Maybe they just have too much going on.
I feel like that's kind of always been the case, and there's multiple angles from which to look at that. They've stated that they have to keep working on things all the time so that there's always product in the pipeline, essentially. Totally valid. But when you're stretched that thin, I can't imagine each component of the business is getting the attention it needs. I'm not in CFT leadership, so I have no idea personally. But I've got to imagine sometimes things take longer than they need to not because of a factory not getting back to them, but because of the factory waiting to hear back themselves. Possibly.
It's also completely fair to point out that John still seems to prioritize conventions/events, which undoubtedly takes time away from getting product made. I've also seen criticism about them selling things at Cons that the actual pre-order holders/KS backers haven't gotten yet. I didn't dig into how true that is, but it wouldn't surprise me at all and is absolute bullshit if true.
My understanding is that CFT is only John and Paul, and that Paul is mostly only a money guy that wanted to help fund this because he loves cowboy stuff. He's a lawyer, as I recall, so he's not going to be getting dirt under his fingernails, as it were, on CFT's behalf. That leaves the entire operations to John. That's a very tall ask even if you're just managing a small amount of product. But they seem to be managing quite a lot of product.
And yeah.. the end result is that all of that product comes out PAINFULLY slowly and John doesn't devote very much time at all to assuaging customers (again, CUSTOMERS) that their money was well-spent and that they are being treated respectfully.
It's also only fair to point out that CFT is exactly small enough for factories to constantly bump production on their products in favor of larger volume clients. It's also also fairer... fairest... to point out that if that's the case it's still a problem that we don't see regular updates to that effect.
I like CFT. I like the products they make quite a lot. Like.. QUITE a lot. I just don't think it's a particularly well managed company. Whether because they don't give a fuck to even try, or because they're overwhelmed is kind of immaterial.
