Surveys
I had someone message me on FB earlier about surveys. Backerkit's backend is confusing af, so we're still getting it fixed so surveys are able to correctly be sent out.

Failed Payments

Just for the sake of transparency since people always seem to think we get exactly what is shared to the public. We also lose like 10% of this amount to Backerkit/Stripe. 

Basically it works as follows: 

- Project ends
- Payments are collected
- Surveys go out (assuming we don't mess things up forever)
- I tally everything up and place my order with my manufacturer


For now we're in the get the survey fixed while everyone corrects payments stage. I assume I won't get most of the failed charges. It's common. 

My factories (both pin and plush) are still closed until February, so I will be setting add-ons aside in the meantime for the orders I can handle immediately.

Anyways - I will let everyone know once surveys do finally get finished and sent. Thank you for being patient!

I meant to update yesterday but we are currently working on the backend.

Some updates while I am here:

- My plush manufacturer recommended some longer fur choices for the Kitsune, so once they are back in February they will adjust the sample. My designer is already on vacation, so there won't be any updates from them until February. This goes for all of the other samples as well as ordering the plush too.

- We are currently preparing the surveys for people. Backerkit backend is just confusing and hard for someone like me still lol. Even with using it for Pintopia in 2024, I still feel it's slow to set up so currently working through all of that.

- Sticker designs! I will be working on the sticker designs for everything (fox, kitsune, freebie, owlbear, etc) since I know this project was interrupted by holidays + trying to finish up for the Pintopia launch.

- LOCAL PICKUP options: So I want to be very clear, depending on how long samples take to get correct, certain items will not be able to be picked up locally. If you're in Minnesota, there is zero reason you can't local pickup from me at events even if they are later in the year (Convergence, Twin Cities Con for example) while Anime Detour is too soon for me to receive the plush.

I haven't determined if I will have any of the new plush by Momocon yet (in May). Potentially will have Toby and the keychains, but I will be doing my best to get the samples all finalized in February. March/April production times still may put me over since it takes about 30-40 days sea shipping. Once I have a better idea of what will or won't be in for local pickup, I will make an update. I hope that helps.

Kitsune Kon in Wisconsin is in July as is Convergence so I am at least trying to make sure Kistunes arrive way before July for local pickup for those attending.

- Payment processing issues! I think there were about 19 yesterday that had issues, today it's down to about 17. I am currently at about $10k in funds so way under what is expected and there was a weird nearly $1500 pledge we can't figure out if it's legit or not that we're currently assuming is not going to ever be processed. I would like to be wrong, but people can pledge and never pay so never take any numbers you see a project finishing with as reality.

I would like to note, the Gryphon, Kitsune, Fox and Owlbear will have varying lengths of fur on them while the corgis only have the low pile fur + the uber fluff chest.

I think that is everything for now. If you have any questions, please ask. I have seen the comments in discord and on instagram people have left already and I believe I responded to all of those so far. Backerkit sends out like emails a day later than we get comments so when we respond here, just know it's because it doesn't inform us immediately.

My goodness the makers of Polyfil are kind of not great at wholesale. I think Joanns must have bought like a warehouse of the stuff because the prices they can offer vs what the actual company that makes Polyfil wholesales things for is vastly different.

I know I posted their price sheet in my discord but it was like $33 wholesale for a 5 lb box of this Polyfil. It is actually cheaper for me to buy it on sale at Joanns than it is for me to order wholesale from the makers. I don't know how I feel about or what to even tell anyone at this point.

So this is what they looked like when I received them. I probably won't repack them nearly as neatly when I mail them to you since I do have to sew in a bunch of the tags still.

Moving along - the premium Polyfil is most comparable to what is inside of the prototypes.

My personal preference is this silky Polyfil. I still think they added more than I did when I was stuffing the pillows for testing. One has the silky stuff and I have no idea how much of it was used compared to the premium, but the premium fill we used 24 oz of fluff. I still think it could have held more but it was a bit lumpy, so maybe rip it apart more than I did. I do remember when my prototype came in, it was vacuum sealed and it took awhile to get to into some happy state of existence, so some of it may just wiggle itself into a better spot with use too? I have no idea.

My only suggestion is stuff and test how it feels as you go. I think we can still add more stuffing to the ones we have, but we're still experimenting.

Either way, if you ordered one of these and need us to stuff it for an extra cost outside of whatever, please let me know. Shipping weight will increase and thus shipping cost will too as a warning. We're still going to attempt to find cheaper ways to stuff these but maybe my preference for filler is also just spendy. I have no idea haha.

If you have questions, please don't hesitate to ask either way. Labeling laws are really the only reason I am behind on these.

I also just got into Momocon! So if you're in Atlanta, I will be there! Don't ask me what stuff I will have with me. I have no idea lol. I just know they have Delicious in Dungeon VAs and I am so freaking excited. Maybe I'll do a Delicious in Dungeon Stamp Rally. = X I had such a good time in 2024 and I am even more excited for 2025! I will say if you do attend, wear shoes that don't hurt your feet. It's sooo much walking.

I know a handful of you already support me on the regular, but for those unfamiliar with me, this post is for you!

When I started my plush journey back in 2019 (yes literally forever ago now lol), I had a hard time finding manufacturers. I would like to say that Kikidoodle, Succulent Scribbles, & Cindacry helped soo much on my plush journey. Without their guidance, I don't think I would have made it nearly as far as I have. Not that they will see this but thank you all so much! <3

I tried several manufacturers (including Squishable who I love and adore lol). I had to pivot and never started a sample with Squishable for a corgi plush. I actually started off trying make my friend's dog, Shippo, who suffered from DM. From Google: "Degenerative myelopathy (DM) is a progressive, incurable disease that affects a dog's spinal cord. It causes gradual paralysis that usually starts in the hind legs and moves toward the front. DM is similar to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, in humans."

I tried another manufacturer for the corgi plush while I was pivoting with Squishable. It turned out horrifying lol.

It didn't pan out and I pivoted to making what you guys now know as Panic Puffs. I actually did try a Kickstarter campaign for the Panic Puffs with Squishable, but it ultimately failed. The MoQ (minimum order quantity) was 1200 so the costs were substantial. Maybe my fanbase is too small, maybe the design really wasn't that appealing, timing to market, etc. I have no idea but ultimately I decided to try again with a manufacturer who didn't have such a high MoQ. In the long run I still want to order more to keep costs down, but for now I need to stay in my small creator lane for now.

My Panic Puffs did finally get funded with my second project and much lower MoQs. Lizbie Cafe helped draw up the tags when I was busy and didn't have time - think 2023 was the year of me being a busy mom and doing swim stuff. Either way, the success of this project encouraged me to try again with the corgi plush.

So fast forward to later in 2023 with the same manufacturer I used for my Panic Puffs. I closed the eyes compared to the first designs of my plush because I didn't feel like I understood the eye embroidery I wanted well enough (I will eventually figure this out in the future still). I ultimately decided the standing design - while it was a good idea, wasn't really what I wanted. My corgis sit with their lil legs being silly but they didn't find it manageable to have the leg under the dog to match the corgi sitting position I wanted to shift to. 

I won't bore you with all the drafts and updates in the end, but aside from the color being lighter than expected, I was much happier with the final product.

I still love him. <3 Keychain plush were probably my next pain point since I just assumed you could shrink plush down fairly easily. The Panic Puffs could only shrink an inch and the corgis shrunk a lot, but lost significant detail. It took me about half a year to finally just accept that Murphy wasn't gonna be anything but printed at his size. I still wish it wasn't printed, but alas, he's still very cute despite that.

I still have so much to learn about plush and thank you so much for supporting me on this journey!

Anyways, I hope this was informative for anyone curious about why sampling may take awhile or anyone curious about the samples that aren't finished. I am currently working through revisions on the plush - some will get posted here, some I will forget and just post to Discord and Facebook.

And for the artists who backed this and may want to dip into plush - feel free to ask questions! I know the laws and such are very confusing. Heck, I am still trying to figure out the EU stuff for the future. This is sort of why small runs are better for the time being too. 

Thank you! <3