I'm shutting down the decal and sticker business

[Anasazi37]

Hi everyone,

This is one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make, but it is the right one. Effectively immediately, I am no longer accepting orders for decal or sticker sets. This applies to both stock and custom commissioned orders. If you have already placed an order, I will honor it. If you haven't paid already, please do so within the next week. The reasons for having to shut down the business are as follows:

- I recently got married and the business is cutting heavily into time I should be spending with my wife (nights and weekends).

- I really need to finish my PhD, which requires time I haven't been able to give it. I can split my time between my wife and the PhD, but not those two plus the business. It's too much.

- ALPS is discontinuing all support for their printers starting 04/01/07. This includes repairs and inks. Prices for inks are already going up, stock is going down, and the waiting list for printer repairs is getting longer. In all of the years I've been makings sets, I've only made a few for myself because I've been so busy filling orders. Because of how often my printer breaks, I'd like to take what time there is left and work on taking care of the long list of sets I need for my own projects before the printer breaks again. I also have not found a good alternative printing method, despite a great deal of searching.

There's a lot more (work is killing me these days), but those are the big reasons. I want to thank all of you for supporting my efforts. It always makes me smile to see my decals and stickers on your toys and models. I'm not leaving the forums, so you'll definitely see me around. I'm happy to continue to offer advice on graphic design, decal printing, and customizing for those who are interested.

-Devin

[JEXPRIME]

Another guy leaves neverland...

and i know im next....

[HWR MKII]

To put it simply

THAT SUCKS! Your decals have got me out of alot of jams man. I can say im glad i was able to be one of your customers.

[Mechamaniac]

Your stuff will be sorely missed Devin.

PLEASE, PLEASE pass your knowledge on to someone else here!!

[Macross73]

[eugimon]

ah, sad for us, good for you. Good luck with your phd!

ooo, and your marriage... that's important too.

[Lonely Soldier Boy]

I'm sorry to hear that. I bought and used your stuff and now I can't imagine my future toys without your decals.

Of course that you have my complete support on this, it's nobody's fault, but sounds like the end of an era.

[promethuem5]

End of an era folks.... best basement decal maker ever...hands down.

[Chet]

Wow. Now I regret putting off ordering your decals. Thanks for your contributions to our hobby. Hope you transfer the technology to someone else in the community.

[Aegis!]

I never got to order any of your stickers but i´m sure your work won´t be equalled in a long time if ever.

I deeply hope for your success on your PhD and your marriage too, I´m glad you´re not leaving MW BTW, it would really be sad to deal with a double loss like that.

[David Hingtgen]

Oh man, I never ordered my sets to replace my 1/60 stickers with decals.

What are we going to do for the YF-19?!?!?!

I am a huge decal fan (it's only thing in modeling I do well)--I have more decal sets than kits!

[Chas]

Wow! This is a real shame. Sorry to see it happen, but it's completely understandable, evryone moves on in life. Best to you and your new wife, and good luck on the Doctrate. I think the worst news is : - ALPS is discontinuing all support for their printers starting 04/01/07. This includes repairs and inks. Prices for inks are already going up, stock is going down, and the waiting list for printer repairs is getting longer.

'cus it means that no one will be able to pick-up where you leave off. Is Alps doing this for all their machines, or just the model that you have? Are they going out of business? If that's the case then it sucks for the whole cootage industry of decal making.

[mechatek]

Oh man, looks like I got my 1/48 GBP stickers just in time. Many thanks to you Devin. Your work here will definately be missed.

[dr_vandermeer]

Congratulations on the recent marriage! I am sure that you are doing what is best for you in the long run. Although I never purchased any of your products, I don't think I'd be wrong in sayig that we are all grateful for the wonderful service you provided over the years.

Now go get that Ph.D!

[Twoducks]

Crap, I never got around to ordering a set...

Well, best of luck with RealWorld

[wolfx]

awww man...and i was procrastinating getting a set for the stealth too. >_<

All the best in your future endeavors! Maybe you'll come back with tampo printing or something.

[aaajin]

As my high school teacher once said :

PHD = Permanent Head Damage it can affect your head both ways - "physically" & mentally

Good Luck!

aaajin

[Mog]

I know I started a little later than most in using your stickers. But it'll be hard to imagine not using your products on my future Valk purchases.

It sucks for us, but I understand and know you're making the right decision. Spend more time with the wifey, and go finish off that PhD!

And lastly, thank you for helping me make my own customized and personalized Valkyrie a reality.

[Dante74]

Now that everyone knows you're getting a PhD you'll probably be getting lots of 'Does this look infected' PM's.

Good luck!

[big F]

Im sorry to see you end your decal biz. I can totally understand why.

I didnt know about the alps thing glad I didnt shell out for the printer I was going to get the other week, I was looking at making my own stickers for a few non Macross projects. Darn!!

When you say your not making any more, I guess you mean that all available stocks are with your distributors or on back order for members here who`ve paid already. I really regret not geting mine sooner.

Are there no actual alternatives IYHO to the Alps for printing transfer decals. I know of a few Manufacturers who`s printers can do stickers but not decals.

Theres a printers down the road from me who can do decals (bulk runs only) but for the price they want I could comminsion Yamato to do a special run for me.

Someone once told me Life is what gets in the way of your hobbies.

Good Luck to you Devin

Someone needs to take the torch from Devin

Edited October 28, 2006 by big F

[promethuem5]

Someone needs to take the torch from Devin

Agreed...we're really gonna be hurtin real fast without someone makin decals and stickers... cuz lord knows Yamato can't do it.

[Veritas]

Aww man! I can understand your reasons for leaving, but it's still hard for me to imagine that my Valk purchases from now on are going to have to use stock stickers.

Your stickers added alot of life to our valks and you'll surely be missed. Best of luck to you in the rest of your endeavors and thanks for supporting the community for as long as you did.

[NoSuchFile]

Anasazi37, you have given my valk the best stickers ever, for that, i thank you a lot. Do as you like dude, it's ure life, so enjoy it

[captain america]

Hey Devin.

Congradulations on your recent marriage; you've taken a leap of faith into the great unknown and I wish you all the best.

As for me, looks like I'll have to start looking at alternative decal solutions. In other words: someone save me PLEASE!!!

[Firefox]

Without your decal, my 1/48 2500th Anniversay VF-1A would not be possible. Thanks and good luck to your PhD and life

[Fly4victory]

Devin,

Thanks for all the great work. Enjoy the married life and the future PHD.

Guess you don't need anymore scans

Bad news about the ALPS, too.

Scott

[skull001]

Devin, thanks again for the great service. I'm very lucky to purchase a few stickers before your decision, though not nearly enough for my collection. Anyway, Good Luck with the marriage and PhD.

You know, I have put off purchasing the GBP armor now since I didn't buy this sticker set.

Someone can tell that to Yamato!

[Razor x]

OH NOOOOO!!!

thanks for providing us with your great work .

best of luck to you and your future.

[rarra92]

I'm new in this board, (although I've been reading for quite a while).... and I bought Devin's stickers because of all the good comments from everyone , and I'm quite happy with them . They're waaaay better than the Yamato's. Thanks for the great work, and best luck and wishes on your PHD.

I'm just starting my Valk collection, and the Yamato stickers are useless . Does anyone else makes stickers; is takatoys still in the business?

[Anasazi37]

Hi everyone,

Sorry for not checking in sooner. I made the mistake of attempting to convert my computer to a dual-boot XP/Fedora Core 6 setup this weekend. Not fun. Just managed to get internet access up and running again....

I am blown away (and touched) by all of your kind words. I wish I could keep producing sets--it's just no longer practical to do so. I will admit that ALPS deciding to discontinue support was the last nail in the coffin. As far as I know, the decision only affects the United States and models MD-1000, MD-1300, and MD-5000. Anyone outside of the US with an MD-5500 *might* still be able to get repairs and inks through international distributors, but I don't know. I can't imagine that ALPS will continue that support for much longer, either. It really is an end of an era. ALPS printing is a unique process and while silkscreen printing is an option, it's insanely expensive for small runs (which is what Macross-related sets usually are). I know that there are laser printers that can print using multiple passes, but so far there is no opaque white ink/toner available for them. If that situation changes (maybe in a few years, who knows) I'll likely start making sets again. For now, though, the doors are closed. I've received a bunch of PM's from folks that address some big issues, so I thought I'd respond here for the sake of efficiency:

- "No more orders" means just that: no more orders. I need to start shifting my priorities to the wife and PhD, so I can't take on any more orders. The last thing I want to do is to give my wife the impression that I haven't really stopped the business. The ALPS printer is REALLY loud and the coating solution smells REALLY bad, so I can't do any "stealth printing" either. I like my life and I'd like to continue living it. Those of you who are married will know exactly what I mean when I say that. I deeply appreciate the fact that many of you value my work to the point that you want to purchase any extra sets I might have lying around, but unfortunately I don't keep stock on hand. All sets are printed when they are ordered, so I would have to print new ones--something I do not have time for.

- I will not be selling my masters. A ton of work went into creating each of the 70+ sets in my catalog and almost all of them were done from scratch in Illustrator (not from cleaned up scans of original Hasegawa or Yamato sets). I honestly don't think I could put a reasonable price tag on them.

- I would be happy to work with any of you here who are looking to try making your own stickers and decals. I've tried pretty much every method imaginable and know the benefits/detriments of each one. To that end, I might throw together a decal making "how to"--although there are many such guides available online. All I ask is that you post your questions in a thread rather than a PM so that I can respond in way allows others to benefit from the information as well.

Edited October 29, 2006 by Anasazi37

[Majestic]

Sorry to hear you're shutting down the business. You've really done some fine work, and I appreciate your hard work in making such accurate, original and high-quality decals. I've got a few 1/48s that look fantastic because of your work.

Thanks again, your decals will be missed!

[Jasonc]

Devin, a big congrats to your marriage, and education. I'm glad to hear you have moved on because of very solid and wonderful reasons. I've been buying decals from you for a few years now, and everytime I got them, they were much more than I expected.

On the flipside, and as my valks are telling me... "noooooooooo!!!!!!" It can't be. and I had two customs in the works. well, I must say, who is gonna pick up the torch for decals??? I will if no one else can, but creating all those decals again... well, I could always use the advice of a pro for this. thanks Anasazi/Devin for all your hard work. Can't tell you how many people are gonna be hurtin' without your decals.

[goldenboy_forever]

Dude whats up bro i know you'll come back to the valk side every does lol. I'm glad i got to get alot of decals from you in the past. I want to thank you for all of your hard work to make all the valks out there look special. HAHAHAHa PHD you wife is going to love that degree "PRETTY HUGE DICK"(quote from Phobe on freinds) lol

from Rich

Thanks Bro for everything

don't be a stranger

[Sildani]

I'm very happy to hear about your marriage, congratulations! I'd also like to join the others here in saying "thanks!" for your exacting decal work - I look at my ZG-1 Enigma Valkyrie and I'm always impressed with the "Hornisse" icon you worked so hard on. Thanks also for the custom Craftworld emblem you designed and made for me - they've really made my Warhammer 40K Eldar army stand out, and I've not thanked you properly for that until now.

All that being said, I'm glad your priorities are perfectly in order. The wife, and real life, must come first. I've been married a little over a year, and my own PhD will loom large in a very few years (as my wife wants me to collaborate with her). I empathize.

Wow, I've rambled on enough. Best of luck, man. And thanks.

Edited October 30, 2006 by Sildani

[Skull-1]

Oh sh*t.....................

I guess my 1/55 days are at an end.......

Very tragic indeed.......

*sigh*

Boy will you be missed around here.