ITEM9

iTrader: (3)

First off, I do not ALWAYS comment on other people's posts. Only when people are being negative. You were whining and I pointed it out. You want to complain, do it in PM to him directly.

Second, calling me an idiot makes you the idiot. Is there anything I said that demonstrated a lack of intelligence? Name calling is real mature.

Third, I do have a life. It's a pretty good one too. Don't make assumptions about people's lives because of one post they make. In fact the only reason I'm even taking the time to post to you is the fact that I'm sick at home.

Fourth, this is not your normal type of business transaction. This product is in its beta stages; he's trying to get this right, which is a part of the delay. The other part is out of his hands. Yet you want exact dates, so you feel better? You'll get it, when you get it; there is nothing you can do to speed this up. You have to wait. He didn't have the capital to do this on his own, so we are pooling our money together to make this happen. It's more of a group buy if anything. You knew when you put down money, that this product didn't even exist yet. This isn't a small venture. The only thing you can plan on is that nothing goes as planned. If you knew anything about business, I'm sure you can understand that. He's giving us the best information he can give and I appreciate it. Apparently, that's not good enough for you.

Hey, sorry if I rubbed you the wrong way, but you came off like an *** in your initial post. I poked a little fun at you and you immediately start with the name calling. I think you could have handled yourself better. Making assumptions about me only makes you look stupid.

Chill out, bro.

kmxxbadboy

iTrader: (68)

GOOOOOOSSSSEEEFRRRRAAAABAAAAAAHHHHH

Relax...

No need to go at each other in such a way.

I know a lot of you have been waiting on this for quite some time now and I truly commend your patience. Rich is a personal friend of mine and we collaborated on this project many moons ago. The production costs involved in a project such as this are vast. So are the back and forth communications that are involved. I know many of you guys and it's great that you're being so patient. But that's what a project like this entails. I know everyone's frustrated. Rich is doing his best to keep us all updated on the status of this. He's just relaying information to us that he's getting from the production side. Can't kill the messenger for that.

Let's all just hit a bong and wonder if DOG actually spells CAT.

ITEM9

iTrader: (3)

Exactly.

zstryder

iTrader: (19)

stikiller,

I've been waiting on the fruits of this project for over a year. Try and beat that for waiting.

Just take a deep breath and relax. Rich is as frustrated as you are, no need to give him any more grief. I'm sure he's quite aware of the situation he's in.

Rich@Orbital

iTrader: (16)

Guys,

Please don't argue, especially over a precious dash kit.

Look, I wish more than anything that everyone had their dash kit as ordered and was happy with the final outcome of its design, but the reality of it is that I have been at the mercy of the contractors (i.e. engineers, molders/tooling developers, 3D modelers, et. al) throughout the course of this project. As much as I wish I was a renaissance man with the ability to individually multi-task all of their specialities in addition to a full-time career, I physically can't. To those of you who have been patient and understanding of me and the work that goes into a project of this magnitude, I truly appreciate the support.

I assure you all that I have done everything in my power to get the best possible product out onto the market, in the shortest amount of time, for the entire EVO community. I've invested a very, very significant amount of my own resources and capital into this project and I am 10x more anxious to get it out onto the market than anyone on this board. I wish (oh, I really wish) that this could have been done in a matter of 2-3 months, but the fact of the matter is that it just didn't work out that way. This was my first proprietary product and it took a significant amount of contacts, shopping around, physical labor, money, and homework to make it happen. If this is a problem for you, it's as easy as asking for a refund and being taken of the GB.

We're at the end of this project. We've already rounded third and are preparing to slide into home plate. According to my manufacturer as per our conversation yesterday afternoon, the 25 metallic-finished kits are undergoing production and will be painted immediately proceeding shipment to us. Sit tight for updates on them as I will openly relay the information I get to this thread. The company we're using to add the grain characteristic to the master tooling of the basic kits is already at work finishing the master tooling components. Once they complete their work, the tooling goes to my manufacturer for the production of the remaining 75 basic kits in the first run.

Now.. as for the design of the 2-DIN Bezel. Although I can respect where those of you against it are coming from, you have not seen the piece nor have given thought as to why it needed to be re-engineered. Please allow me to elaborate:

1. The OEM Mitsubishi Bezel does not provide any kind of glare resistance to an LCD of any kind, which according to 90% of my customers, is the route most individuals planned to take in having a 2-DIN dash solution within their EVO. This was a necessary feature that actually flows with the curvature dash much nicer than the OEM piece ever did. I assure you, it does not look aftermarket. It looks just as if not more OEM than the faded black Mitsubishi bezel.

2. This one's important. Has anyone given thought to the liability that replicating an OEM bezel might impose on me? To legally protect myself in any and every way possible, I sought to modify and improve on Mitsubishi's OEM product. I didn't have to do this for the HVAC bezel, as it's the only one available for the CT9A. That's pretty straightforward.

3. Even if I could, why would I replicate and reproduce an existing piece that's already on the market and available from Mitsubishi Japan/Europe? Just to ensure that it's the correct shade of black unlike the Mitsubishi bezel? This doesn't seem like a cost-effective strategy to take.. nor does purchasing the already expensive OEM bezels, repainting them to match, and reselling them for even more money to cover costs and re-coup investment. Our 2-DIN is well designed, flawlessly integrates with the OEM dash, and is very competitively priced.

It's frustrating and i'm sure I could elaborate further, but I don't think it'll do much good. Does this post explain my position to everyone?

~EVILEVO~

iTrader: (8)

wow, so the grain finish kits are still months out?

ITEM9

iTrader: (3)

stikilller: See?!

Rich: Keep up the good work! The end is in sight! I know it's going to be awesome. Thanks for seeing this through.

Rich@Orbital

iTrader: (16)

not at all. once my manufacturer has the tool, which should be done this coming week, they just need to manufacture and ship to me. we're not looking at one week, but we're definitely not looking at months either.

Rich@Orbital

iTrader: (16)

Thanks for the appreciation, it really goes a long way.

NEO-EVO

iTrader: (1)

Rich,


Like I said in my previous post, I didn't want to come off sounding harsh. I don't think I can completely fathom the amount of hard work, time and money invested in this project to bring this product out into the EVO community. Looking back at the events over the last month, I'm sure all of us can see that certain thing could have been done better, but at the same time, many things could have turned out much worse than it is now. The fact that you have been on top of this entire project insured that we all will see the final product come to fruition. I will take your word that the final product is much better looking in person than the pictures seem to show. I do understand that not everything shows up well in photographs.

For the 10% of us that are not going the double din LCD route, do you have any way of showing how it'll look with a guage set and aftermarket HU? ...No...just kidding...really...(but hey, if you can...)

thanks for everything !

NocturnalEVO

iTrader: (39)

Wow, never thought of that one lol.

Good to see you got everything well thought out

zupber4930

iTrader: (22)

Well said Rich...

We all can't wait to have them in our grubby little hands...but for a "good" product...we will! I've been patiently waiting like most of the others as I know it will be of good quality. Like I've said before...I'm sure I speak for a lot of us here on the GB list...THANK YOU for this product!

Rmhaffa04

iTrader: (7)

Any word on when the Metallic Kits are shipping out??

cmo-06

+1

I hope they're done before the end of this month, I'd like to install the navi before I head to SoCal!

EvoG8r

iTrader: (31)

I love the kit. Ever thought about possibly going carbon fiber?