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Hi Law! (I am also a backer for your and Jojoorsmth’s Chronic Critters campaign, so that’s how I recognize you haha!) Okay, sooooo: I know this response might be a bit wordy, but I’ve tried to comprehensively explain (as best I can) what’s going on with this campaign, especially regarding Nova. (I’m also reusing and expanding upon some of my previous responses to other backers.) I’m obviously not Han (the creator); but Nova's, Nyx's, & Taija's availability (as post-campaign goals only, and NOT as pledge reward options) actually has an exact equivalency to which plushies did and did not get unlocked during the Chronic Critters campaign.  As you know (haha), Chronic Critters received $36,524 from pledges during the campaign. This amount unlocked Juniper, Porsha, Pixel, Audie, Salem, Eclair, Poppy, Oolong, Clover, and the two emotional support critter vests. We backers got to choose among them as pledge rewards when we filled out our surveys. However, Chronic Critters didn’t reach a high enough funding goal to unlock Dizzy, Basil, or Bubbles as pledge choices. You and Jojoorsmth made them available as post-campaign stretch goals, so if enough backers added them on to their pledges in surveys + non-backers pre-ordered them in the shop, they could also get funded for production. (I know Dizzy didn’t end up meeting the minimum order quotient, but I forget if Basil and/or Bubbles did, sorry ^.^;; ) Again, as you know (haha!), a number of Chronic Critters backers really wanted Dizzy, Bubbles, and Basil as pledge reward choices. But of course, you and Jojoorsmth needed the available pledge $$$ to pay for the production of the plushies that DID get unlocked; factory production isn’t a free service lol. So: as disappointing as it may have been for some folks, backers had to choose among Juniper, Porsha, Pixel, Audie, Salem, Eclair, Poppy, Oolong, or Clover as pledge rewards. If they wanted, they could pay to add on another plush to help it potentially get funded! ------- This same kind of situation happened in the Pajama Buddies campaign! The project received $42,278 in pledges, which means that enough funding was raised for the following plushies to unlock in the goal order and thus become eligible as pledge choices: ° Lumi the Kitty ° Ollie the Dragon ° Leo the puppy  ° Kopi the possum ° Juno the fox ° Banjo the Jackalope All other plushies became post-campaign add-on stretch goals with a minimum order number required to be made. We can't choose Nova (or anyone else not on the above list) as a pledge reward, because Han *has* to use the campaign funds to manufacture the unlocked goal plushies. (Just like you and Jojoorsmth with Dizzy, Bubbles, and Basil!). This kind of issue is one of the reasons why backers can adjust our pledges right up until campaign’s end; but of course, it does require backers to monitor ​**which** plushies get unlocked. (And to consistently vote in the polls for their faves if backers are choosing unlock order goals!) Anyway, you can verify all this info by looking at the campaign's main page in the stretch goals section. Banjo the Jackalope was the last unlock (at $42k)- chosen via backer poll: https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/hannimations/pajama-buddies-cuddle-companions/updates/25223  Thankfully, two of the three non-reward plushies in this campaign will for sure be going into production: ° Nova the otter (enough people have preordered/added on already, WILL be produced) [Nova’s seriously so pretty and it’s easy to see why over 90 people have ordered the otter friend so far! Your disappointment due to not getting to choose Nova as a pledge reward is SO understandable! 🫶🏻] ° Nyx the Bat (enough people have preordered/added on already, WILL be produced). [Also, they’re the one I really wanted most of all, which is why I eventually decided to just pledge for a mochi button during the campaign itself. I added them on in my survey and I’m so hyped for them 🥰🦇🌌] One final plushie still needs a few more preorders or add-ons to go into production: ° Taija the Red Panda (As of the time of this comment, only eleven more orders/add-ons are needed to meet the MoQ!!!! Almost there!) ------- Hopefully, this breakdown makes sense! But still, what’s happening now is super unfortunate. I've backed over 100 campaigns; yet I've never before experienced anything quite like this particular set of circumstances. Sometimes final samples do turn out differently than their concept art**; but it DEFINITELY isn't the norm for a design like Banjo to be voted on for color choice, only for the losing version to get finalized instead?! Plus, add in the extremely sporadic communication/updates, plus the additional issues surrounding Kopi’s noticeable divergence from the campaign design, PLUS how many people had either: ° their hearts set on Nova and Nova only or ° COULD have been okay with choosing Banjo and/or Kopi as a substitute for a plushie not unlocked/they didn't like the design of.... but then both of those final samples diverged from the campaign designs. It's almost like a logic puzzle where you end up with fewer and fewer correct answers the more you try to solve it. .... And well, all I can say is that I'm so glad I decided that my pledge //during the campaign itself// would only be for a mochi button. ** (Again, final samples turning out differently does indeed happen sometimes. It happened to me during the Critterfolk campaign. I initially pledged for the rabbit and wolf, but their final samples ended up juuuust different enough from the concept art that those plushies didn't appeal to me any more. Thankfully, the coyote and opossum plushies ended up looking amazing so I got to adopt them instead! And of course, the creator kept us updated on everything regularly!) ----- IMPORTANTLY!!!!!! In spite of all this, I still wish Han the absolute best. Being disabled is hard on just a basic level of existence, and I can't imagine trying to run a business on top of that… all while dealing with burnout and intensifying physical chronic illness symptoms. And apparently, Han’s online shop & crowdfunding projects have not been as consistently sustainable (in terms of finances vs. energy) as physically vending at conventions. But physically vending at cons is of course a huge energy drain all by itself. (This info comes from previous updates as well as comments from backers who are in Han’s Discord server.) Again, I really love Han’s work. I adore everything I received from her previous AutDHD Creatures campaign! I’ve practically lived​ in the autism hoodie this winter. And Dash the wheelchair-using Disability Pride Puppy plushie is on my bed right at this moment! Crowdfunding does of course mean we as backers do have to accept that various lengthy delays, unexpected world events, etc, can and probably ​**will**​ happen (example: Orange Dictator Man 2: the sequel from an even worse level of hell 🫠) and that products may turn out differently from what was shown during the campaign… HOWEVER, backers absolutely have the right to be frustrated with how things have turned out for the Pajama Buddies campaign so far. Even so, I’ve used my time and effort these past ~two weeks trying to help people understand what’s going on and make the best of the situation. I did this some with your and Jojoorsmth’s campaign too! The more we all can help each other (both for/as backers and creators), the more projects can succeed and even flourish! Hopefully, with some further patience and effort on everyone’s part, Pajama Buddies can still end up as successful as Chronic Critters! P.S.- Apologies if you already know this, but there is a search function for every campaign. (Saying this because you talked about skimming posts in the community but not being able to find an answer.) It can be a little hard to see on mobile sometimes, but it’s the tab to the right of the “community” and “FAQ” tabs! I’ve linked this project’s search tab for ease of use/as an example —>  https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/hannimations/pajama-buddies-cuddle-companions/search#top

Kind of lightly browsed the community, but I am also confused on why Nova cannot be chosen on my survey as a main option? Apologies if I skimmed over the information. I am kind of disappointed, the opposum will not have the patchwork design like the concept designs which I assumed the patchwork would be at least what was most important to get accurate (I know sometimes you have to pivot if the manufacturer cannot get it to work - but I didn't see any explanation why they cannot?) Anyways, with the opossum not coming out like I thought, I wanted to select Nova on my survey, but cannot as they are not an option. I saw someone saying they are only available as an add on? But why?

As someone who backed during the campaign, I personally find it disheartening that backers cannot pick Nova, who is now unlocked as an add-on, as their selected plush despite being part of the reason it came to fruition. With how you can select a freebie item and have a list of options if not available, I don't see why Nova couldn't be similar to this. Write in the text box something like "Ignore the multiple choice selection, I want to order Nova." Especially when someone who did not back the campaign can just order Nova individually. I understand the reasoning for this, but with the samples shown and me backing the project for Nova specifically, it makes me sad that I can't get what I paid for, especially with USD to AUD conversion rates, an additional nearly $60 for one plush is a lot.

Starting off with I have no problem with the wait for these as it was expected based on the original fulfillment date and a potentially longer wait doesn’t bother me. However updates seem to be posted more on discord than here where people paid for their items and the response from Han that Virgil kindly shared in the comments of Riley Reyam’s post leaves a lot to be desired. It’s rude and feels like they’re shifting the blame for not being willing to update here solely onto the backers since they seem to think the vast majority of us wouldn’t understand and be kind about delays. I think most people would understand and be kind about delays as long as they’re being communicated with I feel the reason some people haven’t been kinder here has been because of the lack of communication here and the fact that this isn’t their only project where theres been communication issues, updates have almost always been slow but their last project was the worst yet I didn’t even know their previous project rainbeanies was shipping until I got a shipping notice because they weren’t updating at all on backerkit. Specifically the last update was 6 months ago and it took 4 months for someone as far as I know not even working with Han to take it upon themselves to post an update which consisted of Han’s updates from discord. Which is honestly unacceptable and I’m concerned seeing a similar pattern here, theres already been two times where Han went radio silent for months and someone not working with them took it upon themselves to post an update that was only provided via discord. While in my experience Han has always delivered, lack of communication here makes it harder to trust that will continue to be the case. I really hope Han works on their communication here on backerkit but this is likely to be the final project from them I’ll back If canceling my pledge would get me a refund I’d likely cancel at this point since the lack of communication makes me extremely stressed out but I assume based on the FAQ that I’d only get a shop credit and to be honest because of the communication issues as of right now I don’t feel comfortable buying from them. I sincerely wish Han the best and while I understand the delays in manufacturing, I don’t understand their lack of communication here when they can easily copy paste their updates from discord.