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This is not acceptable…

Kaiju_cube

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On the other hand, what has GAN made in their time? The cubes Feliks used in his prime before he got sponsored(kind of a bad move to Moyu, but whatever). The lightest of cubes. The first 3x3 that came with magnets from the factory. Corner-Core Magnets. MagLev. And more that I don't need to list.
So there Pricetag is high, maybe a bis unjustified if you can see what other brands charge but not completely

Pretty sure I remember the RS3M and Meilong having Maglev before GAN.

I'm sure GAN has innovated some things but they seem to get credit for innovating everything. And I'm not sure that's deserved.
 

OreKehStrah

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Pretty sure I remember the RS3M and Meilong having Maglev before GAN.

I'm sure GAN has innovated some things but they seem to get credit for innovating everything. And I'm not sure that's deserved.
Very true. They were not the first with maglev, but I do think they had the best implementation. The other companies just slapped in 2 ring magnets and called it a day, while gan put them in a casing that holds them and keeps them at the same distances, which is quite nice as magnetic force does not scale linearly iirc.
 

the_chad

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I am pretty sure that Chris Tran is the one who invented MagLev system and magnetic cubes in general. He should get the credit for it. It was the greatest advance in hardware since 2011. The only company that really innovated was Dayan with Guhong design and Zhanchi' torpedoes. If you guys just want to buy Gan cubes then go ahead but please don't try to justify that decision by saying that they are the biggest innovator on the market. Because they don't. They are just slightly improving the design each time they release a new cube.
 
Last edited:

Thom S.

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This part is false; Chris Tran was definitely not the first to publish when it came to putting magnets in cubes.

Afaict the magnetic cubes boom was sparked off by Qiyi's announcement of their magnetic clock in 2016, and even in that thread, you can already see prior art.
From what I remember, Chris was the first to Press-Fit magnets in the outside wall of the cubie in contrast to gluing them inside(which is only a good idea if you know about press-fit charts) and I believe they made the first magnetic something.
Magnetswere definitly a thing before but you could feel them come to be in 2016. That's when 3x3s, then 4x4s and I believe then Pyra had magnetic pro shop options available.
 

codacube

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TLDR: Inflation is HUGE issue and adding substantial costs to cube pricing

Wow, lots of posts about GAN cube pricing, but considering:
All of these inflationary issues and more add substantial costs to cube pricing. All speed cube manufacturers and vendors have had to put up with profit pressures.

Personally, I haven't been cubing long (or fast) enough know and understand this specific industry, but I do not see evidence of a monopoly where GAN could charge whatever they like. It "feels" like there is lots of competition amongst the different cube manufacturers to design, engineer, and produce products that push the envelop and make good speed cubers faster. If that competition didn't exist, then we would still be using rough and tough turning cubes of my early days.

If you don't like the end user pricing, then a boycott by a substantial number of people may help lower the pricing. Another potential solution, if you like GAN cubes, is to purchase in bulk directly from GAN and remove one middle man and figure out how to distribute to your friends. ;)

Choice and competition are good. I trust we don't get to a point where, like Apple, producing a different color product is a new product. (I hope I didn't touch the third rail with that last comment.)

FYI - I haven't ordered the new GAN cubes.
 

Kaiju_cube

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you make good points. Shipping from China is extremely cheap though as it's subsidized by the Gov.

It's kind of a scam but this isn't the forum to discuss such things. But they do not pay for shipping like we do.

All the rest are valid points, especially plastic costs as plastic is an oil based product.
 

Eli Apperson

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TLDR: Inflation is HUGE issue and adding substantial costs to cube pricing

Wow, lots of posts about GAN cube pricing, but considering:
All of these inflationary issues and more add substantial costs to cube pricing. All speed cube manufacturers and vendors have had to put up with profit pressures.

Personally, I haven't been cubing long (or fast) enough know and understand this specific industry, but I do not see evidence of a monopoly where GAN could charge whatever they like. It "feels" like there is lots of competition amongst the different cube manufacturers to design, engineer, and produce products that push the envelop and make good speed cubers faster. If that competition didn't exist, then we would still be using rough and tough turning cubes of my early days.

If you don't like the end user pricing, then a boycott by a substantial number of people may help lower the pricing. Another potential solution, if you like GAN cubes, is to purchase in bulk directly from GAN and remove one middle man and figure out how to distribute to your friends. ;)

Choice and competition are good. I trust we don't get to a point where, like Apple, producing a different color product is a new product. (I hope I didn't touch the third rail with that last comment.)

FYI - I haven't ordered the new GAN cubes.
In regards to your inflation comment, in 2018 the X was $65, still almost 3 times everything else. So it's possible inflation has impacted it some, but even if it has the prices have always been high.
 

Sion

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I agree, however there is nothing wrong with trying to change something to give more people access to it.

Again, the most fundamental elements of GAN's current designs can be tracked for 3 generations, all the way back to the 11, and even then the XS is similar enough.

GAN is already quite accessible. I just see people getting frustrated that their newest most high-end flagship is not accessible itself. They have plenty of other products that are just as good performance-wise.

Folks, cube's aren't like phones where they stop updating after a certain point. Unless you go back to before 2017 with hardware age, you're honestly going to be fine with whatever cube you use. I don't think anyone will scold someone for using legacy GAN hardware unless they were the elitist gatekeeper type.

I think it sends a stronger message if people continued to buy older versions of the product instead of outright boycotting a company.

Again though, I personally have nothing against anyone who's willing to put money down to buy a GAN 13. I'm sure it performs well.
 
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Garf

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The 11 m pro is now 55 dollars, compared to what is was before. The 12 m maglev is 72 and even the leap is 55 dollars now, same price as the 11 m pro. The non-flagships are going down in price, making them more accessible than the flagships.
I have a theory on this: when a new GAN cube is released, it is set to a higher price on purpose. Gan does this as a kind of a fundraiser for new products in the future. So I am guessing once GAN has earned enough money for a new project/puzzle, they will set the cube to a lower price.
 

Eli Apperson

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The 11 m pro is now 55 dollars, compared to what is was before. The 12 m maglev is 72 and even the leap is 55 dollars now, same price as the 11 m pro. The non-flagships are going down in price, making them more accessible than the flagships.
I have a theory on this: when a new GAN cube is released, it is set to a higher price on purpose. Gan does this as a kind of a fundraiser for new products in the future. So I am guessing once GAN has earned enough money for a new project/puzzle, they will set the cube to a lower price.
I think that's rather doubtful. I believe they set the price that high in the beginning because they know there is enough hype that people will pay for it, and as the demand dies down so will the price.
 

OreKehStrah

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I think that's rather doubtful. I believe they set the price that high in the beginning because they know there is enough hype that people will pay for it, and as the demand dies down so will the price.
This. This is one of the fundamental things you will learn in a basic economics class lol. At release, the premium flagship model is released with a high price tag. Type A customers will purchase the cube at or soon after release. Type B customers will wait to for the price to drop or for a cheaper model to release. Type C will not buy the product (and probably complain about the price lol).
 
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