prop-fighter
Well-Known Member
for me too if it' possible
Thanks Michel.
Thanks Michel.
Studio Scale TIE Fighter
- Thread starter swpropmaker
- Start date
oblagon
Sr Member
I asked the same thing when my kits shipped and was told that the packages don't have tracking numbers due to everything being shipped through USPS.
Bradleyfett
Sr Member
Steve-
Still waiting for word on my Starfighters.
Mark
Still waiting for word on my Starfighters.
Mark
Bradleyfett
Sr Member
Heard from Steve last night- he's had a lot on his plate and been gone for work duties; it sound like he has been using his weekend to continue chipping away at orders, including shipping out my Starfighters.
I've been in the same boat as Steve with getting out garage kits- a work situation cropps up and suddenly you aren't in charge of our own time- and that includes time to even get to some computer terminal to communicate with customers.
Not that it won't be frustrating to anyone on the other end, but it seems to be the nature of th GK industry. I've been on all ends of this (kit maker, trade and cash customer) and if you have to boil it down to one statement, it's that this stuff just happens. Maybe its not a good excuse, but that just the facts.
If you approach this with the idea that Steve is not out to rip anybody off (and I have NO doubt about this), then perhaps it will make the delays easier to take.
Just my 2 cents...
Mark
I've been in the same boat as Steve with getting out garage kits- a work situation cropps up and suddenly you aren't in charge of our own time- and that includes time to even get to some computer terminal to communicate with customers.
Not that it won't be frustrating to anyone on the other end, but it seems to be the nature of th GK industry. I've been on all ends of this (kit maker, trade and cash customer) and if you have to boil it down to one statement, it's that this stuff just happens. Maybe its not a good excuse, but that just the facts.
If you approach this with the idea that Steve is not out to rip anybody off (and I have NO doubt about this), then perhaps it will make the delays easier to take.
Just my 2 cents...
Mark
vaderdarth
Master Member
Well said Mark. 
wooten
Member
If anyone's interested in the kit I've paid for, let me know. I got on the list early, paid in June and expected to get this, then commission it out for building. By the photos and Jamie's posts, I was led to believe the kits were done and ready to go out, so I didn't really have a problem paying knowing the past issues. Now that three months have gone by (and efx has announced their version of this same kit), I'm looking to go another way.
I'm sure the kit is more fun and better to do if you can do it yourself, but now that I have another option, I'd rather not go through the hassle of the original plan.
I've talked to Steve about this, and he's ok with it, I just need someone to buy another kit or buy mine so I can go along on my own way. Steve's unable to send me a refund without someone buying another kit. I have no hard feelings with Steve. He's gone through some difficult things and I have no worries he'll come through. I'd just rather move on at this point.
Anyway, if you can help, let me know.
I'm sure the kit is more fun and better to do if you can do it yourself, but now that I have another option, I'd rather not go through the hassle of the original plan.
I've talked to Steve about this, and he's ok with it, I just need someone to buy another kit or buy mine so I can go along on my own way. Steve's unable to send me a refund without someone buying another kit. I have no hard feelings with Steve. He's gone through some difficult things and I have no worries he'll come through. I'd just rather move on at this point.
Anyway, if you can help, let me know.
vaderdarth
Master Member
For what it's worth, eFx's TIE is not a rehash of this same kit. They only used this kit for their promotional pics. Theirs will be digitally scanned from two other screen used birds, then most likely resized like the Xwing. It's not the same animal. I'm hoping, probably in vain, that they won't make it 10% off in size, but I have strong doubts about that. Maybe you should hang on and get reviews before buying if you know what I mean. If the size thing isn't important, go for it.
No refund, unless you get another buyer, sorry but that seems a bit odd as you haven't received anything yet. You should be refunded if you no longer want to wait. We all have troubles from time to time but that doesn't mean you have to spend other people's money? If its to cover costs then why has there been no product for you, or have you covered other people's costs. I love Gk's & I totally appreciate all that comes with the process of producing them, sadly though I really think things have gone bad in many ways. F&M models has been the only hassle free buy for me & I wish they produced more kits. Steve really should refund you even if it was sold as nonrefundable.
Indeed. Misrepresentation. If it was sold under the false pretenses that kits were "ready to go out the door" I would be furious to learn that instead of buying a product, I was providing a short term loan to get the product manufactured.
FANTAMATION
Well-Known Member
Just to add my 2 cents worth, I've been producing garage kits for 10 years now on the side and I just don't understand why someone would take on more orders than they can clearly handle. I've been following this thread now for a little while and I've read about paying customers waiting for up to an entire year to receive their kits?? I know this is just a side thing and a hobby for everyone here and people have busy lives but C'mon, no one should have to wait 3 months just to get castings popped out of molds. If you're in over your head with too many orders the right thing to do would be to stop accepting new orders until you catch up a bit with all your back orders, and DEFINITELY refund anyone who has changed their mind and hasn't received what they've paid for yet.
prop-fighter
Well-Known Member
Hi
I will paid for two kits in april , it's a large hole in my familly budget but i didn't always receveid anything !!!!
however Steve had certified to me that the kits were ready to sent in 7 days!!!
Michel
I will paid for two kits in april , it's a large hole in my familly budget but i didn't always receveid anything !!!!
however Steve had certified to me that the kits were ready to sent in 7 days!!!
Michel
vaderdarth
Master Member
For the record, Atemylunch and Jades Dark Heart have already both received their kits contrary to how their posts may have sounded.
Steve already offere to refund wooten, he just said he needed to collect the funds first.
Jason (Moffeaton), I thought you didn't have a horse in this race???? Why are you posting in this thread again? You're starting to sound like a bit of a troll. Aren't Atemylunch and Jades Dark Heart pals of yours for that matter....?Curious. ??? Steve no longer owes any of the three of you anything so let's keep the thread clean for those actually waiting on items from Steve.
Steve already offere to refund wooten, he just said he needed to collect the funds first.
Jason (Moffeaton), I thought you didn't have a horse in this race???? Why are you posting in this thread again? You're starting to sound like a bit of a troll. Aren't Atemylunch and Jades Dark Heart pals of yours for that matter....?Curious. ??? Steve no longer owes any of the three of you anything so let's keep the thread clean for those actually waiting on items from Steve.
This does move the goal posts somewhat, from reeding wootens post it did seem that a very harsh situation was being forced upon him. I doubt that Jason was trolling as probably like me he thought the worst from what I read. I'm glad that it isn't the case as I thought, but it was shocker to read. :eek
All's well that ends well.
vaderdarth
Master Member
Yeah, I thought it did too Guy, Just spoke on the phone with Steve about the situation. He's still fully prepared to give him a refund. It just wasn't in his pp account when the request was made.
Dave
Dave
I am a former customer that waited two years to get his stuff from Steve. A guy that has over the years seen other people assume the role of "public liaison" that you have assumed (for a while it was my friend Saint_G, who tried to vend Steve's kits to avoid these very same problems). A guy that has helped other people get their stuff from Steve by being vocal in threads like this. That's my dog in this race. Can't a guy offer his opinion/agreement on the RPF when he reads something he agrees with? Steve hates my guts naturally, so I'm sure I'm seen as a troll by yourself and him, but I'm not saying anything bait-like am I? If I am, I certainly retract it, and apologize. Not my intention at all. I just want to see things improve and for people to get what they paid for.
If I've offended you Vaderdarth, I apologize. But don't you agree that it's wrong to hear "I have this ready to go out the door" only to find out as the months tick by that in fact, your kit isn't yet ready? And then learn that your money was spent? It's a terrible situation for everyone. And avoidable with better management of time, funds, and resources. And part of a pattern that has repeated itself over and over again.
I'd LOVE to see things done right. That's all. I'd even offer to help, if I believed it would do any good.
If I've offended you Vaderdarth, I apologize. But don't you agree that it's wrong to hear "I have this ready to go out the door" only to find out as the months tick by that in fact, your kit isn't yet ready? And then learn that your money was spent? It's a terrible situation for everyone. And avoidable with better management of time, funds, and resources. And part of a pattern that has repeated itself over and over again.
I'd LOVE to see things done right. That's all. I'd even offer to help, if I believed it would do any good.
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vaderdarth
Master Member
Sorry if I sounded irate Jason, it just seemed odd that I've seen the same guys dogpiling Steve in different threads and even on other boards I've visited.
I'm really only the messenger and not a go between for Steve, so I wouldn't call myself his liason. What he does is his business. I am his friend on the other hand, and I speak with the guy every couple days about totally unrelated issues.
I know that Steve doesn't wish any of you three any ill will. Nobody feels worse about being behind schedule than the guy that's behind schedule. Steve promised he wouldn't do any mass runs and he's kept his word on that to catch up on back logs. I happen to know his back log is progressing at a rate of about 4 kits less each week. I think that is more than reasonable to expect. Any more would create shoddy kits. Nobody wants that.
I have spoken to at least 3 guys who've already received their kits and they are all extremely happy with the quality of the castings (no suprise there!) and a couple have said the end results justified the wait time.
Steve does not deny he has fallen behind but the simple fact is this gentlemen: with garage kits, the only way to make product before taking money is to be independently wealthy.
Nobody in the garage kit trade, takes orders with the intent to not be able to follow thru as originally intended. Nobody would do that to themselves or their customers. What happens is a guy sets a time line based on what he can normally produce, takes funds, and then life has a way of destroying his time line without his consent. Then it leads to delays and disappointment.
I'm waiting on a kit myself but these other guys are ahead of me in the backlog. I've known Steve long enough to know he's making good on this stuff. He needed funds for shipping for at least 3 kits sitting by his door and that money was owed to him by myself for an unrelated project. I was a week late making that payment to him. So two guys kits sat by the door until today. Unless you are Richie Rich, you have to rob Peter to pay Paul occasionally. Usually things go fine until just one guy comes along and wants a refund, then you have to relinquish some of your resin money to give him his money back, Now where does your resin money come from?
Here's another scenario, you are on schedule and a guy claims his kit didn't arrive that you have the tracking info proving you shipped. You have to replace this guys kit now and he's priority, so you take some other guys kit to replace the shortage. Then where does that resin money come from. Good luck getting it from the US Postal Service.
Let's not even get into the personal issues Steve and other guys have had to face. How do you pump out 3-4 kits when your whole weekend gets stolen by a family illness or a work schedule change???
They call these things garage kits because these guys are hobbyists who make these cool toys in their own homes.
Steve is working on a couple issues with his time management where these kits are concerned. He's getting physical help on both pouring parts, trimming parts and then help on boxing and shipping. He knows he needs to build alot more leeway for "real life" into things before he starts new projects.
I don't think we can ask much more of the guy.
Jason, I love the avatar!
Dave
I'm really only the messenger and not a go between for Steve, so I wouldn't call myself his liason. What he does is his business. I am his friend on the other hand, and I speak with the guy every couple days about totally unrelated issues.
I know that Steve doesn't wish any of you three any ill will. Nobody feels worse about being behind schedule than the guy that's behind schedule. Steve promised he wouldn't do any mass runs and he's kept his word on that to catch up on back logs. I happen to know his back log is progressing at a rate of about 4 kits less each week. I think that is more than reasonable to expect. Any more would create shoddy kits. Nobody wants that.
I have spoken to at least 3 guys who've already received their kits and they are all extremely happy with the quality of the castings (no suprise there!) and a couple have said the end results justified the wait time.
Steve does not deny he has fallen behind but the simple fact is this gentlemen: with garage kits, the only way to make product before taking money is to be independently wealthy.
Nobody in the garage kit trade, takes orders with the intent to not be able to follow thru as originally intended. Nobody would do that to themselves or their customers. What happens is a guy sets a time line based on what he can normally produce, takes funds, and then life has a way of destroying his time line without his consent. Then it leads to delays and disappointment.
I'm waiting on a kit myself but these other guys are ahead of me in the backlog. I've known Steve long enough to know he's making good on this stuff. He needed funds for shipping for at least 3 kits sitting by his door and that money was owed to him by myself for an unrelated project. I was a week late making that payment to him. So two guys kits sat by the door until today. Unless you are Richie Rich, you have to rob Peter to pay Paul occasionally. Usually things go fine until just one guy comes along and wants a refund, then you have to relinquish some of your resin money to give him his money back, Now where does your resin money come from?
Here's another scenario, you are on schedule and a guy claims his kit didn't arrive that you have the tracking info proving you shipped. You have to replace this guys kit now and he's priority, so you take some other guys kit to replace the shortage. Then where does that resin money come from. Good luck getting it from the US Postal Service.
Let's not even get into the personal issues Steve and other guys have had to face. How do you pump out 3-4 kits when your whole weekend gets stolen by a family illness or a work schedule change???
They call these things garage kits because these guys are hobbyists who make these cool toys in their own homes.
Steve is working on a couple issues with his time management where these kits are concerned. He's getting physical help on both pouring parts, trimming parts and then help on boxing and shipping. He knows he needs to build alot more leeway for "real life" into things before he starts new projects.
I don't think we can ask much more of the guy.
Jason, I love the avatar!
Dave
Water under the bridge then, you're cool by me
(Thanks, the avatar was a joke I made for my business cards, heh)
If I may, though:
I'm FAR from independently wealthy, but I can pull it off. You start small, keep your GK money separate from living expenses and spending money, and grow it slowly over the years - dumping everything back into the next project. Heck, you can even claim it on your taxes and pay taxes on the profits, AND claim all the expenses. If/when a kit bombs and you take a loss, you get $$ back in your refund!
This kit took 2 years and about $2,000 in donor kits to make, and I paid for waterslide decals - I farmed out the castings so I pay a lot more for resin/rubber/labor, but I get the kits professionally flawlessly cast and pre-packed.
http://www.mystery10.com/
It took me 4 years to get to this level of kit sales though - started out selling buttons, t-shirts and little baby resin kits.
It can be done right, by poor people, honest!
(Thanks, the avatar was a joke I made for my business cards, heh)
If I may, though:
I'm FAR from independently wealthy, but I can pull it off. You start small, keep your GK money separate from living expenses and spending money, and grow it slowly over the years - dumping everything back into the next project. Heck, you can even claim it on your taxes and pay taxes on the profits, AND claim all the expenses. If/when a kit bombs and you take a loss, you get $$ back in your refund!
This kit took 2 years and about $2,000 in donor kits to make, and I paid for waterslide decals - I farmed out the castings so I pay a lot more for resin/rubber/labor, but I get the kits professionally flawlessly cast and pre-packed.
http://www.mystery10.com/
It took me 4 years to get to this level of kit sales though - started out selling buttons, t-shirts and little baby resin kits.
It can be done right, by poor people, honest!
vaderdarth
Master Member
Good advise Jason and I'm sure Steve will be listening to lots of advise on how to streamline everything.
I am beginning to get into the garage kits as well and I'm keeping my goal of literally not taking money before I have product to ship. Now having said that, I am a dentist and I had to sink at least 5K into my projects prior to asking for a single dime. If I worked down at the carwash, there is no possible way I could do this.
Some of the very best GK folks out there ask for funds up front in the way of pre-orders. They don't set any time lines whatsoever. The pre-order thing is simply a way of generating operating costs up front, plus a pre-order saves the customer about 50 bucks per kit as the regular price is always higher if people wait til it's finished. So Pre-orders begin with a photo of what is to come...............then the research/development phase and finally the finished model. Most projects take 6 months start to finish in cases like this.
I commend you Jason on your business model and hope it always goes according to plan for you. Everyone just isn't so fortunate.
Steve knows that getting key help for both production and packaging is the road to success and I know he's working on that.
I am beginning to get into the garage kits as well and I'm keeping my goal of literally not taking money before I have product to ship. Now having said that, I am a dentist and I had to sink at least 5K into my projects prior to asking for a single dime. If I worked down at the carwash, there is no possible way I could do this.
Some of the very best GK folks out there ask for funds up front in the way of pre-orders. They don't set any time lines whatsoever. The pre-order thing is simply a way of generating operating costs up front, plus a pre-order saves the customer about 50 bucks per kit as the regular price is always higher if people wait til it's finished. So Pre-orders begin with a photo of what is to come...............then the research/development phase and finally the finished model. Most projects take 6 months start to finish in cases like this.
I commend you Jason on your business model and hope it always goes according to plan for you. Everyone just isn't so fortunate.
Steve knows that getting key help for both production and packaging is the road to success and I know he's working on that.
DARKSIDE72
Sr Member
For the record Steve has NEVER ripped anyone off, stolen or been deceitful in his dealings with customers.
Anyone who thinks otherwise can call him out on this issue and deal with me personally. Jason you know my number bro... I'll tear down the boundaries of the "safe" net and let you know personally how upstanding the man is. If you have a personal issue ... (217) 779-6749 I'll be on the other end after 4:00PM central US time.
If you've ordered a new kit then you WILL have wait for it. The man is a police officer first and foremost. His safety and his family come first. Steps have been taken to offer the kits in a timely manner. If you need instant gratification then wait on the MR/EFX offering. Guess who is feeding them the bones to make a (somewhat) correct model?
This is coming from a person whom was more pissed off at the man for several years until we spoke and he took care of our business. Today I can call him anytime and I work with him on various projects. Projects we ALL want to see done correctly. Today I call him a good friend and we both want only the best for the hobby.
Any garage kit dealer will tell you that delays are going to happen and are to be expected. Steve is shipping 2-4 kits a week.
Best regards,
Jamie
Anyone who thinks otherwise can call him out on this issue and deal with me personally. Jason you know my number bro... I'll tear down the boundaries of the "safe" net and let you know personally how upstanding the man is. If you have a personal issue ... (217) 779-6749 I'll be on the other end after 4:00PM central US time.
If you've ordered a new kit then you WILL have wait for it. The man is a police officer first and foremost. His safety and his family come first. Steps have been taken to offer the kits in a timely manner. If you need instant gratification then wait on the MR/EFX offering. Guess who is feeding them the bones to make a (somewhat) correct model?
This is coming from a person whom was more pissed off at the man for several years until we spoke and he took care of our business. Today I can call him anytime and I work with him on various projects. Projects we ALL want to see done correctly. Today I call him a good friend and we both want only the best for the hobby.
Any garage kit dealer will tell you that delays are going to happen and are to be expected. Steve is shipping 2-4 kits a week.
Best regards,
Jamie
