hit high MOQ without good renders.
- Keep it simple.
- I was originally going to run this as a private/semi-private GB. Though I was ultimately willing to put in more work, running the set through multiple vendors was out of scope of the effort I was originally expecting to put into this GB.
Renders or lack thereof:
As previously stated, I was originally going to run this as a semi-private GB. So, there was no need for renders. I suggest looking at the last few pages of the Red Alert Round 2 thread starting here (https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=31887.750). If you have any good pictures of your set, please share!
Here is a photo of DCS Red Alert 2.0+2.1 on No.2 Contemporary Red.
Reminder: The following photo has been included to only show likeness. The modifiers for this run will be icon + text. Also, the red will be a slightly different tone.
More
(https://imgur.com/uEd28sF.jpg)
FAQ:
Why DCS? Isn’t it thin?
I’m sticking with tradition of the previous rounds. Also, it’s been quite a while since the last DCS GB for MX switches. I thought I would mix it up a bit in the current field of keyset IC’s. Finally, the thinness is part of its charm, adding a bit of clack.
Why not icon modifiers?
I have a strong dislike for purse caps lock and x-box backspace. I have not found evidence that SP has a different icons for these keys. This would mean that new molds would have to be made and thus increasing the price.
Old Info:
More
GB Information:
Originally, I was planning to run this as a semi-private GB. But there is a big price difference between 25 and 50 orders. And of course, the price drops even further past 50 MOQ. I've gotten a fair amount of interest from community friends and a few discord servers but I would like to gauge interest from a wider audience. The results of this IC would decide how I would proceed with the GB.
Plan A (current plan): Run the GB through DixieMech's fulfillment service explained here: https://dixiemech.com/fulfillmentservices
Plan B (if more than 100 MOQ is feasible): Possibly go with the more traditional route of finding official vendors/proxies
Pricing:
These are only estimates. The final pricing may not fall into the ranges given.
25 MOQ: Over $200
50 MOQ: $145-$155
75 MOQ: $125-$135
100 MOQ: $115-$125
150 MOQ: $105-$115
200 MOQ: $100-$110
Old Kit Design:
More
(https://imgur.com/gpVImZ4.jpg)