ACHILLES RDA by Titanium Mods

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Bronze

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Maybe I should find out who's in charge of the co-op forum and private-message them with my questions. It feels like when I first started buying vape gear, and I didn't have a clue what to buy, or from whom, or at what price. :blink: A whole new ballgame!

Andria
Co Ops can be a lot of work. But I'm certainly not going to discourage you if you are so inclined.
 

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Co Ops can be a lot of work. But I'm certainly not going to discourage you if you are so inclined.

Well, it's a thought anyway; seems like one way that tootle puffers could get their hands on an Achilles, without having to wait on a clone of the Achilles 2. I'm just totally unfamiliar with what-all would be involved.

Andria
 

Bronze

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Well, it's a thought anyway; seems like one way that tootle puffers could get their hands on an Achilles, without having to wait on a clone of the Achilles 2. I'm just totally unfamiliar with what-all would be involved.

Andria
I've never done one or bought from one but I have inquired about existing co ops. Basically you sign people up then they send you payment (to include shipping) and then you ship out all the crap (or maybe the vendor ships). I suspect there are various formats and arrangements. I never cared to sponsor one because no matter how great you are and how perfectly it comes off there is bound to be at least one person who thinks you intentionally went out of your way to screw them and only them. I have great admiration for the average person. But sadly, when you get 10 - 30 people you are almost assured of having one in the crowd who is a total :censored:.
 
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AndriaD

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I've never done one or bought from one but I have inquired about existing co ops. Basically you sign people up then they send you payment (to include shipping) and then you ship out all the crap (or maybe the vendor ships). I suspect there are various formats and arrangements. I never cared to sponsor one because no matter how great you are and how perfectly it comes off there is bound to be at least one person who thinks you intentionally went out of your way to screw them and only them. I have great admiration for the average person. But sadly, when you get 10 - 30 people you are almost assured of having one in the crowd who is a total :censored:.

Usually one in ten... that inescapable 10% who screw things up for everyone. :D

Andria
 

gmoney$

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You should check out the co-op section and maybe pm some of the folks you may know who have posted there, find out what's involved. I think you should do the coop -- I myself am all set with my four achilles but would love to see these in more people's hands. Alibaba is the Chinese version of amazon, and owned by Yahoo, according to what I hear, although I too have been mystified at their site and whether regular consumer's can work with it. Also, it looks like a distributor/re-seller rather than a manufacturer (not sure there was any doubt there). I'd be glad to join the co-op if you get one together and need more partiicpants. I just can't get over how awesome achilles are and why any tootler (or non-tootler now that the II is around) would not recognize it's superiority over RTAs...
 

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If we still haven't heard anything at all about an Achilles 2 clone after the first of the year, I may seriously try to get something like this together. Till xmas is over, I, and probably a lot of others, are too frazzled, busy, and concerned about spending money on other people, to want to get into something like this. I have 2 Achilles, so I'm ok, though I sure wouldn't mind another, but I just hate it when a tootler asks a question about a great rda for those who love tight draw... and there's just not any Achilles available anywhere. I've had several PMs about where to get them, and I hate having to answer, 'well, you can't.' :(

Andria
 

Woofer

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Both version 1 and 2 are on Alibaba.

I know peeps on another site purchase glassware from Ali and dhgate. I never heard much complaining. I think as long as minimum quantities are met most vendors sell to anyone. Some vendors were also selling one of by request.

Great find I am in for a bunch if it happens. The price will determine the size of a bunch but 4 plus for sure.
 
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PoliticallyIncorrect

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I've never done one or bought from one but I have inquired about existing co ops. Basically you sign people up then they send you payment (to include shipping) and then you ship out all the crap (or maybe the vendor ships). I suspect there are various formats and arrangements. I never cared to sponsor one because no matter how great you are and how perfectly it comes off there is bound to be at least one person who thinks you intentionally went out of your way to screw them and only them. I have great admiration for the average person. But sadly, when you get 10 - 30 people you are almost assured of having one in the crowd who is a total :censored:.
My one and only co-op experience left me with a bad taste in my mouth for precisely the reason you mention, and a few others. It was organized and operated by a well-respected ECFer who had pulled off several priors without a hitch, but things went south with this one quickly.

She'd negotiated directly with Kanger, struck a deal, collected the funds and made the transaction. Kanger, in the meantime, had decided to discontinue their current version of Protank, weren't producing or shipping any more until they'd retooled for a Protank II production run--and weren't shipping any part of the co-op's order until they could complete it in full.

The problem was exacerbated by the host, who was required by ECF rules to post progress reports at specified intervals even if there wasn't any; she later claimed she was snapping at Kanger's heels continually for any word, any scrap of red meat to throw at the co-op, but Kanger went mute and refused to acknowledge any more of her emails. This was probably so, but she erred catastrophically by going AWOL herself for weeks at a time.

The natives--of course--grew restless, then profane and hysterical as the nooses and pitchforks came out along with accusations that the host had absconded with the booty and was sipping martinis on a Cayman Islands beach far from the reach of the law. The vitriol grew so vulgar that the moderators had to step in and close the thread.

It all ended happily enough; Kanger made good on their contractual obligation, though several months late. I got a package, which turned out not to belong to me; I drop shipped it to the member it did. My real package came roughly 8 months downstream of the date I joined the co-op.

The host? After the last member got what they'd ordered, she was banned from ECF (or in ECF's choice of euphemism, she moved on).

If you're all still with me, the moral of this story--I suppose--is to be careful what you wish for.
 

Bronze

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My one and only co-op experience left me with a bad taste in my mouth for precisely the reason you mention, and a few others. It was organized and operated by a well-respected ECFer who had pulled off several priors without a hitch, but things went south with this one quickly.

She'd negotiated directly with Kanger, struck a deal, collected the funds and made the transaction. Kanger, in the meantime, had decided to discontinue their current version of Protank, weren't producing or shipping any more until they'd retooled for a Protank II production run--and weren't shipping any part of the co-op's order until they could complete it in full.

The problem was exacerbated by the host, who was required by ECF rules to post progress reports at specified intervals even if there wasn't any; she later claimed she was snapping at Kanger's heels continually for any word, any scrap of red meat to throw at the co-op, but Kanger went mute and refused to acknowledge any more of her emails. This was probably so, but she erred catastrophically by going AWOL herself for weeks at a time.

The natives--of course--grew restless, then profane and hysterical as the nooses and pitchforks came out along with accusations that the host had absconded with the booty and was sipping martinis on a Cayman Islands beach far from the reach of the law. The vitriol grew so vulgar that the moderators had to step in and close the thread.

It all ended happily enough; Kanger made good on their contractual obligation, though several months late. I got a package, which turned out not to belong to me; I drop shipped it to the member it did. My real package came roughly 8 months downstream of the date I joined the co-op.

The host? After the last member got what they'd ordered, she was banned from ECF (or in ECF's choice of euphemism, she moved on).

If you're all still with me, the moral of this story--I suppose--is to be careful what you wish for.
I know exactly the co op you're talking about. I almost jumped in that one but pulled back. I know several others who did get in on it and heard all the screaming and barking. I think that might of been the biggest co op blowup in ECF history. Sure glad I didn't bite on it. :)
 

AndriaD

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Random other + for the achilles. It always lets me know when it needs juice well before any dry hit or wick singe-ing. In other words, who needs TC??

I've noticed that too, once I got really familiar with mine; not a dry hit, but a very subtle drop-off in flavor, and if you ignore that, then a subtle metallic taste -- when you check it, the wick is still moist enough to not burn, but the well is dry. Really neat! :thumb:

Andria
 

AndriaD

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Well it sounds like if I have a serious interest in doing something like this, I have a lot of reading and studying to do. Good to know, ahead of time. It just seems like forever and we're not hearing a single thing about Achilles 2 clones. I'd dearly love to have one of those authentics, but there is just no way in hell I can afford it, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Tootlers want and need a great RDA like an Achilles!

Andria
 

PoliticallyIncorrect

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Well it sounds like if I have a serious interest in doing something like this, I have a lot of reading and studying to do. Good to know, ahead of time. It just seems like forever and we're not hearing a single thing about Achilles 2 clones. I'd dearly love to have one of those authentics, but there is just no way in hell I can afford it, and I'm sure I'm not the only one. Tootlers want and need a great RDA like an Achilles!

Andria
I didn't mean to be discouraging. The example I cited was the worst of all possible: I saw a photo of the shipment Hibiscus (the host I spoke of) had piled up in her living room--the result of many members ordering many different Kanger items--and she must have spent hours and hours unpacking, sorting, assembling individual orders, packaging them and mailing them. If your co-op consisted only of Achilles RBAs it would be a very different, simplified, streamlined story.

Although Hibiscus got a raw deal from a few nasty, tiny individuals hiding behind their computers and pseudonyms, she did create her own heartache by not checking in occasionally. A simple "nothing new, folks" every few days was all that was required, and I have no clue as to why she couldn't do that.

I should have three Achilles by one version of another in a few days and don't really need any more, but if the price came in at the $20 vicinity or less I'm sure I'd get in for a couple more.

After all, since when did need have anything to do with this? :banana:
 

AndriaD

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I didn't mean to be discouraging. The example I cited was the worst of all possible: I saw a photo of the shipment Hibiscus (the host I spoke of) had piled up in her living room--the result of many members ordering many different Kanger items--and she must have spent hours and hours unpacking, sorting, assembling individual orders, packaging them and mailing them. If your co-op consisted only of Achilles RBAs it would be a very different, simplified, streamlined story.

Although Hibiscus got a raw deal from a few nasty, tiny individuals hiding behind their computers and pseudonyms, she did create her own heartache by not checking in occasionally. A simple "nothing new, folks" every few days was all that was required, and I have no clue as to why she couldn't do that.

I should have three Achilles by one version of another in a few days and don't really need any more, but if the price came in at the $20 vicinity or less I'm sure I'd get in for a couple more.

After all, since when did need have anything to do with this? :banana:

Well I really am completely ignorant of the "co-op phenomenon", in general and how it's done here at ECF, and I'm a person that won't go into anything without reading and studying it -- should have seen me at the library when I discovered in 1987 that i was pregnant! :lol:

I'm always around here at ECF, and most of my peeps here at ECF, I just LERRRRRRVE, so I wouldn't want to let 'em down in any way -- actually I wanna do this just because I want more of my tootle peeps to know the joy that is Achilles! :D

Since I have 2, I can't claim to really NEED another one either... but garsh, vapocalypse! :D

Andria
 

klrcommute

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I saw the numerous Yeahsmo listings with the minimum of 10 on alibaba as well, and also know nothing of the site. It struck me as odd because there was like a $0.5 price per unit which I took as some kind of nonsense placeholder listing.

I would also be very interested in the co-op concept for an Achilles or two if v2 doesn't turn up from other suppliers in the near future. The fact that it's a low cost clone definitely helps mitigate some of the risk for such an alibaba experiment.

Will keep an eye on this thread to see what materializes. Has anyone seen the v2 clone on alibaba as was mentioned above?
 
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