Completed MJOLNIR: The minimalistic – but not boring – 9.7L Case

[AlexTzone]

@AlexTzone

Hey THORZONE team.

You have some contradicting messaging around US/CAD shipping.

From Sunday 5/2/21


Then.

From Friday 5/7/21



On Sunday you made a clear statement that shipping would begin Thursday. Friday we find out that shipping labels and instructions manual are not complete/recieved and you have not even booked all the shipments. It is clear you had no intentions of shipping Thursday. Why make that statement?

I really really want to continue to give you all the benefit of the doubt. You're a new company navigating international business, shipping, and all the logistics that come along during Covid. I understand this.

However your messaging regarding shipping and the costs associated with it leads me to believe one of two things.

1. You are creating artificial delays until completion of ALL cases allowing one pick up from UPS to save on costs.

Or.

2. You are creating messaging based off what we WANT to hear instead of what is actually happening.

If that is the case just be truthful with your customers.

All we really want are realistic expectations.
Disappoint only happens when expectations are not met.

As a business, especially a brand new one that is going to live or die based on customer reviews you must Under Promise and Over Deliver.

If the expectation was set that cases would be delivered in August and you get it done July everyone is happy.

I just want to be happy for you and your company.

So please, what is the REAL timeframe on shipping?

UPS pickup costs are basically negligible as long as we ship 10 cases or more, so we're not creating artificial delays. The reason for the contradictions is that we're operating new software (UPS worldship) and our shipments are very complicated. Both we and UPS were confused about exactly how to ship them and sometimes I speak way too soon (I get excited and want to tell everyone straight away...rather than wait and double-verify). However, we've worked out most of it now.

 

[HoshiGumi]

Batch 1 Backer here (HoshiGumi)
@AlexTzone
That is not exactly an answer to his question?
-"We've worked out most of it now." What's most of it?
-Do you have a date set in stone date for UPS pick up for US/Canada cases
-If you do not, why?
-If you do, what is the time frame between pick up and emails being sent out with tracking numbers.

-Can you clarify this statement? "Both we and UPS were confused about exactly how to ship them...." They are boxes, with addresses to be delivered to, by a company that manages deliveries worldwide.

 

[Qcksilver953]

UPS pickup costs are basically negligible as long as we ship 10 cases or more, so we're not creating artificial delays. The reason for the contradictions is that we're operating new software (UPS worldship) and our shipments are very complicated. Both we and UPS were confused about exactly how to ship them and sometimes I speak way too soon (I get excited and want to tell everyone straight away...rather than wait and double-verify). However, we've worked out most of it now.

This is the kind of messaging I'm talking about. It's frustrating to read this.

To be clear I'm not frustrated as a customer. As a customer I firmly believe you are going to deliver an exceptional product.... eventually

Whenever that is, who knows? You didn't answer that question.

As an owner/operator I call bullshit.

UPS World ship is not new software. UPS World ship can literally pull your address book and automatically create shipping labels for every address in it. You can even automate it to create labels for all new incoming orders. Having trouble on learning how to do that? No problem World ship Support can take you through it all. You are shipping durable steel cases, your shipments are not anymore complicated than any other international shipment. UPS was definitely not confused on how to ship them.

It's this constant finger pointing. It's unprofessional and frustrating to see from the owner of a company.

Vague answers. We've worked out most of it...

Most of what?!

Shipping is so automated now that once the contract is done there is almost nothing to do. Generate, print, and apply labels. Call for pick up. Email customers with tracking info. Wait for happy reviews.

Look.

Maybe I'm just frustrated from working 10+ hours for 11 days straight and dealing with back to back holidays. (Mother's Day and Mexican Mother's Day, I live in So Cal)

I don't mean to come off as combative or ungrateful. I'm excited for your product and grateful for the innovation and competition you bring in the sff market.

I'm more frustrated because I feel you are making missteps while dealing with your community and it has a real risk of threatening your business and you just don't see it.

I mean I have to come to this forum for any real response while your Kickstarter page is left alone. Those are the people that MADE your business possible. They should be #1 priority with communication.

The continued growth of your company is going to rely on heavily on case reviews, but do no underestimate consumer sentiment.

If a potential customer comes across your case on Google and in the process of research finds the reviews saying 'great case but terrible company to deal with, constant delays and lack of communication' and then comes across any number of the other great cases out there from already established and trusted companies with great support who do you think they choose?

Linus has a great series called secret shopper that touches on this. Watch it, everytime it boils down to support and interaction with the customer. At the end of the day you are entering into a market where all the products are 80% the same as the next. How do you make the customer choose you?

Anyways... Sorry for ranting and getting into consumer insights.

Business is my lively hood and I want others to succeed as well, especially when I am a customer! I want to see a Gen 2 and Gen 3 eventually!

I wish the best for your company, but please think on what I said.

 

[AlexTzone]

Batch 1 Backer here (HoshiGumi)
@AlexTzone
That is not exactly an answer to his question?
-"We've worked out most of it now." What's most of it?
-Do you have a date set in stone date for UPS pick up for US/Canada cases
-If you do not, why?
-If you do, what is the time frame between pick up and emails being sent out with tracking numbers.

-Can you clarify this statement? "Both we and UPS were confused about exactly how to ship them...." They are boxes, with addresses to be delivered to, by a company that manages deliveries worldwide.

This is the kind of messaging I'm talking about. It's frustrating to read this.

To be clear I'm not frustrated as a customer. As a customer I firmly believe you are going to deliver an exceptional product.... eventually

Whenever that is, who knows? You didn't answer that question.

As an owner/operator I call bullshit.

UPS World ship is not new software. UPS World ship can literally pull your address book and automatically create shipping labels for every address in it. You can even automate it to create labels for all new incoming orders. Having trouble on learning how to do that? No problem World ship Support can take you through it all. You are shipping durable steel cases, your shipments are not anymore complicated than any other international shipment. UPS was definitely not confused on how to ship them.

It's this constant finger pointing. It's unprofessional and frustrating to see from the owner of a company.

Vague answers. We've worked out most of it...

Most of what?!

Shipping is so automated now that once the contract is done there is almost nothing to do. Generate, print, and apply labels. Call for pick up. Email customers with tracking info. Wait for happy reviews.

Look.

Maybe I'm just frustrated from working 10+ hours for 11 days straight and dealing with back to back holidays. (Mother's Day and Mexican Mother's Day, I live in So Cal)

I don't mean to come off as combative or ungrateful. I'm excited for your product and grateful for the innovation and competition you bring in the sff market.

I'm more frustrated because I feel you are making missteps while dealing with your community and it has a real risk of threatening your business and you just don't see it.

I mean I have to come to this forum for any real response while your Kickstarter page is left alone. Those are the people that MADE your business possible. They should be #1 priority with communication.

The continued growth of your company is going to rely on heavily on case reviews, but do no underestimate consumer sentiment.

If a potential customer comes across your case on Google and in the process of research finds the reviews saying 'great case but terrible company to deal with, constant delays and lack of communication' and then comes across any number of the other great cases out there from already established and trusted companies with great support who do you think they choose?

Linus has a great series called secret shopper that touches on this. Watch it, everytime it boils down to support and interaction with the customer. At the end of the day you are entering into a market where all the products are 80% the same as the next. How do you make the customer choose you?

Anyways... Sorry for ranting and getting into consumer insights.

Business is my lively hood and I want others to succeed as well, especially when I am a customer! I want to see a Gen 2 and Gen 3 eventually!

I wish the best for your company, but please think on what I said.

Basically the problem was our shipment origin is in China, while our company is Swedish. We couldn't create standard Export order from China on our UPS account, only returns, i.e. where our factory is "returning" the cases to the "customers". This brought with it a lot of problems. However, we solved this by opening an UPS account for the Chinese factory and placing our UPS account number for billing their export orders. Worldship is not a new software, but it is new for us and we have 1000+ shipments that can't under any circumstances get screwed up because of our lack of experience with it (and in our case we needed to use the less common method I described above). As I said, we used the above to solve it. However, the above involved talking with our UPS reps, factory, etc...so it took time.

Now we will generate 50-100 US labels, and if there are no problems, we will generate the rest. Once this is done I can more easily give a date for the rest. It would be very sad to mess up literally the last step in the process of bringing MJOLNIR from an idea to you.

 

[For_Science]

Just a minor comment on the wording of "Second, we want to thank you for sticking by us." - I know you just want to thank the community for something, but this was probably a poor choice of phrasing as the option to not stick with the project was not an option (i.e. the option to back off from the pre-order/kickstarter is not offered). So this is in fact the default position, and I am sure there is a small proportion of backers who if given the option to receive a refund instead of continuing they would have taken the former.

 

[beerbuddha]

Basically the problem was our shipment origin is in China, while our company is Swedish. We couldn't create standard Export order from China on our UPS account, only returns, i.e. where our factory is "returning" the cases to the "customers". This brought with it a lot of problems. However, we solved this by opening an UPS account for the Chinese factory and placing our UPS account number for billing their export orders. Worldship is not a new software, but it is new for us and we have 1000+ shipments that can't under any circumstances get screwed up because of our lack of experience with it (and in our case we needed to use the less common method I described above). As I said, we used the above to solve it. However, the above involved talking with our UPS reps, factory, etc...so it took time.

Now we will generate 50-100 US labels, and if there are no problems, we will generate the rest. Once this is done I can more easily give a date for the rest. It would be very sad to mess up literally the last step in the process of bringing MJOLNIR from an idea to you.

Hi

thanks for the recount of the exact explanation of the delay

"now we will generate", so Stealth ...maybe this week for US/CAD ? or strictly US?
What have you've seen so far in the 30 that you have sent out already? (have they arrived? ... looks like 2 weeks so far no?)

 

[AlexTzone]

Hi

thanks for the recount of the exact explanation of the delay

"now we will generate", so Stealth ...maybe this week for US/CAD ? or strictly US?
What have you've seen so far in the 30 that you have sent out already? (have they arrived? ... looks like 2 weeks so far no?)

Dark is actually 33% finished now (i.e. around 100+ of ~300 cases are assembled, packed and stored in the warehouse. However, after talking with the factory we both agree that it's best to send color-wise (i.e. Stealth first, then Dark, then Steel), at least for the big regions like US, Canada, Australia and Europe. This way we avoid accidentally sending the wrong colors to people, since we'll be working with 1 color at a time.

We'll start with US and take it from there.

For all smaller regions we can probably book to pick all of them up on the same day (or 2 days) since it's only something like 150 cases.

90% of those 30 cases were sent with SF express and arrived 1-5 days later, heard no problems there. 10% of those 30 cases were sent much more recently (& by UPS) and some are still in transit.

 

[beerbuddha]

Dark is actually 33% finished now (i.e. around 100+ of ~300 cases are assembled, packed and stored in the warehouse. However, after talking with the factory we both agree that it's best to send color-wise (i.e. Stealth first, then Dark, then Steel), at least for the big regions like US, Canada, Australia and Europe. This way we avoid accidentally sending the wrong colors to people, since we'll be working with 1 color at a time.

We'll start with US and take it from there.

For all smaller regions we can probably book to pick all of them up on the same day (or 2 days) since it's only something like 150 cases.

90% of those 30 cases were sent with SF express and arrived 1-5 days later, heard no problems there. 10% of those 30 cases were sent much more recently (& by UPS) and some are still in transit.

I was actually asking about stealth since they were ready last month (packed) but shipping was needed to be sorted.

Ok so "big regions" Stealth doesn't seem like this week....

 

[Kylenol]

So excited! My SFF Instagram collection yearns for Mjolnir. Much want, very case, such PC. Any idea when steel will ship out? I'm in Toronto. Also, just a minor question, what is the percentage of people who chose stealth, dark or steel? Looks like stealth and dark are more popular.

 

[AlexTzone]

I was actually asking about stealth since they were ready last month (packed) but shipping was needed to be sorted.

Ok so "big regions" Stealth doesn't seem like this week....

Stealth to US will be the first ones to go out, i.e. it's those I meant when saying "Now we will generate 50-100 US labels, and if there are no problems, we will generate the rest.".

So excited! My SFF Instagram collection yearns for Mjolnir. Much want, very case, such PC. Any idea when steel will ship out? I'm in Toronto. Also, just a minor question, what is the percentage of people who chose stealth, dark or steel? Looks like stealth and dark are more popular.

That's awesome!! If things continue like they do now I believe the factory when they say all cases will be finished in May (including Steel). Regarding shipping, I will know a lot more after generating the first 50-100 US labels for Stealth.

Of the top of my head it's something like 50% Stealth, 35% dark and 15% Steel.

 

[approvethismessage]

Regarding shipping, I will know a lot more after generating the first 50-100 US labels for Stealth.

Do you have an ETA on this? There's a lot of "will generate labels" and very little "have generated labels". It's a shame these cases have been sitting in boxes on a factory floor for so long when customers are eager to get them. Your priority seems to be on taking another batch of orders instead of shipping the batch that's ready to go.

Are you going to wait until these 50-100 are successfully received by the customer before generating/shipping the rest? Or just that you can successfully batch generate the labels?

 

[beerbuddha]

Stealth to US will be the first ones to go out, i.e. it's those I meant when saying "Now we will generate 50-100 US labels, and if there are no problems, we will generate the rest.".

dont suppose to shorten the delay for North America, we can add 10 labels of Canada in for those who would like to volunteer?
i don't know if it is too complex for you to do that.

Thanks for responding to the thread, despite a lot of over-excitement post, I want to commend you for doing a good job in answering everyone
Keep it up Alex. we will get through this

 

[For_Science]

It seems the factory really is operating at 100 cases a week or less as I said before, and so I think its really cutting it close to think that they will finish steel by the end of May. Given that Dark QC also still needs to happen (i.e. shipping to Sweden and being inspected), it may still be a good while before dark gets picked up for customer shipping. It also seems to be there is a week or two of no cases packed between switching colors, so we may be well into June before Steel is finished and QCed.

 

[For_Science]

In case anybody missed the build log photo of the shield of founders:

Log - Experiments with a Thor Zone Mjolnir

UPDATE: The scuff visible in the last image was removed as per Alex @ Thor-Zone's recommendation to using rubbing alcohol to remove it. It appears to be residue from a glue that was used in the finishing process. After waiting what seemed an interminable amount of time for the Mjolnir to...

smallformfactor.net

 

[Limga]

A lot of things are unknown at the moment as not many have the case, but here is my opinion:

- 240 mm AIO was never a good idea, and preliminary testing has shown that it should be avoided
- In terms of easy space usage, a 120 mm radiator on the CPU together with a beefy aircooled GPU that fits into the case is probably the recipe for lowest noise normalized thermals
- If you have a high power GPU and a low power CPU, then watercooling the GPU with the 120 mm radiator and low profile CPU cooler may also be sensible
- Generally speaking, radiator on the top of the case (i.e. inverted layout) is probably the way to go

- Booster cell performance to be determined, although I personally have my doubts

Whether you order now or later, its probably going to arrive later than you think, and if I was in a position where I was considering ordering, I would wait a while and see the reviews based on the batch 1.

- 120mm AIO was recommended, there is no place for the 240mm due to the placement and space of the mobo
- second batch coming soon but not a lot of those from KS/first batch has received anything yet so its yolo right now.
- optimumtech did a very early alpha build up on their youtube page if you wish to take a peak.

Take the current stuff being told here (in the forum) with a grain of salt, we are all waiting for someone to give a "final product" review.

If you have patience, order it - yolo. If you cant, wait for it as I'm sure batch 3 will be possible several months from now with a lot of people reviewing and putting in stats.

Thank you for the answers. I will think about it. One part of me is shouting YOLO and the other one is saying that spending that much money on case with uncertain performance is absolutely not necessary.

 

[AlexTzone]

Do you have an ETA on this? There's a lot of "will generate labels" and very little "have generated labels". It's a shame these cases have been sitting in boxes on a factory floor for so long when customers are eager to get them. Your priority seems to be on taking another batch of orders instead of shipping the batch that's ready to go.

Are you going to wait until these 50-100 are successfully received by the customer before generating/shipping the rest? Or just that you can successfully batch generate the labels?

We’re working as quickly as we possibly can on this, nobody wants cases just sitting there, not you, not me or the factory. I don’t have a set in stone ETA, but we are not talking weeks here. I mean we just figured out the correct method (with the help of our UPS rep) a day ago. Now we will generate 50-100 labels to see so everything is correctly generated, then send them to the factory, label the packages and have UPS pick them up. If there are no problems we will generate the rest of US. Then move on to Canada, Australia, Europe, etc.

We are new to shipping & we CAN’T under any circumstances mess this up, so I hope you understand why we are so careful with this step.

 

[smallfx]

In case anybody missed the build log photo of the shield of founders:

Log - Experiments with a Thor Zone Mjolnir

UPDATE: The scuff visible in the last image was removed as per Alex @ Thor-Zone's recommendation to using rubbing alcohol to remove it. It appears to be residue from a glue that was used in the finishing process. After waiting what seemed an interminable amount of time for the Mjolnir to...

smallformfactor.net

Wow, looks just as good as the renders! QC looks on point, minus the tiny glue residue issue.

If I had to criticize something from those photos, the only thing I can see is how the panels seem to absorb hand/finger oils and give a stained appearance. It almost makes it look like discoloration in certain spots. Lian-Li cases were notorious for this and they were a pita to keep clean, especially the black version. Let's hope this case is easily cleanable and doesn't stain if the prints are left uncleaned for a while.

So hyped. The aesthetic of this case is still the best of the market by a long shot in my eyes.

 

[For_Science]

Wow, looks just as good as the renders! QC looks on point, minus the tiny glue residue issue.

If I had to criticize something from those photos, the only thing I can see is how the panels seem to absorb hand/finger oils and give a stained appearance. It almost makes it look like discoloration in certain spots. Lian-Li cases were notorious for this and they were a pita to keep clean, especially the black version. Let's hope this case is easily cleanable and doesn't stain if the prints are left uncleaned for a while.

So hyped. The aesthetic of this case is still the best of the market by a long shot in my eyes.

Yes, this is why I backed (emphasis on backed, and not ordered) the steel color as I think its going to be most robust in terms of noticeable finger prints and scratches. I am hoping long term this is the most long lasting color (and personally, I think it also looks the best in the short term too ).

However I do not believe in being hyped and so remain level-headed and make sure to probe the progress in a balanced manner as that's the only thing I can do these days :X Kinda miss the days of page 20-ish where we were actively designing elements of the case....

 

[N9neBreak3r]

We are new to shipping & we CAN’T under any circumstances mess this up, so I hope you understand why we are so careful with this step.

Trust me I understand! Take your time with it!

For anyone else whose upset over shipping delays, please realize that if this step is rushed and cases get lost in transit, it's a multi-month set back because the cases will have to be re-manufactured. Plus add time for the insurance claim to be approved and money to be issued by UPS.

An extra couple weeks is a lot better than an extra year! Take your time @AlexTzone and don't feel pressured by posts complaining about shipping delays. Your doing great!

 

[Dinward]

S / Dark / 2x pannel sets + 02 Panel ordered !