The bad news: My plush manufacturer? They haven't responded to my messages in three weeks, I have been trying to get them to have it officially on my quote/on paper that my shipment will be DDP so I'm not hit with any sudden import fees. The last message from them was my rep "checking" with his manager. I do not think they ever planned on giving me DDP terms, even my sample plush wasn't actually sent DDP, they just tanked the value of the sample to $5 and FedEx tried to collect on that months after it arrived!
The good news: I have been searching for new manus for a few weeks and had one recommended to me that has excellent quality and is more affordable! I have a few plush from the artist who sent me their info and I love how well put together these are, plus I think I will be able to go ahead and order a run of the clown opossums without having to get 35 pre-orders! Also good news, I have my new pin manu lined up and will (finally) be ordering pins next week!
I have locked orders and plan on charging cards in the next month or so, anyone who hasn't filled out their survey should do so ASAP! Any pledge that hasn't gotten their survey in by the time I charge cards for shipping/add-ons will have their pledge cancelled, so PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE make sure to fill those out!
Thank you all so much for sticking around during this tumultuous time, I appreciate every single one of you for being patient!
I just wanted to pop in to let you all know a few things!
Firstly, production is beginning on the plush! Hurray!
Secondly, my pin manufacturer isn't honoring my initial quote, they have increased the price of my pins around 100-125%, so I will be looking for a new manufacturer to see if they can offer a better price with a hopefully better quality! I ordered my last campaign pins through this manufacturer and the ones that weren't flawed were beautiful, but 25% of them were flawed.
I want to be completely transparent with this process so everyone stays on the same page I'm on. This is a nasty bump in the road and at a terrible time as I'm headed out of state to Sakura Con. Thanks for bearing with me!
Most of you have already seen, but surveys are out! I have a handful of that still need filled out, but we're getting close to surveys locking and pins/plush going into production.
Since I'll be going to Sakura Con in Seattle this year, I decided to keep the pre-order store open and have a QR code linking there for customers to be able to order things in person, hopefully getting the Scream Queen pin (and maybe clown opossum??) unlocked! I'm super excited for this show, it's my first big out of state show and I can't wait! If you're in Seattle, come see me!
With CNY ending, things are picking up again behind the scenes.
I have taken the time between Pintopia ending and now to refine the survey and get it ready to go. Smoke tests are going out now, if those are clear you can expect to see the survey in your inbox! Keep an eye out, the smoke test goes to a select few backers and is very important!
That's all for now, thanks everyone for sticking around!
Thank you so much for your support on this project! We ended with a not-to-shabby $2,327. This year's Pintopia was full of so many amazing projects and I know money is tight for so many right now, so I am extremely grateful y'all chose me to throw money at!
On the subject of stretch goals, since we didn't end at the $2,500 goal I will have the option to unlock the last pin by pre-orders in the pledge manager/pre-order store if there is enough interest!
I will also have a few other add-ons that didn't make it to the campaign that y'all should really check out!
I will be getting in contact with my manufacturers ASAP, but the factories are closed until the end of the month, so sit tight!
