VKB-SIM

Good afternoon,

When available I'd like to order a Gunfighter II Pro MCG Pro grip, base and the new twist adaptor. Can you please advise when these three will be available for order?

Many thanks

I can't tell you when all three will be available:
the twist is although in production stage but not ready yet,
the grip is in stock now (and we expect them to remain in stock for quite some time),
the base will be ready soon, we're working on a pretty big batch.
You might want to buy all three as a set, and I'd say it's a wise decision.
But at the same time I would only wait till the base gets available, and get a base+grip set, as the twist may still drag behind. Not too long, but enough to upset some impatient pilots (I'm impatient' too, so I understand them well).

Currently I am on the online shop for North America, and everything except accessories is out of stock, checking just now. Perhaps you meant that stock will soon be available, Aero?

Horizon wrote:Currently I am on the online shop for North America, and everything except accessories is out of stock, checking just now. Perhaps you meant that stock will soon be available, Aero?

It is AeroGator.
The grips are in stock in China, this is where they are made and from where they go to all dealers, including NA.
So to you there is very little difference if any, whether to get the grip from us directly, or from your dealer. If you prefer the latter, he will notify us, and the grip will be sent to you or to him depending on momentary convenience. Unlike the EU, we can do drop-shipping to the US.
It is different in Europe because of European bureaucratic procedures. We have to send batches there instead of individual parcels.

AeroGator -

Thanks for the quick replies! I was on the European store site, was that correct place to go for ordering the stock in China? Also, I could not place an order from there, because the US is not listed as a country to select in the drop down menus on the order form, and thus I could not complete it.

Most likely, I was in the wrong spot? Thanks for any help!
Cheers,

AeroGator wrote:I can't tell you when all three will be available:
the twist is although in production stage but not ready yet,
the grip is in stock now (and we expect them to remain in stock for quite some time),
the base will be ready soon, we're working on a pretty big batch.
You might want to buy all three as a set, and I'd say it's a wise decision.
But at the same time I would only wait till the base gets available, and get a base+grip set, as the twist may still drag behind. Not too long, but enough to upset some impatient pilots (I'm impatient' too, so I understand them well).

The grip does not show in stock for VKBControllers.com, your NA store site. There's no way to place an order. If they are orderable from the Chinese warehouse you might want to correct that. Do you have any idea when the base batch might be ready?

Nervous,

http://www.aliexpress.com

Search for "VKBSim" in the search bar.

The NA store is, I'm assuming, a 3rd party supplier, who isn't affiliated directly with VKB, but is simply a vendor for them. They've most likely not purchased any grip units to be in stock, or there wasn't a large enough availability of them to do a mass order for stocking to be worth it.

The Ali Express site is straight from China, and will have the most accurate accounting of what's actually in stock. The NA and European stores are vendors, and unless they update their own stock, you won't see it there. In essence, the NA and European stores are just flashy websites run by 3rd party vendors, and are entirely not necessary. Just order from AliExpress when stuff pops up on there.

I'm pretty sure NA store (https://vkbcontrollers.com/) is VKB's direct representation in the States. rrhode is the guy who mans that site. I didn't know about VKB's presence on AliExpress! Dang, all this time...

Now that you point it out though, I don't understand why there's a VKB NA site and not just something that directs us to AliExpress... I guess just for announcements and tech support?

AliExpress will often charge VAT and customs fees - sometimes expensive, but if you're in the US, it is doable. The NA store is their official outlet, but again, managed by a vendor person who has to actually stock them independently (anticipate demand and stock accordingly from VKB), and there also has to be stock available for what they'd like.

Right now there is stock on AliExpress, but no bases. Just grips. Ideally - when stock becomes available next month, all the sites will be able to procure a moderate level of gear.

AeroGator wrote:I can't tell you when all three will be available:
the twist is although in production stage but not ready yet,
the grip is in stock now (and we expect them to remain in stock for quite some time),
the base will be ready soon, we're working on a pretty big batch.
You might want to buy all three as a set, and I'd say it's a wise decision.
But at the same time I would only wait till the base gets available, and get a base+grip set, as the twist may still drag behind. Not too long, but enough to upset some impatient pilots (I'm impatient' too, so I understand them well).

So your saying the Twist is coming soonish ? like it's now being produced ?
Are there any specific holdups at the moment holding it back, like is there still legal issues or something ?

azmodiuz wrote:it's now being produced

It is in production stage.
Which doesn't mean it is right now what the factories are busy with.
It means that it is out of design phase, and into production.
There are many considerations, of manufacturing, commercial, logistics, etc. nature. We are keeping these to ourselves.
This is all I can leak.

fair enough, something is better than nothing.
But you guys understand our frustration here right ?
We want to be the loyal loving VKB customer, but it's been so long, and we're not even convinced it's a thing anymore.

Heck, I just found out the Left hand stick is no longer being considered, but when I purchased I asked if there was going to be a left hand stick and was told yes, and it also would have the ability to use the incoming twist adapter which after 2 years of waiting is now more of a secret than anything tangible. Not to mention soon as I got my stick and gimbal it was REV1 and can't use this with any of the new Rev 2's. I asked if I could exchange, and was only offered a 10% off the next purchase.
I did the purchase and they never gave me the 10%, and I mentioned it, and no reply ever came. So I've been kind of tossed around here, and I am sure I am not alone either.

What can you propose I do to better this situation ?

I have to second this last post ^

I am also trying to be a loyal VKB only customer because I believe in the vision.

I understand things take a lot of time in a boutique market, but we are asking about generic questions.

For example, what is the order of products being worked on?
What are the general time frames for those products in those order?
What are the general thoughts on the details of those products?

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For example, a good way to be transparent with the customers is to say something like this (and have a new post every month saying at least what is being worked on or updating the timeline, or just even new photo tease, etc - basic marketing stuff)

1. We are working on the space sim grip currently called the Kosmosiva. We have more grips to come in the future but more detailed and concrete plans for 2 more grips. They are focused on planes from the late 20th century.
Afterwards, we have plans to focus on a throttle system, followed by another grip.

2. We need about a month for Kosmosiva, after which we will begin final phase on throttle and then go into production.
Q1 2019 is Kosmosiva orders and shipment.
Q2 2019 is twist adapter orders and shipment.
Q3 2019 is throttle system orders and shipment.
Q4 2019+ is when work is starting for a new grip.
Q1 2020 is inform/tease about new products/ideas and continued work on new grip.

3. Kosmosiva Grip: finished factory production batch, has twist, has left-hand and right hand, etc. coming in Q1 2019
Twist Adapter: extra axis added to MCG grip, etc. coming in Q2 2019
Throttle System: has hats, metal slide, buttons, leds, etc. coming in Q3 2019
New Grip Ideas: MiG 21, MiG 29, F4, etc.

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Something like that would be great.

Also, will add a post about new grip ideas later on.