SA Dasher & SA Dancer keycap sets (Completed)

Muirium · 01 Mar 2016, 20:00

Congratulations Zslane. If I've got the funds to cover these, I'll split the OS kit with you if you like. The base kit keys are a nice choice but I'm always partial to taking Command.

zslane · 01 Mar 2016, 20:16

niomosy wrote: ↑
zslane wrote: ↑SA Dasher and Dancer are now in the hands of MassDrop!

Tentatively scheduled for a late summer run.

I will update this thread if I get any new information from them.
Awesome. Has Massdrop mentioned when they'll put the buy up? I'm guessing we're a month or so off from the group buy starting.

"Tentatively scheduled for a late summer run."
-- Previous post

Given the long list of SA keysets MassDrop is handling, they can't be terribly specific just yet. Yanbo mentioned Aug/Sep but I wouldn't hold him to that because we can't hold SP to any kind of concrete deadline for anything ever.

Muirium · 01 Mar 2016, 20:18

Probably before Round 6, if history is anything to go by. So maybe during the Obama administration … maybe!

zslane · 01 Mar 2016, 20:18

Muirium wrote: ↑Congratulations Zslane. If I've got the funds to cover these, I'll split the OS kit with you if you like. The base kit keys are a nice choice but I'm always partial to taking Command.

Sounds good to me.

BTW, could someone explain to me why it is cheaper to have an individual (i.e., a "proxy") ship keys to Europe than it is for MassDrop to do the same?

Khers · 01 Mar 2016, 20:20

Easy: customs fees!

While a company must declare the value (MD seldom does this correct but anyway) an individual can in principle declare whatever value on the package and if low enough it will slip under the customs radar and save the recipient a large chunk of money.

Muirium · 01 Mar 2016, 20:22

Also: the absurdly high cost of shipping things out of the US. I learned how expensive that is when I was over there. Difficult to get a single board's worth of caps out of the country for anything less than $50.

You guys might want to fix that in this age of China!

zslane · 01 Mar 2016, 20:27

Isn't it going to be just as expensive for a proxy to ship keycaps out of the US as it is for a large business like MassDrop?

Muirium · 01 Mar 2016, 20:30

The key is to have a proxy inside Europe. We can ship things around between our nations for a small fraction of the cost. You essentially want to minimize the number of transatlantic parcels. They're the most expensive part, and the customs handling fees in Britain and several other European countries are per-parcel, too. Customs ignores all EU-internal parcels entirely.

zslane · 01 Mar 2016, 20:37

Oh, I get it. So a bulk shipment goes to one person, who then ships within EU to individuals. Makes sense.

Muirium · 01 Mar 2016, 20:47

Yup. Also helps if it comes over from someone in America who doesn't declare it at what could be quite an eyewateringly high total value. Caps don't exactly read as super valuable to people outside our community.

Ideally, then, one proxy in America. And a second one in Germany. They have the best shipping there, and none of the customs horror stories we have in Loyal Britannia. Germans pay 20% tax to the Zoll and that's that, far as I know. Over here, that 20% comes with a bonus fee they pull out of Hades, or the nearest equivalent orifice. And they like to bump up the original value the 20% is of. Because they're gentlemen like that. God save the regime!

Hypothetically, you could imagine how simple things would be if both proxies were the same person, and the parcel travels in their luggage, without any declarations at all. Hypothetically speaking of course.

niomosy · 01 Mar 2016, 23:00

zslane wrote: ↑
niomosy wrote: ↑
zslane wrote: ↑SA Dasher and Dancer are now in the hands of MassDrop!

Tentatively scheduled for a late summer run.

I will update this thread if I get any new information from them.
Awesome. Has Massdrop mentioned when they'll put the buy up? I'm guessing we're a month or so off from the group buy starting.
"Tentatively scheduled for a late summer run."
-- Previous post

Given the long list of SA keysets MassDrop is handling, they can't be terribly specific just yet. Yanbo mentioned Aug/Sep but I wouldn't hold him to that because we can't hold SP to any kind of concrete deadline for anything ever.

Sorry, I wasn't clear. I figured the late summer time would be for the production run itself. What I'm wondering about is the purchase phase on Massdrop itself. I was more thinking of it from a budgeting perspective.

zslane · 01 Mar 2016, 23:18

For all I know, Aug/Sep is when it goes up on MassDrop.

All these details will be worked out in the days ahead. As I learn more, I will be updating this thread (and the one over on GH).

niomosy · 02 Mar 2016, 21:18

zslane wrote: ↑For all I know, Aug/Sep is when it goes up on MassDrop.

All these details will be worked out in the days ahead. As I learn more, I will be updating this thread (and the one over on GH).

Wonderful. Sorry, had a bit of anxious kid syndrome going there for a bit, excited about the good news. I know MD just finished PuLSE R2 and has 1976 R2 currently going. It will be interesting to see where this ends up slotted by MD. They've been okay thus far with putting buys up a few months ahead of a production slot with caps and a few other things.

hoq · 31 Jul 2016, 18:23

Beautiful color seting!
I'll get both 2 color sets if you can provider ASAP before I change my mind...

If too long, I'll get 1 set maybe

Wodan · 31 Jul 2016, 19:11

Please consider adding a NORDE/International kit like the one Pulse had. It's fulle profiled and lacks tertiary legends. Guess that's something most people can live with.

zslane · 01 Aug 2016, 02:34

"ASAP" will most likely not equal "this year". It is currently in a sort of MassDrop Limbo at the moment. If it goes up on MassDrop's December drop schedule we should consider ourselves extremely fortunate, I think.

chuckdee · 01 Aug 2016, 02:48

Well, it's SA. SP is pretty backed up right now.

http://pimpmykeyboard.com/key-status/

hoq · 01 Aug 2016, 04:02

zslane wrote: ↑"ASAP" will most likely not equal "this year". It is currently in a sort of MassDrop Limbo at the moment. If it goes up on MassDrop's December drop schedule we should consider ourselves extremely fortunate, I think.

So sad, but it gives us enough time to save money to get 2 sets.

I put some news of this set on China taobao Second-hand Market forum, it seems that a lot of Chinese people love this SA profile very much. The 2 blue colors are low contrast, and the set can be used in daily work.
You know, SA keycaps market is booming now, and the second-hand SA keycaps prcie is twice more than GB price (Chinese people are so rediculous....and so sightless...just buy buy buy what they like

)

Keep this SA set going foward please, I really love the colors so much.

zslane · 01 Aug 2016, 08:16

chuckdee wrote: ↑Well, it's SA. SP is pretty backed up right now.

http://pimpmykeyboard.com/key-status/

SP is always going to be backed up. We're more at the mercy of MassDrop than SP, really.

But I'm okay with that to an extent. MassDrop reaches far more people than any other GB method, so the kits will have a much better chance of hitting decent MOQ thresholds. Normally I'd be more frustrated, but being a part of 7bit's Round 6 group buy has taught me a whole new kind of patience.

Wodan · 01 Aug 2016, 10:49

zslane wrote: ↑... but being a part of 7bit's Round 6 group buy has taught me a whole new kind of patience.

He's a fucking zen master.

niomosy · 01 Aug 2016, 19:18

If China is jumping in on this, that sounds like good news for those like me wanting both sets. I can handle the wait. It's giving me time to check out DSA, GMK, and other SA sets.

zslane · 01 Aug 2016, 20:14

I'm not sure what it means for China to "jump in on it". There is no GB for them to join. There isn't even a MassDrop vote for them to participate in. An enthusiast from China will find nothing at all on MassDrop related to SA Dasher, and who knows if their state-restricted version of Google would even show search results pointing them to old threads on here or on GeekHack.org. Plus, how many Chinese residents are members of MassDrop anyway? I'm guessing something close to zero?

hoq posted info on this set on a "second hand market" forum in China, which sounds like a typical classified ad forum where people buy, sell, and trade used keycaps. How does that help a future GB on MassDrop?

scottc · 01 Aug 2016, 20:16

zslane wrote: ↑I'm not sure what it means for China to "jump in on it". There is no GB for them to join. There isn't even a MassDrop vote for them to participate in. An enthusiast from China will find nothing at all on MassDrop related to SA Dasher, and who knows if their state-restricted version of Google would even show search results pointing them to old threads on here or on GeekHack.org. Plus, how many Chinese residents are members of MassDrop anyway? I'm guessing something close to zero?

hoq posted info on this set on a "second hand market" forum in China, which sounds like a typical classified ad forum where people buy, sell, and trade used keycaps. How does that help a future GB on MassDrop?

Wow, zslane, you really have a bone to pick with China...

zslane · 01 Aug 2016, 20:20

Not really. I'm just struggling to understand how Chinese enthusiasts will help a MassDrop GB with an unspecified future drop date.

Stabilized · 01 Aug 2016, 20:50

I thought that there are a few buyers in china the buy from Massdrop in bulk from pre-orders taken in China.
I have seen a number of pages where sellers post up pre-orders or sell extra sets on Taobao.

So maybe that is what he meant when he said that China will jump in on it?

khongthenhuvay · 01 Aug 2016, 20:52

zslane wrote: ↑Not really. I'm just struggling to understand how Chinese enthusiasts will help a MassDrop GB with an unspecified future drop date.

GMK Carbon drop had around 1300 purchases on the last day, and then suddenly jumped to 2000 purchases in just few hours. I hear somewhere that bulk purchase come from Chinese mech key communities.

They normally won't place orders directly on Massdrop, they place orders via several "proxies" (or sub-GBs/preorders) to reduce shipping cost and many other problems. Those "proxies" will contact MD for making bulk purchase, make payment, update status, receive all the items, sort and ship them to each participant.

If you decided to let MD set up the GB for you and Chinese mech key communities desire your set so much, they will contact MD continously to make inquiries, they even can add your set as a vote option on MD and call all their community members vote for it. All of that will help your set have higher priority over other future drops of MD.

zslane · 01 Aug 2016, 22:06

That's terrific! Thanks for that info, khong!

kingnestea · 02 Aug 2016, 04:15

zslane wrote: ↑That's terrific! Thanks for that info, khong!

What he says is true, I'm a member from the Chinese Mech key community, I do have good relationships with those proxies and got my own reputation too, your set is actually one of the most wanted sets that's been in IC. If you are having problem for votes, please let me know. I'm glad to help on that and will do my best to spread your vote link and ask them to vote for you, MD is not restricted, they just don't bother joining GBs on MD since those proxies are so handy for status updates and communications etc. =)

BTW. Base on the information I got, SA dasher is well-known in China, at least for all those proxies. There will be sub-GBs organized once this drops on MD.

zslane · 02 Aug 2016, 05:11

Unfortunately I am as much in the dark about this as everyone else. I honestly don't know what MassDrop's plans are for the set. I don't know if a surge in interest (or MD survey votes) would have any effect whatsoever because I don't really know how MassDrop decides what to run and when.

All I know is that the set was submitted back on Mar 1st and initially had a tentative Aug/Sep spot in SP's manufacturing schedule. That was later pushed to a completely unknown date for completely unknown reasons (it was suggested by Yanbo that a Christmas drop might happen, rationalized on the basis of a rather oblique interpretation of the set's name).

If you think a wave of interest from Chinese proxies would help dislodge the set from its current state of limbo at MD, then by all means spread the word and let's see what kind of influence that has.

kingnestea · 02 Aug 2016, 05:38

zslane wrote: ↑Unfortunately I am as much in the dark about this as everyone else. I honestly don't know what MassDrop's plans are for the set. I don't know if a surge in interest (or MD survey votes) would have any effect whatsoever because I don't really know how MassDrop decides what to run and when.

All I know is that the set was submitted back on Mar 1st and initially had a tentative Aug/Sep spot in SP's manufacturing schedule. That was later pushed to a completely unknown date for completely unknown reasons (it was suggested by Yanbo that a Christmas drop might happen, rationalized on the basis of a rather oblique interpretation of the set's name).

If you think a wave of interest from Chinese proxies would help dislodge the set from its current state of limbo at MD, then by all means spread the word and let's see what kind of influence that has.

Do you have a link of a poll for this set on MD?I'll try to spread it.