Dax wrote:
I wonder if Marshall would ever consider assigning some trusted peeps to the production side of things to speed things up a little. I understand why the whole production is so mysterious (him not wanting his design secrets revealed, etc.) but since the UltraHDMI is objectively the best option to producing the best quality for our N64s and the demand being obviously high because of it, its production seems to be bottle-necked by a one man operation.
Yup. Multiple times I've offered to fly to his town and help with the tedious stuff. He probably doesn't think I'm really serious about it. I literally say "I'm serious."
Dax wrote:
My friends and I are still super excited to receive our kits, but at the rate production/shipping seems to be going, it looks like we won't be getting them (Round 7) until December or later. I just wish we heard more detailed/frequent word as to what was happening on that end.
Yeah. I never received an explanation for why it took 12 weeks to receive the kits for round 5. Now it's even longer to receive the kits for round 6 (still waiting). Marshall once said "turn time is 5 weeks" over a year ago but apparently that is no longer achievable. He is probably just far too busy. I'll order as many as we can from each batch even if those batches take a long time. I'm sure it's less work for Marshall to send larger orders to a few buyers (versus smaller orders to many buyers). I believe that's why he removed the public ordering page that used to let anyone order 3+ units back in 2016. Hopefully Marshall will find a way to increase production in the future. I'm still willing to go to his town and help out if he'll give me the "go ahead."
I actually ordered 80 units back on March 14 (70+ for group-buy participants and the rest for myself). I wanted to order 100 units, but Marshall told me that was too many for the small production batch he was planning. Then, Jason / Game-Tech.US announced 100 pre-orders given out by the "lottery" system. So this batch would need to be at least 180 units. It's probably closer to 200 because Marshall always identifies some defects. I signed up for the Game-Tech.US lottery. Then I was selected and paid immediately on April 5. I received the "lottery" kit more than a week ago, but I'm still waiting for the 80 units I ordered from RetroActive on March 14.
In my June 13 conversation with Marshall, I told him again that I'm ready to order at least 200 kits -- but I also told him I'm waiting to get shipping confirmation from the March 14 order. I hoped that would encourage him to finish the outstanding orders and get started on the next batch ASAP. Based on his replies, it seemed to have the intended effect -- so I'm surprised Game-Tech.US actually got kits first.
I contacted Marshall two nights ago and asked if he was still working on the order. He responded immediately, but only said "yeah"
I have a bunch of N64s here ready to be upgraded. I'll be watching very closely for that shipping confirmation!