New Star Trek TOS Phaser coming November 2014

Good question. Depends. Generally speaking, companies don't do things that lose them money over time. Given that labor and other costs are so cheap over there, and their markup is probably quite high, I'd guess it's actually cheaper for the Chinese to send out defective units and replace them than it is to slow down delivery for QC.

Wand would presumably have known this and made sure the contract holds the Chinese manufacturer responsible for defects. Whether there's a reliable way to enforce that in the Chinese legal system, though, I have no idea. Having said that, since they're fulfilling through TG, Star Trek.com, and eventually Amazon, getting defects replaced should not be a problem for us. With something this big, customer experience is very important to keeping up a healthy stream of sales over the life of the product.

I'm definitely going to buy at least one more of them in the future, after the dust settles and hopefully defects go down a bit.
 
My first one that I returned to the ST.com store got to them yesterday according to the tracking, so I'm waiting to hear from them when my replacement is on its way. The other that is from think geek is waiting on them to contact me with a return label. Hopefully the replacements won't have issues.
 
Hey guys, waiting for a future production run will make no difference in QC.
You have to understand that labor in China is at the rate of about $15 to $20 a day not an hour but per day/shift.
There will not be any higher QC than what you see now, in fact the example of the clear plastic vs. the gray plastic parts in the AA/DST phaser to make it cheaper in the bluebox vs the redbox editions. I also know that 80% of visio hdtv's are defective from the factory but still sold knowing they will be getting returns..........................
 
Luckily my next one or two. haven't quite decided yet. but It want mater If there defective. there will be excruciating experimentation done to them. I shudder to think of there misfortune..
 
I know the Mr's could be fixed when this happened[/QUOTE said:
actually they couldn't be fixed as the pin on the acrylic nozzle that would hold the track inside the emitter would break ( this was caused by the dry film lubricant they used which as you know didn't work that great) , then if you kept turning the emitter to extend or retract the nozzle, it would twist it and break loose the rainbow smd led and then no lights at all.

Yes I have salvaged a couple which of coarse the whole p2 needed to be taken apart, the nozzle re pinned and the led remounted to it and of coarse my own QC (me)
Click to expand...
 
vidman said:
Hey guys, waiting for a future production run will make no difference in QC.
You have to understand that labor in China is at the rate of about $15 to $20 a day not an hour but per day/shift.
There will not be any higher QC than what you see now, in fact the example of the clear plastic vs. the gray plastic parts in the AA/DST phaser to make it cheaper in the bluebox vs the redbox editions. I also know that 80% of visio hdtv's are defective from the factory but still sold knowing they will be getting returns..........................
Click to expand...
Wow. I didn't realize it was that bad. And from the sound of this thread, Wand's defect rate must be pretty damn high. Pretty much everyone here has reported at least one defect.

Makes perfect sense though. Such a cheap labor rate incentivizes high unit productivity, and QC slows that down. The Chinese per-unit margin must be pretty fat.
 
Not necessarily true. I've overseen licensed prop runs where there were QC problems with overseas manufacturers. Not at all uncommon to have these concerns addressed after the first wave or two of product and move on with minimal issues for the duration of the product run. A product having been made in China hardly suggests that any company has to accept mediocrity.

I imagine this will be a nice home run for the wand company. If they have enough issues, they'll correct them. :thumbsup

-Rylo

vidman said:
Hey guys, waiting for a future production run will make no difference in QC.
You have to understand that labor in China is at the rate of about $15 to $20 a day not an hour but per day/shift.
There will not be any higher QC than what you see now, in fact the example of the clear plastic vs. the gray plastic parts in the AA/DST phaser to make it cheaper in the bluebox vs the redbox editions. I also know that 80% of visio hdtv's are defective from the factory but still sold knowing they will be getting returns..........................
Click to expand...
 
Rylo said:
Not necessarily true. I've overseen licensed prop runs where there were QC problems with overseas manufacturers. Not at all uncommon to have these concerns addressed after the first wave or two of product and move on with minimal issues for the duration of the product run. A product having been made in China hardly suggests that any company has to accept mediocrity.

I imagine this will be a nice home run for the wand company. If they have enough issues, they'll correct them. :thumbsup

-Rylo
Click to expand...
True enough for Apple... :)
 
vidman said:
Hey guys, waiting for a future production run will make no difference in QC.
You have to understand that labor in China is at the rate of about $15 to $20 a day not an hour but per day/shift.
There will not be any higher QC than what you see now, in fact the example of the clear plastic vs. the gray plastic parts in the AA/DST phaser to make it cheaper in the bluebox vs the redbox editions. I also know that 80% of visio hdtv's are defective from the factory but still sold knowing they will be getting returns..........................
Click to expand...

I have to disagree based on the Wand Company's previous products. I purchased one of their 10th Doctor Sonic Screwdrivers at launch, and then one 10 months later. There were visible improvements to the finish of the aluminum and plastic parts, as well as a running change to the extension stops (an area that gave people trouble in the first release). The company cares about quality and I would not be surprised to see similar subtle running changes and fine tuning with the phaser as well.
 
E Williams

I'm not being disrespectful to TWC , just pointing out how China has changed in the last few years about manufacturing,, the higher the cost to make anything the higher the QC will be. This remote may have cost around say $25 to produce for example and the retail price will always have the R&D costs added in , just think the 1st 1s have problems even though a finalized version was approved for production, R&D said it's a go, yet we still have problems with the final product. Even the AA/DST 1st issue phasers had 1 major problem that the emitter would be really bent basically obvious and yet they still boxed them up and sent them to retailers, other than that problem which by the way is the only problem I ever had from those. Never forget the manufacturing costs vs. retail.

I will say that I am impressed with mine and have 2 of which 1 has a very tight emitter that bends to 1 side when fully extended ( my past experience with the MR emitter issue and repair) told me that it is the same problem, but until somebody figures out how to disassemble the p2 ( the MR p2 was easy , just remove the screw on the bottom and full the fins off , it came apart ) we will have to wait till then.
 
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Good lord, the drama. I think you guys are getting a little off topic, here.

For this price, I don't care if it has a little blood on it!

Yea, yeah, kidding...sort of. ;)
 
At least blood can be cleaned off (sometimes). Lol. I agree though. Great price point. I once paid $50 for one of the Diamond Select versions. For over 3 times the price, it's definitely at least…..3 times better. I joke. Of course it's a great product. The perfectionist in each of us has to voice a least a little complaint, right?

I wonder how many of us will actually be using them as tv remotes. Lol.
 
The emitter on my first phaser was pretty much the same bad alignment as mentioned here. I sent it back, and the replacement is better, however The inside tube "wobbles"..If I shake the unit left to right, the inner tube will go in whatever direction I shake the phaser at If anyone knows how to take apart the lower half, please post it..I am sure I could fix it, however I am reluctant to try disassembling this one without some guidance, Either way, Its not that bad enough to send back, besides, I polished up the nozzle. anyone know if anyone has decided to offer replacement aluminum nozzles?? as long as its a reasonable price, I'd be in for one or 2, as long as the nozzle can be removed without damage to the unit..
 
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laser1959 said:
The emitter on my first phaser was pretty much the same bad alignment as mentioned here. I sent it back, and the replacement is better, however The inside tube "wobbles"..If I shake the unit left to right, the inner tube will go in whatever direction I shake the phaser at If anyone knows how to take apart the lower half, please post it..I am sure I could fix it, however I am reluctant to try disassembling this one without some guidance, Either way, Its not that bad enough to send back, besides, I polished up the nozzle. anyone know if anyone has decided to offer replacement aluminum nozzles?? as long as its a reasonable price, I'd be in for one or 2, as long as the nozzle can be removed without damage to the unit..
Click to expand...
From the cutaway diagram I've seen, that would be very challenging to machine. The inside at least would have to be done via CNC, especially if you're talking a run of them, which means very good CAD skills. Interesting challenge, and we do have the equipment and software at Techshop, but my CAD/CAM/CNC skills aren't at that level yet.

I'll be happy just to master the regular hero nozzle for my own scratch-builds without resorting to CNC. :)
 
Received my Wand Phaser from ThinkGeek this afternoon. Looks like I lucked out and got one of the good phasers, however, the packaging from ThinkGeek left much to be desired...
20141212_233449.jpg
 
asalaw said:
From the cutaway diagram I've seen, that would be very challenging to machine. The inside at least would have to be done via CNC, especially if you're talking a run of them, which means very good CAD skills. Interesting challenge, and we do have the equipment and software at Techshop, but my CAD/CAM/CNC skills aren't at that level yet.

I'll be happy just to master the regular hero nozzle for my own scratch-builds without resorting to CNC. :)
Click to expand...

well..It can't hurt to give it a shot...I have full confidence in you, or someone else with take up the challenge! with or without a CNC
 
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