Hi everybody! it has been a weird year marked by instability in general, heavy shortages in everything we like gaming related, atrocious prices, distribution problems, and Covid still conditioning our lifestyles in some way. But despite all that we managed to get here, a full year after the Ironclad Plus launched and i cannot be more grateful with the acceptance and the feedback received, you are awesome, and it is time for celebration.
mt32-Pi Internal Hat available for all previous customers:
The Internal mt32-pi hat is available at the shop for all previous purchasers who didn’t have it as an option when they bought their Ironclad Plus kits, please read carefully the instructions provided and see the install diagram picture in the shop’s item. This kit is for the Ironclad Plus without the dedicated Pi-CONN connector on board (all boards shipped before summer 2022), if your board has that connector and you didn’t purchase the mt32-pi hat along with your Ironclad Plus, you would need a different kit that will be available soon.
4th Batch and mt32-pi Hat shipping status and progress:
The hat was due to be available in sept-oct previously, but with the 4th batch still being assembled and shipped i did not want to put more work over my shoulders, didn’t want to open a pre-order for it, and preferred to push hard in the 4th batch production, as people waiting for their paid orders is my main priority, and then release the standalone mt32-pi hat a bit later when shipping rate is where it should be. Things are rolling much better now the Hat is on sale but i still have many 4th batch orders to complete, that’s why i wrote the Hats will be shipped within 1 to 2 weeks after order placed at item’s page, for now, but hopefully it will be sooner, as fast as i can among all this pile of work so you can have them as quickly as possible
Most of the 4th batch orders have been already shipped, all accessories, bridges, and small stuff is already packaged individually and ready to be put into every order remaining, so it is a matter of finish soldering the Ironclads, review and testing each one of them, package, register, and shipping, I estimate the 4th Batch will be completely shipped in a matter of around 2 weeks from now, i don’t like to give such estimates, but oh well, you ask for it so much… but give it some flexibility 😉
5th Batch:
There are still a few units available for the 5th Batch, so if you didn’t get one, go for it!. I receive messages of people asking for an ETA for this batch, it is written in bold in the item’s description at the shop, but i will give you here a more developed explanation. All the parts for the 5th batch are getting here at this moment, and assembly and shipping will start somewhere in December, but as always, all the process will take around 2 months so January 2023 is the earliest it will be completed. Also, i have no idea about when an individual order will be shipped, all orders are shipped in order of purchase and there is no way i could give an ETA for an individual order, remember that in the first 24-48 hours after opening the batch more than half of the units are gone and the rest spread over the next weeks. Whish i could give precise estimates, but sadly i cannot and i will not do it to disappoint anyone.
I hope this clarification suits most people asking for an ETA, i do everything i can to serve the orders as fast as possible, that’s my main priority, but sometimes there are external problems that delay things a bit in the manufacturing process, also doing technical support to people who really need it, solving issues, doubts, developments and new projects, etc, this is indeed a, sometimes overwhelming, full time job, meaning 24 hours when i say “full time job”, so thank you for your patience and support, and my sincere apologies to the people who didn’t get an answer when asking for an ETA. Remember that you always have the panel at the front page where i briefly and regularly update the status of the batches, and i post some news here every time there is something interesting to say, and i have a spare hour, always with wide explanation of current batch status.
And that’s it for this news report, what a full year this has been, my hair is a lot whiter with joy and happiness (or maybe the stress), thank you everybody.
Love you all.
Roberto.
