Saturday, May 30, 2015

Samples are in!

We are pleased to announce that the samples are in from the manufacturer. They are tremendous. They have an excellent weight to them and look fantastic. But don't take our word for it. See for yourself:
Molding Process
Molding Process
We have held off this update until we received the samples to show some progress. Unfortunately the samples are not quite right. The function is slightly degraded with the version the manufacture initially made. We are working diligently with the manufacturer to help rectify these functional problems. If you are wondering what problems we are referring to, the dice has slightly more difficulty laying on the top and bottom portions. Difficulty in that it's less stable than we'd have hoped.

Magic Colors
Magic Colors
The other problem with the samples is that the geometry was slightly altered during the process and we want to ensure that all faces are of equal size prior to moving forward with the production run (right now there is a slight size difference between the middle faces and the top/bottom faces).

Mold Assembly
Mold Assembly
The good news is that we have a few measures we are taking to rectify the issues. As of now it appears we will maintain our estimate for delivery. 
Our next steps include making sure that the geometry is correct (face sides are all of equal size), stability concerns solved, while also working on the post processing pad printing of the numbers on each face.
Until next time,
Max Stat Gaming Team

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Now Accepting Pre-Orders

We are happy to announce that we are now accepting Pre-Orders of the 40 Sided Dice expected delivery date in late July or early August.

https://squareup.com/market/MaxStatGaming Order Online

Monday, May 4, 2015

Production Update

It is with much excitement and a healthy dose of humility that we give this product update.


First off, manufacturing has proven to be much more challenging than we had thought and intended. We have been working around the clock trying to iron out issues such as weight, surface distortions, manufacturing speed, product defects, coloring issues, solidity, as well as overall function of form. To that end, the 3D printer has shown us many of those mistakes up close and personal.


Second off, timing will have to be pushed back a minimum of 2 months (we’ll get to the why in a second) leaving us with backer fulfillment looking at approximately mid-July at the earliest.

Third off, while struggling with the 3D printer and having between zero success and valuable lessons learned, we’ve been researching new techniques for produce the dice better, faster, and with much less chance of defects to the finished product. And while doing so we’ve found a fantastic place which is on track to complete the dice within the next 2 months. There are substantial benefits to the zig we’ve made regarding color, defects, scalability, and most importantly, solidity/density. Prior to utilizing our manufacturer, we were only finding manufacturing companies who would make the dice in 2 hollow pieces leaving it necessary to fill by sand and seal to achieve the desired density. As you can guess this wasn’t something we particularly wanted as a solid chunk should be attainable. After a great deal of searching we were able to find just that and are well on the way to getting initial samples within the next two work weeks, and moving to final production upon successful samples.

Forth off, an update on the dice. The 3D printer continues to give us troubles though we are creating multiple models and our lead engineer is working with outside sources to help streamline in the hopes we can successfully complete the dice via 3D printing and get them to you as soon as possible. This avenue would again require filler (sand) to be added as the dice are very very light weight wise even making them entirely solid on the printer. But we are working on it. If we can get a solid prototype completed with no problems then y’all will be the first to know. While we continue to work on that, our manufacturer is working on completing the samples, which, as of today, should be done within the next 10 days. After the samples are verified we get to move to full production and get these dice complete and in your hands. It requires building more molds and patience, but our manufacturer assures us that it can be done in approximately 60 days from where we are now.

Fifth off, we’re working on a way to compensate y’all for the delay and would love your input on ideas on how to do that. Please email maxstatshelp@gmail.com or private message on Kickstarter for all ideas as recompense for our bumbling as first time inventors making every mistake in the book.

Sixth off, a zag we’ve recently completed seems like it will also help. We recently purchased a pad printer which will be used to help streamline the numbering and avoid a lot of the problems we have run into via 3D printing. This system is brand new to us and we are working as hard as we can to understand the required steps and make them happen effectively and efficiently. 


Seventh off, MTG Cat (Bitey) has been as helpful as we imagined. Frequently surveying our mistakes with a level of aloofness and supreme disregard never before seen. Her contributions include rubbing our legs while we pull out our hair, and either motivational purrs/mewling or attempts to draw our attention from our tasks. We aren’t quite sure yet.

As soon as the samples are done, expect another update. We are sorry this update has been so late, but until we hammered down a reasonable timeline, or had product in hand, we held off. What we didn’t know nor even fathom was the difficulty producing a lot of a certain part via 3D printer, and every time we submitted the file to the printer, we thought we had fixed the problems and were going to end up with a functional product. Optimism finally gave way to reality. Sorry about the delay.

Sincerely,
Max Stat Gaming Team   

Friday, March 13, 2015

Funded and In the Weeds

****Thank you to all who have helped make this dream a reality****

But now the real work begins anew. We've spent a lot of time honing in on the right shape, dimensions and functionality, and we've got the basics down. Now we are knee deep in processing. We've been running our 3D printer day and night to get a good product which everyone will be able to not just enjoy, but be proud to own.

While we are working to bring a functional and exceptional 3D printed version to completion, we are also engaging with multiple different injection molding companies based around the globe to potentially bring an even sharper product to everyone. As of now we are fielding all calls and getting a good feel for the challenges ahead whilst (I just was really trying to use the word "Whilst" so pardon me if it doesn't quite work) also moving forward on that front.

As more information trickles in and we get started on creating the tooling, we'll update this page and give you the inside track on how we are progressing. If anyone has any suggestions on ways to move forward, please email us at Maxstatshelp@gmail.com

Thank you and we look forward to continuing to share our journey with you!
Alex
Max Stat Gaming Team

Saturday, February 7, 2015

Moving Forward

We are happy to announce that despite whether or not our Kickstarter campaign will reach it's goal, we will be making this product a reality. How you may ask? We'll let me explain.

-First off the fees associated with Kickstarter range in the 10% domain (3-5 for Amazon and 3-5 for Kickstarter). That doesn't seem like much, but then again it is a non-trivial factor.
-Second off our original plan was to increase resolution with a top notch 3D printer, that is a very viable goal, but we set our sights on the wrong printer. The past week we've done a lot of back and forth on the matter and have settled on a printer in the range of $1,000 rather than $2,500.
-Third off, we found the colors we need to make all the dice without having to add the additional extruder at this point. We may end up moving in that direction at some time in the future, but it isn't a requirement.
-Forth off, our main goal with the Kickstarter campaign was to reach out to the EDH community and ensure that there was enough people out there like us who would like to bring a D40 to their gaming table. It has never been about the money, and our intention all along was to move forward so long as we reached enough people who would help us offset the personal costs associated with bringing this to market. At this point, even if we fail the Kickstarter, we have succeeded in reaching our goals and are thus moving forward.
-Fifth off, after re-crunching the numbers we are in zone to make this a reality.
-Sixth off, we have already tossed down a bunch of our personal funds to get the required printer, and materials to make this work (they are on the way and we are anxiously awaiting their arrival).

Finally we are looking for your say. We are 1/3 the way done with our Kickstarter Campaign with 3/4 of the time left to go. We've had backers start trickling in, but not in tremendous quantities. And we believe that was due to our price point taking all the extra fees and more expensive printer into consideration. That being said, how do you, our followers/backers/likers/retweeters/readers/friends/allies/and fellow EDH players feel about re-launching the Kickstarter with lower reward levels? Or would you like to stick it out, finish this up and if we don't make our $4,150 goal, then just purchase the D40 off our website? We'd be looking at a $12 early bird and about a $15 regular reward tier for a single D40. Then changing the rest of the tiers to match.

Weigh in by commenting below, tweeting @MaxStatGaming, emailing Maxstatshelp@gmail.com, or on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/maxstatgaming.

Sincerely,
Max Stat Gaming Team

Thursday, February 5, 2015

D40 Finishing Techniques

After a few questions about it, it's time we answered a vital question:

What does the finish look like?

Unfortunately it is not possible for us to give you a finished product as of yet, our souped up printer with excellent resolution isn't bought yet. BUT we've printed quite a few iterations and have tried various finishing techniques and settled on a warm acetone bath. This gives us a few benefits over other finishing techniques to include:



1) Uniformity - Due to the change in temperature from the unfinished D40 and the warm acetone vapor, it condenses on the surface to ensure that the entire surface is near uniformly stimulated.
2) Ease of Use - Acetone baths are easy to set up and easier to use (minus the potential explosions and brain damage from noxious fumes).
3) Time - Acetone baths work on a scale which can't be beat with other techniques.
4) Automation - As it's a simple lowering of the D40 into the vapor bath, it prevents us from being too heavy handed or light handed if we were to finish by hand.

If there are any ideas of better processes out there, please comment below, tweet @MaxStatGaming, email Maxstatshelp@gmail.com, or comment on our facebook page https://www.facebook.com/maxstatgaming.

Alex
Max Stat Gaming Team

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

D40 Stability

After receiving a few requests about the stability of the D40 spindown, we decided that visual representation would be best.

Note, it performs exceptionally, but will roll if jostled pretty hard. With 40 sides, it was inevitable, but the design helps minimize the rolling. We are also working on ideas to help improve stability even more. If you have any ideas, please tweet @MaxStatGaming, email maxstatshelp@gmail.com, or just comment on this post.

Thanks and check out our stability test here:

http://youtu.be/2n-F8zXdf5Y