1+ I share your concern, I was cool with thinking that Neal will be there when first packages are shipped, but now knowing that he will leave instructions to Lumintop, kinda reminds me on The Miller absence and all troubles other team members had ….
Just hope that they will somehow manage to arrange all that demands for different value on packages and sort out everything in best possible way…
I agree. before I became a member I was paying full price for my Nitecore, Olight and Thrunite flashlights which everyone knows they are very expensive. I have ordered many BLF flashlights and have been amazed with the quality and price. Even though shipping can take quite some time for some, it was well worth the wait. 
This was a huge project involving tons of money and time when all is said and done. The people here at BLF are amazing and I thank everyone involved for making me feel like part of something very special. THANK YOU :laughing: :laughing:
I am still behind this project for 100% and life is full of hick-ups and worse things. So don’t make a big deal of it. For me the most important thing is that Neal has a great wedding and a happy marriage. So please no discussion about it. It is what it is, and Lumintop will sort things out, they have a good reputation.
And the wait. I have no doubts this will be a spectacular light. Thankfully, I am in no rush and can wait.
Obviously Neal has to show them how to read his shipping list as to who gets batteries, who does not, what declared value to use, what goes in one box DHL and what goes in 2 boxes, etc… Then he has to show them how to pack the cells in the carrier with little protective stickers to stop battery flow. How to check the lights over and what to look for, etc… The boxes and manuals took extra time. QC took extra time. There has never been a set schedule. Lumintop and Neal have just been trying to do their best.
Do you remember what happened when the Q8 went out too soon? There were small issues that cropped up. Thorfire had to be reminded how to tighten screws without stripping them, etc… There are so many behind the scenes stuff that we are at least hearing about. Other companies would just say it’s delayed and that’s it. No more communication until a month later to say it’s delayed longer. That’s what’s frustrating.
I always suspected no lights would get shipped until January. The kicker is, Neal is probably going to have to dip into his pocket to pay some of the Lumintop employees to do what he planned to do just so we can get the lights sooner. That’s pretty impressive.
Nvanlaar’s links for page 375.
The Millers Original List ending on Nov 11 and #1213
Coyotehawk’s Continuation of the Group Buy List, starting Nov 11 and #1214 - Updated Dec 12
Neal’s Paid/Shipping List for first 555 - Updated Dec 8
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M4D M4X: For all people who want to let us know the value that should be declared on the parcels:
please take the BLF GT customs declaration survey
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Samsung 35E seem ideal, high mAh and good amps.
M4D M4X is doing a groupbuy, here: GROUPBUY: 8pcs Samsung 35E BUTTON TOP for the BLF GT
No, that’s not how it works.
Lumintop pays their employees, not a separate entity.
He is most likely making money from this due to the donations given with the purchases.
I agree, take it slow and send them out when everything is double checked and packed properly. I got one two if the first batch Q8s and wish things had been done properly the first time around.
The donations go to a BLF team account. Neal might get some money from that since he is a part of the team, but he is not skimming that off for himself.
The AceBeam K70 is a powerhouse in my line-up. The awe-factor compared to the rest of my throwers, the wall shot looks like it stomps on the Maxtoch Shooter 2x. Seeing it makes me all giggity.
Knowing I have the BLF GT coming, I can only imagine the intensity. I think it will be an amazing thrower. And well worth the investment if throwers are your fixation.
Now I understand. GIGGLES, it fits the GT MONSTER
Well yeah, obviously he’s not the only one on the team.
How do you figure this? Neal planned to do all packaging and shipping of the lights himself.
Now he plans to get other people to do that job (until he gets back). These other people do not work for free, do they?
Lumintop has to pay their employees so Neal would need to pay Lumintop.
Are you thinking Neal was able to talk Lumintop into absorbing the cost of a couple employees for a couple weeks as part of a “good will gesture”? It’s possible, I suppose.
In case of the Q8, more time would not have made the first batch any better.
What happened is that Thorfire (and for that matter probably the majority of chinese companies) did not understand, or wished not to understand what a ‘production prototype’ is: completely without reporting to the BLF design team they changed all sorts of little things (luckily not major things) between production prototype and production type. When that happens, the first production run automatically turns into a prototype run, and the flaws resulting from the changes will have to be ironed out for the second run. More time would not have changed that.
Well they ship out all the other lights they sell themselves, why would that be a problem for the GTs?
Idk if Neal lives right beside Lumintop, but if not, it would be a waste of time and money to ship the lights from Lumintop to him then have him ship them out rather than just shipping them directly from Lumintop.
I wish Neal (or equivalent) could have been at the Thorfire factory as Q8s started to come off the line. He could have said “hold up, this needs to be fixed”. It would cause a delay, but you’d get high quality lights.
I have email’ed and pm’ed Neal NO reply . Am I the only one who has not heard back form him?
Neal is to busy to reply. If you PM’d him what I told you to you are good. It will be taken care of.
It is a waste of your time to worry about it… it is just how it is.
Were you in the first 555?
IF not it will most likely be January 2018 before you hear anything. IF it happens to be earlier… just consider it a bonus. 
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Edit… I see these are your numbers……
- 773 Gunslinger686
- 774 Gunslinger686 2nd
I am certainly not the expert here.
BUT, if those were my numbers; I would not expect to receive anything until sometime after the first of the year. And whenever “sometime” will be is anybody’s guess.
I will tell you why it’s a problem for the GTs. When Neal was brokering his deal with Lumintop, Lumintop had to calculate their costs. This includes material, labor, time, etc… Since Neal planned to handle the packaging and shipping of the lights, Lumintop could subtract that cost from their expenses. Then a deal was struck.
Now due to circumstances, Neal is going away for 2 weeks before any lights are ready to ship. So he can do one of 3 things:
- Start shipping the lights when he gets back in January and disappoint a few folks.
- Renegotiate his deal with Lumintop to cover their employee expenses to get some of their workers to do packing and shipping for 2 weeks.
- Or just pay Lumintop out of his pocket for these extra workers.
I suppose there is a 4th option. He could try and talk Lumintop into covering the expenses themselves as part of a “good will” move that makes Lumintop look like good guys and maybe result in more sales later on.
These are the kinds of behind the scenes stuff we don’t normally hear about and may not ever hear about from Neal. Shhh, it’s secret.
Ps, I will say that this Lumintop partnership has opened me up to their products. I never really paid much attention to Lumintop before, but now I see they have a lot of nice lights.
This is my first BLF project, and so far very impressed by the good work off all members to create the best thrower of this moment. I have lots of experience with shipments from China to my country (and what can go wrong)and it gave me some kind of confidence that Neal is/was in the lead there in Kanton. Now I have to rely on other people who I don’t know. And with all respect, not all employees over-there are like Neal. But I am over it, and let’s stay confident and positive that Lumintop does the job right. But we have to realize that they are also very busy as it’s gift season.
Thanks for the great info TA!!!
It is good to know Neal & LT are being so meticulous about the whole process. I appreciate that!!! :+1:
With all the work that had/has to be done I think things are progressing at a fantastic pace.
Brilliant idea to go ahead and get the payment process out of the was also.
That way Neal has time to sort through the massive amount of information concerning the first 555 and have the paid & ship to lists all ready when the lights are finally ready to go.
Much better than having the lights ready to go and then having to spend two or three weeks assembling the lists. :+1:
Again a big Thank You to ALL involved & again to Neal along with LT in this final phase. :+1: