After having been producing Optigan/Orchestron discs since 2008, we’ve recently had to pause production because the photo lab we worked with closed their business and sold their equipment. Having no apparent alternate vendor to turn to, we’re now considering purchasing the needed equipment to bring disc production completely in-house. This will cost around $50k. Quilter Labs is graciously allowing us to use office space to house the equipment lab, but is not interested in otherwise funding this project.

We’re now brainstorming ways to raise the needed funds. As you might suspect, given the niche nature of this project, disc sales alone are not likely to be sufficient to justify the investment in the equipment (at least not within a reasonable time frame). One option we’re considering is some sort of crowdfunding campaign, and this is where our past customers come in. Would you consider contributing to such a campaign, and if so, what sort of rewards/premiums would motivate you? Obviously the end product of this endeavor will be the discs themselves, but we’re also thinking of custom disc creation, and also other types of merch (t-shirts, etc). We’ve never done any sort of crowdfunding before, so we’re open to ideas. We haven’t yet reached to stage where we’re researching specific crowdfunding platforms, so if any of you have experience on that front, your input is appreciated. If you’d like to support this project directly, please contact us at our emails shown below.

We should note that our current inability to produce new discs does not directly impact Panoptigon hardware production. Panoptigon remains available for the foreseeable future. However, the current stock of available discs is small and dwindling, with several titles already completely sold out. If we are unable to work out a new production scheme for discs, the current stock could very well be the last. If you’ve yet to complete your collection, now would be a good time!

Thanks for your past support, and hopefully your future support! We look forward to your feedback!

Pea Hicks
optigan.com
phix@optigan.com

Robert Becker
Quilter Labs / Panoptigon
robertbecker@quilterlabs.com