Collection/Backerkit update
over 1 year ago – Sun, Nov 13, 2022 at 05:30:02 AM

Hi everyone,

Hope everyone is doing well. Sorry for some delayed replies and silence this past week -- our office suffered some water damage inside the walls and we were forced to work out of pocket for most of the week. There is a limit to what I'm able to do, access, and answer from my cloud-based laptop and iPhone...  Then, to complicate the week, my wife and I had to leave town to attend some family matters, which took me completely off the grid all day yesterday... just as I'm told Kickstarter payment deadlines were enforced. 😟 Sorry to those of you trying to reach us regarding Kickstarter's collection, but we don't have much involvement in their process anyway...

Here's a quick snapshot of what's happening this week:

• Backerkit is set up and (nearly) ready to launch. We're just waiting for them to review everything so that we can initiate the smoke test. We expect that to happen on WEDNESDAY, November 16th. Assuming there are no critical issues to come out of that smoke test, the rest of the surveys will go out on FRIDAY, November 18th. We'll post an update with all of those details at that time.
• Kickstarter may have finished their collection phase, but final pledge data still hasn't reached Backerkit yet. We don't usually receive a final confirmation from Kickstarter until (almost exactly) 2 weeks from the campaign ending, so it may not arrive unitl Friday. Until then, we don't know the exact final item counts -- including Slipcase pledges. Once that data is there we'll know if any Slipcase pledges were dropped for non-payment. Once we know how many (if any) are available, we'll formulate a fair and equitable way to make them available to the backer community. Stay tuned to campaign updates for details.

That's all for now, but we'll have more to report before Wednesday. In the meantime, let us know if you have any questions. Anything pressing, please send us a message here on Kickstarter vs asking in the comments section. Messages are easier for us to find and answer (whereas comments can get lost, spread out across so many threads and locations...)

Thanks, everyone!

WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOT!
over 1 year ago – Sat, Nov 05, 2022 at 03:47:12 AM

What a wild final hour! SO much activity for 18 days, and then that last tug-of-war to get over (and stay over) $210k was CRAZY... I hope those few backers who dropped out at the last minute don't regret it (especially those who gave up slipcases...) 😝

We've started building the Backerkit already, but it will take a while for Kickstarter to finish their part in collecting the funds. If they run into any trouble with your payment method, they will notify you and keep trying for about 2 weeks, at which point your pledge will be marked as "dropped"... but don't worry -- if that happens, your pledge will still carry into Backerkit, so you will have a chance to pay late if necessary. 😉

This has been a crazy ride, and we have learned a lot of practical lessons this time around. THANK YOU for your interest, feedback, and support through all of the twists and turns.

We've got a lot to do now, but stay tuned -- we'll have more to share next week. Tonight, WE CELEBRATE!

Final Stretch Goal revealed: Discounted Shipping!
over 1 year ago – Thu, Nov 03, 2022 at 06:10:01 AM

Hi, everyone!

You all just keep blowing our minds.

Every mile marker we have placed in the sand has seemed like a comfortable challenging distance, and yet you keep knocking them down without breaking pace. We thought $175k was a ridiculous number, but here we are on the other side of that, staring at the final $200k stretch goal with the clock quickly winding down... 

This final stretch goal will be something new for us, but with the continuous climb in shipping prices these days, we're happy to offer the following if we actually manage to hit $200k:

$2.50 - $5.00 off of your shipping fees in Backerkit!

We're always trying to find ways to help reduce the impact the ongoing global supply chain crisis has on your order shipment, but so much of it is out of our control. Things get even more challenging when it comes to helping our International backer community (which tends to be ~33% of our supporters but is over 40% on this current campaign). When the timing works out, we will offer free shipping when combining open pledge packages from different concurrent campaigns, but that can lead to some extended delays while those multiple campaigns become ready on their own timetables. There isn't any perfect solution, but we're always looking for new ways to help you save.

This time, we want to pour some of this campaign's unexpected success into fighting that shipping challenge.

If we hit $200k, we will apply $2.50 in Backerkit credit to each physically-shipping Domestic US order, and $5.00 in Backerkit credit to each physically-shipping International order.

This credit will be applied/awarded in Backerkit after the campaign is complete, and while their system will still calculate and charge shipping based on current rates and the final weight of your order, the Backerit credit will reduce that bottom line balance accordingly.

We know that individually, that might sound like much, but it adds up quickly. And considering the 12 other stretch goals and bonus items that have been unlocked, we calculate each pledge is already worth ~$30 above the pledge price (which makes the Trade Paperback tier a ~$78 value... for only $35?? You can't argue with the bargain we're trying to offer here...) 😉

We also know that a shipping credit isn't as intriguing or alluring as a shiny bonus "thing." But there is still the final outstanding backer-count stretch goal if we hit 3000 backers. We haven't revealed what that is yet as frankly there are a couple of options that we are sorting through now, each with some technical restrictions or considerations, and we would like it to be something everyone can enjoy (both digital and physical backers).  Stay tuned! With only 55 hours to go, anything can happen!

Thanks again, everyone! You're the BEST!

New Add-ons Available!
over 1 year ago – Thu, Nov 03, 2022 at 05:38:04 AM

Hi everyone!

We're in the final stretch -- just a little over 78 hours left! No point in slowing down now, eh? 😎 While we may not be unlocking any more Slipcases, we want to keep things exciting right up until the grand finale -- how else are we gonna break $200k? If you haven't noticed the update to the campaign page:

We have added some new Add-ons!

We ran a pre-registration giveaway for a couple of nifty little weapon replicas of Wukong's Ruyi Jingu Bang staff, and while we won't be selecting the winner until after we've rolled all confirmed pledges into Backerkit, we have received a lot of requests to make them available for purchase, too.

So we did one better -- we've added ALL FOUR Hero weapon replicas as Add-ons (along with some other stuff)! 😁

The weapons are all made of a sturdy alloy metal and each will include a plastic display stand, making for really cool desk displays and fidget twirlers. Two of them have keychain clasps, but frankly, that is up to you whether you wish to use them that way... (personally, they seem kind of big and delicate for everyday key-slinging...)

The Circlet Rings are one-size-fits-all, but unlike Wukong's circlet crown, they will not constrict when the punishment mantra is spoken. 😝

Last but not least, we have had a lot of questions about how else someone who missed the Slipcase Tier might be able to get a copy of the included production sketchbook. Frankly, the exclusivity of the Slipcase is the Slipcase itself, and these sketchbooks will be exclusive to this campaign only, so making them available at a reasonable price seems quite fair. We will print just enough of these to satisfy the campaign demand, and then no more. Same with the Hardcover Sets -- while the initial tier did state 1000 copies, that was an admittedly premature estimate based on prior campaign performance, and we can't make changes to a tier once the campaign has launched. This campaign has taken us all by surprise, so we've opened up another (unlimited) Hardcover Tier to provide an opportunity to more backers in these last 3.5 days.  These hardcovers are also campaign-exclusive, and we will set our print run based on the final campaign demand. Frankly, the tier should have been unlimited to begin with, but we were being overly conservative and cautious. 

That's all for now. Please keep spreading the word! We're excited to see how things end on Friday! 😊

5 minute warning...
over 1 year ago – Fri, Oct 28, 2022 at 05:27:11 AM

Just in case the timezones are confusing, the final slipcase tier will be opening in <5 minutes...