Suspended/Canceled Kickstarter Projects

The NexD1 - The first Multimaterial & Electronics 3D Printer 
A 3D printer with impossible specs. Exposed for passing off bought 3D-printed samples as their own.


The OV Smartwatch

01- 05 : Multi-Functional EDC Design Collection
Selling eBay ripoffs of previous successful Kickstarter projects

Panther Alpha - Small, 4K/2GB/32GB, All-in-One Supercomputer
Another one of those impossibly small pocket PC scams. See Tango.

ArcSling Motion Converter - Turn Movement into Electricity
See Ampy

Portable Console for PC games - PGS
Another one of those handheld console scams with impossible specs. Smach Z is another one that got funded - watch it, it's going to end up like this.

IBee Smart Modular Bracelet - The first of its kind

MOTI | Your Smart Companion for Better Habits

The Infinity Pen
Reselling something similar to the Beta metal inkless pen at a markup

"ULed" - Your powerful LED flashlight 

PillarHub

Boltivate Wireless Smart Lock

Kickstarter Scams

Yeah, we all know about the Kobe beef jerky scam and the massive, persistent Scribble, and there are lists of scam projects out there, but they all only mention suspended or canceled projects and none dare to list the real meat: how many projects took the money and ran, and how much did they escape with? I'm sure these are facts Kickstarter doesn't want made public, and I'm surprised they haven't taken down these scam projects. Now, for the first post, I'm going to be stringent on the criteria and only include definite scams:

• Successfully funded
• 0 delivered
• At least 6 months overdue
• 3 months with no updates

And I'm going to start with the biggest:
Eyez™ by ZionEyez HD Video Recording Glasses for Facebook 
Raised USD$343,415 on 1 August 2011. Last update 10 April 2012.
I think it's important to distinguish projects that were scams right from the start, from those with good intentions but ran into problems. Looking at the pictures on their campaign page, it's clear they never had a working prototype and they're just showing a bulky pair of sunglasses. This project sold (or rather, was going to sell) sunglasses with a built-in video camera, the cheapest of which was $150 a pair.

Arts for Veterans
Raised USD$2,635 on 10 March 2013. Last update 28 November 2013.
This project wanted to turn military uniforms into paper to raise money?

MD-Pen [Minimal & Durable pen]
Raised USD$14,660 on 9 August 2012. Last update 6 February 2013.
This is odd because it's just an aluminium pen. What's more odd is backers were promised their pen if they backed another pen, the CoCoPen.

Triumvir Pen : A multifunction alloy pen
Raised USD$20,372 on 22 September 2013. Last update 11 January 2014.
You'd never guess pens were so hard to make from the number of pen projects. The lack of updates and manufacturing details in this project don't help with its honesty.

Asylum Playing Cards
Raised USD$25,146 on 1 November 2012. Last update 14 July 2013.
This project is significant because it's the first to have a lawsuit filed against it: Kickstarter fraud: Washington files first consumer protection lawsuit involving crowdfunding This might set precedent for other scams to follow, but so far nothing has come of it 6 months later.
This was just a project for custom-printed playing cards, so no technical challenges, yet they still failed. In the interest the lawsuit generated, it was revealed that the creator didn't even have permission to use the artwork from the owner! For someone who has no qualms about stealing designs, I don't think the creator of this project ever intended to deliver. A scam right from the start.

VACHEN Smart Watch
Raised USD$110,128 on 30 May 2013. Last update 5 December 2013.
Abrupt silence. No explanation of what went wrong, how the money was spent. It's as though the creators died. Or took off.

Some Delivered

The previous criteria were extremely strict. Here are some "honourable mentions" also scams, but managed to deliver some broken products.

The Limb.al
A stiff phone cable that was supposed to also work as a mount. Actually a repackaged product.

Apollo AP-1 Tactical Flashlight

Keylet
A key + wallet that was poor quality and only delivered a few units.

CST-01
Raised a whopping $1,026,292 from 7,658 backers on 23 February 2013
E-ink curved metal band watch. I can't believe they actually managed to make a few and this wasn't a scam from the start. This project is recently under attention because the creators say they've run out of money, yield was lower than expected, and each unit will cost $300 - compared to the most expensive $129 pledge. Or is that $300 from this point, in addition to the million they've spent? People are debating whether they're being truthful or just absolving responsibility.

Modulus pen and stylus
I like this project because even while it was raising money, the creator had an argument in the comments. During manufacturing, they changed specs without consulting anybody. Last of all, they blamed empty envelopes on the postal service and lots of people didn't even receive the empty envelopes. The cherry on the cake is the creator has deleted their account.

Alpha - World's Best Wallet
It's 2 aluminium plates and an elastic band. Just like the zillions of other minimalist wallets out there. Yet somehow this managed to screw it up with crappy design + poor quality + deviating from promised + of course, not delivering all products.

Magic Phone Stand
A stiff phone cable that was supposed to be able to support the phone as a stand. I can't tell if they've delivered any products. With the last update in January 2015 but comments as recent as May, the creators seem to have forgotten how to post updates.

BONUS

As a bonus to you: projects that still claim to be working hard, but are obviously scams. You must have heard of the first 3...

The Dragonfly Futurefön
Raised USD$687,341, and has the cheek (both them and Indiegogo) to be on InDemand (continue to accept orders)
An amazing phone/laptop/tablet thing with dual hinged screens and a hinged keyboard. No point quoting the specs because they're all made up anyway.

Ritot
Raised a staggering USD$1,657,585 and also on InDemand!
A projection watch. Never mind the defying-the-laws-of-physics low angle projection and projecting darkness, or the fact that all their campaign images are renderings or photoshopped images (i.e. they don't have the simplest prototype). There are critiques out there of their electrical circuits showing they really have no idea what they're doing.

Arist
Raised USD$845,139
Oh man, where to start with this one. Allegations of a "backer party" where people backed and were refunded in cash to drive up rankings and inflate backer numbers. Legal threats against whistleblowers. Just look http://aristscam.com/

Moment Smartwatch
Raised USD$447,900
This project looks just as impossible as Ritot and CST-01, and raised almost half a million dollars, yet somehow people don't mention it.

Tango Super PC
The fact that they had 2 campaigns on both KS and IGG should have raised flags. A pocket-sized computer that claimed to be able to run full Windows (not RT or some hamstrung version)

MOTA SmartRing
Yet another project on both crowdfunding platforms. Is this not already a massive red flag, without promising something impossible with today's technology?

AMPY: Power your devices from your motion
Charge your phone by walking! Free energy! See why it won't work, or at best, be really really disappointing: http://drop-kicker.com/2014/11/ampy-and-juse/ 30 minutes of running to charge an iPhone 6 by 2.5%! Reading their statements gives the impression they're leaning towards intentionally misleading, rather than well-intentioned with no grasp of physics.

Physical Crowdfunded Things I've Bought 2015

Last year: Physical Crowdfunded Things I've Bought

Modus

Titanium Slingshot

Elco Coin Pouch

Para TPS

The Gentleman's Single-Use Monocle

Epic PolandBall/CountryBall Plushies

SlingSwatter

Titanium Pocket Bit
USD$9 with free International shipping

Keep'n-it
USD$28 shipped within US

TK-TUKK
USD$60 shipped to Singapore

to be continued...

Physical Crowdfunded Things I've Bought

PortPilot Pro, $99 USD including shipping. My post

Ti2 Sentinel, SGD$140 including shipping. I missed the campaign so I bought this afterwards. Post

Qlipter, USD$20 without international shipping.

ZipSeam, USD$24 without international shipping

Titanuim Key System, USD$18 for 2 without international shipping

TiMaG (titanium), USD$21 including shipping

Handgrey (I didn't actually get one but I got a Bauhaus carabiner from the project) USD$63 including shipping

Tyny Tools, USD$15 including shipping

Ti2 Titanium Wallet, USD$44 including shipping

Keystone, USD$20 including shipping

Linkmount, USD$25 including shipping

Side Opening Organizers, USD$33 including shipping

Fish Bone, USD$5 including shipping (bought from the Diesel Fish project)

TiTweezers, USD$66 including shipping

EDC Ink, USD$68 including shipping

Ti2 Sentinel Modification

In my original post, it bothered me that there was a lot of wasted space in the caches. I found out the S8M size is about 2 mm too short to hold Singaporean $100 bills, which drove me to modify my capsule. I'm generally apprehensive about modifications, since my skills aren't very good, so they usually end up like this:

Also, Sentinels are expensive.

First, I noticed that the cap extended after the threads ended, which seemed like a waste of space. In this picture, there is a line corresponding to the top of the threads. The cap goes on for at least another 1.5 mm, maybe 2 (small interval markings in 0.5 mm). The different coloured top part is the bevel, not the top surface. This means I can potentially increase the capacity by 3 mm.

But would removal of this material affect the sealing of the cache?

The other cap had a similar amount of extension. I forgot which cap was which.

First, I looked at other examples of metal threads - my Fenix UC40UE's threads went all the way to the end of the body (male). So it didn't seem necessary to have a flat portion without threads. People praise Fenix's build quality so I thought they would be a good reference.

Next, I looked in the Sentinel's tube to see how the female threads ended. From what I could tell, it was:
(end of body) (flat portion) (threads) (thin line) (centre of body)
It looked like the cap's top lined up with the thin line, meaning the cap's threads would end before the body's. Worst case scenario, if I ground the caps down to the threads, the body's threads would be exposed. If I say, kept a powder in my Sentinel, it could get into the threads. But then again, the threads didn't fit so closely in the first place. They were surprisingly loose, actually, given how many claims were made about their quality.

So I decided to chance it. Now, if you want to try this, it's best if you have some kind of mechanical grinding aid, maybe a belt sander. If you do it freehand on sandpaper, it's hard to keep the cap perfectly vertical, and you might end up with a curved or sloping face. Things I learned:

• Some people look down on Grade 2 titanium, but wow, it's really hard. Much harder than aluminium. This was really slow going. Gave me faith in the strength of the Sentinel, though.
• I managed to use both hands at the same time to grind both caps, saving about half the time.
• I managed to keep the face nicely flat. Yeah!
• If you're going to try this, it's best to use masking tape to protect everything you don't intend to grind, especially the threads. It saved my threads from some damage.
• I took out the o-rings, since you have to take them off for cleaning afterwards anyway. You don't want metal dust/abrasive under your o-rings.
• Once you sand away the bevels, it leaves a 90° edge on your cap. Combined with titanium's hardness, this is enough to cut skin! I didn't have a lathe to put a precise bevel back on, what could I do? The inner bevel is easy - fold a cone of sandpaper, about the size of the inner surface, then move it all around the inside. On average, every point on the edge should be sanded the same amount, resulting in a uniform bevel. For the outer bevel, take a funnel, line the inside with sandpaper, and do the same. It's not a perfect bevel, and it's very very shallow, but at least it's not sharp. Maybe I can use a cone to thin the cap and get more space...

Final result:

Hmm, the bevel is clearly gone, but it still extends by more than 1.5 mm. Looks like there's not much difference. But now I can fit S$100 bills, which is great! I removed as little as possible!

TKS Mini-biner

A Kickstarter project: TKS: Titanium Key System

This is actually only the SECOND project I've received rewards for, and the ONLY physical reward I've received, despite it being the 15th project I've backed, and approximately 14 months after I backed my first project. (It's not that bad. Most of my pledges are $1 to keep track of projects and see updates.)

This project was mainly for titanium one-piece multitools with the usual wrench, bottle opener and hanging hook functions. Those didn't interest me, but their carabiner did. The entire carabiner, including the spring and gate, was made of a single piece of titanium, what I call a "unibody" design. It's similar to the Bauhaus carabiner, both very elegant, although I have to admit the Bauhaus looks better. The best part of the Mini-biner was it cost only $10, less than 1/3 of the Bauhaus, and possibly the cheapest titanium carabiner I've seen. It even had free anodising.

So it arrived without warning at my vPost address, and I hurriedly threw some orders together to make the shipping worthwhile. The carabiners were in what looked like plastic envelopes for coins, in a too-big padded envelope. It was ok, vPost only charged for 0.5 kg volumetric weight. There was a cute little laser-engraved wooden plaque included. Maybe the carabiners were cut with the same laser?

First impression: the carabiners are smaller than I expected, but that's ok since I was planning on using them on belt loops and all my other clips and carabiners hang too low. They're also really light and feel like they could be aluminium, but I don't think aluminium has that much spring. The gate is surprisingly stiff. All their edges are smooth so they've had some finishing work done.

So far, I love them. The right size and weight, unique design, titanium, build quality seems ok and cheap! I'm just worried about the gate. The problem with the unibody design is, I think the gate thickness has to be optimised so that the entire section bends evenly. If not, it'll break after some use. It's happened to some Bauhaus carabiners. Hopefully they've tested and iterated this design. You'll also see that solid loops (e.g. keys) can only go in the clip and hang off the bottom of the carabiner. They can't fit in the circle. This also happens to be where the bending takes place, so any scratches/cracks will grow quickly and shorten the life of the carabiner, so I'm refraining from keeping any metal there.

Kickstarter Projects

I was making a list of Kickstarter projects I was following, then I decided a spreadsheet would be a better format:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lFSL5jkaKTI9JKcg24obec8HqsJbcM-gY9BEXnfTPWs/edit?usp=sharing
This will free up some space in my starred projects. The list is mostly for scams and WTF free energy projects. It's amazing how the greedy creators of the WTF projects expect to cheat people of thousands of dollars. They might get away with a thousand at the most, but one asked for $375,000. Have they no grasp on reality?

Key Smart

Aside: Is it Key Smart, KeySmart or Keysmart?

In my Kickstarter post, I mentioned key organisers/holders. I finally decided to get the KeySmart. The Keyport had these problems:

• Expensive
• Difficult to add new keys - ok I might accept the USD$60 startup cost, but I'm not spending $5 and waiting a month for them to send me new blanks
• Despite their exhaustive library, there are some keys they simply don't have blanks for. I have a Kaba Star key that cannot be copied.
• Limited to 6 keys

Compared To Keyz
Keyz was my next choice. It is, er, very similar to KeySmart.

• Keyz starts at $35, compared to $21 for the KeySmart. In fact, when I bought mine, the KeySmart titanium version was going for only $39, just a bit more than the normal Keyz!
• Keyz's plates are 0.025" or about 0.6 mm thick and made of steel, while KeySmart's are about 1 mm and aluminium. I'm not sure how strong Keyz's plates are, my spudger is 0.5 mm thick and seems sturdy, but if you look at Keyz's comments around 28 Mar, people complain it's too flimsy. KeySmart can barely be deformed with 1 hand and, when assembled, even squeezing with 2 hands bends it less than the width of a key.
• Keyz is polyurethane coated, while KeySmart is anodised. I don't know which will last longer, but I don't think either will last in an abrasive environment with keys.
• The loops built into the handle of Keyz are a bad idea and any rings placed there severely restrict key movement, while KeySmart's movable loop, while not closable with rings attached, don't restrict keys as much.
• Keyz claims their screws are better because they're 1) steel 2) "smaller" (shorter? narrower? flatter?) 3) have a fixed stand-off. Well, I think KeySmart's are steel too, at least their expansion rods are, and the screws also screw into a fixed "nut". I think the most important measure of the screws is their thickness (the thinner, the more keys compatible), and Keyz doesn't mention their screws' thickness, so I don't think theirs is special. KeySmart says their diameter is 4 mm. Lastly, Keyz even has an update due to their screws breaking.
• Keyz's metal washers are one area that's better than KeySmart's rubber ones.
• Possibly due to the better washers, no reports of Keyz coming loose.

KeySmart came in a nice padded envelope.

Contents: 1 card, 1 KeySmart, assembled, and 1 pack of accessories (washers, split ring, expansion posts)

The KeySmart came with 2 key blanks that they inform you are real and usable. I don't think I'll use them as 1) I don't have any locks that fit them (might be a US thing) 2) I think the shop will charge you the same if you BYO blanks anyway. It also came with a "spacer" washer - thicker, meant to balance out if you have different numbers of keys on both sides.

One of my keys' holes was too small. Here, you can see KeySmart's attachment loop.

After a while with a Dremel, it now fits! It's hard to drill straight, though. The key was surprisingly hard to cut. I mean, when you cut keys, it only takes a few seconds, but this took much much longer, even though less material was removed. Are key cutting machines that much more powerful? Is the handle of the key harder than the teeth?

I tried to arrange my keys so that their teeth don't end up hitting, by matching teeth with keys cut on their wide side (not their edge, like normal keys). The recommended arrangement is teeth hitting, to minimise pointy bits sticking out.

Final front shot

This is what it looks like from the side. Plastic keys are thicker. I put washers between keys and the panels to prevent scratches.

Likes

• Feels very sturdy and secure, especially when using keys
• Reduces overall key volume
• Reduces scratching
• Reduces noise
• Vibrant colours
• Wide key compatibility

Dislikes

• A bit narrow for advertised number of keys. I'm supposed to be able to hold 10 keys; from the picture above I only have 5 keys + 1 loop and it's already full.

After I bought and received mine, they had an Easter sale and ran out of stock on many items - I thought they were clearing stock for a new model. However, they've refreshed their store, and the prices went up! I bought my EXT for USD$16 and it's now selling for USD$21. Titanium was $39 and is now $59! The models have changed slightly. The logo used to be KEY|smart, now it's KEY|SMART. I want to buy more expansion posts and a new back panel, but the back panels haven't been restocked yet. Update 5 May 14: They've lowered their prices. Original $17.99, EXT $18.99, Titanium $39.99.

2 Types Of Kickstarter Projects

Minimalist Wallets

One of the most common design projects is the minimalist wallet. These wallets typically only carry cards and cash, with each claiming to be the thinnest and lightest. I heard that in the U.S., it's possible to survive with only cards and no cash, which I guess is how these wallets can be so popular. I can't survive without cash, though.

The odd thing is, these wallets are very similar, and very simple - 2 pieces of solid card-shaped material (wood/carbon fiber/steel/aluminium/titanium) and an elastic band. I don't understand how these can be so popular - how are they different from just putting a rubber band around your cards? They're also inconvenient - you have to take out all your cards and cash to search for something. I have a good mind to start my own project selling rubber bands as minimalist wallets.

Key Holders

These seem a bit more useful. I first head of the Keyport, an organiser that holds up to 6 keys and slides them out. You can also substitute tools for the keys, e.g. USB flash drive, torch, bottle opener.

I think this is the best (and best-looking) organiser, but it's also very expensive, and troublesome - $30 for the body, $30 for 6 key blanks, you have to send them photos of your keys for them to send you the right blanks, then you have to go to a locksmith to cut those blanks:

I thought this type of product would be useful, so I looked at the projects on Kickstarter. But they all had their problems.

Keyz
My first choice was the Keyz, because it's:

• made of steel, especially the screws
• got thinner, custom screws
• got wave washers to keep tension on the keys and prevent loosening
• size adjusts to accommodate how many keys you have

It's slightly expensive, at $35, but when you read the comments on the Kickstarter page, you'll see it's got lots of problems:

• poor finish
• screws breaking! Those custom-made, extra strong screws!
• feels poor quality, not worth the money
• USB drive not working (I wasn't going to get one anyway)

Ok so my next choice was the KeySmart (to be honest, Keyz looks a lot like the KeySmart). This was much cheaper - $15 for the normal one, and the titanium one costs only $39! Again, looking at the comments:

• keys not fitting
• loosening (a serious problem)
• major problems with the USB drive

A word about the USB drive - what seems to have happened here was that the makers went with the lowest bidder, who sold them a bunch of deceptive (not defective, the seller intentionally misled them) USB drives that over report their capacity. The drives have maybe 500 MB of storage, but their firmware is hacked to show 16 GB. If you try and copy files over, there won't be any errors, but you won't be able to read them back. This is a serious problem! I've also seen this on drives I got from eBay - a big reason to only buy trusted flash products, if you value your data. I'm writing this because I learned of this free utility: H2testw. Free, small, needs no installation, fills your USB drive (or any drive really) with data and reads it back, testing its true capacity. Very useful! I tested my 4 GB drive I bought from Shenzhen and found out it only has 500 MB of space!

I guess the lesson to learn from this is, although Kickstarter products are new and reviews are rare, always read the comments for honest feedback - especially if you're considering buying the item after the funding period has ended and the item has shipped. A lot of projects that look good on the surface actually turn out quite different, even those with huge fundings (1000%). It looks like the reality is usually not as rosy as the main page paints. Actually, I funded a project that had a reward due in August 2013, and I still haven't got it yet. I'm just glad my PortPilot Pro turned out excellently, relatively speaking.

Ti2 Sentinel

What is it?

A titanium tube for holding small items like pills, matchsticks, pens etc. Most unique feature: there are caps on both ends, so it's very easy to eject stuck items. It started as a project on Kickstarter that got >600% its original goal.

It's quite expensive, but I can't stop thinking about it, or find anything similar. I've also got a few different kinds of things I want to keep inside, but none are valuable enough to justify the expense.

Gear Websites

If you search for this, you'll find it mentioned on many gear websites. At first I was excited to find so many sites to discover new products like this, but I was always disappointed. I don't want a new booze flask, or motorcycle, or someone trying to reinvent the notebook! I think I should start my own site only featuring things that I find cool.

Note: consider Uline's clear plastic tubes - http://www.uline.com/BL_3651/Clear-Plastic-Tubes. Meant for shipping things. Double ended, with caps.

I found a very similar commercial product on eBay:

The "NAGATAC Cretaceous Titanium Dual-end Survival Container Waterproof Life Capsule". Also made of titanium and double-ended, about the same price, even has a glass-breaker! Note: there are a few other titanium capsules on eBay, and some are even double-ended. Brands to consider: Tiremet, RockBros and Titaner.

Update 2 Jun 14
Well, they've finally done it. There's a knockoff on eBay. I've already bought the original one but haven't written about it, so I'm not interested in this. In case anyone is:

It's listed as "High strength Case Waterproof Capsule Seal bottle Protect Outdoor Gears" by the seller "edcgears". Notable differences: This one is made of aluminium, and the threads look much thinner/narrower, so they'll be weaker. Only one size. Of course, it's much cheaper.

It's interesting seeing knockoffs on eBay. There's this product called the Munroe Mega Dangler, made by Munroe. It's a titanium clip you're meant to attach keys to, and you can clip to your belt/outside of pocket. The original is about USD$70, but eBay has a knockoff stainless steel version for USD$10. And there's this Sentinel. The creator of the Sentinel on Kickstarter, Mike Bond, has several other projects: the Sentinel X, a larger aluminium one meant to boil water. On the very first picture of the eBay page above, it looks like there's a Sentinel X on the left edge of the picture, so they probably have a knockoff of that. He also has a Para-Biner, a carabiner with added functionality, and they also copied that, but in stainless steel instead of titanium. So it looks like some manufacturers are actually monitoring what products are popular and imitating them. It's actually surprising these products are so popular - I thought they're a niche hobby.

Rise Of The Makers

Previously, we've seen consolidation of companies and economies of scale in manufacturing, such that everything, even a toaster, will be much more expensive if an individual tries to make it. It made me think that it would be impossible for individuals/small companies to make their own things, which would be bad for competition and ideas.

However, with recent technologies I foresee manufacturing capabilities returning to the masses. It's like a drop of water that has grown bigger and bigger, until it's began separating into smaller drops.

• Kickstarter
• 3D printing
• Arduino
• Maker and Hacker culture

All these enable people to quickly bring their ideas to life, with little capital.