https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/x68000-z-super-xvi-japan-s-retro-pc-reborn/x/1048713#/
The miniature version of our loved X68000 are funding on Indiegogo, by Zuiki (Japan).
These are not the mini version, but a slightly bigger model, with features that match the real models such as MIDI and SCSI ports.
The full pack are expensive, no questions about it - but there are more adorable and affordable versions for the console-only perks, which you can choose: Super or XVI models.
Surprisingly they are not fully funded 23 days to go. Surprisingly but understandable, due to their high costs.
I really hope the canoeing is successful, as I already choose my perk.
This post is too help bringing more visibility for this campaign among the community, in a hope that more people join and contribute, get their little X68K which is the coolest replica I ever seen - was already with the mini models, and even more now with the new features added.
I would say that for non collectors, this is better than the real thing, get onboard people, shared with those friends that always wanted one but hit the usual barriers. They will love this.
Disclosure: I am not linked in any way to the campaign or with Zuiki, I am only a huge X68000 fan, and my only benefit with a successful campaign would be seeing a community growing around these little cool machines.
I'm not surprised it's not funded. The prices are nuts. I could almost buy a real one for that much. I guess that's not for everyone. X68k is also super niche. I was laughing with someone a few weeks about about the 'western community' because it consists mostly of the dozen or two people here plus a few on reddit and discord.
@costa I understand your enthusiasm for this project, but personally, I think it's more satisfying to give new life to original systems, going through all the stages of their restoration.
I find projects that allow us to create replacement parts and further expand the potential of old systems fascinating; it's as if they'd never gone out of style.
Even though they're old, they still survive thanks to our passion.
... AND IT'S GONE.
The crowd funding was cancelled.
The ~28 backers of the project are having fun with their refunds. IndieGogo apparently charges them before the project's successful conclusion, and some people are out a non-trivial amount of money in exchange fees for the two conversions. Seems like maybe Zuiki erred a little here.
I'm interested to see what they do next. I think they mis-read the market here. I think most of the X68 fans in The West (ie: us) want cool official gadgets and toys, not full blown computers with $700 keyboards and mouse sets.
I really hope that they do a post-mortem and are transparent about what went wrong. Did they do market research beforehand? Did they do any kind of customer outreach to figure out what people were willing to pay? How much of the hardware design or component procurement happened already, either before or during the campaign? These are all questions where the answers would help a similar project get closer to success in the future.
With that said, I'm really afraid that the answer to most (if not all) of these questions is going to be 'What, we should have done that?' There's a clear pattern emerging now after a decade of crowdfunding, that the really successful campaigns are conducted by actual companies, or otherwise people that already know how to do business. If you just show up with a dream and an idea, no amount of money is going to lead to a finished product or delivered fulfillment if you don't do that kind of basic work. I don't mean that as a criticism, just a sad and resigned acceptance.