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Made in us
Legionnaire





Hello everyone,

I was just reading the Zuzzy mats thread, and a similar situation has popped up with a Kickstarter I, and many other people, backed.

Background: You can check out the Kickstarter itself here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/minibox/the-mini-box-simple-storage-solution

In short, it’s a mini storage solution, on the cheap. I thought it was a good idea for armies that I’ve shelved for a time. If I’m feeling the hobby burnout, or I’m just not satisfied with an army for an edition, I’d like to pack it away in storage. It seemed right up my alley.

The Problem: It’s been months since we’ve received an update from Robert Mims (the project’s creator), and some people that even paid extra for shipping (outside of the Kickstarter funding) haven’t received anything. There are a few people that have received their boxes, but they’re only local and no pictures have surfaced. As far as we know from Robert, the boxes and foam are with him, but he lacks funds to ship them all.

Now I understand that Kickstarters fail, and it’s like an investment. Sometimes you pick the wrong horse, and you lose. I’m okay with that. I’d have no trouble if there were hardships those struggles were communicated and explained. But, there’s been no communication for months, and many of the other backers are pissed.

Personally, I think Robert bit off more than he could chew. No surprise there. What I’m disappointed in is the lack of communication. If he could explain the problems, I think most of the backers would be cool. I think most of us are reasonable people and understand that kickstarters have bumpy paths. The lack of communication has greatly irritated backers (which may be an understatement). I’d still love to see the boxes, but that may not happen. I really just want to know where things stand.

Question for the community: Have you backed an unsuccessful kickstarter? And what happened afterwards (to your product or money)?

Thanks for reading.

-Crispy
   
Made in us
Dakka Veteran





Bay Area, CA

I backed this one too. I had originally pledged ~$100, but I just got the feeling that he didn't have a real idea what was going to be needed to get this whole thing done, and to deal with shipping from China, and etc...

I'm glad that I at least lowered my pledge to only one box, but I wish I had listened to myself and cancelled completely.
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




Houston, TX

I'm out of Houston, any idea which game store he's based out of?
   
Made in sg
Longtime Dakkanaut




I'm not sure this can be explained away if he took extra money people paid to him to ship theirs specifically and he still didn't ship anything...

My warmachine batrep & other misc stuff blog
http://sining83.blogspot.com/ 
   
Made in us
Legionnaire





Bossk_Hogg wrote:I'm out of Houston, any idea which game store he's based out of?


I'm not sure. From what other locals have posted on the kickstarter page, he's been MIA for a while.

tomjoad wrote:I backed this one too. I had originally pledged ~$100, but I just got the feeling that he didn't have a real idea what was going to be needed to get this whole thing done, and to deal with shipping from China, and etc...

I'm glad that I at least lowered my pledge to only one box, but I wish I had listened to myself and cancelled completely.


A lot of people wish they'd canceled their pledges. The sad thing is, I still think it's a good product. Again, I just wish we got some kind of update.

Sining wrote:I'm not sure this can be explained away if he took extra money people paid to him to ship theirs specifically and he still didn't ship anything...


I think that's the most concerning thing. I think a failed kickstarter is one thing, but taking more money for shipping and not delivering is another.
   
Made in gb
Wrathful Warlord Titan Commander





Ramsden Heath, Essex

How do you feth up a Kickstarter that is Cardboard box + Foam?

No wonder this bloke I'd hiding he's either a criminal or a fething idiot?

I've never backed a failed KS, but then I've only backed the Zombiecide and Studio Mcvee ones, though the latter was a bit pants in retrospect. I'm a bit tired of KS really, fronting up someone else's idea and getting product and not a legal share is not really for me. I'm happier waiting for actual product in stores.

No more for me.

How do you promote your Hobby? - Legoburner "I run some crappy wargaming website " 
   
Made in gb
[SWAP SHOP MOD]
Yvan eht nioj






In my Austin Ambassador Y Reg

 notprop wrote:
How do you feth up a Kickstarter that is Cardboard box + Foam?

No wonder this bloke I'd hiding he's either a criminal or a fething idiot?

I've never backed a failed KS, but then I've only backed the Zombiecide and Studio Mcvee ones, though the latter was a bit pants in retrospect. I'm a bit tired of KS really, fronting up someone else's idea and getting product and not a legal share is not really for me. I'm happier waiting for actual product in stores.

No more for me.


Same here. Never backed one, never will. It seems not a day goes by without yet more tales of misery and woe relating to delayed or failed Kickstarter projects. Everyone creams their pants over Kickstarters and how it is such an awesome way to fund projects but it seems to me the whole premise is about shifting all the risk onto the consumer whilst the creator is free to do pretty much as they please without repercussion as long as Kickstarter get their pound of flesh.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2015/02/13 20:18:35


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Made in us
[DCM]
Dankhold Troggoth






Shadeglass Maze

Yes, shifting all risk to the consumer is definitely not what good campaigns do, especially now with all people have seen! That's why you see more and more people are asking to see production samples / casts / etc rather than backing just based on a concept. I think here he just undercosted things and could not recover, it is a shame he hasn't at least refunded the extra people sent him to ship their rewards!
   
Made in us
Sniping Reverend Moira





Cincinnati, Ohio

I mean, i wouldn't have backed it simply based on the project page.

It SHOCKS me that people did to the tune of $23K....

 
   
Made in sg
Longtime Dakkanaut




I'm not sure but didn't the creator show his face in the KS video and people actually know who he is? Can't people find out what happened to him or ask the police to check on him?

My warmachine batrep & other misc stuff blog
http://sining83.blogspot.com/ 
   
Made in us
Dakka Veteran




I backed this one to the tune of $30 and an RPG book to the tune of $20 that never materialized. Out of nearly 100 projects, those are the only two that have completely flaked out, so the track record isn't too bad. Total Extinction has bounced back and forth as well, but I still have some faith there.

Always gotta trust your gut. I periodically go back to some of the projects I backed out of to see what's going on and I'm amazed at how many of them haven't delivered.
   
Made in us
The Hive Mind





Bossk_Hogg wrote:
I'm out of Houston, any idea which game store he's based out of?

He played at Fat Ogre tournaments and Asgard, but afaik hasn't shown up at either for quite a while.

My beautiful wife wrote:Trucks = Carnifex snack, Tanks = meals.
 
   
Made in us
Slaanesh Veteran Marine with Tentacles




He posted on Facebook a while back about his new laptop and then a trip to Mexico. It stung hard.
   
Made in gb
Thunderhawk Pilot Dropping From Orbit





Scotland

I'm in two minds here; it sucks for someone to mismanage a project to the extent that folks lose their hard earned. But it's also a great platform for developing ideas and things that would never otherwise have seen the light of day. I'm currently wrapping up my own wee kickstarter, and its been a fantastic experience for me to dip my toes into the terrain business. At the same time however, I got really frustrated with two projects I'd backed. (Managed to get full refunds from both fortunately).

I think more accountability needs to be built into the platform. Obviously there is always going to be risk with backing a project still in development, but there should be checks and balances in place to ensure someone isn't just haemorrhaging money like a kid in a candy store.

Maybe something like an account where funds are held, and a majority of backers need to agree release of funds in stages, as the project reaches milestones? That'd maybe be hard to administrate, but I think it would have no issue for those of us out there with honest intentions, while discouraging folk just out to scam an easy buck.

Or a requirement to publish a breakdown of how the money will be spent. Then it would be easy for backers to check if estimates are reasonable, and make sure that contingencies are planned for.

The thing is, the projects that DO deliver, don't get talked about in the same way, so the ones that fail tend to stick out.

   
Made in hk
Longtime Dakkanaut




I think people need to be able to sue KS itself to get the money. Then you would see more regulations coming into play.

My warmachine batrep & other misc stuff blog
http://sining83.blogspot.com/ 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut







 Eggs wrote:
I'm in two minds here; it sucks for someone to mismanage a project to the extent that folks lose their hard earned. But it's also a great platform for developing ideas and things that would never otherwise have seen the light of day. I'm currently wrapping up my own wee kickstarter, and its been a fantastic experience for me to dip my toes into the terrain business. At the same time however, I got really frustrated with two projects I'd backed. (Managed to get full refunds from both fortunately).

I think more accountability needs to be built into the platform. Obviously there is always going to be risk with backing a project still in development, but there should be checks and balances in place to ensure someone isn't just haemorrhaging money like a kid in a candy store.

Maybe something like an account where funds are held, and a majority of backers need to agree release of funds in stages, as the project reaches milestones? That'd maybe be hard to administrate, but I think it would have no issue for those of us out there with honest intentions, while discouraging folk just out to scam an easy buck.

Or a requirement to publish a breakdown of how the money will be spent. Then it would be easy for backers to check if estimates are reasonable, and make sure that contingencies are planned for.

The thing is, the projects that DO deliver, don't get talked about in the same way, so the ones that fail tend to stick out.


I can't help thinking about Robotech Tactics, and the "Should we sell at GenCon?" vote that they took, as an indication of what sort of voting quorum you'd see if projects needed periodic progress approval voting. "Donate money, and if you expect to see what you backed, make sure you come back and approve their progress reports periodically, or you'll just end up getting half your money back when the project dies."

The budget inflation that such reporting would cause. Because preparing progress reports for approval by a central agency consumes project funds, ask anyone who's had to run an NIH or NSF grant project. At the moment, I expect that a lot of Kickstarter projects aren't fair to themselves as far as budgeting person-hours to write updates, and they'd definitely need to do that if there was stricter oversight.

   
Made in us
Legionnaire





Triple9 wrote:
I backed this one to the tune of $30 and an RPG book to the tune of $20 that never materialized. Out of nearly 100 projects, those are the only two that have completely flaked out, so the track record isn't too bad. Total Extinction has bounced back and forth as well, but I still have some faith there.

Always gotta trust your gut. I periodically go back to some of the projects I backed out of to see what's going on and I'm amazed at how many of them haven't delivered.


That's how I feel too. I still like kickstarter projects, and continue to fund them. Even here, I still hope we'll get something.

   
Made in us
Dakka Veteran




He's totally AWOL from the Houston gaming FB groups. I think after the laptop/vacation debacle he's been (wisely) staying off social media.
   
 
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