Just a quick update to let everyone know where we are right now.
I did a complete audit on what pins were received and which are missing. I went over this audit with my pin manu, and they've accepted my findings and confirmed the missing pins are being remade.
So we're back into a little bit of a waiting period as pins are made and shipped to me. I'll update again when they arrive. At that point, I'll do another audit just to ensure everything is here. I'll update once more when fulfillment begins in earnest.
I WAS all prepared to start sorting pins and making the sets, but either there was a mistake made in manufacturing or in shipping.
For the end pins - sliver crescent moons - I have only gold and no silver. For the center pins, I have silver tops and gold bottoms (none of the reverse).
I've sent an email to my rep to see if I'm just waiting on another shipment or if something hinky happened. I'm including email screenshots for transparency.
I am so heckin sorry for yet another delay. I'm working as diligently as possible to get this sorted.
I've got a tracking number for the pins and a couple of photos! My backup-quickly-becoming-my-main manu really pulled through and got this order sorted for us :)
I should have these in-hand in a couple weeks. I'll take some better photos for everyone then.
Our updated timeline has these being fully fulfilled this fall. We're deep into Pride season right now, so we're at an event literally every weekend until mid August. Since production was pushed back, we missed the window where we could devote most of our time to fulfillment. T_T So whoever isn't staffing the pride booth will be slowly hand assembling each pin set.
I appreciate everyone's patience and understanding. I'm excited to get these out to you all.
If you need to reach out for any reason, we can be reached at admin/@/arledgecomics.com
I'm here with a little bit of an unfortunate update.
TL;DR - After months of back and forth, preparing for this order, and after busting my ass to get order counts and getting everything ready for production, my manu turned around and said "we can't do this order" the very moment I asked for an invoice. My backup (and quickly becoming main) manu has confirmed their factory can do the order and has accepted payment, so pins are in production as of this morning. Pins will be delayed, but they're coming!
For those wanting the full story, with screen caps for transparency -
I initiated this order back in January. After an unfortunate experience years ago, I'd made it a personal rule that I don't crowdfund pins without finalized proofs from my manu. So I started real early: January 16.
OG artwork is peak, right?
As you can see, at my first contact, I made sure they were aware this was going to be an order with customizations. This hasn't been an issue in the past! I've done multiple sets of Pride pins, and I've ordered as little as 3 of a colorway previously.
Some minor updates to the designs, and Feb 6, I'm asking for colorways (like you see on the campaign page!) making it clear that this set is going to be customized and in multiple colors.
And on April 15, I put in the order -
My rep did not reject the order here! 5 days later, we're finishing minor edits to ensure accuracy.
I got updated proofs for the order and approved them, asking to be invoiced.
Friday - after months of back and forth on this project - I'm told the factory just cannot do the order.
This factory/manu advertises that they do not have a minimum order quantity. That's why I've been using them for my pride sets for years! But this past week I learned that I can order 1 pin. But I can't order 1 pin 100 times I guess? I wrote back, requesting an explanation - haven't heard back yet. But I also sent the order to my backup manu - who is quickly becoming my main manu.
The invoice came in early this morning and was paid this morning as well.
This all being said, I'm so very sorry that we're going to miss the mark on delivering before Pride. We've got a two week set back here, (the artwork is already created in manu #1's system, but needs to be created by manu #2 now) so instead of me shipping pins at the end of the month, it's very likely I'll be receiving pins at the end of the month.
I hope sharing this instills some confidence that I'm working diligently to get these pins produced and into your hands as soon as possible.
