We are currently working away on shipping! But we wanted to give a few updates on how things are going!
Currently, we have shipped 245 of 557 orders. Currently, 19 backers are still needing to fill out their surveys and we have 10 backers who have outstanding card issues. Don't forget to take care of these issues! Orders without payment will be pushed to the back of the shipping queue and their shipping will be delayed. We send periodic emails through Backerkit about issues, but some of these messages are sorted into spam. If you have any questions about your pledge's charge, or are concerned it did not go thorough, please email us at [email protected] and we can check the status of your order.
Plush Production
Star Fawn finished production this week! Once again, it's one step forward, another step back.
When we received the final sample a few weeks ago, for some reason the mane on the back of Star Fawn's head was cut off. We asked that the final production not have trimmed hair. For this reason, we haven't really posted photos.
Another prototype, another unintended hair cut.
The army of Star Fawns was due to be completed this past week, and thankfully, she was made with her hair intact! However, we noticed another major problem that needed to be corrected.
The land of Sad Tails.
Droopy sad tails, sewn in the wrong spot. D:
We noticed on the final version, the angle of her tail ended up sewn incorrectly. They also sewed it further down on her rump than we had established with the prototype. Unfortunately, this mean Star Fawn's shipping will be delayed because the factory needs to resew her tail in the correct position.
The factory has agreed to fix the tails, and now we are waiting for Star Fawn to complete tail surgery. For now, we will hold off on locking and charging Star Fawn orders.
Shipping
As stated previously, we've shipped 245 of 557 orders. We are working on finishing orders that contain only fish and only goaticorns this week.
Next week we will be leaving for Sac Anime and Rose City Comic Con. Shipping will be paused briefly while we are gone for these shows. We may or may not be able to allow pick up at these events because some stock has already been divided and designated for shipping. You can ask, but it may or may not be possible, depending on what items we have at these shows.
When we return home, we hope to continue shipping orders. We're hoping by the end of September/beginning of October, the Void Dragon will arrive to us, and we can begin shipping those! As such, we will lock and charge all Void Dragon orders on September 21st. This way, we can be prepared for the onslaught of dark noodles before they descend upon us.
We will hold off on locking and charging orders with Star Fawn until she is ready to ship. We noticed that some Star Fawn orders accidentally (by either a glitch with Backerkit's UI or human error, not sure, I thought I was doing everything correctly :C ), so if you need these orders unlocked, please feel free to contact us.
Shipping Overages
We've noticed on some international packages that the shipping ended up being less than what was initially charged. In those cases, we've provided a refund to the credit card you paid with. With shipping rates continually changing, we will keep the current rates that we initially programmed into Backerkit's backend, and will keep providing refunds as we see overages occurring.
Canadian Orders
We've been following the news closely, and at this time we are choosing to hold back on remaining Canadian orders on the off chance that some of the implemented tariffs are revoked. Canadian backers already have to pay a lot in customs fees, and we definitely feel for you guys having to pay even more. If you would like us to ship your order anyway, please let us know and we can do. We are sorry for this delay. We'll hold off on shipping them until we see changes OR until the end of the campaign, in hopes that the situation will improve.
Contact
Once again, we ask everyone with issues or timely questions to email us at[email protected]I keep encountering an issue where someone comments with a question or issue, and then Backerkit fails to notify me until days later (if at all). I've also been replying to support tickets, and those replies have either vanished by way of spam filters or have glitched out entirely. So our efforts to reply to everyone as quickly as possible has been foiled by technology in some way or another. So we ask that you simply email us so we can reply quickly and efficiently. It is not our intention to ignore anyone, and we don't want anyone to feel as if they have been ignored! So! Please email us, especially if it's a shipment issue. Thank you to everyone who has reached out and emailed us regarding packages so far! We appreciate your efforts!
Stickers
As a note, we've had a few people miss the envelope of stickers in their box. The stickers are in a small kraft brown envelope. We're realizing now, it's easy to miss this envelope because it's the same color as the box. D: We're now packing this on the top of the package, but if you are missing stickers, please keep an eye out for the envelope, because we realize now it's good as camouflaging itself as box. Lesson learned, we will not use brown envelopes again!
That's it for this update! I hope to be posting again in September with a Void Dragon announcement and positive news regarding Star Fawns completion. Thanks for following along!
Quick heads up: Lavender Goaticorn's tracking number just updated! Which means a herd of purple hoofers will be arriving later this week!!!
If your pledge contained a Lavender Goaticorn (and DOES NOT contain a Void Dragon or Star Fawn), you can expect your order to lock soon! If you need to update your address or need additional time for shipping, please let us know!
Additionally, we just posted a poll for a new plush. It is unrelated to Dragons or Goaticorns, but maybe you will enjoy seeing? Please go vote for your favorite color!
Thank you to everyone who visited us at GenCon and Otakon! It's been a real whirlwind! This week, we finally received the pins that we were waiting on (Ashen Goaticorn, Sea Foam Capricorn and mini pins). That means some shipping can commence! Before I get into that, here's some general plush updates:
Plush
Void Dragon finished production this week! Please behold the noodle pile!
We are now working on arranging shipping. I think these guys should arrive to us at the beginning of October, although it could be slower. New import regulations have meant that customs is processing imports a lot slower. As such, we are still waiting on Lavender Goaticorn. We also approved samples of Star Fawn this week. The new sample arrived before Gen Con and looks great! I will work on getting some photos together of her final sample soon, as well as the new pins we received.
Photos have been kind of pushed back on the to do list because we just finished the aforementioned giant shows, as well as needing to start SHIPPING! Which I will talk about next!
Shipping!!
With mini pins, Ashen Wings and Capricorn pins arriving, we can now ship some orders! You may have received an email about it. Be sure to check your address and payment info, since we are starting to run cards and pack orders. As a reminder, everything that does not contain Lavender Goaticorn, Star Fawn, or Void Dragon will proceed with shipping. Still debating on what you want? Just comment here or send us an email ( [email protected] ) and we will remove your order form the shipping queue. If your order locked prematurely and you need it unlocked, please message us as well.
We have started shipping some orders already, but please note, the shipping may take through September for us to pack everything. The size of the dragon boxes mean we can only physically transport so many plush per day to the post office. Additionally, we go through and check plush for hanging threads or embroidery issues. This can take a long time, especially when we have to inspect unwieldy dragons!
When you receive your package, your box will contain a pack slip as a reminder of what you ordered. If we forgot something OR there is an issue with your order, please fill out a support ticket or email us at [email protected]. It doesn't matter which option you choose, both will get forwarded to the same email. Please do not message us on social media with issues. Instagram, Facebook, comments on a random post, ect. are too easy for us to miss. We don't want anyone to feel forgotten! So please contact the email for help.
When you receive your plush, please keep in mind they might be slightly squashed in their box from traveling. With Goaticorns, they might need their stuffing mushed around so they stand upright. I usually twist the front and back legs gently to resettle the stuffing. If their hair is messy, you can use a soft brush to gently comb it back into shape (we use a tangle teezer brush). If there are strings we have missed, you can carefully trim them down with cuticle scissors or other small pairs of scissors. Dragons may require some combing and fluffing of his mane and tail. There may occasionally be fur trapped in the seams of his mane; you can gently pull these out if they bother you.
As a note, if you receive a plush with a taped or preopened plastic bag, do not worry! It only means we opened it to trim threads or inspect the plush. That said, we do miss things, so please email us or open a support ticket for assistance.
Thank you all for your patience with this project! We know everyone has been eagerly awaiting their pins and new plush friends! We look forward to sending out everyone's orders that are ready in the coming weeks!
July is already here and the project is progressing! Here's the latest news from the world of Dragon and Goaticorn!
Plush
Void Dragon 🟠🟠ðŸŸ
Void Dragon is now officially in production!!! We received his sample right before Anthrocon and were finally able to approve him. We took some photos of him by himself and with Rain. Hopefully this can help you all decide which dragon to choose!
With Void's design complete, we just have Star Fawn to go, and things are looking very promising on that front!
Star Fawn 🟠🟠ðŸŸ
We received a Star Fawn sample along with Void, however, we noticed some tweaks we needed to make.
These are the edits to our manufacturer. As you can see, her nose ended up slightly sloped. The curve of the brown minky along her forehead needed more of a curve to it. The hair line of her mane looked a little receding upon inspection, so we asked for more fur there.
Since returning from Anthrocon, a new sample photo was already waiting for us to review!
Star Fawn is looking nearly complete. We will have a physical sample mailed to us and will review her again. Provided there are no changes, she will proceed to production.
Lavender Goaticorn 🟠🟠ðŸŸ
Lavender Goaticorn has shipped and is in transit to us.
Teal Rain Dragon 🟢🟢🟢 Caribou Goaticorn 🟢🟢🟢 Black Goaticorn 🟢🟢🟢 Pale Moon Fish 🟢🟢🟢 Black Moon Fish🟢🟢🟢
Pins
Ashen Goaticorn 🟠🟠🟠Sea Foam Capricorn 🟠🟠🟠Mini Pin Set 🟠🟠ðŸŸ
These pins have completed production! They are currently in transit and should arrive by the end of the month.
With the shipment of mini pins, some surveys will lock soon. We will lock surveys not containing Void Dragons, Lavender Goaticorns and Star Fawns. All other surveys will be locked August 1st and shipping/extras charged. If you still need more time to review your choices, please send us a message and we can hold off on your order.
Event Pick Ups
Thank you to everyone who did an in person pick up at Anthrocon and Origins! We will happily allow in person pick ups at the next events. If you want to pick up an in stock item in person, bring your backer name, email, and a copy of your pledge to us at a convention! We will mail extras to you later, but will gladly let you pick up plush/pins now, if available.
Our next events are Otakon (Washington DC) and GenCon (Indianapolis, IN). We look forward to seeing you there at the end of the month!
We finally received some progress with new sample photos! Let's take a look!
Plush
Star Fawn 🟠🟠ðŸŸ
Star Fawn is finally making some real progress! The materials finally look as they should and she is looking quite cute! Now we wait to see her in person to make sure there are no further changes before approving production.
Lavender Goaticorn 🟠🟠ðŸŸ
This baby has finally finished production! We have paid her shipping balance and she is now being prepped for shipping. We should receive these in end of July/August!
Void Dragon 🟠🟠ðŸŸ
Still waiting to see his sample before we approve production. I have a sinking suspicion that perhaps his sample was mailed via sea again (even though I requested airmail). Hoping to have news in the next month about him.
Teal Rain Dragon 🟢🟢🟢 Pale Moon Fish 🟢🟢🟢 Caribou Goaticorn 🟢🟢🟢 Black Moon Fish🟢🟢🟢 Black Goaticorn 🟢🟢🟢
Both of these pins are finally ready for production! These pins underwent some changes due to manufacturing constraints (smaller size, removal of transparent enamel, but hopefully everyone looking forward to them will not mind the small changes. The pin factory is now working on the full order.
The bonus mini pins are also working their way through production. You might notice fish pin is missing; anodized metal pins usually don't get preproduction samples due to the manufacturing process. We won't see photos of those until they are complete. For now, bask in the cuteness that is mini loaf dragon and petite black goaticorn!
These are nice and sparkly! We'll be working on packing them into sets in preparation of shipping. As a reminder, everyone gets the three bottom stickers free with their pledges; Dragon's Realm backers will also get the top sticker free with their pledges. If you want additional stickers, you can purchase extra full sets through the add ons in the preorder store.
Surveys went out last week! Don't forget to check your inbox and get them filled out. As a reminder, we will not be locking surveys until we receive all of the campaign items. You can fill out your survey and then go back and adjust it to your heart's content. You have until December 31, 2026 to complete your survey.
For international backers, you can go through the survey, put in items, even add your payment info, and you won't be charged. This is a great way to estimate shipping, if you are unsure if you want an extra item or not. All charges for add ons and shipping won't be made to credit cards until we are ready for shipping. We will be warning everyone before charges and shipping happen. Everyone's surveys are basically waiting on minipins to arrive at this point, and I expect it will be another month before those even finish production.
Once mini pins have shipped, we will make an announcement. If you backed for items that are complete and instock (any prancing goaticorn pins, rain dragon, black goaticorn and caribou goaticorn), we will lock your order and charge for shipping. This way we can expedite getting orders out. If you ordered an item that's still in progress (mainly Void and Star Fawn), you have plenty of time to make adjustments, since we won't be dealing with those orders right away.
Finally, if you want to pick up an in stock item in person, bring your backer name, email, and order number to us at a convention! We will mail extras to you later, but will gladly let you pick up plush/pins now, if available.
Our next event is Origins Game Fair in Columbus, OH. We look forward to seeing everyone in the coming week!
