General Pre-launch Discussion

[a-maze-ing]

Do I correctly understand from today's announcement that the plan is to ensure anyone NOT buying voyager status before November 2013 will be unable to buy ANY R2 puzzle until ALL voyagers have bought ALL their 10 R2 puzzles?

Then what happens if one of the voyagers decides to buy only one R2 puzzle each year... Nobody outside the voyager club can buy one for 10 years?
Think about people who do not yet know about Revomaze and discover it next year...
Think about people who do not wish to buy all 10...
Think about people who do not dare anymore to pay in advance...

I hope I am misunderstanding part of the plan...

[CzMeteo]

I think this is referring to LE puzzles. I highly doubt that is the intention.

[Auroch]

Ya, I totally agree, Orko. It's about holding the excitement and not feeling down every time another week passes by without word.
For me it's as simple as spending the initial money and then forgetting about it - because either way, it's being put towards something I want to support and be a part of. There is no reason at all to attach personal feelings to the funds required to be payed forward before the puzzle is even finished. If putting your money towards something and then having to wait is not something you're wanting to do then stick with what is immediately accessible. I haven't been waiting for the Mercury nearly as long as some people though that doesn't change what attitude I choose to hold and maintain during the wait. There really is no need to distress. They will be here sooner than later:)

Let's all remember how hard Chris and the others work to give us the puzzles we want and remember how few of these extraordinary people are currently a part of the Revomaze process. That being said, I'm pretty sure those of us who want top-notch puzzles can afford to hold on a little while longer:)

[Chyron]

it is curious.

Not comforting either. I definitely didn't sign up for the Voyager status to guarantee that I would buy 1000 GBP worth of puzzles, just that I would have the ability to. From the start it's been said that only Ceres and Pluto were exclusive to the Voyager status, now it sounds like all R2's are?

My concern is that the assumption would be that every Voyager status member would indeed collect the entire set, and then extras MAY be sold. Which may be true, but to completely keep it away from anyone else at all really locks our community down to who's here now.

Maybe they're really special. Like REALLY special. I consider my Revomazes special but I mean maybe they are truly of a different caliber altogether. Perhaps they will be THE puzzle everyone knows about and only 100 can have, and it'd be crazy to not buy every voyager puzzle because they're immediately worth 5 times the value. Maybe. If that were the case I can understand locking it down to a number of people so far ahead in time that it's worth not being able to invite other people in. I can't see that as logical if only to know how much supply to order.

[bulldawg]

Good points everyone. I'm torn on these puzzles. To be honest, the pictures from the Wired magazine article do not portray the image of a £100 puzzle. However, after experiencing some of the R1s, I trust Chris to make a high-quality puzzle. So I'm on the edge of purchasing the subscription to give me to option of purchasing a few of these. I certainly cannot see me spending £1,000 for the complete set unless the values of these take off, and I could sell any of the puzzles I do not want to the latecomers.

Without knowing exactly how these puzzles work, my fear is that I will receive the Mercury, and for whatever reason, it does not hold my interest enough to buy any others.

I will email Sophie a few questions before I pull the trigger. I just want to make sure I'm not committed to buying the entire series if I buy a subscription. From reading today's announcement, I don't think that is the case, but I need to know definitely.

[Auroch]

Keep us posted, bulldawg.
The last thing Sophie needs is 100 emails from everyone asking the same few questions:) haha

[Serial007]

While this type of marketing strategy seems to work in special cases such as the COPO Camaro, I am not sure it is the wisest option for Revomaze to go. I can understand exclusivity, but the current strategy seems to favor alienating the casual customer in order to support a limited number of enthusiasts.

The most worrisome aspect seems to be based on the latest information that additional puzzles won't even be a possibility until the entire series, instead of each puzzle has been released. Without a general idea of a release time-frame, it may be several years to a decade before people can start considering Revomazes as gifts for friends and family.

I guess overall, I don't understand how things are supposed to work from a business perspective. If R2 is going to be almost completely pre-ordered and locked in at a set price, how can the company adjust for inflation, changes in material price, or other expenses that arise? I understand that pre-orders help a company understand demand for a product I just don't understand how restricting income and profit leads to long term success in a volatile market.

For now, I shall wait and see what happens. Perhaps we misunderstood the announcement, perhaps other puzzles that aren't part of voyager will be released, perhaps the new equipment that was purchased is able to knock out 100 puzzles a month. For me, putting a $100 bet on $2000 worth of puzzles is a bit too much of a gamble until I have more information.

-Serial007

[winne0815]

I totally agree, Orko

[Naz737]

I read it as more of

"have access to purchasing all of the puzzles"

compared to

"purchase them all at once"

If so. It took a long time to deliver on the CE sets. But this is really investing in CHRIS. Get him what he needs. So I'd probably do the super purchase if that is exactly what was said.

[Rachel K]

Hi Guys,

Just been having a read through the forum which I like to do around this time with my mid-morning snack Just to help clarify a few things, Firstly there is no commitment to buy the entire series of puzzles once Voyager Status has been purchased just as many of the series that you would like, if you purchase Mercury you will be offered Venus if you purchase Venus you will be offered Earth ect. The point we would like to make is that those 100 (or even possibly less if Voyager Status is retracted before all that are left are sold) will be offered each puzzle first and only when the entire series has been released will we contemplate selling them outside of the 100. These are highly specialized puzzles.

We wish to satisfy those 'core' customers who have purchased Voyager Status first before any others as they deserve it. There is also the fact that Chris is only one man and we, as a company of two, are very small ! We do not want to get 'over our heads' so initially 100 is a good number to work too

As to other limited edition puzzles being released over time (entirely separate from the Cosmic Series) this is something we have been considering however the number would be small and they would be handmade by Chris here in house, again this is only one consideration and until we get into the cosmic series we will be unsure as to how much of Chris time will be free to put into another project... but it would be nice!

Please do feel free to contact me with any further questions you may have.

Sophie