Discontinued Purple-Days Vaporizer
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burntoast15
Member
Well, looks like Rick will be getting a lot of my $$$ in the near future. 
I'm glad this thread will still be around as a PD community to help any members out with problems they may have.
I'm glad this thread will still be around as a PD community to help any members out with problems they may have.
DevoTheStrange
Ia! Ia! Vapor Fthagn!
OKcomputer said:
The brass stems are a tiny bit looser than the stems that come with the PD.
PanicFreak
Theo
vapormonkey said:
. . tom the inventor. 
that is buddy.. Great comparison btw, makes total sense and its funny at the same time.. I just bought a pd this summer, works great and all but who knows that fate of it now...
OKcomputer
Kid A
Anyone have experience with Ed's TNT tubes? He has a ton of different exotic woods available. I wonder how they mate w/ the PD in terms of fit?
PanicFreak
Theo
OKcomputer said:
They are great, a lil smaller than the ss tip ones.. But they work and they give good smooth clouds. Try one and I bet you will be back for another one..
charliedontsurf
Medical
On a more positive note, has anyone checked out Cleadome's Etsy store lately? There's some awesome PD accessories, including some cool gong stems.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/revolverre
http://www.etsy.com/shop/revolverre
IAmKrazy2
Darth Vapor
Gunky said:
When Rik started AZ, he provided great customer service and an Aero option both lacking in the Ettera. He eventually provided hardwood and SS himself, and is known for his great products and services.
When Tom started PD, his biggest issue, was making a log in SS. He was uber concerned with using brass, and feared lead content. He also moved to hardwood, and eventually greatly updated the HE. He started to sell and market hit log, and although he was a AZ owner, never talked to Rik before they met again on FC.
When Woodeez came out, he simplified the HE from Tom design. No improvement IMO. At the time, he was filling a nitch, a SS log with little to no wait time, Tom had a wait a mile long.
Tom had a real good run, while it lasted... Still saddened, and surprised about his departure... Stem up tribute right now. But, i am glad there is other big players in the market to fill the roll, especially Rik from MZ, Andy from EV-1, Toasty Top, ect. We are now lucky to live in a world with some many great choices.
Rick
Zapman
IAmKrazy2
Your description of past events is close enough but your calling me Rik brings back specific fond memories. You use that spelling because of your Dad as I recall? It is the Norwegian spelling of the name. When you first started doing it, I objected...."my name is spelled Rick!". You explained why and how it was automatic to you and I understood and it was good.
That spelling of my name was also used by Tom when he knew I did not like it, and used for one reason only, to treat me in a special way.
Thanks IAm for the short history. Most all of us do some copying of some kind. That is how it works. Try to make it better just playing around. Then get serious.
I will also say the way Tom left FC is the same way he left Pat and me after a very friendly many month Email exchange between us. Some Myrtlewood here, some Zaps there. Seemingly close, then the bridge was burned. Then PD came out.
Everything happens as it should. Hard to figure at times. What is, is.
Your description of past events is close enough but your calling me Rik brings back specific fond memories. You use that spelling because of your Dad as I recall? It is the Norwegian spelling of the name. When you first started doing it, I objected...."my name is spelled Rick!". You explained why and how it was automatic to you and I understood and it was good.
That spelling of my name was also used by Tom when he knew I did not like it, and used for one reason only, to treat me in a special way.
Thanks IAm for the short history. Most all of us do some copying of some kind. That is how it works. Try to make it better just playing around. Then get serious.
I will also say the way Tom left FC is the same way he left Pat and me after a very friendly many month Email exchange between us. Some Myrtlewood here, some Zaps there. Seemingly close, then the bridge was burned. Then PD came out.
Everything happens as it should. Hard to figure at times. What is, is.
treecityrnd
Active Member
Ain't life grand? Can't get high. At least I've got chilly water in my bubbler on the porch.PanicFreak said:vapormonkey said:
Pleas.
And thanks Vito for the link. I've checked it out before but never knew if they would fit our CRZs.
Vitolo
Vaporist
Some "shows' are built in Theaters or Arenas, with Concrete and Steel tying them to the community.
Some "shows" are transient by nature, and when it is time to move on, can leave the community easily.
The community need not feel insult or confusion over this fact.
It is just the way things are.
Some "shows" are transient by nature, and when it is time to move on, can leave the community easily.
The community need not feel insult or confusion over this fact.
It is just the way things are.
IAmKrazy2
Darth Vapor
Rick said:
Hey Rik, sorry as usual for the spelling. Your memory is still very good. You are correct, Rick is my old man's name.
I can see how some are mad about Tom leaving with little to no warning. I don't feel he personally owes me anything, but if I had just purchased my first log, and now knew there was no warranty, I might be singing another tune. Rik, I do feel sometimes Tom treated you in an unfair manner, and overall you handled interactions between the two of you in a more professional manner then Tom did most the time. I think the fact you were in business long before Tom and long (hopefully) after Tom speaks volumes. Thanks for keeping on the grind Rik. New Rockzap look awesome BTW.
I once called Tom the Soup Nazi after he told someone no PD for you, for annoying the hell out of him. I think he actually embraced the nickname since he knew we were friends and had a long track-record of interactions and purchases. Like the Soup Nazi, Tom's product wasn't 100% original, but modified and highly sought after. Any cook can makes soup. But it takes some innovation to improve on another recipe. Like the Soup Nazi, Tom is/was a bit eccentric, and had a lot of pride in his product. Also, like the Soup Nazi, Tom had customers lining up out the door. He had the luxury to tell potential customers off for not playing by the rules. You better not get out of line or, "No Soup for you"! Tom was also very loyal to his friends, and was willing to do favors, just like the Soup Nazi to his friends like Krammer.
Tom will always have his place here, and will be missed by me and many others. I will not do much to defend him, if more harsh word fly his way because given the circumstances, i feel some animosity and confusion is justified.
*edit. @ Rik. Correct me if i am wrong, saying Ettera was not known for their customer service is a bit of an understatement. You were able to add the awesome Aero nice smelling aspect, and pair it up with your one of a kind customer service. Although you have made plenty of improvements and changes since then, this is originally how you got into the vape market....
Abysmal Vapor
Supersniffer 2000 - robot fart detection device
Well if i some show company sold me tickets for the next 3 years of show.. and they decided to pack and go.. That is kind of scam...Vitolo said:
PanicFreak
Theo
Abysmal Vapor said:
I believe the word scam fits the situation, who just closes the door overnight ppl.. He could have gave fair warning and I don't care how many Tom lovers ste in this forum, he did us dirty and if you don't wanna admit that, well that is your own misfortune.. also I don't care if you ppl think I am bashing the guy... He did plenty of bashing while he waa here, hell look how he used to treat alan from toasty tpp, heck was a dick head to him when alan offered him good advice... I guess we all see now what will happen to your business if you are dick head. Now lets all learn from this fiasco...
OKcomputer
Kid A
Three things in Tom's (and Pammy's) defense, if only to play devil's advocate for a bit:
1. Any time a company closes its doors, some people are going to get shafted on their warranties. This is just the nature of closing down a company. This follows the old logic that a "lifetime warranty" refers to the manufacturer's lifetime, not your lifetime.
2. Tom cannot be faulted for spending a lot of time on these forums, answering questions about the PD. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't work 24 hours a day. Tom was entitled to spend his non-work hours however he liked, and spending that time disseminating information about his product on this forum should be commended, not confused with laziness. There's no reason to believe that Tom's forum-surfing cut into his 8-hour workday, which in all likelihood was a lot longer than 8 hours given the demand for the product.
3. You can call Tom's stint on this thread, and as a vape manufacturer, a "show." But what a good show it was! Everyone that acted in time got an excellent piece of equipment that should last for years, along with the sense of being part of a "family." Answering questions, interacting with potential and existing customers, being lenient with warranty requests, promoting his "just an honest dude trying to make a good, useful product" schtick, running holiday contests with lots of free (and expensive) shit as prizes...
The whole thing reads like a master class in grassroots marketing, no? Whether Tom would agree or not, and whether it was intentional or not, Tom did an amazing job of fostering an environment in which his product looked *really* appealing, from just about any angle (quality, efficiency, customer service, customer satisfaction, etc.) It could even be argued that the 4-6 week wait time was a positive rather than a negative from a business standpoint, because it built hype and created a sense of "this thing is so good, people are willing to wait for it, and the wait is obviously worth the results because look at all these satisfied, knowledgeable customers!"
There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that if 1) MJ was legal, and 2) T&P eventually started mass-marketing and mass-producing PDs, T&P would make millions. Not overnight of course, but imagine a scenario five years down the road where vapes are more mainstream, and people better understand the benefits vs. combustion. Tom was already positioned for this. If you don't believe me, you're not aware of how easily a good idea/product backed by good marketing can make millions, very quickly, in the internet age.
Sometimes the "old hippy dude" is a better businessman than the wall st. exec or the big-bank CEO, without even trying or having any type of "education in business."
1. Any time a company closes its doors, some people are going to get shafted on their warranties. This is just the nature of closing down a company. This follows the old logic that a "lifetime warranty" refers to the manufacturer's lifetime, not your lifetime.
2. Tom cannot be faulted for spending a lot of time on these forums, answering questions about the PD. I don't know about anyone else, but I don't work 24 hours a day. Tom was entitled to spend his non-work hours however he liked, and spending that time disseminating information about his product on this forum should be commended, not confused with laziness. There's no reason to believe that Tom's forum-surfing cut into his 8-hour workday, which in all likelihood was a lot longer than 8 hours given the demand for the product.
3. You can call Tom's stint on this thread, and as a vape manufacturer, a "show." But what a good show it was! Everyone that acted in time got an excellent piece of equipment that should last for years, along with the sense of being part of a "family." Answering questions, interacting with potential and existing customers, being lenient with warranty requests, promoting his "just an honest dude trying to make a good, useful product" schtick, running holiday contests with lots of free (and expensive) shit as prizes...
The whole thing reads like a master class in grassroots marketing, no? Whether Tom would agree or not, and whether it was intentional or not, Tom did an amazing job of fostering an environment in which his product looked *really* appealing, from just about any angle (quality, efficiency, customer service, customer satisfaction, etc.) It could even be argued that the 4-6 week wait time was a positive rather than a negative from a business standpoint, because it built hype and created a sense of "this thing is so good, people are willing to wait for it, and the wait is obviously worth the results because look at all these satisfied, knowledgeable customers!"
There's absolutely no doubt in my mind that if 1) MJ was legal, and 2) T&P eventually started mass-marketing and mass-producing PDs, T&P would make millions. Not overnight of course, but imagine a scenario five years down the road where vapes are more mainstream, and people better understand the benefits vs. combustion. Tom was already positioned for this. If you don't believe me, you're not aware of how easily a good idea/product backed by good marketing can make millions, very quickly, in the internet age.
Sometimes the "old hippy dude" is a better businessman than the wall st. exec or the big-bank CEO, without even trying or having any type of "education in business."
Nebulous
Active Member
Damn... this is some strange shit. In retrospect, I think Fuck Combustion should take a look at how a vape's reputation is kind of copy and pasted through the thread as more people come and post positive comments after reading previous peoples' opinions. For example, before creating an account and posting about the Purple Days, most users would read a section of the Purple Days thread. This would give them an extremely positive view of the vape, and when the PD actually arrived they would connect their user experience to all the comments they had already read. Eventually, they would write a review post whose content was entirely parroted from the opinions they had already read. This isn't to say the vape isn't quality (which it clearly is), but rather that its opinion on Fuck Combustion kind of became holy and untouchable after so many people posted nearly identical comments with content unintentionally borrowed from earlier posts. Sometimes a person would come to the forum with a different opinion on the Purple Days, and they literally would be attacked by all the "regulars" and Tom, and eventually warned to leave by the mods. This type of thing occurs a lot on Fuck Combustion, but was particularly bad in the Purple Days thread. Honestly, some reviews were screaming "if your on the fence about buying the purple days, just do it!" Thats not a review, thats a sales pitch... Btw, I'm not saying I didn't buy into the forum mindset myself. Rather I was probably one of the more regular propaganda promoters haha. Just feel Tom's leaving should allow a more honest discussion of what was happening in this thread...
max
Out to lunch
Maybe. It was also a case of good luck/timing that this forum (the only one allowing free advertising for commercial posters) was kept up and going for about six months before the first member joined and made a post, and that Tom was directed here and allowed to post by vtac. Most of the good will for Tom and the PD was established early on and the ball just kept rolling like a snowball gaining size as it rolls. If vtac hadn't started the forum, stuck with it when it seemed like a lost cause, and allowed Tom to post, the PD's sales would have been a drop in the bucket in comparison.OKcomputer said:
You do you realize what changes that would require, don't you? The cost of expanding the business to reach that level would be huge. You'd need a much bigger production facility, and employees would have to be added, with all the additional expenses involved. Maintaining consistent quality, with multiple workers (not to mention the inevitable employee turnover) involved in the build process, would be much more of a problem. 7th Floor is a great example of what can happen to QC and customer service when a small company grows too much too fast without making the right efforts on the service end.
And since you're new here, you're also not aware that this big expansion, no matter the demand, would never have happened with Tom. He had zero interest in expanding his operation beyond the two of them. And I don't know that he would even have been interested in making the changes to the PD design that would have been necessary to keep up with the competition, some of which now has a vapor path that's isolated from the wood, and more protection for the wood from heat. The PD design also still restricts wood choices to a handful, which is not the case with some other brands.
And what should we do, after taking a look? There's enough fodder here, involving this product, thread, and person, for a good Master's thesis in either business or psychology, but we can't make people read through thousands, or even hundreds of posts, or tell them what conclusions they should draw from what they do read.Nebulous said:
OKcomputer
Kid A
Max -
All good points. I had things like expanding the production facility, hiring more workers, paying for marketing etc. in mind. I also knew that Tom would never be interested in doing something like that... not everyone is motivated by money. I'm new here, but I've read enough of this thread to get a feel for Tom's approach to business.
All I'm saying is that if he'd wanted to do something like that, he had just about the best start imaginable. I've already been preaching the PD to my friends, as I'm sure many other PD owners have done. Excellent, functional, easy to use, super-efficient-in-these-rough-economic-times unit? Check. Cult following of satisfied users "selling" your unit through word-of-mouth advertising and venturing to other forums? Check. Perhaps the "safest" vape on the market, what with the RoHS compliance and fixed, fool-proof low temp, perfect for medical users? Check. Desire to go forward with mass marketing/production? Not so much. Nothing wrong with that, either.
All of the logistics (production, business plan, more polished and professional website, internet advertising) can be worked out by throwing money and time at them.
All good points. I had things like expanding the production facility, hiring more workers, paying for marketing etc. in mind. I also knew that Tom would never be interested in doing something like that... not everyone is motivated by money. I'm new here, but I've read enough of this thread to get a feel for Tom's approach to business.
All I'm saying is that if he'd wanted to do something like that, he had just about the best start imaginable. I've already been preaching the PD to my friends, as I'm sure many other PD owners have done. Excellent, functional, easy to use, super-efficient-in-these-rough-economic-times unit? Check. Cult following of satisfied users "selling" your unit through word-of-mouth advertising and venturing to other forums? Check. Perhaps the "safest" vape on the market, what with the RoHS compliance and fixed, fool-proof low temp, perfect for medical users? Check. Desire to go forward with mass marketing/production? Not so much. Nothing wrong with that, either.
All of the logistics (production, business plan, more polished and professional website, internet advertising) can be worked out by throwing money and time at them.
Gunky
Well-Known Member
I bought a pd a year or so back and enjoyed it for many months. It was a well-made vape and performed well. After several months of continuous use and the occasional fall to the floor the core got really loose and when I tried to tighten it with the little adjustment dowel, I was unsuccessful. It probably qualifies as a valid warranty issue but I never sent it back. For the amount of money he charged for them and the type of thing it is (wood insulated log vapes wear out) it seemed unfair to me to make him work on it again. The warranty was probably too generous for his own good.
Tom has a somewhat volatile personality, one moment promoting what I consider awfully precious contests of log vapes dressed up in clothing etc and the next slamming a competitor viciously (the parting post here falls into the latter camp). The nasty posts (which were often erased in a day or two) were a turnoff and I found that I preferred doing business with Rick.
Tom has a somewhat volatile personality, one moment promoting what I consider awfully precious contests of log vapes dressed up in clothing etc and the next slamming a competitor viciously (the parting post here falls into the latter camp). The nasty posts (which were often erased in a day or two) were a turnoff and I found that I preferred doing business with Rick.
My core became really loose without ever being dropped or abused in any way! Tom made it out to be totally my fault, insisting that I MUST have dropped it to make it loosen up. His "Im always right" and the customer is "usually wrong" attitude pissed me off to no end. Yes he offered warranty to fix it, but I was able to tighten it up myself by adding a few more retaining rings.
momofthegoons
vapor accessory addict
I was unhappy with the way Tom treated people on this forum, customers included, which is why I cancelled my two orders with him (which I had been willing to wait 6+ months for). He was incredibly rude. Also why I never came back to this thread, especially after being attacked by him in posts that he immediately would edit to look better. But, I think that the thing that I find the most bothersome is his lack of appreciation for the forum that made him. If it wasn't for FC, he wouldn't have ever had the sales and following that he had. It was a classless way to leave and shows his true colors. 