It's been about a month since our last update, so we wanted to share another regarding the manufacturing process. This week we received all of the stickers for the campaign, but we're still waiting for the actual pins. All of the pins are in the final stage of manufacturing, so we should receive them within the next two weeks. Our manufacturer has unfortunately been delayed quite significantly, but we've been assured they're coming soon.
Also! We realize we're running a lot of campaigns and sometimes it's hard to keep track of where and when everything is. To that end, we've built a new crowdfunding status page where you can see all fulfilled projects and upcoming projects.
We shared some pictures last update, but wanted to provide the full rundown of all the pin samples. The images are straight from the manufacturer, so the pins tend to look a little dusty. They're straight from the production floor though!
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Jupiter turned out to be quite tricky with some of the colors and slowed overall production down quite a bit. We went through four different color iterations, but ultimately decided to go with the below.
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto
Mayday
Mars Rover
It's also on that status page, but feel free to also take a look here at our upcoming Animal Companion Pin Miniatures Campaign. Follow today to get some free stickers added to your pledge!
We're excited to announce that production on the pins is almost complete! Our manufacturer has sent us over sample images for every pin! We're still tweaking Jupiter, which has us slightly delayed, but we do expect to receive every pin by the end of May. Once we receive everything, we'll begin shipping out pins ASAP.
In the meantime, here's some in-progress shots from the manufacturing for Mayday and Mercury!
It’s been a little while since we wrapped up this campaign but we have some exciting news to share: surveys are out!
We apologize for the delay on getting these out to you, but we were a little bit behind on shipping our last two projects and needed to catch up a bit. It looks like about 50% of backers have filled out the survey already, so thank you for that! Once we hit around 80% filled out, we'll have enough information to begin manufacturing.
Based on our manufacturers timeline, we do expect to still hit the May shipping timeline, but if anything changes we will let you know.
It has been a BIG week so we’re headed on our next big adventure! Straight past the asteroid belt, we are all set to explore the largest planet in our solar system and the first of the gas giants, Jupiter.
Jupiter has moons! Jupiter has a TON of moons with 95 officially recognized by the International Astronomical Union. The largest were discovered way back in the 1600s by Galileo just months after building his first telescope. You can actually see them with binoculars if you know where to look.
Jupiter spins fast! Jupiter has the shortest day of any planet in our solar system at just 9.9 hours. The fast spin pulls the clouds into bands which is what give Jupiter it's stripes. It also has a very mild tilt at just 3 degrees which means that it doesn’t experience extreme seasons like most of the other planets do.
Jupiter has rings too! Though we think of rings as being more of a Saturn thing, Jupiter has rings made of small dark particles and dust that are really hard to see. So much so that astronomers had no idea until NASA’s Voyager 1 craft flew by and discovered them in 1979!
Jupiter has storms! Cyclones AND anticyclones swirl their way through Juipter's atmosphere. NASA’s Juno probe in 2021 gave us our best look yet at what was under those iconic clouds. Juno found that the cyclones are warmer and lighter on top and colder and heavier at the bottom. Because anticyclones move in the opposite direction, they are colder up top and warmer near the bottom. I didn’t even know anticyclones existed!
Jupiter is lumpy! Speaking of, Jupiter’s storms, they're are much taller than we expected - some extend over 60 miles below the cloud top while the Great Red Spot extends over 200 miles above it. Artists have been drawing a red spot on Jupiter since the 1700s.
The poles have cyclones too! There are giant cyclone storms at each of Jupiter’s poles, with eight in the north and five in the south.
The Jupiter Phoenix design by Rahlee has fluffy feathers that mimic swirls and storms of Jupiter's atmosphere.
Thanks to your help Cecil and Mayday have located all 8 of the Phoenix Guardians. All the pin designs are now unlocked! 🔓
We have also already reached our first stretch goal. For reaching $4,000, all pledges will include a 3-inch sticker of weightless Cecil illustrated by Raymond Griffith.
Our next stretch goal will unlock at $6,000 and add another freebie to everyone's pledge. Which reward would your rather see?
A sticker sheet of all the phoenixes
The Cecil and Mayday keychain design as a 3-inch sticker
Vote on it in our poll!
Is there something else you think we should add? Let us know in the comments!
