OK so trying to piece all this together... this is what i get.... am i missing anything?????

ALi-Express Dual-Color Boards- $57.94 (for two boards)
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Indoor-F3-75-P4-75-RG-Dual-color-LED-dot-matrix-module-304-152mm-64-32/1721916462.html

Power supply- $17
http://www.aliexpress.com/store/product/High-qualityDC-5V-10A-LED-Power-Supply-For-WS2812B-WS2811-LPD8806-WS2801-LED-Strip-Light-UK/809780_2047451461.html

Run-DMD PCB- $135.42 (at todays exchange rates)
http://run-dmd.com/

Frame- ???? if interested in a bulk order.... $40 to 50

Grand total: would be around $260 US Minus the screws/spacers. I would bite on this if we could get it down to around $200 maybe we can license the design and print them here in the US (much cheaper than anywhere in europe).

OK.... took the .dxf file and uploaded to www.bigbluesaw.com got the following prices for the frame Front:
front quote.jpg

We could bring this price down by bulk ordering! But someone would need to take on the task of distributing them.

Thanks, this post has been hard to follow.

That was just the front. Ive been plaving around with their materials selection and have managed to get the price down. I guess if we did a bulk order, we should be able to get the price down to $40 + shipping for the acrylic (including $10 each for whoever wants to distrubute these things). I just need to look at the prices on the screws and spacers now......

I love the large size!

10-20 kits: i could handle
20+ i dont have the funds or time to front this

Agreed, the expo would be the perfect place to have everyone pickup their stuff. I just dont know if im going. Anyone else interested in picking up the torch on this one?

Im working directly with someone right now to get a more specific quote for the acrylic. I will let you know in the morning what i end up with.

Sweet. How long you been waiting on the RUN-DMD PCB?

OK, i was given a quote of $33.93 for BOTH front and back panels based off of the CAD drawings. Thats assuming we order 10+, the more we order the more this goes down. Obviously someone isnt going to handle all this for free, so lets say $50 for the set.... fair?

BTW does the thickness seem right?
Front:
Material: Gray transparent acrylic, Thickness: 0.125 inch. Size:
Piece (1): 25.079 x 7.146 inches.
Back:
Material: Acrylic, Opaque Black, Thickness: 0.118 inch. Size:
Piece (1): 25.079 x 7.146 inches.

Ill have to order a prototype or ensure everything is 100% and that runs about $80.

Limpan- do you know the specs on the standoffs/screws/spacers used for the frame?

http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=29457

The post gives me an overview and how many of each we need, but doesnt provide thread size and length of these. Im sure i can find these for cheap, i just need to know exactly what im looking for.

EDIT: Realized i was being an ass and possibly rail-roading someones business.

Prices are pretty cheap at Grainger and i can pick them up on the way home to save on shipping.

Ouch. I hope youre able to get it worked out. Please let us know, at least for peace of mind.

Software changes should be fairly easy; count-down clock, test-mode, etc

Hardware changes, hes gonna have to re-design his PCB. Someone already asked him that in the forum where this idea originated: http://forum.arcadeotaku.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=29457

Id like to add temperature (inside and/or outside), and maybe a news ticker function.

Seems like this controller would do all of that already:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/HD-W40-Wireless-Transmission-for-USB-DISK-and-WIFI-Communication-LED-Display-Control-Card-Control-Area/32259889933.html

Awesome thought!!!!!

This whole project would be much more reasonable if not for the $130 PCB.

My local Lowes will often cut several pieces for me. Never hurt to walk in and ask.

Yeah it looks like everyone has given up on this...

linus/torbjorn look to have passed off the website to someone else (links are broken, firmware has received no updates, facebook page removed, etc)
_j_m has stopped producing the kits (though he is still my hero for doing this in the first place!)

That said, I think we should start an underground movement to get the animations running on generic hardware (something like: http://goo.gl/7f4Vkn) so we can keep this project moving! The image file is simply a RAW data file with I'm guessing some assembly language telling it where to start playing from. Should be fairly straight forward to do this on our own.