Cheap High Quality Bubbler

[Monsoon]

Jumped on the bandwagon and ordered the FC-187. It's already at 15 transactions and hasn't even been up for a day yet! Also placed an order for the cheap Faberge Egg because why not for $50.

I just grabbed one myself! Steven is a really nice guy so I am glad @blankrider was able to work with him to produce this. It looks like we should be getting a lot more new items that we want in the future! Thanks @blankrider!!!!

Holy shit! Steven just sent me a pic of the Bates Worm Diffusion pump and said the prototype will be done today or tomorrow

He also said the below will be coming up after the Bates Worm Mothership incycler! Can I get a fuck yeah!!!!

I also asked him about the Peyote Pillar and he said they are going to try to produce a prototype soon!

I am so fucking excited right about now

I'm super stoked about this and will definitely be buying some/all of these. I've been gawking over the Mothership style pieces lately but it's still expensive even going through an unknown blower. This way I can try a bunch for less and maybe upgrade if I really like one particular style. And if I hate them at least I'm not left with an expensive paperweight.

As far as steven's quality goes, the pictures with the X's at the bottom of this page might be a good sign that he's now paying attention to detail and complaints about functional design. Of course for all I know that was up there before the first wave of complaints.

 

[BoogerMan]

I've got one if the Kathy honeycomb eggs coming in too. Should be here this week I hope! It left China last week so that's a good sign

As far as steven's quality goes, the pictures with the X's at the bottom of this page might be a good sign that he's now paying attention to detail and complaints about functional design. Of course for all I know that was up there before the first wave of complaints.

He posted those pictures after the new batch was done so he really is trying to improve. One of the reasons I'm willing to give him a second chance.

Another reason is because if he is able to produce replicas of the high end pieces we are asking for then he must have some experienced glassblowers because we all know those designs aren't exactly easy to make.

If I can get a diffusion pump or peyote pillar or mothership for under $100 I'm all for it, even if it is from a seller that I didn't have a good first experience with. Everyone deserves a second chance

 

[Frederick McGuire]

Ahh sorry just did some searching and Steven definitely has fucked a few members with poor products and poor service. @Frederick McGuire might be able to tell us more

I first ordered 4 items from Steven:
A ball rig (the one like a fab egg without all the holes)
The barrel to funnel recycler
A sidecar stematrix rig
And a little sidecar matrix rig.

My only complaint would be with the design of the sidecar matrix rig, but that was purely a design issue I knew I was most probably walking into based in the pics.

Steven contacted me when I placed re order and said that the quality on his stock of ball rigs wasn't up to scratch and asked if it was ok to delay the order until he has better stock.

I was fine with that and that whole first order went rather smoothly.

I was happy with it and would order form him again.

Them I ordered 2 dabuccino rigs from him - one green, one blue, both 14mm.

The items arrived, but were completely unusable because the mouthpiece straw was super short, and so close to the inlet that my nose literally touched the joint when my mouth was in the mouthpiece.

I contacted Steven and told him the items were unacceptable.
He said he was making a better batch and he would send me 2 replacements as soon as they were ready.

I received my replacements a week ago.
I got 2 green, 1 14mm small, and 1 18mm large.
I was happy to get this (I originally wanted to order 2 of different sizes)

The mouthpieces were much better, 2-2.5x longer and at a better angle.
The labels were better, no roor logo, better accent logos etc.

At this point I have no issues ordering with Steven again, and I am now about to dive all over an fc-187

 

[BoogerMan]

Them I ordered 2 dabuccino rigs from him - one green, one blue, both 14mm.

The items arrived, but were completely unusable because the mouthpiece straw was super short, and so close to the inlet that my nose literally touched the joint when my mouth was in the mouthpiece.

I contacted Steven and told him the items were unacceptable.
He said he was making a better batch and he would send me 2 replacements as soon as they were ready.

I received my replacements a week ago.
I got 2 green, 1 14mm small, and 1 18mm large.
I was happy to get this (I originally wanted to order 2 of different sizes)

The mouthpieces were much better, 2-2.5x longer and at a better angle.
The labels were better, no roor logo, better accent logos etc.

At this point I have no issues ordering with Steven again, and I am now about to dive all over an fc-187

Thanks @Frederick McGuire I was hoping you would chime in about Steven. I'm glad your story helps support the fact that he struggled with quality at first but is doing much better now.

Does the 2nd gen dabbucino rig without the roor logo have a 4 or 5 hole perc? How's it pull?

Do you recommend the 14mm or 18mm? Is there much difference besides joint size?

Thinking about ordering one. Thanks!

 

[blankrider]

I worked a double today and my phone died so I am late to the party. Just grabbed the FC -187! You are welcome everyone.

To address any concerns about Steven, there was a issue in the past where a bunch of us got cracked barrel to funnel. Apparently it was a bad batch and there was some translation issues or something but eventually I believe that everyone was taken care of by being offered a replacement for a few dollars or a refund in exchange for a picture of a smashed piece. I chose the latter. I know that I got my refund and heard some others did. He seems very nice in his messages, and the fact that he did this for us says a hell of a lot. How long did we ask our friend @yingmin5? I trust that Steven had these made with care and we will all be extremely satisfied for $40

 

[Mr. Gweilo 420]

I first ordered 4 items from Steven:
A ball rig (the one like a fab egg without all the holes)
The barrel to funnel recycler
A sidecar stematrix rig
And a little sidecar matrix rig.

My only complaint would be with the design of the sidecar matrix rig, but that was purely a design issue I knew I was most probably walking into based in the pics.

Steven contacted me when I placed re order and said that the quality on his stock of ball rigs wasn't up to scratch and asked if it was ok to delay the order until he has better stock.

I was fine with that and that whole first order went rather smoothly.

I was happy with it and would order form him again.

Them I ordered 2 dabuccino rigs from him - one green, one blue, both 14mm.

The items arrived, but were completely unusable because the mouthpiece straw was super short, and so close to the inlet that my nose literally touched the joint when my mouth was in the mouthpiece.

I contacted Steven and told him the items were unacceptable.
He said he was making a better batch and he would send me 2 replacements as soon as they were ready.

I received my replacements a week ago.
I got 2 green, 1 14mm small, and 1 18mm large.
I was happy to get this (I originally wanted to order 2 of different sizes)

The mouthpieces were much better, 2-2.5x longer and at a better angle.
The labels were better, no roor logo, better accent logos etc.

At this point I have no issues ordering with Steven again, and I am now about to dive all over an fc-187

Thanks for clarifying mate. I knew you had some kind of back and forth with him. Good to see it all worked out in the end

 

[cybrguy]

I'm in too, of course. We'll sink or swim together on this piece. Glad to hear all you guys with issues have ended up satisfied by this vendor. I would have balked, but probably only until somebody got one. This appears to be just what we wanted, so Thanks @blankrider and

No offense to Steven, but I really did want Yingmin5 to get this together. I'm a little disappointed about that.

 

[Frederick McGuire]

Fc-187 ordered
I used a $10 off coupon, so after the extra $2.xx shipping and currency conversion I paid $40aus

@BoogerMan
No Diffy at all.
It's just a straight tube downstem with an open end.
The 14mm is smaller (overall, not just the joint), while the 18mm is larger.
They're basically scaled versions of each other, nothing particularly different about one over the other.)

It's actually got a nice rumble to it, reminds me of some of my old school homemade bongs.
It can hold a deceptively high level of water without splashing up into the straw, so I fill it rather high and enjoy the thunder.
I'm sure you could also fill it less and have a milder experience.

I'd say go with the 18mm one, but that's pretty much due to me personally liking larger rigs better than smaller ones (lol @ all the small china rigs I've bought recently, but I do prefer the bigger pieces), and preferring 18mm over 14mm.

Oh, also, the new dabuccino rigs use a nice opaque green for the straw and downstem.
The v1 used that standard cheap looking clear green & blue.

 

[Mr. Gweilo 420]

Well add me to the list guys. I ordered the FC187 and a funnel to barrel recycler from Steven. Fingers crossed

 

[Frederick McGuire]

Oh, also, I figured out a way to somewhat get around the dhgate mobile site.

I've only tried this on my iphone, but basically I think the mobile site sucks (as do most mobile sites), and I was quite frustrated that the "classic site" button just straight up didn't work, and removing the "m." At the beginning of the URL didn't work either...

So what I do now:
Sign in to dhgate using their mobile site.

Go to some random page - e.g.
http://m.dhgate.com/vieworderlist.do?rft=1

Then delete the "m." At the shinning of the URL, and make whatever comes after the ".com/" unusable gibberish (I usually just delete a few letters from whatever is already there...

So if using the above URL, it would change from
http://m.dhgate.com/vieworderlist.do?rft=1
To
http://dhgate.com/vieworfcexample.do?rft=1

That gives me an error saying the page cannot be found, and seems to trick my phone into staying on the regular version of the site for a while.

 

[Mr. Gweilo 420]

You are right though @Frederick McGuire . The mobile site is diabolical. It is almost impossible to find a vendor and search their store.

 

[Erwin]

Hey hey! I've been lurking on this thread for a while now and meaning to introduce myself and put in my 2 cents, but haven't had an opportunity until now. I was looking to replace my tragically broken Mobius Nano a few months back, and fortunately I discovered this thread right when I was on the brink of pulling the trigger. Instead of dropping US$400 on a single bubbler I used the advice of everyone here to spend half that to buy myself an awesome collection instead. So first of all, I just want to thank everyone here for your help. I've currently got the glass collection of my dreams, and that never would have been so without the fine people at FC.

In the past few weeks I've gotten myself a D020 from Egowin, a D020-d and YQ-42 from Sunshine, a recycling ash catcher from Kathy, a GB-186 from Yingmin and, as a complete gamble, a recycler from CCG. All of them are incredible, and I'm astounded by the quality of everything I've gotten. I even went and water tested a real stereo matrix at a local shop the other day, and I've gotta say it seemed only very slighter nicer pull-wise than my GB-186. China glass will of course always lack the precision of high quality American-blown class of course, but for the difference in price I have no doubt that I made all the right decisions.

While I was confident in all my other purchases, I really didn't know what I'd end up getting when I bought that recycler. I'd read all of your horror stories about CCG and was determined to find a recycler I liked from any other seller, but I'd found this piece and thought it was perfect for me: http://www.dhgate.com/product/new-p...r/210841650.html#myaccount_orderdetail-1-null. I loved the inline perc and the white trim, and decided in the end that it was worth the $46 gamble. It took two full weeks to make it to the States, but turned out to be completely worth it. Not only does it recycle, but it vortexes absolutely perfectly with minimal pull, with both smooth hits and a lot of flavor. The glass in on the thin side and the angle of the mouthpiece is a bit strange, but otherwise I couldn't be happier.

I'm having trouble loading imgur pics to FC at the moment or I'd share some. If any of you are interested in a function video let me know and I can try to make that happen. In the end I don't know if I'll take the gamble and order from CCG again, but I had to share my one good experience in face of all the CCG hate going around this thread.

It's honestly really funny. I just told the girlfriend last week that I was done buying glass and that my collection is complete, and the only things I would still want to buy I could ever somehow find inexpensive versions would be a klein incycler, a pillar perc, and (in my dreams) a diffusion pump. It seems FC members are in the business of granting wishes these days… I'm stoked to see this thread start designing pieces in conjunction with dhgate sellers, and will be around to weigh in when I can. I can't wait to have all my dream pieces while still having money in the bank, and am infinitely grateful to all of you for your help in getting me there.

 

[VJJJV]

@Erwin that's a nice recycler! I would love to see a video of that, just with water and air demonstrating it.

 

[stickstones]

What are the chances we overwhelm this guy with the fc-187? I ordered more than one and it said delivery within 7-11 days or something like that.

 

[NickDlow]

Hopefully @blankrider gave him a heads up. I believe he asked who would be in on this to get a rough idea. I ordered mine also, thanks blankrider for making this possible for us.

 

[Cannabis Connoisseur]

What are the chances we overwhelm this guy with the fc-187? I ordered more than one and it said delivery within 7-11 days or something like that.

He was supposed to do at least 50 pieces on his first run

 

[stickstones]

fantastic!

 

[Delta3DStudios]

Phew! Thankfully I didn't wait too long to check FC. I've been gone 12 hours and boom, FC-187 posted and 17 units already sold!

Thanks for the heads up @mtnbike420 ! Somehow I thought if it wasn't Radiant Glass, it was Stevelmz - this is my first order with him. I decided to buy a single FC-187 since the build quality is still an unknown.

Looks like we're going to have a race to see who get's it first!

 

[mtnbike420]

The race is on! I was purchase number 2...

 

[redijedi808]

The race is on! I was purchase number 2...

I may be purchase number 1

This will be interesting since I am in Hawaii which may be in my favor for once since its the closet state to China...well, unless someone from Alaska ordred

 

[mtnbike420]

Sweet make sure you post updates! I can't wait to try the fc-187 with my new e-nano!

 

[redijedi808]

Sweet make sure you post updates! I can't wait to try the fc-187 with my new e-nano!

Will do, I will be pairing it up with my Mighty and Persei SR-74 combo.

Cranberry extract, domeless quartz nail, and bottle brush order placed

 

[alltoreup]

Man that was quick. In for the FC-187 myself. Glad I checked the thread this morning. At this rate the first wave may be gone soon!

 

[blankrider]

I believe he produced 100 of them. I warned him how many people were interested on this site alone and that we might purchase multiple. Then there are lurkers. And then there are people who don't even know about FC and would love a matrix sidecar. It's strange that mobius never made one. Either way we have one available now and the wait begins

 

[hd_rider]

OK, just based on the huge response in this thread, I too just purchased an FC-187.

A question asked earlier and one I couldn't find an answer to, is: What is the advantage / benefit of going with a sidecar style of rig versus the regular straight style, such as with the DO20-D (which I also have) ?