[GB] GMK Triumph Adler. Pics posted...

[jbondeson]

Here's how mine came

(Attachment Link)

QUICK! GO BUY A LOTTERY TICKET!

[intelli78]

The set itself is glorious. I consider myself a huge TA fan. From the first time a saw a pic of it posted here on GH a few years ago, I have always wanted them and thought there was no better looking set. In my opinion, the teal could just be a tad greener, and the grey a tad darker. But that is just nitpicking. I still consider this set to be a perfect TA replica, and I doubt it could have came out better. Overall, I'm satisfied. Thanks again intelli! I hope everyone with serious damage can get some replacements.

Glad you guys like it! I am totally confident that the teal is the closest match in the entire Pantone color library. I think it looks exactly right in low/indoor light, and maybe a *tad* bluer and more vivid than the canonical pics in direct sunlight. However it's undoubtedly TA and I am extremely happy with the outcome.

As for the gray, I do agree it could be slightly darker. This was a case where the color chip gives a different impression than the finished, sculpted keycaps, I think because of the surface area ratio of the alphas to the mods, and also the way the edges of the keycaps catch light - it makes the caps give off a brighter impression than the true color of them. They're certainly grayer than they appear in a lot of user pics where they're overexposed and blown out to full white, but yeah, could be grayer. So if there is a chance for a R2, I'll darken the alphas slightly.

But like you said, these are minor complaints. I am overall really happy with the results. Bummer about the shipping woes, but I am confident everyone will be taken care of in the end.

[romevi]

Glad you guys like it! I am totally confident that the teal is the closest match in the entire Pantone color library. I think it looks exactly right in low/indoor light, and maybe a *tad* bluer and more vivid than the canonical pics in direct sunlight. However it's undoubtedly TA and I am extremely happy with the outcome.

As for the gray, I do agree it could be slightly darker. This was a case where the color chip gives a different impression than the finished, sculpted keycaps, I think because of the surface area ratio of the alphas to the mods, and also the way the edges of the keycaps catch light - it makes the caps give off a brighter impression than the true color of them. They're certainly grayer than they appear in a lot of user pics where they're overexposed and blown out to full white, but yeah, could be grayer. So if there is a chance for a R2, I'll darken the alphas slightly.

But like you said, these are minor complaints. I am overall really happy with the results. Bummer about the shipping woes, but I am confident everyone will be taken care of in the end.

Please, please, please let there be one. I'm so bummed I missed this (I remember seeing it on Massdrop but I just started browsing that site and didn't realize the gold I had struck) and would love to avoid paying aftermarket gouges.

[beehatch]

Hi Morgan,

Thanks for reaching out about this. I'd be happy to let you know that we'd be happy to offer you the following solutions:

A) If you're okay with keeping the set as is, we can partial $10 store credit

B) Otherwise, we can process a return for an exchange for you!

Let me know how you'd prefer to proceed.

Best,
Aaron

Oh boy, $10 credit!

I guess I'll do the return and exchange option then.

Watch it be packed exactly the same and end up with scratches once more.

This is why I asked them if they were going to take steps to assure me this set will not come damaged as well. Such as...more secure shipping practices.

[CommonCurt]

I got lucky. Both my sets looked like this.



Still have to open them up and do a inspection.

[beehatch]

I got lucky. Both my sets looked like this.

Show Image

Still have to open them up and do a inspection.

Glad to hear some more arrived unscathed  :thumb:

[Lastpilot]

Another TA survivor ritecheeaa.

[Joey Quinn]

There wasn't a single cap in my tray, they were spread out all over the box. A few scratched and a few have noticeably inconsistent color. Love the set but I can't say I'm thrilled.

[jbondeson]

Triumph Adler: Schrödinger's Keyset

Until you open the box your keys are both completely intact, and in total disarray...

[HoffmanMyster]

Hi Morgan,

Thanks for reaching out about this. I'd be happy to let you know that we'd be happy to offer you the following solutions:

A) If you're okay with keeping the set as is, we can partial $10 store credit

B) Otherwise, we can process a return for an exchange for you!

Let me know how you'd prefer to proceed.

Best,
Aaron

Oh boy, $10 credit!

I guess I'll do the return and exchange option then.

:facepalm:

They better not make you pay return shipping.

There wasn't a single cap in my tray, they were spread out all over the box. A few scratched and a few have noticeably inconsistent color. Love the set but I can't say I'm thrilled.

Nooooooooooooo   

Triumph Adler: Schrödinger's Keyset

Until you open the box your keys are both completely intact, and in total disarray...

)  Unfortunately this is all too accurate.

[Jason_IRL]

I'm missing a second windows key... Other than that, I love the set!

[nubbinator]

I got lucky. Both my sets looked like this.

Show Image

Still have to open them up and do a inspection.

Oh no!  Three caps fell out of your top box!

[intelli78]

I'm missing a second windows key... Other than that, I love the set!

Definitely write to Massdrop about this!!

I got lucky. Both my sets looked like this.

Show Image

Still have to open them up and do a inspection.

Oh no!  Three caps fell out of your top box!

It looks like they shuffled left, underneath the caution sticker. Odd.

[archer]

Mine showed up pretty good! Numpad a bit out of place.. But doesn't look like it was thrown off a cliff:

http://imgur.com/sBAnD7v

I don't mind the colors at all.. There grey almost reminds me of the old Round 4 Retro alphas

[cjhard]

intelli, would you kindly post comparison photoshoot between your authentic TA and GMK TA? I went back to the pictures I have saved, and the teal actually looks dead-on, I just remembered it lighter in my brainmeat. I do quite like the gray as-is, even if the pictures of authentic TA painted it a step or two darker.

Any plans for a ISO-DE next round?

Btw, I sure am glad this isn't the TA everyone fell in love with:

[CommonCurt]

I got lucky. Both my sets looked like this.

Show Image

Still have to open them up and do a inspection.

Oh no!  Three caps fell out of your top box!

It looks like they shuffled left, underneath the caution sticker. Odd.

They could of shifted, but the way the dividers are I think they were packaged that way.

[intelli78]

intelli, would you kindly post comparison photoshoot between your authentic TA and GMK TA? I went back to the pictures I have saved, and the teal actually looks dead-on, I just remembered it lighter in my brainmeat. I do quite like the gray as-is, even if the pictures of authentic TA painted it a step or two darker.

Any plans for a ISO-DE next round?

Would be happy to, however the authentic set is in a different state right now. Remind me next month...

To level with you, it is extremely unlikely that we'll see any GMK region-specific ISO kits whatsoever, in any set, any time soon. It just doesn't work with their current MOQs. I got a lot of flack about this, especially from Deskthority, but it's not something I'm making up to oppress our euro-friends across the pond. If you make keys for one locale, you pretty much have to make them for the rest. You can't sell them individually, because they'll never hit MOQ. You can't sell them together because people aren't going to pay $100+ for a mega-ISO kit that they only need 1/10 of the keys from. It's just an economic non-starter...

[intelli78]

Btw, I sure am glad this isn't the TA everyone fell in love with:

Show Image

My genuine set looks a lot like that. The colors really aren't that nice in person, and my alphas are way yellowed. That's why we had to give up on the idea of color matching.

However, the rumor about that particular board is that it's a "German secret police" board with similar colors, not actually TA. I've no idea if that's true, but I have never seen any TA boards with that type of connector.

If anybody is interested in TA "lore", check this thread. https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=70454.0

[nubbinator]

More

I'm missing a second windows key... Other than that, I love the set!

Definitely write to Massdrop about this!!

I got lucky. Both my sets looked like this.

Show Image

Still have to open them up and do a inspection.

Oh no!  Three caps fell out of your top box!

It looks like they shuffled left, underneath the caution sticker. Odd.

I saw that, I was just trying to freak them out for a second.

[Blackehart]

Boom!

Missing two keys 

[64rky]

There wasn't a single cap in my tray, they were spread out all over the box. A few scratched and a few have noticeably inconsistent color. Love the set but I can't say I'm thrilled.

Thought I read this on another comment as well, or maybe on r/mk, is this normal? I thought GMK is the rolls Royce of caps?

[intelli78]

Boom!

Missing two keys 

Show Image

Did you check under all the flaps in the box?

[Joey Quinn]

There wasn't a single cap in my tray, they were spread out all over the box. A few scratched and a few have noticeably inconsistent color. Love the set but I can't say I'm thrilled.

Thought I read this on another comment as well, or maybe on r/mk, is this normal? I thought GMK is the rolls Royce of caps?

Idk but all three BSP/Gateron/Plum? sets look much cleaner and had better QC.

[romevi]

There wasn't a single cap in my tray, they were spread out all over the box. A few scratched and a few have noticeably inconsistent color. Love the set but I can't say I'm thrilled.

Thought I read this on another comment as well, or maybe on r/mk, is this normal? I thought GMK is the rolls Royce of caps?

I thought BSP was.

[cjhard]

Btw, I sure am glad this isn't the TA everyone fell in love with:

Show Image

My genuine set looks a lot like that. The colors really aren't that nice in person, and my alphas are way yellowed. That's why we had to give up on the idea of color matching.

However, the rumor about that particular board is that it's a "German secret police" board with similar colors, not actually TA. I've no idea if that's true, but I have never seen any TA boards with that type of connector.

If anybody is interested in TA "lore", check this thread. https://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=70454.0

I can almost understand it being "not actually TA", the LED legend/cover is bordered in Gray, where authentic TA uses Ollivetti blue like the one in this photo, right next to the TA Dario 286:


Regardless of purpose, the gray on those original alphas don't consistently age beautifully.

[Blackehart]

Boom!

Missing two keys 

Show Image

Did you check under all the flaps in the box?

Tore the box apart. Nothing.

[vindaon]

Mine came in today and looks like I'm one of the lucky ones. A few keys out of place but not nearly as messy as some others, and no scratches.

I gotta say, I only bought this set cause of the hype. Thought the preview photos were decent, but not mind blowing. But seeing these caps in person, I've changed my mind, they look amazing up close.

[Data]

What was the final group buy price on these?  Anyone remember?

[intelli78]

What was the final group buy price on these?  Anyone remember?

$99.99

[intelli78]

Mine came in today and looks like I'm one of the lucky ones. A few keys out of place but not nearly as messy as some others, and no scratches.

I gotta say, I only bought this set cause of the hype. Thought the preview photos were decent, but not mind blowing. But seeing these caps in person, I've changed my mind, they look amazing up close.

That makes me SO happy to hear! Enjoy!!

[Data]

What was the final group buy price on these?  Anyone remember?

$99.99

Thanks.  That's a lot lower than I expected for a GMK set.

[intelli78]

Thanks.  That's a lot lower than I expected for a GMK set.

It was the lowest price for a full GMK set to date. 

[heedpantsnow]

Well, this is a little awkward.

Got two sets, both of them all out of whack. One for me, one for someone I was proxying. And my wife took these pics; I'm out of town till next Wednesday. I can't ask her to search for scratches or missing keys.





So now what do I do?  Return them both?  Combine the good parts for the proxy and wait for a replacement for myself?  Send them on as-is?  What a freaking pain in the butt.

If I wait until I can get home and inspect them, will MD be out of extras? 

[nubbinator]

TA cluster****ery confirmed





So this is how my set arrived, complete with bent and bashed in box.  As I heard the UPS guy toss it (not place it) on the ground, I knew I was ****ed since I heard a clatter of keys.  And phone photos because why waste taking good shots on cluster****ery:






I think all my caps are there, but I'm not sure.  I do know that I had several caps with scratches.  The scratches weren't major, most on the sides and backs of the caps, but one blank cap had scratches on the face.  The GMK QC wasn't too hot either as a ton of my caps had flashing on the bottom and I noticed that the alphas have some weirdness going on in their color.  They're not a solid color and seem to have some swirling going on in them.  I feel like a couple of caps also had some color bleed through in spots from the darker undercolor.  And maybe I'm crazy, but I feel like the plastic feels like a lighter, cheaper, less dense plastic than GMK usually is.

Here's the result of carefully checking the caps and putting them back in the tray:




Probably going to sell the set.

[njbair]

Well, this is a little awkward.

Got two sets, both of them all out of whack. One for me, one for someone I was proxying. And my wife took these pics; I'm out of town till next Wednesday. I can't ask her to search for scratches or missing keys.

Show Image

Show Image

So now what do I do?  Return them both?  Combine the good parts for the proxy and wait for a replacement for myself?  Send them on as-is?  What a freaking pain in the butt.

If I wait until I can get home and inspect them, will MD be out of extras?

Awkward, indeed. I doubt you discussed this contingency ahead of time before agreeing to proxy. Communicate early and often. But remember this is not your fault and this is how they would have come to your principal had they received them directly.

The only fair outcome is that Massdrop makes good on both sets. If one is good and the other is bad (or if one good set can be pieced together from the two), I say keep it and let the principal know he'll have to wait. At least that seems fair enough to me.

[iamtootallforthis]

TA cluster****ery confirmed

Show Image

So this is how my set arrived, complete with bent and bashed in box.  As I heard the UPS guy toss it (not place it) on the ground, I knew I was ****ed since I heard a clatter of keys.  And phone photos because why waste taking good shots on cluster****ery:

Show Image

Show Image

I think all my caps are there, but I'm not sure.  I do know that I had several caps with scratches.  The scratches weren't major, most on the sides and backs of the caps, but one blank cap had scratches on the face.  The GMK QC wasn't too hot either as a ton of my caps had flashing on the bottom and I noticed that the alphas have some weirdness going on in their color.  They're not a solid color and seem to have some swirling going on in them.  I feel like a couple of caps also had some color bleed through in spots from the darker undercolor.  And maybe I'm crazy, but I feel like the plastic feels like a lighter, cheaper, less dense plastic than GMK usually is.

Here's the result of carefully checking the caps and putting them back in the tray:

Show Image

Probably going to sell the set.

I would just try to contact Massdrop to get another.

You have a better chance at getting a set in better condition and can still sell that if you're not happy. Just my two cents though.

The condition it showed up in though is bull****.

[Photoelectric]

I wonder if it's certain types of plastic / certain color mixes that let more light through, in combination with certain molds?  I'm just thinking of the more recent keycaps, like CMYK and similar.  The yellow/black shift caps that had some LED light bleed-through, and for example a yellow+cyan Esc keycap has a fair amount of LED light showing through the cap.  All of my vintage cream/beige with black legends GMK caps don't have this issue.

[nubbinator]

More

TA cluster****ery confirmed

Show Image

So this is how my set arrived, complete with bent and bashed in box.  As I heard the UPS guy toss it (not place it) on the ground, I knew I was ****ed since I heard a clatter of keys.  And phone photos because why waste taking good shots on cluster****ery:

Show Image

Show Image

I think all my caps are there, but I'm not sure.  I do know that I had several caps with scratches.  The scratches weren't major, most on the sides and backs of the caps, but one blank cap had scratches on the face.  The GMK QC wasn't too hot either as a ton of my caps had flashing on the bottom and I noticed that the alphas have some weirdness going on in their color.  They're not a solid color and seem to have some swirling going on in them.  I feel like a couple of caps also had some color bleed through in spots from the darker undercolor.  And maybe I'm crazy, but I feel like the plastic feels like a lighter, cheaper, less dense plastic than GMK usually is.

Here's the result of carefully checking the caps and putting them back in the tray:

Show Image

Probably going to sell the set.

I would just try to contact Massdrop to get another.

You have a better chance at getting a set in better condition and can still sell that if you're not happy. Just my two cents though.

The condition it showed up in though is bull****.

I'm not sure I'll get a set in better condition.  There were only three really scratched caps I noticed, two scratched on the side, one on the top.  The main issue is the weird coloration on the alphas.  I want to know if others who look closely at their caps see the same thing I'm talking about.  It's like when you mix paint and it's not quite fully mixed.  For example, it looks something like this:




I mean, it's not noticeable from typing distance, but when you look at the cap it's pretty noticeable.


I'm just more annoyed with the condition it arrived in. I'll definitely be contacting MD, but not sure what I'm going to do.

I wonder if it's certain types of plastic / certain color mixes that let more light through, in combination with certain molds?  I'm just thinking of the more recent keycaps, like CMYK and similar.  The yellow/black shift caps that had some LED light bleed-through, and for example a yellow+cyan Esc keycap has a fair amount of LED light showing through the cap.  All of my vintage cream/beige with black legends GMK caps don't have this issue.

It definitely could be.  I never noticed anything with the caps from Ivan's GBs, but the caps have a much different feel to them from this buy.

[Photoelectric]

You should look more closely   The Esc keycap I mentioned is from one of his group buys, and the CMYK set is also.  I have both on my keyboard right now, and I see LED bleed-through on the Esc cap particularly strongly, and only in the front of the yellow shift caps. 

[trizkut]

TA cluster****ery confirmed

Show Image

So this is how my set arrived, complete with bent and bashed in box.  As I heard the UPS guy toss it (not place it) on the ground, I knew I was ****ed since I heard a clatter of keys.  And phone photos because why waste taking good shots on cluster****ery:

Show Image

Show Image

I think all my caps are there, but I'm not sure.  I do know that I had several caps with scratches.  The scratches weren't major, most on the sides and backs of the caps, but one blank cap had scratches on the face.  The GMK QC wasn't too hot either as a ton of my caps had flashing on the bottom and I noticed that the alphas have some weirdness going on in their color.  They're not a solid color and seem to have some swirling going on in them.  I feel like a couple of caps also had some color bleed through in spots from the darker undercolor.  And maybe I'm crazy, but I feel like the plastic feels like a lighter, cheaper, less dense plastic than GMK usually is.

Here's the result of carefully checking the caps and putting them back in the tray:

Show Image

Probably going to sell the set.

I would just try to contact Massdrop to get another.

You have a better chance at getting a set in better condition and can still sell that if you're not happy. Just my two cents though.

The condition it showed up in though is bull****.

The thing is, no one knows if they actually have that many extra sets, or are just going to repackage these 'returned' sets and pass them off as replacements.  I'm still getting radio silence from support.  Even just a "we've acknowledged that there have been problems with the TA shipments, and we are working to rectify this as we figure out just how many people were affected" would be nice.

[Photoelectric]

P.S.: quick snap:

[nubbinator]

P.S.: quick snap:

(Attachment Link)

Ah, I was talking about color bleed without backlighting.  It seems like a couple of the caps appear to have some color variation or bleed from the undercolor.

[SpAmRaY]

I thought they were offering $10 or just letting people return?

It's not like they have enough sets to replace all these caps.

[Photoelectric]

Oh sorry, yeah, I agree that this poor color mixing is a new thing.  I was thinking of a few people who mentioned earlier about these TA caps being made with thinner molds or made of different plastic or some other theory that made them less opaque to LEDs and thus seemingly lower quality.

[njbair]

I thought they were offering $10 or just letting people return?

It's not like they have enough sets to replace all these caps.

$10. Wow. I hope that's not really true.

[nubbinator]

Oh sorry, yeah, I agree that this poor color mixing is a new thing.  I was thinking of a few people who mentioned earlier about these TA caps being made with thinner molds or made of different plastic or some other theory that made them less opaque to LEDs and thus seemingly lower quality.

Nah, the molds seem to be the same, but I do think the plastic on the teal is different.  The alphas are the ones with the weird not fully mixed paint look to them though.

I thought they were offering $10 or just letting people return?

It's not like they have enough sets to replace all these caps.

$10. Wow. I hope that's not really true.

That's the quote beehatch posted earlier.

[Lastpilot]

I wonder if it's certain types of plastic / certain color mixes that let more light through, in combination with certain molds?  I'm just thinking of the more recent keycaps, like CMYK and similar.  The yellow/black shift caps that had some LED light bleed-through, and for example a yellow+cyan Esc keycap has a fair amount of LED light showing through the cap.  All of my vintage cream/beige with black legends GMK caps don't have this issue.

I've had this problem too. My CMYW and windowed blanks have light bleed. However, my Olivetti set from 2013 does not.

Edit: I wonder if it was a consequence of GMK lowering their MOQ? Aka, less costs spent to justify smaller batches.

[beehatch]

Hi Morgan,

Thanks for reaching out about this. I'd be happy to let you know that we'd be happy to offer you the following solutions:

A) If you're okay with keeping the set as is, we can partial $10 store credit

B) Otherwise, we can process a return for an exchange for you!

Let me know how you'd prefer to proceed.

Best,
Aaron

Oh boy, $10 credit!

I guess I'll do the return and exchange option then.

Again, this is what MD support said to me. I too am curious what they are going to do about the sets that are being returned. I really already contemplated them selling the "damaged" sets or rehashing them out. Hell, I'm wondering if they have enough sets to even compensate this gross mistake. Just a really terrible situation.

[sethk_]

Hi Morgan,

Thanks for reaching out about this. I'd be happy to let you know that we'd be happy to offer you the following solutions:

A) If you're okay with keeping the set as is, we can partial $10 store credit

B) Otherwise, we can process a return for an exchange for you!

Let me know how you'd prefer to proceed.

Best,
Aaron

Oh boy, $10 credit!

I guess I'll do the return and exchange option then.

Again, this is what MD support said to me. I too am curious what they are going to do about the sets that are being returned. I really already contemplated them selling the "damaged" sets or rehashing them out. Hell, I'm wondering if they have enough sets to even compensate this gross mistake. Just a really terrible situation.

I am just amazed at how they pay a company to professionally ship things, yet they don't know how to use the proper shipping materials.

[beehatch]

Just got this reply:

Hi Morgan,

I cannot guarantee that there will be, but rest assured the majority of our units did not suffer the defects that you mention, so most likely your case was an individual anomaly.

Here is a prepaid shipping label for you to return the unit back to us: ---

Once we process your return we'll ship out an exchange!

Let me know if this is okay with you

Cheers,
Aaron

I asked this:

Thanks for the reply.

I would like to do the return and exchange option. However, will there be some kind of reassurance that the replacement set will not come damaged? Will there be better, more secure packaging?

-Morgan