Star Trek Discovery Phaser by Anovos

"But what about ppl like me who are disabled and on a fixed budget"
Your talking to a person that got t-boned by a little old lady running an intersection and having a shattered neck. By that little old lady that had minimal insurance that bankrupted me with close to a million in medical bills. Lost everything and started over with a huge disability myself. You save up, find ways to make money (legally), sell off other things ( I did quite a bit on eBay to supplement my budget and hobbies) to prioritize what you want, anyone can if they have some source of income. It may take time and you may be limited, but there is usually a way to get something you really want like this within reason / cost.
 
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Jlewis said:
Got the file off DevantArt - thefirstfleet. Had it printed at 115% 1mm resolution at CatzDesign (Thingiverse printer network).
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Hmm, I took a look there, his models are very nice. I don't have personal access to a printer myself, but, that information you put out is perfect for the 3d-impaired like me, thanks :)
 
$500?? For $150/£120, The Wand Company sells a BEAUTIFUL, high-quality (metal and plastic), 3D-scanned accurate replica of the Original Series Phaser, that also happens to include lights, sounds, and rumble feature, and can ALSO work as a remote for your TV. Their Bluetooth Original Series Communicator is also fantastic.

Anovos clearly needs to be schooled by The Wand Company in how to make prop replicas for true fans, and not just to line their own pockets.
 
Again, Avanos is producing a "LIMITED EDITION" prop. The more you produce of an item, the less cost there is to manufacture an item. The wand company is selling tens of thousands of those Dr Who remotes, Anovos is selling hundreds.
It's not Anovos that needs to be schooled, it is collectors like you that don't understand the basics of business.
 
Does anyone know whatever happened to the line of TNG movie Phasers that Anovos announced back in 2015? I've asked this question more than once and have never gotten an answer and there is nothing on their site about them.
 
E Williams said:
No, they couldn't, not without doing runs of thousands of units, farming the manufacturing out to China, and adding a year or two to the development time. There's a reason McFarlane's role-play phaser toy won't be out for another year. Manufacturing at scale takes time.

A basic rule of product development and engineering is: good, cheap, or fast - pick two. People complain about Anovos delays, so the goal is to shorten the turnaround.

If you want a product good and fast, it won't be cheap. It means manufacturing in the US (EXPENSIVE), from resin parts (whether cast or 3d printed, EXPENSIVE), and built by hand in small quantity (EXPENSIVE). They're going with 3d printed resin presumably for its speed (no steel tooling), precision, and repeatability - the material is expensive and the raw printed parts alone will likely run over $200-250. There is very little economy of scale with 3d printed resin. Add to that hand-made electronics. Assembly, painting, finishing, packaging, all by hand in the US. It adds up quickly. Good, fast, not cheap.

As a small company, Wand Company can manage a $150 phaser because they pour all their resources over a period of 18-24 months into developing and manufacturing ONE item at a time, and their design work is all in-house. Good, cheap, not fast. Wand also has distributors all over the world that help them move the large quantity of that single item. Anovos is also a small company, but it is not set up this way. They have many licenses they're obligated to service and cannot shut down all work for a year or two to focus on producing a $150 phaser prop. Not to mention that their product design is not all in-house in the first place, from what I understand.

Look at the prices that Rubbertoe Replicas charges for their Doctor Who props. Rubbertoe's props are high quality items made by hand in the UK in small runs by a prop studio, and the high prices reflect that. They're probably the best comparison point for the Anovos phasers as they will be produced by similar methods. Take for example the sonic blasters at $440 for a static resin prop, or $500 for a resin TARDIS with lights and no moving parts. By that metric, Anovos prices make much more sense. Are they for everyone? No. That's where companies like McFarlane Toys and Character Options come in.
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Farming manufacturing to China? You mean like they do?

Also, Anovos has proven time and time again, with tons of different products and customers, that they cannot fulfill their promises and orders. They should focus on a smaller set of products instead of adding more. I'm really not sure why people still order from them. Their reputation is horrible.
4d32d646f0c36b5753795849e21e5cd8.jpg


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tripoli said:
Again, Avanos is producing a "LIMITED EDITION" prop. The more you produce of an item, the less cost there is to manufacture an item. The wand company is selling tens of thousands of those Dr Who remotes, Anovos is selling hundreds.
It's not Anovos that needs to be schooled, it is collectors like you that don't understand the basics of business.
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If they don't have have partnerships with manufacturing facilities to keep their costs down then they should consider hiring someone in their operations department who knows what they are doing. You can have limited runs at cheap manufacturing cost. The manufacturer makes up the difference when you have larger orders. The fact is the $500 price point, for a 3D printed resin blaster is ridiculous. But whatever, it really doesn't matter. Clearly their business model is that they price something at what you "think" people will pay for it. If you think people will pay $500, sell it for that. Ever if that is 10 times the cost of the item. And yes, if they are paying more that $50 for that to be manufactured they really are doing something wrong.

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So licensing cost, overhead of building, marketing, payroll, utilities, taxes, shipping, travel, just to start with all those silly cost for a business are nothing really in the scheme of cost of a product? THAT is why I shake my head at the stupid ( yes because you should know better, STUPID) post above.

Your knocking a company that you have no clue of their cost and business model and type a statement of what it takes in cost at $ 50 bucks huh? The cost in research and development alone is ungodly expensive. Even packaging is a heavy hit / cost for a product like that. Yeah... you really need to get a lesson in business management before knocking a company like that. I won't fault you for Anovos's communications, however, they have that right to do as they choose if they feel it's best for the business. They are opening up a bit with e-mails like the Proton pack, so I expect they are feeling pressure there.

Yes, companies do try to make a profit to expand the business with other projects, cover future unexpected cost and just survive in a dog eat dog business environment.
 
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tripoli said:
So licensing cost, overhead of building, marketing, payroll, utilities, taxes, shipping, travel, just to start with all those silly cost for a business are nothing really in the scheme of cost of a product? THAT is why I shake my head at the stupid ( yes because you should know better, STUPID) post above.

Your knocking a company that you have no clue of their cost and business model and type a statement of what it takes in cost at $ 50 bucks huh? The cost in research and development alone is ungodly expensive. Even packaging is a heavy hit / cost for a product like that. Yeah... you really need to get a lesson in business management before knocking a company like that. I won't fault you for Anovos's communications, however, they have that right to do as they choose if they feel it's best for the business. They are opening up a bit with e-mails like the Proton pack, so I expect they are feeling pressure there.

Yes, companies do try to make a profit to expand the business with other projects, cover future unexpected cost and just survive in a dog eat dog business environment.
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Yes, I am. And neither do you. If you're going to be in the business of licensing large IP then you better be ready to not only deliver your products but also know how to run a business. Anovos clearly doesn't know how to deliver on their promises (or products) so why should I think they know how to run a business? And if you think a resin blaster "costs" more than $50 to produce to sell you're wrong (and yes, I'm including ALL production costs).

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tripoli said:
The cost in research and development alone is ungodly expensive. Even packaging is a heavy hit / cost for a product like that. Yeah... you really need to get a lesson in business management before knocking a company like that.
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Love how you call me stupid and bring these two points up to support your claims. 1. There is minimal to zero R&D involved in this. They are, if they are smart, taking a production device, scanning it and making minor modifications to the scan to improve on the quality of the object. A good cad designer might have 8 to 16 hours into a project like this. 2. Really, you think packaging is what your going to go with? If you have a good packing partner you'd be surprised how much of the initial development costs they take on themselves just to get the work. And even if they didn't it's a minimal job for their automated system to conform to special needs (they literally do this all the time.) So yeah, I stand by my initial point.

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Beyond... the cost of legally starting a company, ($) finding the right qualified people and establishing a business location to operate out of ($$$$$)...

Zero R&D huh...

Most props on screen do not look as good or are as solid as the replicas sold to collectors. Even hero props are not designed with the thought this is going to be exactly replicated in collectors hands down the line. What you see in collectors hands with a licensed prop is a totally new designed piece.

Yeah, so the studio does not hand over "their molds or prop guy" to a licensed replica company. After hiring a legal team to negotiate a contract with the studio ($), the team then will hire engineers to study the prop and determine the best way to replicate it. ($) Then they have design the molds for the prop, make sure it works, determine where they can manufacture it at the best cost to the company ($) and then speak with the company manufacturing through the process to insure it is manufactured correctly. ($) They also have to hire a packaging engineer, yep, to design the packaging that will insure the fragile product does not get destroyed from the factory to the buyer. ($). There are literally thousands of steps ($) in what I outlined there alone, each with staff, marketing and cost that IS FACTORED back into the COST ($) of the product.

Yes, stupid. You should know better, to say anything else is spouting off slamming a company doing good works without a clue as to what it takes to get a product to market.
 
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Those that think that an object can simply be scanned, that data tweaked, and then printed as a finished master ready to produce have no idea how this type of product design and manufacturing works.

Even if Anovos has a scan of the prop (which to my knowledge is likely but not clearly stated - it is only certain that they had an original prop to examine and reverse engineer, and it is certain that the studio's design files were NOT provided), this is not enough. Scans of mechanical parts are not simply converted into finished models; instead they are only another source of measurement and geometry data that is used as a reference when creating a new set of design models from scratch. Then you will iterate on that design after creating mechanical prototypes to refine mechanisms and get tolerances set correctly.

And yes, just the resin parts, once the design is finished, will certainly cost more than $50. The parts for each and every one of these are being produced via 3d resin printing. The liquid printable resin for these printers costs anywhere from $150-$300 per LITER on the low end. This does not include cost of machines, the operators, or machine time.
 
tripoli said:
Beyond... the cost of legally starting a company, ($) finding the right qualified people and establishing a business location to operate out of ($$$$$)...

Zero R&D huh...

Most props on screen do not look as good or are as solid as the replicas sold to collectors. Even hero props are not designed with the thought this is going to be exactly replicated in collectors hands down the line. What you see in collectors hands with a licensed prop is a totally new designed piece.

Yeah, so the studio does not hand over "their molds or prop guy" to a licensed replica company. After hiring a legal team to negotiate a contract with the studio ($), the team then will hire engineers to study the prop and determine the best way to replicate it. ($) Then they have design the molds for the prop, make sure it works, determine where they can manufacture it at the best cost to the company ($) and then speak with the company manufacturing through the process to insure it is manufactured correctly. ($) They also have to hire a packaging engineer, yep, to design the packaging that will insure the fragile product does not get destroyed from the factory to the buyer. ($). There are literally thousands of steps ($) in what I outlined there alone, each with staff, marketing and cost that IS FACTORED back into the COST ($) of the product.

Yes, stupid. You should know better, to say anything else is spouting off slamming a company doing good works without a clue as to what it takes to get a product to market.
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Lol. You are putting so much overkill into this just to try and prove your point which is still invalid. But that's how the internet comment sections work.

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Yes, stupid, because you won't even consider the reality of what it takes to bring a product to market.
 
E Williams said:
Those that think that an object can simply be scanned, that data tweaked, and then printed as a finished master ready to produce have no idea how this type of product design and manufacturing works.

Even if Anovos has a scan of the prop (which to my knowledge is likely but not clearly stated - it is only certain that they had an original prop to examine and reverse engineer, and it is certain that the studio's design files were NOT provided), this is not enough. Scans of mechanical parts are not simply converted into finished models; instead they are only another source of measurement and geometry data that is used as a reference when creating a new set of design models from scratch. Then you will iterate on that design after creating mechanical prototypes to refine mechanisms and get tolerances set correctly.

And yes, just the resin parts, once the design is finished, will certainly cost more than $50. The parts for each and every one of these are being produced via 3d resin printing. The liquid printable resin for these printers costs anywhere from $150-$300 per LITER on the low end. This does not include cost of machines, the operators, or machine time.
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$150 to $300 per liter huh? Saying that makes anything else you say invalid. But I'm sure you're just saying that to prove your point so it sounds better.

I'm done commenting on this thread because it's pointless. Saying that a plastic gun cost more that $50 (all production costs) is insanity. Lol. But that's fine. I'll give in. You all are right. Anovos has it all together and knows how to run a business. Just ask my buddy who's been waiting two years for a pre-order. And yeah, that mechanical plastic gun is super hard. No one has made a mechanical plastic gun before. Lol.

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tripoli said:
Yes, stupid, because you won't even consider the reality of what it takes to bring a product to market.
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No, that is incorrect. You all just want to say that there is all this overhead on ONE GUN lol. Whatever. Like I said. Anovos is awesome. Theyre the best.

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awol007 said:
$150 to $300 per liter huh? Saying that makes anything else you say invalid. But I'm sure you're just saying that to prove your point so it sounds better.

I'm done commenting on this thread because it's pointless. Saying that a plastic gun cost more that $50 (all production costs) is insanity. Lol. But that's fine. I'll give in. You all are right. Anovos has it all together and knows how to run a business. Just ask my buddy who's been waiting two years for a pre-order. And yeah, that mechanical plastic gun is super hard. No one has made a mechanical plastic gun before. Lol.

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Please review the Form Labs resin costs, as an example: https://formlabs.com/store/us/form-2/

These prices are on the low end as they are aimed partly at the hobbyist market.
 
E Williams said:
Please review the Form Labs resin costs, as an example: https://formlabs.com/store/us/form-2/

These prices are on the low end as they are aimed partly at the hobbyist market.
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Yeah, because someone who is manufacturing something would find where to buy the materials for the highest price possible (actually Anovos might do that). Please refer to my link example: https://www.matterhackers.com/store...tQ8Z_0kAwjipiV-aqTFy99QILUAg0vvhoColUQAvD_BwE

Now you'll say something like, well my link is better than yours. Whatever. This conversation is pointless because some in this thread thinks it's requires a team of engineers to make a toy gun. Lol

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awol007 said:
Yeah, because someone who is manufacturing something would find where to buy the materials for the highest price possible (actually Anovos might do that). Please refer to my link example: https://www.matterhackers.com/store...tQ8Z_0kAwjipiV-aqTFy99QILUAg0vvhoColUQAvD_BwE

Now you'll say something like, well my link is better than yours. Whatever. This conversation is pointless because some in this thread thinks it's requires a team of engineers to make a toy gun. Lol

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I am confused. You have attempted to justify your "$50 (all production costs)" estimate by linking a $70 jug of resin in a volume that might not be enough to produce even one set of parts.

In addition, the resin in your link is meant for investment casting of metal in plaster, not for mechanically strong and durable parts.
 
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