“ The Robinson Family will now board the spacecraft…”

Thanks for the patience on everyone’s part while I was dealing with family issues, so now I am proud to announce that “The Jupiter 2 Crew” kit is finally complete!

After much trial (and error) with the molds, I have decided that in order to provided the highest quality in volume, that the molding and casting will be handled by Mike Evans at The Alchemy Works. For those of you who may not be familiar with Mike’s work, he was the founder and driving force behind Lunar Models for many years, and has now moved on to molding and casting for other artists, so I have the utmost confidence in his abilities.

Because of the added cost of production, and the production life of the molds, I will need 50 paid orders before I can send the patterns to The Alchemy Works for production. Once all orders are received, the kits will ship in approximately 2 to 3 weeks. Final cost of the kit is pending, but should be finalized within the next 48 hours.

The attached photo does not do the kit justice due to the limitations of my camera, and the size of the figures.

Interested parties please e-mail me for ordering information and additional photos of the kit.

Thanks For Your Interest,
‘Frets

Fret's ,

Is this offer to HobyTalk members only or to anyone?

I know a few folks who would be most interested in this scale Robinson crew ... is it ok to pass along this offer outside of this BBS?

Also , you probably mentioned in the past , but are these to be made of resin?

Thanks - & it's nice to hear Mike Evan's is involved too. :thumbsup:

Mike

Hi Jupiter,

These kits are available to anyone who wants them, so please by all means, pass the info along.

Yes, I am glad I was able to get Mike Evans to do the casting too. Besides the terrific work he does, he's a nice guy and I think he has a "soft spot" for Lost In Space too (A lot of Lunar's earliest kits were LIS themed, so I'm just guessing here! I believe the kit will be resin, but if you've seen some of the dinosaur kits Mike has cast, he's doing state of the art work with the stuff.

Hopefully, I will be able to post the final cost of the kit this afternoon so all systems are GO!!!

'Frets

Sounds good FF lets us know more.

MEmemememeeeeeeeeee!

*JUPITER 2 CREW KIT COST*

The retail cost of the “Jupiter 2 Crew Kit” is $40.00 (US), plus $4.75 S&H for the 8 figure set (about $5.00 per figure). Money Orders are the easiest for me to handle since they’re “pre-cleared,” but I will accept personal checks with the provision that they must clear the bank first.

The sooner I have the orders in hand, the sooner the kit goes to Alchemy Works for production.

Please e-mail me for ordering info or any other questions.

Thanks,
‘Frets

Limited availability


I forgot to mention that this is also a limited run kit. Due to the production life of the molds, there will only be 50 sets available (half of which are already spoken for).

If you want one of these, now’s the time!

E-mail for ordering info…

Best,
‘Frets

Provided that payment from everyone who has e-mailed to reserve a kit arrives in the next few days, the kit should be leaving for the caster late this week. Given his stated turn-around time, I should have them back in 2 –2 ½ weeks. They would begin shipping the following day.

BTW, there are still a few available if you don’t want to miss this release.

Best,
‘Frets

*UPDATE*


Due to a few folks who reserved kits and (for whatever reason) have not remitted payment, the patterns will not be leaving for Alchemy Works this week (to cover production costs alone, we’re still 6 kits short).

Including those 6 kits (which are now off the reserved status), as of this post, there are 11 sets still available to whoever wants them.

Thanks,
‘Frets

The check is in the mail! Today! Really! I swear!

FF I have already drop your check in the mail early this week. Thanks Ham :thumbsup:

hi frets, only 11 left ??? "SIGH" caught me at a bad budget time BIG "SIGH"

hi frets, only 11 left ??? "SIGH" caught me at a bad budget time BIG "SIGH"

Hi Bert,

As soon as production gets underway and I get the kits back, there will be at least one other (possibly even 2 or 3) sources to get the kit from when you can swing it.

The other sources will be announced as soon as the kits are shipped, (either here or on their own sites).

thanks frets, i just didn't want to miss out, big buget cuts for calif. school districts where i work thanks to our govenor who chose to cut school bugets and the calif. teachers union got him elected the first time so budget is tight right now.

thanks frets, i just didn't want to miss out, big buget cuts for calif. school districts where i work thanks to our govenor who chose to cut school bugets and the calif. teachers union got him elected the first time so budget is tight right now.

Believe me, things aren't much better in New Jersey. Our last 3 Governors tried to "fix" our auto insurance system and I now pay 7 times what I did 5 years ago. Too bad McGreevy wasn't on the Jupiter 2...

I would like to know too about ordering the figures later. My budget is tight, I'm in the process of buying a house, thanks

As I posted earlier, there will be at least one other source to get this kit, but their supply is still part of the limited run. There will be 50 kits TOTAL, regardless of who sells them.

*UPDATE*


The “Jupiter 2 Crew” patterns will be leaving for The Alchemy Works tomorrow (Thursday 4/17) for production.

Allowing for shipping and Alchemy’s stated turn-around time, kits should begin shipping the first week of May.

Thanks to everyone who pre-ordered and the interest that made this kit possible.

‘Frets

*UPDATE*


The “Jupiter 2 Crew” patterns will be leaving for The Alchemy Works tomorrow (Thursday 4/17) for production.

Allowing for shipping and Alchemy’s stated turn-around time, kits should begin shipping the first week of May.

Thanks to everyone who pre-ordered and the interest that made this kit possible.

‘Frets


HORRAY !!!!! :thumbsup:

Thank YOU Fret's! :D

Mike

Way to go FF can't wait but I guess that I am going to have to wait. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

*UPDATE*

I received this e-mail from Mike Evans at Alchemy Works regarding the "Jupiter 2 Crew" kit patterns:

Got them - nice work... I will get to them asap and keep you apprised!
Best
Mike

We're getting there!

'Frets

*UPDATE*

I am having some tech problems with my internet account. Please direct all e-mail communications to: flyingfrets@hotmail.com

Thanks,
'Frets

*UPDATE*

Just received this e-mail from Mike Evans:

Hi Don,
I am 1/2 done on the mold... should have a sample on Friday...
Best
Mike

You'll be the first to know as soon as I get 'em!

"Frets

Great to hear and thanks for the updates FF :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

*UPDATE*

Just received this e-mail from Mike Evans:

I cast 5 today and I will send these tomorrow so you can see how they are coming, I will need 3 weeks to finish all.

bestMike

These kits will go out in the same order I received the original orders, until the run is finished, or all orders are filled.

Thanks,
'Frets

Thanks for the info Frets :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Thanks 'Frets :thumbsup:

Don't supose you have a list of people's placement in order-line that you would share , do you? :cool:

Thanks,
Mike

What!? And let our wives and loved ones know what we are spending money on?

Thanks 'Frets :thumbsup:

Don't supose you have a list of people's placement in order-line that you would share , do you? :cool:

Thanks,
Mike

Actually, I DO have just such a list (that's how I know what orders were placed when) but no, I'm not willing to post it for the privacy of the people who've placed orders.. I could've posted the BB "member names", but most folks did not specify who they were known as on the 'boards, so that's out too...sorry... :(

'Frets

Very good points made by BOTH you gent's ! :lol:

I was *only* asking ...

Curiousity got the better of me. :devil:

I shall try to wait patiently .... like a kid on Christmas Eve! :eek:

lol

Mike

*UPDATE*

I apologize for the delays...I sent an e-mail to Mike Evans yesterday:

Hi Mike,
Just wondering when these were sent out? Still haven't received them.

Thanks,
Don

I received this reply:

Hi Don, they came back to me today... please confirm your address again...
Mike

I sent the correct information again, so hopefully I'll have them in the next week. I will try to get them out the same day I get them if at all possible.

Thanks for your patience,
'Frets

*UPDATE*

I apologize for the delays...I sent an e-mail to Mike Evans yesterday:

Hi Mike,
Just wondering when these were sent out? Still haven't received them.

Thanks,
Don

I received this reply:

Hi Don, they came back to me today... please confirm your address again...
Mike

I sent the correct information again, so hopefully I'll have them in the next week. I will try to get them out the same day I get them if at all possible.

Thanks for your patience,
'Frets


Thanks "Frets! :thumbsup:

Little confused though ... You're gonna send what out?

I thought the first few were for your review.... are you saying these are final products then? Cool if so! :thumbsup:

Any chance you can post pics of what you receive from Mike to 'wet our whistles' a bit?? :eek:

Mike

Thanks for the info FF You are Customer Service #1 :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Thanks "Frets! :thumbsup:

Little confused though ... You're gonna send what out?

I thought the first few were for your review.... are you saying these are final products then? Cool if so! :thumbsup:

Any chance you can post pics of what you receive from Mike to 'wet our whistles' a bit?? :eek:

Mike


Okay, here's the situation...yes, they were for my review so I could see what the finished product would look like. Short of investing a lot more cash & time, changes are not possible at this stage of the game.

Since the initial 5 kits coming to me are "previews" of the final product (and are part of the run of 50 kits I contracted for), I don't see why I should just "sit on them"...especially since we've all been waiting so long for this kit to see the light of day (if you remember, I originally intended this kit to be out there last October)!

Unfortunately, any pics that I could post would be as low quality as the original shots of the prototype I posted. My camera just can't handle the resolution. Maybe once these things start shipping, somebody with a decent camera can post some photos...

'Frets :)

Okay 'Frets :)

That all makes perfect sense to me! :thumbsup:

Thanks,
Mike

Hi don, your doing just great ! thank you for all you are doing !!! yor da man ! check e mail !
bert

hey don, e mail bounced back ?
bert

hey don, e mail bounced back ?
bert

Yeah...if you missed the earlier post, my modem is frazzled :rolleyes: (can't accesss my normal e-mail account even from public access computer either, so I'll be looking for a new provider shortly...unless CompuServe can straighten out why I cant get into my account from another PC). If you need to contact me via e-mail, use:
flyingfrets@hotmail.com for now.

*UPDATE*
Here's the word we've been waiting for...I got the first 5 kits back from Mike...they are beautiful :thumbsup: ! The castings are everything I expected from The Alchemy Works! I will be shipping them in a day or two.

'Frets

*UPDATE*

The first 5 kits were shipped out this afternoon!

Don't be surprised...the boxes are a little ummm...shall we say "colorful,"
but they were the sturdiest ones I could find that were also the right size.

'Frets

*UPDATE*

The first 5 kits were shipped out this afternoon!

Don't be surprised...the boxes are a little ummm...shall we say "colorful,"
but they were the sturdiest ones I could find that were also the right size.

'Frets


Yippie !!! :thumbsup:

Any word on the status of the next batch? Will they be in fives or will it be when all 45 are done?

Thanks 'Frets!

Mike

Just e-mailed back & forth with Mike Evans. He has 25 more done as of this morning and I should have the rest of the kits at the end of the month.

However, if there are further over-runs on production time, another partial shipment is possible.

Because of the scale, he said he was trying not to "overwork" the molds to preserve the quality of the castings, and they are pretty much flawless, so I think we'd all like to keep it that way!

'Frets

Just e-mailed back & forth with Mike Evans. He has 25 more done as of this morning and I should have the rest of the kits at the end of the month.

However, if there are further over-runs on production time, another partial shipment is possible.

Because of the scale, he said he was trying not to "overwork" the molds to preserve the quality of the castings, and they are pretty much flawless, so I think we'd all like to keep it that way!

'Frets

Cool! :thumbsup:

Thanks 'Frets. :)

I know I sound pushy , but I do not mean to be.

I relay these updates to friends/kit buyers not on this list - so I try and anticipate thier questions and my own curiousity too.

I do not mean to imply for you or Mike to rush or expediate - just wonder of what sort of time frame were talking about is all. :)

Mike

No offense taken Mike...if anything, I'm probably more frustrated & impatient than anyone else...this is after all "my baby" and I'd like to be sure that I'm not rushing out sloppy product, but on the other hand...I want 'em NOW too!!!

Also appreciate your spreading the word...I try to keep everyone updated here, but as you pointed out, not everyone who ordered comes to this 'board, so thanks for keeping others posted.

As for a time frame...unless there are other delays in production, I'm thinking all orders should be shipped by mid-June. As I said earlier, I know Mike has other projects going besides mine and if production is going to go beyond his estimated completion date, I will ask for another partial shipment so I can keep filling orders.

'Frets

Thank You 'Frets for all the Updates that you post.

They are greatly appreciated! :thumbsup:

Mike

They are greatly appreciated! :thumbsup:

Mike
I will rise my cup of ale to that also :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

Got mine!
http://home.earthlink.net/~stevepayne/r/box.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~stevepayne/r/r1.jpg
http://home.earthlink.net/~stevepayne/r/r2.jpg

Thanks FF!

Steve,

Thanks for posting the close-up photos. I think it gives folks idea of the casting quality (which as I expected from Mike Evans, is excellent).

*UPDATE*

Mike Evans shipped 20 more of the kits out last Friday. Due to the holiday, I should have them late this week, and the next customers on the list should be receiving theirs shortly.

'Frets

:eek: AWESOME !!! :eek:

Thanks for supplying some pics Steve! :thumbsup:

You're right 'Frets - that is one CoLoRfUl box there!!

Is there a sticker on the back of the box that reads "Caution Nervous Mother Driving" ? :jest:

Mike

Yeah...maybe I should've done a Partridge Family kit!!! :lol: