I'm not looking just so I can be surprised when they show up. It feels like the old Flag point orders.

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Not a bad idea, since I haven't peeked yet I may just do the same after all. It isn't often as an adult that we get to recreate the spark of yesteryear.

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I'm doing the same. Between this and the 4 Horsemen Raven Kickstarter I have no idea what I'm actually getting, it'll be a fun surprise.

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Bad news fellas... Got this email yesterday, as all supporters of the Kickstarter probably did as well.


Kickstarter
#47
Delay with Marauder Task Force orders
Posted by Marauder GR
Backer white
For backers only
Dear MTF Supporters,
Our goal was to have all orders arrive or ship before Christmas, but that is no longer possible. While packing the orders we found some structural issues with the figures. Issues that are not easy to detect, but appear to be widespread throughout the figures. We worked with the factory engineers to solve the problems and the only sure solution is to REPLACE all the figures. Consequently, we won’t be able to ship any orders for several weeks while we wait for the replacement figures to arrive.
Needless to say, we are absolutely devastated. To be on the home stretch and have this happen at the last moment is beyond anything we could have imagined. Our time table and plans were right on target, and we have kept you all updated all along the way…but this unforeseen problem took us by surprise. The only bright spot is we discovered the issues BEFORE the orders shipped.
We apologize for this delay, will keep continue to keep you updated as we go forward and hope to regain your support by quickly solving the problem & shipping your orders.
Sincerely,
MJ & the entire Marauder team

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That is a bummer, I feel really bad for those guys. You can tell they put their hearts into it. I can wait fellas. Just make sure it's right.

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Unfortunate and disappointing, but I'm glad defects were found before stuff was shipped out. If people had on masse gotten bad product, it would have been bad for all involved. I'll happily wait for quality product.

The situation is unfortunate, but they're worth the wait. The level of communication during the whole process has been commendable.

Granted this is my first action figure kickstarter (Hacks being the 2nd) but delays were now unexpected. At least they're delaying as opposed to shipping defective product. The other two kickstarters I took part in were for android micro-consoles (Ouya and Gamestick). Ouya was delayed multiple times and included very perceivable misinformation on shipping. The Gamestick was delayed probably six months or more and I threw it in the trash last week after it sat in a box for a year, they should have delayed further because the product was really terrible.

Circling back from the tangents, I'm glad they were willing to not only be open and honest in so many of their communications but also willing to delay so that the product can be the best in market. Positive thoughts for MJ and crew, the team is doing awesome so hopefully they know they're appreciated despite the blow of the situation.

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This literally came in while we were recording the podcast. A major blow to MJ because I know he's been working like a dog trying to get everything ready to ship out. Kudos to him for wanting to get quality product out there to us. After months of working through the production and the kickstarter and to be so close, I know that couldn't have been an easy decision to make. Most companies would have just ran with it and replaced them as people reported it. But to nip it right in the bud before it even gets out there to us, that takes some moral fiber and testicular fortitude you don't see enough of these days.

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I didn't go in on this one, but in case this is anyone's first dealing with Marauder, Inc, I know MJ's longstanding reputation will shine through here and he'll make this good for each and every customer. Him discovering this issue before any of you buyers had to is an indicator of his love and dedication to making every one else love action figures at least as much as he does. Give him time and he will guarantee none of you are left unhappy by this issue in the long run.

He didn't describe the defect, but I'm assuming it's with the figure so maybe all the gear can still be usable?

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now what I was wondering is where they say they will have to replace all the figures. now whats that mean, because they had to make a kickstarter to get the money which means they have no money to do it all again. or is the factory responsible and has to cover it which wont make the factory they use very happy. im just not certain who is held at fault here, since we don't know what the problem is and on which side was it oked to go ahead the first time. just curious if the factory will fight it and say it wasn't their mistake and what troubles that will cause.

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A) 'delivery of product as stipulated in the contract' is a routine burden on the manufacturer's side of things.
B) they may well have insurance against this sort of thing.
C) MJ seems like the kind of guy that would go into bankruptcy to fix this, although nobody wants that to happen.

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I'm going to venture that the factory is in overtime at the moment ...

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Hey Marauder Task Force Team members!
First off, thank you for your patience! Your solid support during this process has been overwhelming. Finally, we can share some updated availability info and more detail about the figure issues. We've had several sets of the new corrected figures produced and tested. This last test batch we received appears to have all the issues resolved and we have "green-lit" the production of all the corrected figures. The issue with the original figures were some VERY tight frozen joints. During development we were so concerned with the joints being too loose, that the original safeguards we had in place resulted in several joints being TOO tight. We thought it was a limited issue, but as we prepared orders we found more and more figures that had overly tight frozen joints. Having you all heat up EVERY joint on EVERY figure was excessive. That fix is fine for the RARE situation, but not for a majority of the figure.
Our goal is to get the figures produced and shipped before the Chinese New Year celebration. To speed up the process, we're flying in the replacement figures to save even more time. Air shipping is MUCH more expensive than shipping by boat, but air shipping will get the replacement figures here 35 days quicker.
As a side note, we also had ALL the modular Tactical vests redone. The original Tactical vests we received had some mounting holes that were too big (the modular holes on the Armor vest and Harness vest were correct and required no changes). As an added bonus to our supporters, those of you that have reward packages containing the Tactical style vests will not only get the updated "corrected" Tactical vests BUT will ALSO receive the same number of corresponding original error Tactical vests. As we all know, you can NEVER have too much custom fodder!
Getting the issues resolved, having new figures produced and arranging for delivery of the updated shipment will result in NO ADDITIONAL COSTS to ANY Kickstarter supporter. Again, Kickstarter supporters will not be asked or required to pay ANYTHING MORE to get their rewards for contributing to our MTF Kickstarter project.
The good news is, after weeks of work, the "light at the end of the tunnel" is looking less & less like an oncoming train!
Thanks again for your support and patience!
MJ

Good news, like most of you guys I am looking forward to getting these in hand.

This might should mean speedier delivery of HACKS, too!

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