Would you be interested in buying a professionally-made chopsado? (Updated!)

[ishiyakazuo]

Hi all,
I'm interested in making somewhat professional "chopsado" flex boards, but the cost is somewhat prohibitive for me to do without first gauging some interest as far as whether or not anyone would be interested in such things. They'd cost a few bucks per, including an instruction sheet and sticky tape on the underside to hold it to the HuCard.
To be clear, I'm not asking for any money up front, but just whether or not people would be willing to shell out a few bucks for such a thing, if I was to get them produced in bulk. I'm thinking it'd probably be $4 shipped for one, and $30 for 10, but the prices could be even less than that, depending on the amount of interest I get.
Any profit I would make on this would then be turned into seed money for other PCE/TG16-related projects going forward.
Thanks for your time, and looking forward to hearing your thoughts on this!

UPDATE: This is happening!
They are tentatively called "TurboPosers" (because they are TurboGrafx interposers) but it's not written on the boards at all, so you can call it whatever you want.
They are on order, and will hopefully be available by the end of January if all goes well.  (If all doesn't go well, it might involve waiting a few more weeks for them to fix it.)

UPDATE #2 (12/27): They are on their way!
The board house over in HK tells me that they have shipped them my way.  I've seen it take anywhere from 1 week to 3 weeks for stuff to come from HK lately, but I am expecting them to be here by mid-January at the very latest.

UPDATE #3 (1/14): They are here!
I need to test them, and come up with some solutions for connecting them soundly to the HuCards without too much adhesive damage, but these are real, they did happen.
(Update #3.1: I've attached a picture of the raffle prize with TurboPoser pre-installed for your pleasure.)

UPDATE #4 (2/4): Things are moving... slowly.
Just to let everyone know, I've had other things going on the past few weeks, and something else starting in a couple of weeks from now, so I have a small window of time to get a few things done here.  I'm hoping to have some of these to send out shortly.  Really very sorry about the delays.

What can I do to help?
If you intend to buy one or more TurboPosers and intend to use it right away, get in touch with me via PM, and answer the following questions:
(1) How many you intend to purchase at the prices listed below (or make me an offer I can't refuse)
(2) Your rough location (where you want them shipped)
(3) Whether or not you want to be in the raffle for SF2CE below, or just an extra TurboPoser, and
(3a) if you'd like to wait until Feb. 1 for the drawing, so I can potentially ship the prizes to you at the same time.  If you win the prize but insist on my shipping the TurboPosers to you before the drawing, you may be flogged (but probably not).
(4) If you'd like to be notified of these going on sale via e-mail, then I will also need your e-mail address.

Estimated (preliminary) pricing!
1 TurboPoser shipped worldwide: $4
6 TurboPosers shipped worldwide: $20 (buy 5, get 1 free!)
10 TurboPosers shipped worldwide: $30 (25% off each!)
16 TurboPosers shipped worldwide: $45 (30% off each!)
The above pricing was before I knew how much labor would be involved making these work.
The pricing is more likely to be as follows:
1 TurboPoser shipped worldwide: $4
4 TurboPoser shipped worldwide: $15
And limit is 4 on these initial ones.  If rev. B gets made, then I will revert to the original pricing (or maybe even better pricing than that... it all depends on how broke I end up going with these).

They will be shipped by USPS First Class (including international orders).  Unfortunately, I can't find on the USPS website how long it will take to deliver to a given country, but in order to meet these costs, this is the plan for now.
Of course, if you must have them faster, shipment can be expedited for an additional cost, but I don't expect many of you to take advantage of that

FAQ: Read me first!
Q1: I'm new here... What's a chopsado?  What's a TurboPoser?
A1: They are thin, flexible circuits that you stick over some pins of a HuCard to play a PC Engine game on a TurboGrafx (or vice-versa if your PC Engine has had the appropriate pin modified inside).

Q2: How will these be stuck to the HuCard?
A2: This will likely be a trial-and-error for the first few.  My current intention is to ship these with double-sided tape on the underside, and see if that holds it down well enough.  I am hoping that it will, as these should be very thin and not really needing a lot of adhesive.  If not, then I will ship them with sturdier tape across the top, with a parchment paper backing.
UPDATE: Initial testing with the double-sided tape seems promising.  This photo was taken after I put the card into my PC Engine a handful of times, and it seemed to stay in place.

Q3: How do these differ from the chopsado?
A3: They will come as a single piece, and no wires attached to it.  It is a flat, purpose-built design.  The benefits of this are: less wear and tear on the HuCard connector, fewer points of failure, smaller size (easily shippable in a standard envelope), and a more professional look (coated in black to match the contact area of the HuCard).

Q4: What do they look like?
A4: See the picture below!

RAFFLE!
Yes, there is a raffle tied to this.  Exciting!
Every TurboPoser purchased up until Feb. 28* will give you one ticket in this raffle.  The more you buy, the higher your chance of winning.
Grand prize = Street Fighter II': Champion Edition for PC Engine (Huey-only) and an extra TurboPoser to play it on your TG16!
Second prize = an extra TurboPoser (no game included)
The grand prize winner may opt to swap with the second prize winner if the first prize winner already has SF2CE.  If both the grand and second prize winners have SF2CE, a third winner will be drawn to receive the grand prize and all three will receive the extra TurboPoser in their shipment.

* = I reserve the right to extend this date, based on a number of factors, including but not limited to: TurboPosers don't work

1/16: Updated various sections to reflect the current state of this.

[turboswimbz]

Are you suggesting the current chapsado isn't professional?

Everything aside, I simply wouldn't have a need for them.

[ishiyakazuo]

Are you suggesting the current chapsado isn't professional?

Believe me when I say that no insult was intended.  I think it's a brilliant idea, but it's made of scavenged parts -- not what most people consider as a professional product.

What I am suggesting is that I can follow through (mostly) with what chop5 said in the original post about them:

Someone should design a even thinner and smaller design and make them in china for like 25 cents a sticker.

I can't do 25 cents per, but I can do a few bucks per, which is still a LOT less than a Kisado if you just want to play one or two games.  I can get them down to 1/10th of a millimeter, which is probably going to bend back the pins on the console's connector a little less.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback   I do appreciate it, positive or negative.

[turboswimbz]

Are you suggesting the current chapsado isn't professional?

Believe me when I say that no insult was intended.  I think it's a brilliant idea, but it's made of scavenged parts -- not what most people consider as a professional product.

What I am suggesting is that I can follow through (mostly) with what chop5 said in the original post about them:

Someone should design a even thinner and smaller design and make them in china for like 25 cents a sticker.

I can't do 25 cents per, but I can do a few bucks per, which is still a LOT less than a Kisado if you just want to play one or two games.  I can get them down to 1/10th of a millimeter, which is probably going to bend back the pins on the console's connector a little less.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback   I do appreciate it, positive or negative.

I was joking. I think you have a great idea.  I just don't need em' as I've gone ahead and region modded everything. 

[Necromancer]

I like the idea, but I've no use for 'em now that I have a region modded console.  Welcome to the forum and good luck to ya.

[ishiyakazuo]

I was joking. I think you have a great idea.  I just don't need em' as I've gone ahead and region modded everything.

Oh!  I get it!  I get jokes.
Yeah, I think this is probably an idea 5 years too late, which is why I'm asking if there are still people who would be interested, before I put down the cash to get a production run of about 150 units (the lowest I can order and still get a reasonable price per board).
I wish more people would look at this thread and actually click a poll result though... even if it's just to tell me "not interested" it'd help tremendously in letting me know if I should pull the trigger on this.  Getting flexible circuits made takes a lot of time, so by the time it's decided to go ahead, it might still be another month before we see them.

[PunkicCyborg]

I clicked no, but I have a region modded console like many of us here do. I think the majority of active users here have both PC Engine and TG16 consoles and or region modded consoles. I don't think that this should deter you though and I think there is still a lot of good reasons to produce these. Your main market will be ebay though and not so much these forums.
The main use for most people would be those with US cd roms and want to use a PCE system card or those that mainly collect just US stuff and have one or two PCE games they want to play.

[sirhcman]

The main use for most people would be those with US cd roms and want to use a PCE system card or those that mainly collect just US stuff and have one or two PCE games they want to play.

I agree... there are some purists who don't like to modify their consoles either and this would be an affordable way to play some new titles they otherwise might not be able to. I have a Duo-R and a TG-16 so I would never need one but I think there is a market for something affordable like this.

Good luck, hope you follow through on it!

[ishiyakazuo]

The main use for most people would be those with US cd roms and want to use a PCE system card or those that mainly collect just US stuff and have one or two PCE games they want to play.

I agree... there are some purists who don't like to modify their consoles either and this would be an affordable way to play some new titles they otherwise might not be able to. I have a Duo-R and a TG-16 so I would never need one but I think there is a market for something affordable like this.

Good luck, hope you follow through on it!

Thanks to all of you for this feedback.  I'm one of those people who'd rather not go into the console if possible.  It's just that now that the PC Engine is 25 years old, it's officially a classic, right?
I'm really encouraged by the feedback I'm getting here.  I'm seriously leaning towards pulling the trigger and ordering them now.

[PunkicCyborg]

Dont you still have to ground a pin on PCE consoles though to use a converter??

[TheOldMan]

I -think- if you are using a jp game on a us console, no.
But if you are going the other way, yes.

I'm sure the tech people can answer this more completely, though.

[ishiyakazuo]

Dont you still have to ground a pin on PCE consoles though to use a converter??

That is the conventional way of playing TG16 games on PCE.

[TheClash603]

If you make a 150 unit order I am sure you could sell them here at the member price, then get $25 a pop on ebay which is still WAY less than they go there for the other converters.

I don't think I need one... but hell I'd get 2 or 3 if they were cheap.  I have a few spare TG16 systems, my converter to system ratio should be 1 to 1.

[ishiyakazuo]

If you make a 150 unit order I am sure you could sell them here at the member price, then get $25 a pop on ebay which is still WAY less than they go there for the other converters.
systems, my converter to system ratio should be 1 to 1.

I'm not sure I'd ever think to sell them for $25... my goal here isn't really to maximize profits, but more to offer a crazy cheap way to play a couple of games in someone's collection.  Even on eBay, the most I'd probably sell them for is $10, and I'd have some bulk price that takes into account the fact that these can be shipped for under $1 pretty much anywhere in the world.  Of course, when the batch runs out, it's quite possible that people will re-sell them for more, so that's when I expect we'll see $25 per, unless it has such demand that I decide to go ahead and make a second batch.

I don't think I need one... but hell I'd get 2 or 3 if they were cheap.  I have a few spare TG16 systems, my converter to system ratio should be 1 to 1.

This was sort of the idea I had... some people might even just want to keep it on whatever PCE HuCards they have, so that's why I was thinking some people might be interested in a handful of them, but yeah, one per console is cool too.

I'm sort of thinking of doing some sort of promotion, where the person or people who buy the largest quantity get a free HuCard thrown in from my collection, but I'd have to look at my collection and see if there's anything I can part with or couldn't easily replace.  My guess is that it'd be a spare copy of SF2CE if I do it.

[gamefreak054]

I would probably atleast one. I have already ordered an expensive external scart cable (avoiding the modification of my tg16), might as well go for a cheap region bypass that does not need console modifications. Though I really do not have any games in mind that I want to import atm.

Just curious would you be getting a one time run or making/having these made for a while (if proven successful)?