Waiting on the green light from the factory to start the production process. They told me earlier in the week the fixes to the molds have been made. Even though this came at additional costs to make these changes we felt it was worth the cost and wait to give you figures that look and function with the best quality we can provide. The main issue were with the movement of the neck, hands holding weapons, hands and heads not being removable. Perfecting the molds is a huge hurdle we needed to overcome. I’ve also requested another set of samples with these changes to ensure everything is correct. The request of samples also comes at the cost of time and more expense. Also totally worth it to provide you the best product possible. We hate that you’ve had to wait but we want you to be reassured you will receive your order and you will be happy with the quality of your figures. Couple things we’ve confirmed. We will be providing all backers at every level some cool freebies for your support. We’re thinking some extra parts and display stands. I’m asked for additional photos when the last set of samples are completed. More info coming soon.
Update. I’ll post to Kickstarter as soon as I can as well.
A couple important things to discuss.
Physical production samples have arrived at my house. I requested the samples to inspect the articulation. I need to do a more thorough inspection, but at first glance they look fantastic. I requested these samples to get in front of any potential issues. Main issue I see is the neck is a little loose and the heads are a little tight. We will need to correct this. The hip joints and other joints are nice and tight for the most part and the hands and feet are easy to swap.
Second milestone is the paint masks are completed and the paint samples are completed for most parts. There are some heads for the Lost Squadron, a couple bonus heads, and the Android and Zombie kits that I haven’t seen yet. There are a few things to correct on the paint samples. I’m working with Matt Lecroy to come up with a list and get these notes to the factory. I really didn’t expect them to get the paint applications so close on the first try. Paints are like 95% there.
We need to iron out these details before we can start production. What’s the timing on the corrections? It is going to take as long as it takes to make the changes to the molds. I don’t think it will be long. The factory is firing on all cylinders and responding very quickly on this project. Once these details are fixed we can place the order and get a timeline on completion. We are getting there. Matt and I would rather give you the best product we can rather than bad quality figures we rushed through the process.
It’s been a long hard road but we are still busting our butts to get this project finished. The molds are done and these are factory made injection samples in production colors. We couldn’t be more pleased with the results. We keep hounding the factory to get these finished, but they seem to be on their own timetable and we are at their mercy. I’d like things to go faster but at least the figures are looking fantastic. They are making paint masks and doing paint samples now. Matt and I can’t thank you enough for your support and your patience. – Jason
The molds are finished. These are engineering samples that were injected into the molds. The parts and details are crisp. Each figure is now being gone over for proper fitment. There will be some tweaks I’m sure. Super happy with how crisp the details are. This has been a hard process but we are exciting to be at this points we appreciate your support and patience while we navigate through this project.
The body mold is not finished yet . It is cutting step now, after cutting step finished, will assemble the mould core into mould base and make the testing. Others are finished .
What’s that mean? The molds are finished except the torsos which are nearing completion. They will make samples and assemble them. Then we will take an inventory of the parts to make sure everything is there. Next we will test fit and function and make any necessary adjustments. We are still pushing forward and things are looking good.
We got more molds done. These are the samples from all the molds finished to date. We are getting closer. Close to 140 molds finished. Parts are looking great.
I didn’t want this to get lost in my update post. We were asked to supply artwork and figures for a movie being made with Ron Howard. There are scenes in the movie from toyfare from the 1980’s and scenes from a modern day toyfare. The movie set designers created a Strike Force Alpha toyfare booth for the movie. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that our scenes make the cut!
I wanted to give everyone an update of where things stand with the Strike Force project. There has been a resurgence of O-ring projects in the last year, and we are glad to be a part of it. Matt and I want to thank everyone that came to Joefest and met with us.
Strike Force Alpha has become a big part of our lives and we appreciate all the friends who stopped by to look at the samples and chat with us. We made some new friends as well and we look forward to hanging out with everyone again next year.
Strike Force Alpha is hitting the big screen. We were asked to provide painted figures for a new Ron Howard production. The production crew loved our figures, and they made a great Toy Fair booth with our products for the movie. I’ve attached a picture from the set. Thanks Kelli Mix for thinking of us. The booth has a great 80’s feel to it and we hope we make it to the final cut. We will provide more details when we get them.
The part of the update I’m sure everyone most wants to hear is when will the figures ship? The short answer is the figures won’t be shipping in August like we estimated. When we started the project, we used past production experience and the information we had available at the time to come up with a timeline. Manufacturing was tough to mitigate a year ago and, in some ways, has become even more challenging. Delays and cost increases have unfortunately become the norm. Covid outbreaks in the factory, supply chain issues and electrical blackouts in the manufacturing areas in China have also been an issue.
Things have been moving along quickly over the last few months and we’ve gained a lot of ground. Unfortunately, the delays we experienced in the beginning have put us behind. The scanning technology used at the first factory wasn’t accurate enough to take our physical prototypes and turn them into digital files that could be used and there was a conflict with the original factory. These 2 issues caused us to start from scratch both with re sculpting all the figure parts digitally, converting the figures to O-ring, and then moving the project to another factory I’ve been using for a few years.
These issues caused a significant loss of time and money.
The new factory has been moving pretty quickly on this project and I think we gained a lot of lost time. The molds were originally supposed to be finished at the beginning of July. Then I was told by the end of July. I was hoping to get the molds finished before the update, but I didn’t want to make anyone wait any longer. With only a few days left I don’t think they will be finished by the end of July.
I’ve been in touch with our project manager in China almost nightly, and she has been pushing the mold factory to quickly finish these molds. The issue has been the mold makers have also been working on other projects and there are only 2 CNC sparking machines to make close to 200 molds for this project plus the molds for other companies.
There are 3 types of parts being molded for this project: PVC, POM, and ABS. The PVC molds are done, and they are working on the ABS molds now. The pictures are from molds they were making last week. The sample parts from the molds have all been turning out great, you can see some in the pictures. I will check back in a week on the molds and start updating more frequently until production starts.
The fact that you all have invested your hard-earned money in helping us bring this project to life is very humbling and we feel a great sense of responsibility to ensure we don’t let you down. This project will be completed, and you will be happy with the results. Everyone has been extremely patient, and Matt and I want to get these figures in hand just as quickly as you do.
Production has been going quickly on other projects I’ve been working on so once we get the molds done, we should be able to come up with accurate date for the completion of this project. Stay tuned and I’ll let everyone where things stand in about a week.
No matter how good parts are 3-d modeled there are always adjustments to be made. Good weapons and things to fit in the hand properly can be a real pain. If the handles are too tight people can’t get the handles into the figures hands, if the handles are too loose, they look like crap. Trying to explain this to someone across the planet who speaks English as a second language can be really tough. I just got these photos today and the weapons now look like they fit just right. – Jason
