Fx Bricks (Michael Gale) announces Fx Track system

[Wimmer]

3 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

Excellent! When will you have pricing information for the various elements that are releasing on June 1?

@michaelgale : I second this question; since you're pretty sure about releasing some of these for pre-sale soon, do you have any idea what these items will cost in their respective box-sets ?  I guess we're talking about the S8, S32 (maybe price changed with a larger fabricated amount ?), R72 and R88 pieces here ?

I can't wait to make a nice loop for the christmas tree this year and not have to worry about batteries anymore... 

[Vilhelm22]

19 minutes ago, Wimmer said:

@michaelgale : I second this question; since you're pretty sure about releasing some of these for pre-sale soon, do you have any idea what these items will cost in their respective box-sets ?  I guess we're talking about the S8, S32 (maybe price changed with a larger fabricated amount ?), R72 and R88 pieces here ?

I can't wait to make a nice loop for the christmas tree this year and not have to worry about batteries anymore... 

The S8 prices will almost certainly be relatively proportional to the S32s, ie 1/4 the price or slightly more.....

My guess for R88s is that a box will be less than that for R72, but two will be more (1 box of R72s is 1/2 a circle, 1 box of R88+ is 1/4).  As a box of R72s is EUR 59.99, I'd guess probably about EUR 39.99 per box for the R88s, meaning EUR 79.98 for a half circle.

[Duq]

I'd expect the S8 to be a good bit more than S32. It may be quarter of the material but then there's tooling, packaging...

[michaelgale]

We've not finalized pricing yet.  However, the price does not simply scale with the size of the item.  Each track item is roughly the equivalent in terms of tooling costs, i.e. plastic mold + one (for straights) or two (for curves) pressed metal stamping tools.   The amount of plastic consumed per unit is not a big cost driver.  Furthermore, other costs such as shipping, labour, and material prices have increased a great deal in just the past 6 months--each of which contributes to our cost of goods.

 

 

[Wimmer]

4 hours ago, michaelgale said:

We've not finalized pricing yet.  However, the price does not simply scale with the size of the item.  Each track item is roughly the equivalent in terms of tooling costs, i.e. plastic mold + one (for straights) or two (for curves) pressed metal stamping tools.   The amount of plastic consumed per unit is not a big cost driver.  Furthermore, other costs such as shipping, labour, and material prices have increased a great deal in just the past 6 months--each of which contributes to our cost of goods.

 

 

Hi Michael;... Not trying to corner you here, but are you implying that prices might be higher than they were for the first round ?  Don't get me wrong, I understand what you're saying, and I get that you will "forward" the costs over the items, but you are now making larger batches ? But it sounds to me that buying a box of S32 might now be more than the original price was ?

Either way, I'm still very interested, and I guess that if you are slightly more expensive this round, then I'll have to cut some of my money that otherwise would go to Lego sets... 

[legotownlinz]

The price of 7.5 Euros per S32 is already high compared to 2.3 Euros for a Trixbrix S32. In the long term the success of the track system depends on the number of new customers who choose 9V over plastic tracks, therefore, tracks must get cheaper, not more expensive. The number of customers who are willing to pay high prices is limited to the existing 9V fanbase but their need for tracks will be satisfied soon.

[Black Knight]

There goes my housekeeping allowance: JB Spielwaren has started the pre-sale.

[Jedi Bert]

@michaelgale There is an issue with placing a pre-order as the system says there is no shipping to the US.

[Black Knight]

@michaelgale Is it an oversight that R88 curves ($75.95) are cheaper than R72 curves ($87.95) in the FX-Shop but do cost the same at JB Spielwaren (EUR 59.99)?

[michaelgale]

@Jedi Bert There should be no issue shipping to the USA.  However, we suspect that their might be a weight restriction with standard shipping options offered automatically by the new store.  It be worth trying to process an order with a combined shipping weight of <2 kg?  We're going to look at configuring alternative shipping options for larger/heavier orders.  Sorry about the trouble, but we're just getting up to speed with this new e-commerce platform!

@Black Knight We set retail pricing in USD and it is up to JBS to setup their equivalent MSRP in EUR.  We suspect that their pricing is due to currency exchange rate fluctuations and other factors. Its tricky for us since we're dealing with multiple currencies for sorts of things in our business!  In any case, JBS still offers great value since they offer very competitive flat rate shipping for the entire EU.  

[Traintrax]

@michaelgale  Will there be a time in the near future when Fx Track will be a stocking item?  Speaking for myself the quality is amazing be the price smarts.  I need to spread out my purchases.

Edited June 1, 2021 by Traintrax

[TuffTuffTuff]

@michaelgale

when will the small speaker be available again? I cannot use the large one and I am holding back pfx brick orders for now.

Second question: will jb-spielwaren also sell pfx bricks in the future? So I could save a lot of customs duties, taxes and fees.

[zephyr1934]

8 hours ago, Black Knight said:

@michaelgale Is it an oversight that R88 curves ($75.95) are cheaper than R72 curves ($87.95) in the FX-Shop but do cost the same at JB Spielwaren (EUR 59.99)?

It looks like R88 is 1/4 circle while R72 is 1/2 circle, so you need two boxes of R88 ($152) to equal one box of R72. Or in other words, you need 4x of the R88 boxes to make a circle. Also note that prices on FXBricks are in Canadian dollars, which are currently equivalent to $0.83 USD. I just placed my pre-order from the North American shop (9v of pure joy)

[michaelgale]

Thanks all to have already placed pre-orders for more Fx Track--much appreciated!  

There was an issue with weight thresholds for shipping that should hopefully be resolved.  Standard shipping products are for <2 kg; therefore we have added shipping tiers for up to 6 kg (USA) and 5 kg (Aus/NZ).  

@TuffTuffTuff We're not exactly sure when the M-Speaker brick will be available again--our manufacturing pipeline is just stuffed with track!  :)  The CAD for the new M Speaker is complete, we just have to figure out when to schedule it for manufacturing.  

It is very likely we will use JB Spielwaren for reselling the PFx Brick and a few key accessories; however, we're just getting started with EU distribution and our focus is getting the process working smoothly for Fx Track.  We're not sure when this will occur, but it will.

As @zephyr1934 pointed out, all our store's pricing is in Canadian dollars (CAD)--US dollar (USD) prices are approx. 20% lower.  And indeed you require twice as many R88 elements to make a full circle as R72.  Since our cost is actually based on the number of elements, curve radii above R72 will cost more--its just the reality of what you're physically producing and its associated cost.

One last word on prices:  its really difficult to keep prices low these days:

1.  Manufacturing costs have increased dramatically this past year  

2. Freight costs have gone up 3x !!!

3. Electronics availability is going crazy:  e.g. the CPU in the PFx Brick is currently 48 weeks lead time!  the Bluetooth radio is 14 weeks with ZERO stock worldwide.  You probably have seen items in the news about "chip shortages" etc. -- this is very real and it is impacting us.  Luckily we have a good inventory buffer for the electronics so far--but we're getting concerned about future products like our motor bogie and speed controller.

In any case, these are factors we can't control.  For the factors which we can control, we try to offer the best retail price we can.  If we were making USB cables for Amazon--then low cost matters--custom engineered LEGO compatible metal track is different story!

[Jedi Bert]

@michaelgale Placed my order for full circles R72 and R88. Looks like the increased weight tier worked out well.

[michaelgale]

@Jedi Bert Great!  Thank you!  We've increased the weight limit to the USA to 10 kg.  We've also added shipping rates to UK / AU / NZ up to 5 kg.  

The store now also has a currency selector in the footer so that you can see equivalent pricing in CAD, USD, GBP, and EUR.  Note that our default currency is CAD.

A reminder to folks in the EU (and the UK):  purchase your Fx Track from JB Spielwaren (in Germany).  They offer very competitive flat rate shipping to the EU.  For PFx Brick and accessory purchase, you may continue to use our Canadian web shop from our website.

 

[Traintrax]

@michaelgale Order placed for a circle of R72 and R88 as well as a box of S8 and S32.  Can't win if you don't play.  Any hope of getting power pickups for PF and PU models?

[fhurlbrink]

Good news:

On June 1st I have ordered two packs of R72 curves at JB Spielwaren. I did expect arriving them after August 31st. So I was really surprised, that they arrived just yesterday at me. So the delivery was extremely much faster than expected.

[Vilhelm22]

3 hours ago, fhurlbrink said:

Good news:

On June 1st I have ordered two packs of R72 curves at JB Spielwaren. I did expect arriving them after August 31st. So I was really surprised, that they arrived just yesterday at me. So the delivery was extremely much faster than expected.

Fx Bricks also shared a post on their Instagram story of an 8 long straights review.  The summer wave products definitely seem to be appearing now...

@michaelgale When are the planned 9v Digital motors going to be ready (I realise this is a long way off!).  I've not got any 9v trains, being too young at the time they were released, but realise it is the far superior method of controlling trains.  I'm already at 51 AAA batteries with remotes - and they obviously run out - PF/PU is a flawed system.  Also, when released will your 9v digital motors use a physical controller, or a computer program (like Hornby eLink, for example)?

I would really like to invest in your amazing products, but without a motor available they don't really provide any use.  I'll definitely invest when it is released.

[Sunil766]

On 7/18/2021 at 6:36 PM, fhurlbrink said:

Good news:

On June 1st I have ordered two packs of R72 curves at JB Spielwaren. I did expect arriving them after August 31st. So I was really surprised, that they arrived just yesterday at me. So the delivery was extremely much faster than expected.

Thanks for raising my hopes, now I'm gonna check the mailbox every day. 

My jbs account still says "pre-order 01.08." though, which is still better than August 31 :-)

Can't wait to run trains on r88

[XG BC]

On 7/18/2021 at 10:26 PM, Vilhelm22 said:

Fx Bricks also shared a post on their Instagram story of an 8 long straights review.  The summer wave products definitely seem to be appearing now...

@michaelgale When are the planned 9v Digital motors going to be ready (I realise this is a long way off!).  I've not got any 9v trains, being too young at the time they were released, but realise it is the far superior method of controlling trains.  I'm already at 51 AAA batteries with remotes - and they obviously run out - PF/PU is a flawed system.  Also, when released will your 9v digital motors use a physical controller, or a computer program (like Hornby eLink, for example)?

I would really like to invest in your amazing products, but without a motor available they don't really provide any use.  I'll definitely invest when it is released.

i can only second this when the motor is going to release am am definitely going to buy one!

[Andrew Harvey]

Hi @michaelgale. Would you by any chance have an update on the status of orders placed with JB Spielwaren on pre-order back in June?

Being in the UK, I pre-ordered a load of FX Track from them at your recommendation. My order currently states an expected shipping date of 31/08/2021. Is this likely to be achieved based on how production is going?

I understand they are not collecting UK tax, therefore I'm expecting to have to pay import VAT when the package arrives in the UK, along with any handling fees and import duties.

Thanks

Andrew

[michaelgale]

Hi @Andrew Harvey

Thanks so much for your support and your order--much appreciated.  If your order contained R88 tracks, then those orders were delayed due to production delays.  However, we've received the full complement in Hong Kong about 3 weeks ago and we sent both Canada and Germany small consignments of R88 by air freight (the remainder by sea).  In Canada we have already shipped every pre-order batch including those with R88s and I believe JBS received their consignment of R88s and should therefore be actively shipping those orders.  I know that their pre-order volume was quite large so they are likely just going through their pre-order list as fast as they can.  I would expect to see some shipping notification from them very soon and sadly to expect some delays through the UK border.  

If you don't here anything within a week or two, let me know through the Fx Bricks shop website and I can follow up directly with JBS.  

Cheers,

Michael

[Andrew Harvey]

2 minutes ago, michaelgale said:

Hi @Andrew Harvey

Thanks so much for your support and your order--much appreciated.  If your order contained R88 tracks, then those orders were delayed due to production delays.  However, we've received the full complement in Hong Kong about 3 weeks ago and we sent both Canada and Germany small consignments of R88 by air freight (the remainder by sea).  In Canada we have already shipped every pre-order batch including those with R88s and I believe JBS received their consignment of R88s and should therefore be actively shipping those orders.  I know that their pre-order volume was quite large so they are likely just going through their pre-order list as fast as they can.  I would expect to see some shipping notification from them very soon and sadly to expect some delays through the UK border.  

If you don't here anything within a week or two, let me know through the Fx Bricks shop website and I can follow up directly with JBS.  

Cheers,

Michael

Hi Michael, many thanks for the update! Understood about the R88 delays. Fingers crossed I'll hear something from JBS soon. And yes, I expect the process of getting the order into the UK will take time too.

Best regards

Andrew

[zephyr1934]

Whohoo! My 9v R88 tracks arrived today! I can't wait to set them up and watch my 9v steamers slam into the curves.