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Apologies for the delay... I've been still banging my head against this manufacturer to get updates on the accessories. I know when I said previously I should be getting an answer soon...i now can't say that anymore, because I've now been burned a few times by hoping to get a quick turnaround on information. (Also, re timing, October 1-7th was a National Day, which is a week-long holiday for them and everything shuts down, which is that week in delay).
They told me yesterday there was supposed to be an update today about the accessories (still haven't gotten it yet), and probably wont till next week...had i known this was going to be the issues i was going to have manufacturing with them (and it taking this long to get things right...i would have taken the project elsewhere). Im frustrated too..but i have to see it through.
As of current, they are saying that Purple, Mossy, and Snowy, will be finished with their production at the end of October. And still we have nothing yet about the status of the accessories...and my inquires...
Timing, honesty.
the original idea was to wait for accessories and freight it all together (and still will wait for EU/AUS, just for timing). But, given proximity to the holidays...I can see adjusting that, but
There is a chance that purple/mossy/snowy get here before Christmas...freight would take about a month...which has product landing early December..which would be cutting things really close for the warehouse to pack and ship all orders that dont have accessories (or are ok with splitting)...but I still cant guarantee it. But we can still try.
AUS/EU...we have another project that finished manufacturing, so we're working with a freight forwarder to begin coordinating as for some reason the costs of the manufacturer shipping a small volume to AUS/EU was really really high. so we might be able to start getting product to these warehouses sooner (like with this main October shipment we're talking about, I am currently talking to the forwarder about options and timing.
(emails relating to accessory feedback, there are a few others that were omitted in regards to other samples and packaging)...but quite literally its been pulling teeth
other back and forth feedback about keychains and polybags
Also for transparency...every year we run a calendar project, which has just launched (which you probably got notified about). I know...its been another year...and its frustrating to say the least that other things are moving while it seems like this project has just been eternally stalled...i get it, and i hate that feeling too.
If you want a refund, I totally understand and will happily accommodate..or if you want to change the rewards or reduce what you're getting to get something that we have in stock for the holidays..i totally understand and will accommodate as well (send an email to [email protected] (include your name and email (if different), so i can locate your pledge+backerkit)
(Also i noticed about ~40 orders we can fulfill with inventory on hand, and ill push those through
I'm hoping that they'll give me an update on the accessories soon...and hopefully next week i should have a better idea of our freight situation in planning for the product that should be done on the 25th (as thats who im in current talks with in coordinating multiple shipments).
Caretaker Andreas
Ive been meaning to check back in, and sorry i havent updated since.
At GenCon the manufactuer was able to drop off a number of samples, which i was wable to provide immediate feedback to. And last week I got a box containing more samples.
So lets get into them
Full spread of things received.
We'll start at the accessories
Overall, most feedback was pretty well received and things are coming together.
Shiled was a match, sword was good, Spellbook was good, Hat was good, staff was good, fish were good, boot was good,
Main points of new feedback
- Sometimes the magnet would be hidden behind some fluff making things like the staff, axe,fishing hook difficult for the owlbear to hold (needs to be on the outside
-Below are the Axes (on the far right was the first manufacturer, 1st was the first version we got from this manufacturer, and 2nd is after our feedback to thicken it up...not quite there but at least ..serviceable.. could push for it being thicker..but the magnet is in there and it does work
Other weirdness was that altohugh we added a label on the red potion (was only on the blue), for some reason (the pin for them is somewhere in the middle of the bottle and not on the neck)..just weird decision, but i noticed it existed with the first version they gave me as well
And outside of that really only thing left i need to see from them is the fixed foil finish on the bags..which left off a chunk due to bad tooling.
Then accessories should be good to go!
Then the rest of the plushes
As part of this project alongside the new Amethyst owlbear, we are reproducing the other colors. so part of the process.
To achieve the charcoal color on the owlbear, it is quite literally the snowy pattern, then dyed..
So as part of the GenCon delivery, they handed me a grey dyed owlbear to confirm the color...
Cool right... looks good, not too big a departure..should be good
Then in the recent package i get this guy
...which...aint quite grey...
Also the texture is right...but its missing the dark line bits that the current snowy/charcoal have
Turns out..the color of the lower mesh really matter...
kinda hard to see in the below photo but the current Charcoal has a Black underlying mesh (so when you see through the mesh you get those black stripes) ...on this 'blue' owlbear the mesh is the same color (it apeared they dyed the fabric completeyl the same color)
another angle to see the blue (left), vs current (right)
And the rest of the Owlbears
Brown regular and keychains have already been made, Green looks fine, and Snowy they were able to source the same material as the first one so that is good too.
Schedule-wise:
Going to confirm, but as so far, Manufacturing for the Purple owlbear and keychain should be done by the end of the week, as should mossy.
This leaves, Charcoal, Snowy, and Accessories remaining on the schedule before the finish line (which i hope to have an update on very shortly given recent rounds of feedback).
We're near the finish line, and thanks for hanging in there with us.
Andreas
I was able to nail down a few updates last week, but i thought i was getting samples this week (turned out it was a book sample for a different project).
Some things are forward and other things less than I want them to be
Accessories
They've shown me updated axe, red potion and sword. I think the only things im left waiting on is the revised magnet placement of the staff and the gold-foil fix for the bags...then they should be ready to start production (but in my response to them, ive inquired for them tell me what they believe is remaining, and that Id like to review final samples before production, especially since its changed hands since)
What is moving (says should be finished production on 8/28)
Full size plushes in production
- Purple Owlbear
- Purple Keychain
- Mossy Owlbear
- Brown Owlbear (more of them)
- Brown Keychain (more of them)
Not yet started need samples (they say a preproduction sample should be ready on the July 10th, which would then need to be shipped to me)
- Snowy Owlbear
- Snowy Keychain
- Charcoal Owlbear
Also I saw a few emails come in about fixing up the merge on rewards, so will be heading to work on those.
Should have another update sooner once these samples and accessories get locked in,
Andreas
Apologies for the delay in updates, I had originally wanted to make an update for when products arrived at port, but I was waiting for the manufacturer to get back to me with the updates I wanted for the accessory kits.
Unfortunately and annoyingly, the manufacturer has been painfully slow to communicate since CNY (which is a change from pre-CNY, and something I'll need to escalate internally again).
But now, Wave 1 of products have arrived at the warehouse! I just got my box with a little bit of everything that came inside (which is the keychains and the dragon turtle and phoenix full size plushes), all the pins we have already on-hand. I know they aren't the accessories, but its progress none-the-less.
That said, there is a handful of you that have rewards that only contain Wave 1 products. I pushed these orders to final address confirmation. (there was a small handful of wave one that also included some snowy and charcoal that we do have in stock so i included those orders as well, and you also would have gotten the address notification).
this includes the following items:
- Owlbear Plush Brown
- Owlbear Keychain, Brown
- Phoenix Plush
- Pheonix Plush Keychain (bearded)
- Dragon Turtle Plush
- Dragon Turtle Keychain
- Pins (all of them)
(we do NOT have yet)
- other colored plushes inc purple
- class accessories kits (wizard, fighter, fishing)
- other colored owlbear keychains
-------------
Accessories-wise, I have feedback I am still waiting to hear back from. (i was actually pretty suprised, that when I attended the GAMA trade show last month, and the manufacturer was there; They didn't take that as an opportunity to bring samples or provide any updates.
As said above, they've been painfully slow to respond since CNY, all the more reason to keep looking for manufacturers after this project is done.
Just this week, I approved the new production quantities (doc below is what they provided this week), but that still shouldn't have slowed them down for any reason on getting those samples ready.
I will also try to continue providing production updates as they come in, sorry they didnt come in more on time, I wait for an update and more time passes than I would have liked (and then im just waiting for the update to come in).
Also taxes made things busy on the backend busy as well.
If you need any assistance or have any questions,
feel free to let me know
Andreas
Apologies for the delay in an update. But for the last two months, we confirmed error phoenix hats, owlbear colors and quantities, new owlbear keychain colors, and made comments to the second pass of accessories. Also we confirmed shipping quantities to our warehouses (US, UK, and AUS).
Main thing about accessories
- fishing hook can support an owlbear (carefully)
- axe was missing thickness and magnet
- bags looked great and was missing the beak on the gold foil
- magnet placement on axe and staff needed to be adjusted
that aside everyhting else was great
Schedule-wise, we're at the following.
Shipping (from manufacturer) before CNY (only to US warehouse)
- Owlbear Keychains
- Drgon Turtle Keychains
- Error Phoenix Keychains (with little hats)
- Brown Owlbears
- Dragon Turtle Plushes
- Phoenix Plushes
Shipping (from manufacturer) After CNY (all warehouses)
- Fighter Accessories
- Wizard Accessories
- Fishing Accessories
- Updated (non-beardy) Phoenix Keychains
- Purple Owlbear keychain
- Snowy Owlbear Keychain
- More Brown Owlbears
- Snowy Owlbear
- Charcoal Owlbear
- Mossy Owlbear
- Purple Owlbear
More updates as they come,
Andreas
PS, i notice a few people asking about getting rewards (for those who just got pins or a single owlbear thats in stock), in the next few days ill run a couple filters and see which ones we can get fulfilled (usually its messy to spit things up, esp when export actions, but ill do what i can)
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Engaged with this project 20+ times 🌟
Can we please get a status update on: - accessories/charcoal production timeline - what was completed on October 25th - updated freight info/what is available to ship before 2027 - what items have no estimated shipping time - if the 40 orders that were ready have shipped/if backers were notified Thank you!
Engaged with this project 20+ times 🌟
I have sent through 2 request for a refund and have had no response. Could I please get an update on my refund
Project Update: Current Status
Apologies for the delay... I've been still banging my head against this manufacturer to get updates on the accessories. I know when I said previously I should be getting an answer soon...i now can't say that anymore, because I've now been burned a few times by hoping to get a quick turnaround on information. (Also, re timing, October 1-7th was a National Day, which is a week-long holiday for them and everything shuts down, which is that week in delay).
They told me yesterday there was supposed to be an update today about the accessories (still haven't gotten it yet), and probably wont till next week...had i known this was going to be the issues i was going to have manufacturing with them (and it taking this long to get things right...i would have taken the project elsewhere). Im frustrated too..but i have to see it through.
As of current, they are saying that Purple, Mossy, and Snowy, will be finished with their production at the end of October. And still we have nothing yet about the status of the accessories...and my inquires...
Timing, honesty.
the original idea was to wait for accessories and freight it all together (and still will wait for EU/AUS, just for timing). But, given proximity to the holidays...I can see adjusting that, but
There is a chance that purple/mossy/snowy get here before Christmas...freight would take about a month...which has product landing early December..which would be cutting things really close for the warehouse to pack and ship all orders that dont have accessories (or are ok with splitting)...but I still cant guarantee it. But we can still try.
AUS/EU...we have another project that finished manufacturing, so we're working with a freight forwarder to begin coordinating as for some reason the costs of the manufacturer shipping a small volume to AUS/EU was really really high. so we might be able to start getting product to these warehouses sooner (like with this main October shipment we're talking about, I am currently talking to the forwarder about options and timing.
(emails relating to accessory feedback, there are a few others that were omitted in regards to other samples and packaging)...but quite literally its been pulling teeth
other back and forth feedback about keychains and polybags
Also for transparency...every year we run a calendar project, which has just launched (which you probably got notified about). I know...its been another year...and its frustrating to say the least that other things are moving while it seems like this project has just been eternally stalled...i get it, and i hate that feeling too.
If you want a refund, I totally understand and will happily accommodate..or if you want to change the rewards or reduce what you're getting to get something that we have in stock for the holidays..i totally understand and will accommodate as well (send an email to [email protected] (include your name and email (if different), so i can locate your pledge+backerkit)
(Also i noticed about ~40 orders we can fulfill with inventory on hand, and ill push those through
I'm hoping that they'll give me an update on the accessories soon...and hopefully next week i should have a better idea of our freight situation in planning for the product that should be done on the 25th (as thats who im in current talks with in coordinating multiple shipments).
Caretaker Andreas
Invested in BackerKit’s future during our Wefunder campaign
Engaged with this project 10+ times 🌟
Project Update: Post GenCon Updatesa
Ive been meaning to check back in, and sorry i havent updated since.
At GenCon the manufactuer was able to drop off a number of samples, which i was wable to provide immediate feedback to. And last week I got a box containing more samples.
So lets get into them
Full spread of things received.
We'll start at the accessories
Overall, most feedback was pretty well received and things are coming together.
Shiled was a match, sword was good, Spellbook was good, Hat was good, staff was good, fish were good, boot was good,
Main points of new feedback
- Sometimes the magnet would be hidden behind some fluff making things like the staff, axe,fishing hook difficult for the owlbear to hold (needs to be on the outside
-Below are the Axes (on the far right was the first manufacturer, 1st was the first version we got from this manufacturer, and 2nd is after our feedback to thicken it up...not quite there but at least ..serviceable.. could push for it being thicker..but the magnet is in there and it does work
Other weirdness was that altohugh we added a label on the red potion (was only on the blue), for some reason (the pin for them is somewhere in the middle of the bottle and not on the neck)..just weird decision, but i noticed it existed with the first version they gave me as well
And outside of that really only thing left i need to see from them is the fixed foil finish on the bags..which left off a chunk due to bad tooling.
Then accessories should be good to go!
Then the rest of the plushes
As part of this project alongside the new Amethyst owlbear, we are reproducing the other colors. so part of the process.
To achieve the charcoal color on the owlbear, it is quite literally the snowy pattern, then dyed..
So as part of the GenCon delivery, they handed me a grey dyed owlbear to confirm the color...
Cool right... looks good, not too big a departure..should be good
Then in the recent package i get this guy
...which...aint quite grey...
Also the texture is right...but its missing the dark line bits that the current snowy/charcoal have
Turns out..the color of the lower mesh really matter...
kinda hard to see in the below photo but the current Charcoal has a Black underlying mesh (so when you see through the mesh you get those black stripes) ...on this 'blue' owlbear the mesh is the same color (it apeared they dyed the fabric completeyl the same color)
another angle to see the blue (left), vs current (right)
And the rest of the Owlbears
Brown regular and keychains have already been made, Green looks fine, and Snowy they were able to source the same material as the first one so that is good too.
Schedule-wise:
Going to confirm, but as so far, Manufacturing for the Purple owlbear and keychain should be done by the end of the week, as should mossy.
This leaves, Charcoal, Snowy, and Accessories remaining on the schedule before the finish line (which i hope to have an update on very shortly given recent rounds of feedback).
We're near the finish line, and thanks for hanging in there with us.
Andreas
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