I just received my replacement nodes today. I had 38 bad nodes from my original order. Ray sent me 51 replacement nodes. All but one look very good (one of the replacements is the worst of any I've seen... about 1/3 of the circuit board is fully exposed... but since he sent more than enough replacements, I'm not bothered by it).
I also ordered the controller from Ray, and after struggling through the instructions, I was able to make all the nodes work except one, which apparently has a loose connection (I can wiggle it around to make it come on). The 3 flexible strips I ordered look fantastic, I must say. I spent over an hour just watching the mesmorizing patterns being outputted by the controller. I'm very pleased with the light output from the nodes and the flex strips.
I can't wait to start building the real controllers!