Soul
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Post by Soul on Dec 11, 2018 17:55:43 GMT -5
I was super excited about this drop, as they were promised to be a low cost bead.
My assessment once prices and stats were released was that it was neither low cost, nor even a stand alone bead.
Maybe I'm negatively biased by inflated conversion rates and postage issues, but to me US$20 is not what I consider low cost. TGP planets are low cost, Ao2 sloppy fades are low cost. Do you agree?
As for the beads, they are closer to the weight of a shell than a bead. Ao2 shells are only a few grams and are in the ballpark of US$3-$8 as they require an actual weighted bead. The MFD acrylics were advertised as being about 3-4grams and come with a 3.5g brass monkeybar, far from sufficient imo (not sure if they come with a full monkeybar set or not, but even if they do, max weight you can add is the 3.5g bar).
What did other people think? Did you order a set? Please share your impressions once they turn up! I think the idea was good, and the designs were brilliant and varied in colour combinations, I'm just curious to known if they were better than they seemed once released.
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Post by Jorgomli on Dec 12, 2018 0:55:37 GMT -5
$20 isn't a lot in terms of modern begleri prices, but for the material that it is, I'd say it's pretty costly. Acrylic is cheap and plentiful. But you also get a set of monkeybars included -- but what exactly is included isn't specified. It could be a whole pack of bars, or just one pair. If it's a whole set of bars, then the price I'd say is totally fine. Monkeybars alone are around $15, without shipping taken into account. That would put the beads at $5/pair, which is actually better than AO2 prices. The cheaper shipping for the US was nice too. It was about half price for me compared to normal. I know this affects international shipping prices (for example, Australia shipping got more expensive somehow..), but for US buyers, it was a good move. They are definitely shells, I doubt anyone will use these as beads without some kind of weight added. The size, however, may be the downfall of them for me. Light beads are fine when they're small and dense. I don't like big, lightweight beads myself. I'll wait to get the beads in hand (I got grapes) before I pass judgment on how I like them, but I'm not super optimistic due to the size. UPDATE: They only came with one pair of bars and 3 550 cords (a few smaller cords as well). It feels like they're trying to keep costs low, but I'm not sure why they cost as much as they do. One acrylic pen blank should be enough material for 2.5 pairs of beads. Machine costs are probably just CNCing them and sanding them (they're matte, so no polish). Imo this is a $15ish set, but I'm not upset with my purchase. MFD isn't in the game for charity, they need to make it worth their while as well. They feel pretty decent quality, but I haven't strung them up yet. I would expect AO2's upcoming acrylic beads (Ice Titans at the least) will be priced similarly (with no cheaper shipping for US residents  ). |
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Soul
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Facestalling
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Post by Soul on Dec 13, 2018 16:22:59 GMT -5
My only argument for getting the acrylics after finding out the weight and price was that you'd at least still get a full monkeybars set to use with existing beads.
Very disappointed, and kinda relieved the whole shipping debacle caused me to hold off buying a set. While I am in love with the purple/white grape colourway (whirl 13), it just doesn't seem worth the purchase.
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Soul
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Post by Soul on Dec 13, 2018 16:29:16 GMT -5
Really makes me wish Ao2 would dabble a little in more interesting colourways. I know his focus is on simplicity, leaving fancy stuff to other makers, but it'd be nice to get the price, functionality, and reliability of Ao2 in some funky resin/derrrlin/acrylic shells.
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Post by Jorgomli on Dec 13, 2018 17:08:57 GMT -5
it'd be nice to get the price, functionality, and reliability of Ao2 in some funky resin/derrrlin/acrylic shells. I half agree here, half not, because I do like simple, myself. But I also really like the black/white swirl combo on these grapes. There should be ice titans coming out next year, and I'm imagining he might dye those like he did with the kbones. I don't see him getting any more complicated than that, and maybe something like the AL fades emans with new beads at some point. I think it would be cool to offer a custom coloring service, similar to Flyaway Toys and their Ti ano services, but all contained under the AO2 umbrella. I'm imagining this: Run by non-Matt employee who lives in the area (to avoid doubling shipping costs). Or ship all items to this person in bulk, and have the cost of the service cover the shipping, or just eat the shipping cost. Custom anodization services for newly-bought beads for X price. Ti: $.. Al: $.. SS: $.. Custom dying service for newly-bought beads for X price. Delrin: $.. Acrylic: $.. Custom patination services for newly-bought beads for X price. Copper: $.. Brass: $.. Bronze: $.. Custom texturing services for newly-bought beads for X price. Bead-blasting : $.. (if it's different enough from stonewashing) Damascus etching: $.. Tumbling/stonewashing: $.. This could also be used for used beads also for a standalone price. New beads would get a discount on services. A decision would have to be made if this is only offered for AO2 products, with an excuse like "We don't know the quality of other seller's materials" or something. That should cut down on mass amounts of people using the service. Most or all of the cost of the service would go to this employee, since Matt won't have the fuss about it very much, but it also does bear his branding, so it might require a little of the money to go to the company. The only problems I'd foresee is that Matt would have to field questions/complaints about the jobs, and there is a larger potential for shipping snafus (wrong sets sent, etc.), and I know that is already an issue sometimes. Also the cost of startup may be prohibitive (al ano requires dye, maybe fancy equipment, acid for etching, a bead blast machine thing, tumbler, new label printer for the employee, power supply/supplies for Ti ano, dye for delrin and acrylic). This would be something like Monkeyfinger's Frankenlab, but with many more offerings than just anodizing Al. |
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Soul
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Facestalling
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Post by Soul on Dec 13, 2018 17:23:30 GMT -5
You haven't even gone into huge detail, and it's already apparent it'd be a complicated endevour. Likely why it doesn't exist elsewhere.
One can dream though!
Even if only the ice titans were released in a limited selection of swirls, that'd still be very cool. I'm just a sucker for fancy colourways is all, can't help it.
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Post by Jorgomli on Dec 13, 2018 18:15:33 GMT -5
It would just require an easy to use software solution to keep track of stuff, and relatively limited options for colors. I would think.  |
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Post by IsacRen on Feb 24, 2022 22:18:19 GMT -5
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Post by IsacRen on Feb 24, 2022 22:19:34 GMT -5
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Post by IsacRen on Feb 24, 2022 22:21:25 GMT -5
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