As you might imagine, our original timeline had international packages starting to ship as soon as in one week. I also said I was going to lock addresses by now, almost a month ago. But as some of you might have noticed, I have done no such thing.
We've been waiting to see when the oracle dice items would be finished, and they have let us know as of a week ago or so that we will not have all dice items finished and ready to ship to our fulfillment team until the end of May. The reason given for the delays (they originally said it would take 45 days for manufacturing to happen, and we supposedly started in March!) is that the dice engraving is taking a longer time than they imagined. So we don't have molds it seems, they are just engraving the dice individually. If they had told me it would take longer, or that they were doing it at all, I would have advised making molds instead, especially since I plan to remanufacture again someday. But, as you might be able to imagine, engraving thousands and thousands of dice is taking some time.
On the left was the previous sample. Look how much THICKER it is compared to the new ones to the right of it! We shaved off a full inch of depth to it.
The 10 glow in the dark dice in normal lighting.
The black dice after being hit with a black light and on their own in the dark.
All 10 glow in the dark dice together in the dark after being hit with a black light. Note that the above photo was taken in the same moment, just with the brighter dice removed. So weird how they glow differently!
That said, I did get the final round of samples and things are looking fantastic! The dice are great, the guides are great, the oracle decks are good-- I'm very happy with what we're getting into your hands. I was also surprised to get the neoprene mats in-- they look awesome. I'm waiting on the reading journals to arrive end of day tomorrow it sounds like, but otherwise all the items are in production.
The Updated Timeline
First off, the dice manufacturer never got me a proper timeline. Our timeline 2 updates ago was based on my knowledge that they were supposed to have started early March, and that our production timeline was 45 days at maximum. So mid-April we'd have it all done, shipped over to our fulfillment team, and begin shipping right away as able, matching the timeline I'd suggested two updates back.
So, new timeline based on them telling us items will be ready end of May:
I am going to LOCK ADDRESSES on the 20th of May. The goal is to make sure our shipping numbers and addresses are correct, and so we can begin shipping ASAP as items are received at the fulfillment center.
June 10th - June 30th, we'll see International (non-North American) shipping starting to go out.
July 20-30th, we'll see the container with the North American orders arrive to the USA. Orders for the USA will go out asap when the container arrives.
August 15th, all orders should have been shipped out and, hopefully, in-hand already.
This plants the oracle dice shipping timeline as clearly being later than the tarot decks, which I am trying to get up to date info on right now so I can share in updates on those projects soon. This will likely delay the Goblin's Tarot project, but I'll play it by ear.
We also could see this push sooner, and I'll let you all know by update here if it does! I'm anxious to get these out there, but soon! Soon!!
7DA your publishing goblin
ps,
46 folks still haven't gotten their surveys done on this project! I'm emailing them directly from [email protected] now! So check your inbox if you haven't done it. You can always log in to backerkit to check your surveys or check here if you're unsure: https://the-goblin-s-oracle-dice.backerkit.com/
We are rapidly approaching the day I lock people's addresses, March 27th, so I can get shipping charges onto your orders and we can get moving on with getting these items in your hands in June!
In this project, there are still 51 folks who haven't filled out a survey at all. A reminder that you need to fill out your survey, have a shipping address, and then pay your shipping charges before you'll get any items from this project.
So check your spam folder and your email to see if you got a reminder to fill out the survey just now, as I just pinged those final 51 once more.
Otherwise, sit back, relax, and we'll get shipping figured out soon!
As of today, I have finished merging people's orders backwards, so anyone who backed both this project and the one from May on Backerkit who requested it in their survey, your orders are now merged into one project.
What this looks like: your order on the other project was marked as Fulfilled, and the items from it have been added to your order on THIS project. If you're curious, you can go take a look for yourself to make sure things made it over okay.
I am going to LOCK ADDRESSES on the 27th of March. The goal is to make sure our shipping numbers and addresses are correct.
As of now, we are aiming to have our production finished by mid April, with items to our fulfillment team in China and then picked-and-packed by the end of April for your orders.
April 30th - May 10th, we'll see International (non-North American) shipping starting to go out.
May 25-30th, we'll see the container with the North American orders arrive to the USA.
June 10th, all orders should have been shipped out and, hopefully, in-hand already.
That's it! Chinese New Year breaks end shortly, so we'll see items in production soon, and then it's a fulfillment time where things happen, packages are packed, labels are placed, and then items go places!
Now, I will say these are the dates as given to me by the fulfillment team. The manufacturer doing the dice items may note that the manufacturing could take a little longer, but June to the start of July is still a great timeline estimate.
So that's that, otherwise you'll just be looking for my updates about the shipping charges being added to your orders near the end of March, and I'll be harrassing people who haven't gotten their surveys in. You can always just go on backerkit.com and check your surveys there if you're not sure if it's in yet!
So talk again in March when shipping charges are coming up!
Nothing big to report, but I did want to come in and share the "7 Was Wrong Pin" design final form! It is officially named the 1000 Goblin Pin!
It will be 2.5" wide, and while it was offered here cheaper, it will retail for $15. This is the 'commemorative' pin I put up in our final moments when we reached 1000 backers, proving me wrong about that!
Also, look at the dice chests! Just kind of fun to see them in process. They are just about done, and I've paid manufacturing with the manu, but we won't start until March since we have to work around the Chinese New Year here in Feb.
More info in March when we have some clearer timeline info!
First off, the Helper Dice Set arrived to me! And the dice are good, the cards are good, the box is good-- we're good. (Okay, there are a few small things I've asked them to fix, but very little.) In receiving this, that means I've received all three sets now. I have gone ahead and sent in a handful of digital file updates, including the thinner large set box designs, the final versions of the guidebooks, and that means we're done.
The Dice Chests are already in production, the Dice Goblin pin is about to be in production-- and the stone dice?
The Stone Dice
The Stone Key Keepers set can be seen here above! That's the Housewife's dice, then underneath the Black Lantern dice. Then we have the 7 Key Keepers with their suns and moons, plus the astrology d12. And at the bottom? The 4 Gametaker Dice! Then off to the right, we have the stone Helper Dice Set! Bear in mind that the patterning on each die can be unique, so the red-inked die in the Helper's set is a bit hard to read on that side of the die, but that's just a mismatch of patterning with the design on that particular die and on that particular face. It happens from time to time, but shouldn't be an issue most of the time. It was also a bit of a dark photo from the manufacturer, so I don't feel those will be representative of the in-person experience.
Merging Orders
I will be merging orders shortly to get ready to put shipping on people's orders. This is a manual process I'll be doing personally, so it may take a little bit. However, for people whose orders are merged, you'll find that I'm moving one of your two orders to the 'Fulfilled' bucket. That's just so we don't accidentally re-ship that order. I'm choosing not to cancel one order because that will make later records confusing-- so instead I'm merging items from one to the other order, then moving the one that had its items moved to be considered Fulfilled.
Timeline
So based on the fact that we're just now sending in the final files, I think it's safe to say we won't be shipping until the back half of March and then April at the earliest. This is because February is the Chinese New Year, and everything basically grinds to a halt around that time. This isn't ideal, I thought we could be manufacturing through January, but I needed photos of the real dice in the guidebooks this time around, both stone and plastic, so I could make sure the guides were comprehensive resources.
So I'm going to claim this: By the end of May, we will be all shipped out, ideally all items in people's hands.
I'm a little nervous because I have the Goblin's Tarot set to fund in May, but I'd rather say end of May items in hand and then get to move that sooner as things get done on time, than say we'll be all shipped by the start of May and then it turns out some are still shipping mid-May.
And time-wise, I think that's pretty solid here, as we launched in May last year, so a year turnaround is great for a crowdfunder.
SO FOR NOW, hang out and have a nice day. I'll let you all know when things are moving more certainly and we are more certain of our ability to get things locked in to a particular timeline. I will especially be checking in to share when shipping is being tagged on people's orders so people can check it before we charge it.
So talk again when I have more news!
7DA your pub gob
ps again, Pub Gob Trinkets has its first solo-launch a week from today with new tarot-style enamel pins, this time with a gorgeous stained-glass treatment! So consider giving it a look if you like enamel pins, or got the previous tarot-style pins from us in 2024!
