I guess I was pretty optimistic when I thought that you would think it was a cool idea too, as someone passionate about machined parts. I didn't think it would cause that kind of response or really be taking enough profit out of your pocket to be too upsetting to you.
This is a hobby for many of us and I think the more options, at more price points, the better. My hope is that there is a place for both a highly precise, top price set of premium ears (yours) and a quality set of ears with ties to the original maker (Elstree Ears).
If my reaction was any concern to you, you would have reached out to me before you posted anything, and/or you would have been more clear about these intentions in your original post - but you weren't. If we operated the way metal part vendors of the past did, this wouldn't affect us because those vendors did everything in runs. We buy all of our stock up front so that the community can order and have things in days or weeks, not months, and can buy things when it is right for them. If your hope was truly to provide just a 'quality' set of ears and not to appeal to the accuracy crowd, then you wouldn't have tried to poach our source of information yesterday evening, would you? So please, don't backpeddle just because you have been caught being scummy.
Do I think that these guys will make ears as precise as yours with all the lessons you've learned from making them, after not making them for 40 years? No.
Nothing about your original post matches this sentiment.
Do I think Elstree will do a good job? Based on how passionate John is and his desire to make these for his helmet too, I am confident that a company that has been machining since 1961 should be able to produce quality machined parts. Especially since the guy that made the originals still works for Esltree. Knowing that RafalFett is a true Boba Fett expert and that he has agreed to provide the 3d models for Elstree gives me more hope that these will be a great addition to my collection.
I'm going to reiterate that while I think Rafalfett is incredibly sharp and talented, you will not be able to achieve the kind of precision to make these worthy of being called "Hero" ears. At best these will be "Hero-sized (minus 4 generations of castings) ears." The original machinist being at Elstree is of little importance after 40+ years. He won't remember all the details at the project, let alone be working on the same machine that produced the original ears.
My understanding is that TDH is here to drive us to collaborate together in order to discover and offer the community more cool Fett history and items. The more, the merrier.
Per thedentedhelmet.com's home page. THE DENTED HELMET IS A MAKER COMMUNITY HELPING FANS LIKE YOU BUILD AND COLLECT MOVIE-ACCURATE STAR WARS COSTUMES AND PROPS. I do not see the part where it mentions trying to undermine someone else's project by attempting to poach their information. YOU came into MY thread, knowing that you "Had this in the works for a long time" and pretended to be just another customer, and used the information in MY thread to reach out to Keegan and try to get information vital to our project. For those that wonder why we make claims to measurements but never share the source - this is exactly why. It is not because we think we're the only ones who deserve to have the information. It's because someone will inevitably come behind us, steal work that we did, and offer it at a slightly lower cost than our products. If the TDH community supported that kind of thing eventually all of the makers actually doing the work necessary to offer new products would disappear.
Furthermore, you don't get to stand behind the "pro-community" flag as if we aren't. The issue isn't that you want to bring a product to life. The issue is that you have nothing to show for it other than "Dakota made an announcement so I thought I had to," totally disregarding the fact you have no concrete numbers or measurements. Call this what it is at this point: A pipe dream.
I tagged you to be upfront and address it all in the open if you had any concerns. I think we can do better as a community on TDH to not have passive aggressive fueds, so I appreciate that we are having an open and respectful conversation.
This is a hobby for me. I want to cover the cost and Elstree gave me a number. Once I am confident that we can cover the cost, I am hopeful that the number will come down even more. Ideally, I would like to see metal ears at less than $400, but I don't know how possible that is. My goal is to find out and report back. I do appreciate your well wishes and I am sure I will need them.
You don't know how possible that is because you're working with little to no information. I don't know a single machinist (and I have worked with a lot of them) that will provide a quote without drawings, which you admitted you don't have. The number you put out is conveniently located right in range of what we said our ears would cost, which makes it evident this has been rushed because you wanted to try and capture the attention of people who would purchase the MachineCraft Hero Ears in a "WAIT! BEFORE YOU BUY THOSE!" kind of way.
Nothing in your original post mentioned $400. This is also the exact cost of our FPH2 ear offering which surely is just a coincidence, right? $550 is grossly overpriced for something that is 'good' quality, but ultimately TDH will have the final say in that.
I think this is something that at least some TDH folks would be interested in owning. John will make us 2 sets if that's all I ask for - so I'm not too concerned with how many are sold. I just know that I like the idea of adding a set of Elstree Ears to my hero helmet and as someone on TDH interested in metal ears, I would want to know about both options before committing to one, the other or both. Who knows, someone could even offer a third set of metal ears at some point.
By that train of thought, if you send a Black Series Boba helmet to Pinewood and have them mould and cast it, isn't it still a Black Series helmet? Would you rather own that or the 'Hero' helmet you have now? This is a very weak position.
I don't know what a FOMO is or how it approaches full velocity and this firefighter isn't looking to make gas explosions lol. They've agreed to make as many as we want, but it doesn't sound like they necessarily want to make more in the future - so at this point it appears to be a limited, one time thing?
There is not a single machinist in the history of machinists that takes on a project to do it as a 'one time thing'. The only way machinists make money is to do continuous and/or large runs. Despite what you want the community believe, there is no way the shop agreed to take on this project and said "Ok, but just this once!" The same way that MinuteFett is offering a 'limited' run of 5 helmets is complete and utter ********. You, and he for that matter, are using FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) as a way to command higher prices for items that you will continue to offer in the future. I will admit that when we sold our FPH2 ears we sold them as 'likely the only' run. And that was solely because I didn't think we could hit the high quantity we needed to run them twice (We didn't, in fact, but I paid for that 2nd run out of pocket so that the few people who didn't get in on the first run could have a set. Funnily enough, you were one of those individuals).
Like I said, I appreciate all that you do and I know you ears will be precise and top notch. That's why I have purchased nearly almost every single part you offer. Machine Craft is known for it's quality and if people want the absolute best, top notch ears they should check out your thread. This offering is for metal ears by Elstree, based on 3d files by Raf and potentially some other resources to fit the hero helmets and hopefully at more affordable price.
Other resources being a "Hero (Minus 3-4 Generations)" helmet that MinuteFett has? Or the set of FPH2 Ears you purchased from me back in January? While I do genuinely appreciate the business, you having our pieces does not bode well given the circumstances. Your methods certainly make me feel
very appreciated. /s
I truly am sorry if that is upsetting to you man. I hope that others on TDH like the option being brought to community.
-Steven
The day TDH as a whole rallies behind something like this, given the evidence provided, is the day that I leave the community. That is not a threat nor meant to be received as one. I simply will not dedicate my time and efforts to a community that would stand for the tactics deployed by you in this thread and behind the scenes. I am not going to drop any sympathy cards, and I am not going to tell you that I have made zero money since starting MachineCraft. But what I will say is if I put the time, effort, and capital that I have put into MachineCraft into ANY other business venture, it would be less work and be more profitable. The whole reason that hasn't happened is because I genuinely do love this community. What I get out of this is seeing our parts on all the Fetts out there and the occasional flattery when a high-profile person/company that approaches us for our work. Whether you see it this way or not, what you've done is an attack on me and I believe I've responded appropriately. I can only hope the community does the same.