I've been reading all the posts over the last 24 hours, would like to take a minute to respond.
First, I really feel for everyone whose set arrived scattered in the box. It's downright unfortunate that it happened, and not at all what I wanted anyone's first impression to be. In retrospect I should have had GMK send me samples to test first, but we all pretty much took at face value that the trays would be suitable for reshipping. I've never seen a keycap tray that
wasn't. So it's a lame situation because they were supposed to be a bonus that prevented any sort of sorting/shipping debacle. The responsibility is shared between me, GMK, and also Massdrop. Me, because I could've requested samples. GMK, because it's not even a question that the trays SHOULD stand up to reshipping. It was a flawed design that needs to be corrected. Finally, Massdrop's fulfillment center, because they are shipping professionals who should've seen this coming,
especially given that it was a chance to prove their competence.
As for scratches and other damage, it's not totally clear whether they originated during manufacturing or shipping. At this point it seems to be a combination, it should get clearer as time goes on. I'm super sorry to anyone who received damaged caps. No one deserves that considering the price we paid.
For other issues like swirling and variation in color, I'll certainly bring this up with GMK, though I'm not currently convinced anything is out of spec here. I have had older GMK caps with similar marks and I think it's a more normal (if not necessarily desirable) occurrence. For the alphas specifically, we may just be seeing the blue legend layer through the walls of the caps. I would also caution against getting wrapped up in the couple accounts of the caps somehow feeling lower quality. We've already seen that they weigh the same and have the same thickness. They feel like completely normal GMK caps to me. I would take these accounts with a grain of salt because there is no hard evidence of any overall decline in quality. I understand wanting to go over everything with a fine-toothed comb at this point, but we need to be careful not to let our disappointment affect our perception of things that are not actually defective.
I will talk to GMK about why some of their recent sets (not just TA) are more transparent to LEDs. We already know the amount of material has not changed. My best guess is that it's related to cap color and light wavelengths etc.
More generally I want to say, there is definitely a lot of justified disappointment here, but things always seem worse in the moment. All
will be OK. Massdrop's support is not the fastest, but they are not dishonest. It does suck to get scratched caps, but let's try to keep perspective. Massdrop is keen to make things right by replacing as many keys as possible, and I have never heard of them denying legitimate refunds. We all have the caps in hand (finally!), they look good, there is no catastrophic error. We are not dealing with a 2-year delay, an outright scam, or Originative, or some other such really outrageous nonsense where we'll all be screwed. What happened, happened and it's not ok, but we'll move forward and I'm confident that everyone will be treated fairly in the end. GMK has not gone down the toilet yet. They will get an earful, as will the Massdrop shipping center, for sure. But they've put out a good product for a long time, and from dealing with them personally, I
really do not think they are out to fleece us. I think GMK will be very apologetic and keen to restore its reputation.
So again, my sincere apologies to everyone affected. Let's take this in stride to get everyone taken care of, and to make sure future GMK buys are back to their usual standard. I am really looking forward to getting this cleared up so we can get on with enjoying our new teal caps.
