Last year I bought two Autoblox cars, two months apart. First was of a very high manufacturing quality, it snapped together very tightly, everything aligned and it was just a pleasure to hold and play with. It was the reason why I bought another one. Got it from the same place, exact same packaging, authenticity label and what not. And what a wobbly piece of shit it was. Major quality problems. And what is strange, it left me far more pissed with the company than it wiuld've if the first toy were of a subpar quality.<p>I guess the point is that if you are going to differentiate by delivering high quality products, you just absolutely cannot let the quality slip. Ever. Otherwise it's an instant trip to the pile of "regular products" and a long a painful climb back up to gain back customers trust.
What a depressing story.<p>The guy had an offer from Brio, a very reputable partner, to take over the manufacturing responsibility, and passed on it in favor of dealing with some shady, fly-by-night Chinese firms he stumbled upon, because he <i>"wasn’t willing to let Automoblox out of my control at this point; I still wanted to achieve my dream of being a manufacturer."</i>
I know this view won't be popular but what I took from this article is it's hard for a well-off westerner to maintain slave labor and get high quality control products for pennies in labor in the east. I have no sympathy.<p>How was it surprising to realize you can't control patent/copyrights in non-democratic country ten thousand miles from you, where the factory owners have far fewer ethics than you and are willing to manipulate their slave labor even further to sell your product as theirs in other markets?
Great story about starting a new business. Also a great story about China.<p>I found it interesting how in the photos, many of the "factories" look like little more than junkyards or disaster areas, and how many of the people working in them looked like teenagers or possibly even children. That plus all the shady dealings going on may explain at least in part how China is able to manufacture so many things so cheaply compared to the US. Shameful.
I can't believe this story got so few votes. It's great story of the ups and downs an entrepreneur went through to bring his product to the market. Worth the read.
When I saw the part about the low-bidder winning the deal I had an ominous foreboding of what would later happen. Oftentimes you really do get what you pay for. Price is a signal. Ignore it at your peril.
Does the author actually mean "Pedal to the Metal" ? The original saying comes from pressing the gas pedal as far as it goes, until it presses against the metal underneath and can go no further.<p>I've never heard to "Pedal to the Mettle" ...
By random chance I happened to be looking at a few Automoblox models in a store in Boulder a few night ago. Reminded me of a cross between the Pinewood Derby cars we used to make in scouts as a kid, and LEGO. My tastes are little more into robotics/RC now otherwise I would have bought one. Nice designs.
> <i>[It] was a day that rivals only the day that my daughter was born.</i><p>I hope you mean "it was a day rivaled only by the day that my daughter was born." The former sounds like your daughter's birthday was your worst day ever, and the success of your toy was just slightly better than that.
I own a few of these, and I've given more away as gifts. They are truly awesome, the toy equivalent of an iPhone in terms of beauty, perfection, fit and finish.<p>It's nice to see the story behind the toy.
just for posterity, I'd like to link to design theatre for anyone who liked this: <a href="http://designtheatre.net/" rel="nofollow">http://designtheatre.net/</a><p>I've been pretty fascinated by these articles, as there's many opportunities out there outside of pure software business.