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Still waiting for replacement panels + glass panel from very first batch.
Hi Alex, how are the risers going?We're shortly about to send all the parts to the anodizing factory for final bead blasting, polishing and anodizing. Then the assembly process will finish it up. The anodizing can take 15-30 business days and assembly about 2 weeks based on past experience. This new batch will be beautiful quality wise, but it has been hard to manage because we needed several pre-orders to reach appropriate quantity, then came a bunch of stuff in China (the zero-covid) that slowed us down more. However, it's all coming together
I don't work in the factory myself; I handle the logistics between the different factories (for our parts), engineer the parts that need to be created and other similar stuff. We've done and shipped a couple thousands of MJOLNIRs thus far so it's a very straight forward process now as long as everything can operate normally.
For the Risers, basically like for the rest of this batch, we had to open the pre-orders a few times (after Jay and then after Linus) to get enough quantity where these prices we promised you became possible. So we've placed the riser order now and it should arrive to our factory in the coming 1-2 weeks, after which we'll ship all these in 1 go.
Yep. Kickstarter backer, can't figure out how to get the tempered glass panels or the pci 4.0 riser. Can't login to the website. Used the Contact form on the site - no response. Posted here a couple times nothing. Haven't been here for a while - good to know everything is just how I left it!
By this reckoning you were supposed to have the risers months ago but they're still somehow outstanding? It's bad enough you placed the order months after paying customers (not backers) were supposed to have their purchases in-hand (due to your misrepresentation of the price), but you still can't seem to provide a decent update or accurate timeline.
Overpromising & underdelivering seems to be par for the course.
When I backed my case I was supposed to get a "next-gen riser" with it, then I was told that you scrapped that & you were making me pay for it on top. Here we are years later still waiting for the same riser, which is now "last-gen". Oh, how the time flies...
AlexTzone
I design minimalistic – but not boring – PC stuff
Original poster
THOR ZONE
Silver Supporter
New update, we’re at the last stage now finally 
Are riser cables shipping immediately? Or will you wait until assembly is complete and ship everything at once?New update, we’re at the last stage now finally
Do we even know if they've gotten the risers yet? They didn't have them 10 days ago & Alex loves to make every little teeny tiny production step seem like a big accomplishment, so I'd assume that he'd announce their arrival on Twitter or here. I mean, the power cables were a big enough point to get a week's Twitter update all to themselves, so I can't imagine the risers to get nary a peep.
Hello everyone, i have two questions
1. What kind of glue i need for the "shell magnets" and the "core plastic bits" i lost almost all of them
2. I don't have the R(GB) version but i have the "Booster Cell", can i use one of the two rgb controllers found in my motherboard "Asus rog strix x570-i gaming" to control the booster cell RGB LED,
- Addressable Gen2 LED connector (supports WS2812B)
- RGB LED connector (supports 5050 12V/G/R/B)
TThanks in advance for all
1. What kind of glue i need for the "shell magnets" and the "core plastic bits" i lost almost all of them
2. I don't have the R(GB) version but i have the "Booster Cell", can i use one of the two rgb controllers found in my motherboard "Asus rog strix x570-i gaming" to control the booster cell RGB LED,
- Addressable Gen2 LED connector (supports WS2812B)
- RGB LED connector (supports 5050 12V/G/R/B)
TThanks in advance for all
AlexTzone
I design minimalistic – but not boring – PC stuff
Original poster
THOR ZONE
Silver Supporter
Hello everyone, i have two questions
1. What kind of glue i need for the "shell magnets" and the "core plastic bits" i lost almost all of them
2. I don't have the R(GB) version but i have the "Booster Cell", can i use one of the two rgb controllers found in my motherboard "Asus rog strix x570-i gaming" to control the booster cell RGB LED,
- Addressable Gen2 LED connector (supports WS2812B)
- RGB LED connector (supports 5050 12V/G/R/B)
TThanks in advance for all
Glue - Loctite superglue will work great
Booster Cell LEDs - they definitely can work with your motherboard, but because the Booster Cell is designed to connect to the Godrays led strips you’ll need to:
1. Find a cable that connects to the 5V dRGB header on your motherboard
2. Connect it to a cable on the Booster Cell PCB
If you’re up for the challenge (not so hard) I’d happily provide the instructions & schematics on what to connect to where
AlexTzone
I design minimalistic – but not boring – PC stuff
Original poster
THOR ZONE
Silver Supporter
They are all soldered by machine
We use hand soldering for cables, i.e. the small PCB that connects the Booster Cell to your motherboard (the one that has a bunch of cables sticking out).
AlexTzone
I design minimalistic – but not boring – PC stuff
Original poster
THOR ZONE
Silver Supporter
Hi guys, asking for advice. We have so much awesome stuff we can make, but from here on out it must be done a LOT better. It would be amazing to see THOR ZONE grow, to have great reputation and develop new and awesome stuff year after year. We’re open to changing everything about how we do things, how would you like us to become better? Any and all ideas are welcome.
The next time we do anything you’ll be amazed at how differently things will go (in a good way), I’m tired at letting you guys down and I know we’re better that this!
The next time we do anything you’ll be amazed at how differently things will go (in a good way), I’m tired at letting you guys down and I know we’re better that this!
Make stuff. Then sell it.
*Edit* that was a bit blunt. By that I mean all the issues surrounding mjolnir are with the manufacturing delays, missed dates and creating unrealistic expectations.
You have been through the Kickstarter process and have a number of pre-sale batches which are almost all at the point of shipping. Ideally you should now be manufacturing your product and releasing in batch sizes that you can sustain, not using your supporters as your bank. That's what Kickstarter was for and you reached your funding goal there almost 3 years ago.
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Get a partnership with someone who actually has the skills, organization & acumen to run an ongoing business. Let them be the business & you can be the idea guy. You need a Tim Cook.
You obviously have some design chops & engineering skills. My Mjolnir looks lovely & unlike just about anything else on the market. It's a cool piece of kit (not literally, it's a thermal challenge) that took entirely too long to get to me & didn't quite match what I was expecting.
Find someone who'll handle everything else & stick to pumping out ideas. I'll happily throw money at another case like my Mjolnir provided I had reassurances that I would get what I paid for in a reasonable timeframe. And after all of my experiences with your organization I don't see that trust ever being rebuilt.
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Having inventory, whether it is for the purpose of dealing with RMAs/Warranties or being able to ship products shortly after ordering. I think this is such a big issue that all other issues are currently being eclipsed by the fact that people are waiting close to a year for replacement parts. I know its not easy, and its going to be costly (warehouse, putting money down for manufacturing before things are actually sold, etc etc), but its something that needs to be done.
Related to the above, but moving away from the mindset of being a crowdfunded project, become a reputable merchant, abide by various laws with regards to warranty or refunds.
But apart from these genuine concerns, the product you have is great (we'll have to see about the new window panels, but the CNCed metal portions are excellent), you've engaged with influencers, and you still keep a good presence on various communication channels. So I would like to just say that personally, I think you have always been making the steps towards improvement and will continue to achieve greatness.
Product = great
Quality = good but not best (the RMA and stuff ... im part of round 1 backing and im not going to get the improved magnetics and some of the plastic became unglue)
Looks = amazing
Alex as a cool guy = great
Delivery + transparency = needs work. As a business person you've learned at least about the transportation but your CX (customer service) needs accurate response by having inventory (as other mentioned). Defects will happen so you will need to figure out how to compensate.
Transparency means: it is fine to get it hyped on social media but those who has given money, would like to know why is the delay happening and what is the most likely hood of a delivery date. i.e: a lot of existing thorzone buyers bought the riser 4.0 but why is this single item being delayed and shipped out at the same time as the actual thorzone case or Borg?? It should be able to bubble envelope and be sent with tracking for a smaller cost. These gives customers anxiety. For us to help you with suggestion on this, you need to tell us what's up with this? (ie we shop elsewhere and ive seen it done so we can give you recommendation over this).
Bottom line:
- your designs and ideas are great
- your delivery timeline needs to improve
If you need Inspo: Keychron is currently King of playing around with Kickstarter funding and Group buys on keyboard. Now Keyboards are something that can easily range from 65->200$ but their delivery time and everything is impeccable. They are running on an efficient workflow and I think if we can help you in your workflow - let us know and we be glad to help out.
honestly, If you came out with a mjolnir 11L that gives more spacing for cooling or the possibility to have the booster cell + external HD, ill re-buy... so potential of future product is there but your concept -> delivery window needs improvement.
A couple of ideas:
- Have a look at how the hardware business is moving; especially the GPU space (size, heat, etc.).
- Don't start another crowdfunding until the prototype is ready for manufacturing.
- Or better yet, if there is enough liquidity, put in the order for manufacturing of the first batch before a new product is announced.
- Have realistic deadlines and be honest. Consumers are spoiled and used to getting what they want, when they want. So a reality check is needed up front. Also known as expectations alignment in a more professional term.
- Get professional help from experts. For instance at https://connectsverige.se/ or something similar. You can develop a stronger business model, stronger logistics and/or investments. You will get grilled, but that is how you learn, at it will be constructive.
That's some "Grade A" victim blaming BS.
Thor Zone was disingenuous, bordering on deliberately dishonest, with their initial timelines for the BORG & riser cables. They gambled that the hype would be sufficient to get a price break on the risers & lost the bet. They had to open things up repeatedly to get the MOQ needed & did not place the order until MONTHS after the parts were supposed to be in customer hands. And didn't tell anyone until they were pressed about it.
And let's not even get into the whole thing that, as an original Kickstarter backer, I pledged my initial support thinking that Thor Zone would actually give me what I wanted, pledged & paid for. But nope, I've got chipped, rattly chemglass, slightly dodgy LEDs & a 3.0 riser in a case that arrived a year late.
They've never hit a single deadline they've set for themselves & they can't even meet the goals they set for themselves. I literally don't think they can.
I'm part of the mechanical keyboard community. About 90% of all the products I buy come through as group buys, which means waiting anywhere from 6 months to 2 years for the thing I bought. When your hobby revolves around bespoke, limited-run products, your expectation about arrival times is lowered considerably. Perhaps there is some element of Stockholm syndrome there, but I'm honestly fine waiting that long because these products are not viable for buying from in-stock inventory. Why would a manufacturer lose money when only 1000 people want to buy their limited run keycap set which takes a week of production time, as opposed to hitting that profit point of 5000 cheaper production sets that might or might not get sold? Although the group buy model definitely has it's flaws, it's a viable step between the kickstarter model and a full-fledged shop. Some manufacturers of keycaps and keyboards have a better reputation than others, and because the community is so open and communicative with each other it can easily destroy a company's entire brand once word gets out.
This year, I ordered a case in March expecting a May delivery. It's fast approaching October, and I've resigned myself into expecting the case in November. Knowing what I know now about the issues you've been having with this current batch, I'm not really bothered about waiting. It happens. Manufacturing delays have happened around the world because of covid. The only thing I felt a bit disenfranchised about was the two videos from Jay and Linus to help boost sales in order to meet MOQ. I understand the reasoning behind it, but keeping existing customers in the dark about *why* really caused a rift between yourself and the community you're serving. I watched these videos and got all excited, thinking "oh boy, my case is going to be here any day!" but the weeks and months rolled round with radio silence. That was disheartening.
There is a reason I brought up the mech keys community. The difference between your business process and the group buy process isn't so different, but the key change is the initial offering and what to expect. I don't remember you saying at the beginning that "we need to hit this many units", instead I remember you opening up pre-orders 2-3 times (maybe more, I don't remember) because I'm guessing it wasn't profitable for you after each one. Not enough sales, changes in manufacturing, could've been any number of reasons. If a keyset doesn't hit it's main MOQ, it doesn't get made. Simple. If the Mjolnir doesn't hit it's MOQ, you opened it up for more sales until it does, upsetting the people who assumed you'd already figured out this step. The transition from kickstarter mentality to fully-fledged business mentality starts with building a trusting userbase, but if that userbase will never buy your product again because of the company and not the product, then Thor Zone will not be long for this world because the first thing that people say about it is that the experience of dealing with you is miserable.
As others have mentioned, perhaps the product needs to move away from raising consumer-funded capital and into proper financial backing or even a partnership (read: Lian-li and Dan). The product you have, from what I've read of reviews and user comments, is pretty solid. You've ironed out the bugs and design flaws, you've created a bespoke case that looks and functions like a premium product when all is said and done. Maybe doing group buys (and not "pre-orders" as you label it) is still a viable method, but the plan has to be set in stone before you even take money from a customer. A pre-order means that the product is done, it's manufacturing, it's past the supplier-shopping stage and is going to be shipped out on this date, on time. A group buy means the same but you're up front that you need to hit a certain amount of purchases before you can turn a profit, or you cannot make it. Pretending the product is a pre-order when you're in fact running a group buy (or even regressing to another kickstarter-type process) raises trust issues.
The only thing I can think of that may help a bit is hiring a community manager. Thor Zone seems to be only a handful of people, but if you're super busy running the business, you cannot set aside reasonable time for interaction with us. Having someone with experience and transparency solves 95% of the issues that I've seen the company go through. As others have mentioned, we don't care if it's delayed, as long as you tell us. Get a person to take the pressure off of you to do that, and I have a feeling things might go smoother.
Now all things said, I'm genuinely excited to get the case. I can't wait to take it to LAN and show off to friends. I can't wait to have it sat on my desk whilst I work. I've heard the anodising is phenomenal. Don't feel disheartened. You got a good thing going.