the tops and bottoms are made of different plastics, that could explain the color difference
Well, Supervan mentioned in his thread that Panda R2 is not going to be same as R1 because this time they use polycarbonate top housing.
Whether this is good or bad remains to be seen. I'd expect mixed reception. Polycarbonate housing is probably going to be somewhat smoother than the original, but in the same time will sound worse because poly has some inherent zing to it.
Just a reminder that Supervan's word is now completely useless. Everything he said was a lie in his thread. He stated that 27 had flown to China and purchased switches = Untrue. He said the molds for pandas had been destroyed but had access to them = untrue. He said that he would be doing a GB for the switches = Somewhat true, but the fact of the matter is that he bought switches before collecting money and now he's SOL.
He's got every reason to crap on the MD Pandas and make claims that aren't true. The original creators said that the MD pandas would be the same materials as the originals...
Temper the emotions please! I say that because there no proof anything you stated is true.
I am going to be cynical on this.
On one side we have supervan who has really poor customer service and is obviously out to make some money. He trying to run a group buy at almost double his original price for a switch (60cent china vs 1.00 USD). The switches have been tested and found to be reasonably close to original panda's. These are all facts. We know them as hard truths unless .. its a giant conspiracy by some of the larger names in the community.
On the other side we have 27 who co owned the original panda molds. He is also going a year plus on a outstanding group buy that was promised to run smoothly as it was going to be partially manufactured in Canada. There also the fact he and his partner have stated the molds were damaged during use. These are all facts.
Things that can't be confirmed are.
Massdrop's version is just like the Original.
That the Original molds were used by either party.
That either party even had access to the original molds.
This entire thing is just a money grab.
I hope this works out, and both parties end up being able to sell switches. The one thing the community will benefit from for a FACT is having more choices when it comes to switches. What NO one benefits from is all this finger pointing and speculation. Its really simple people don't like Supervan's buy.. ok don't buy from him. People don't like massdrop then don't buy from them. People don't like either.. then go to novel key's they got those cream switches I personally want to try. Until we have more hard facts.. the massdrop version is just as up in the air as any other version of panda's that hadn't been tested.