Surveys and a little Side Project
about 3 years ago – Sat, Apr 03, 2021 at 02:35:59 AM

Hello Adventurer!

I hope that you are doing well!  I have two items that I wanted to bring to your attention.

BackerKit Surveys

For all of the non-UK Backers, the survey will be going out in two stages.  Some this afternoon, and some tomorrow morning.  If you do not receive your email from BackerKit by tomorrow evening please let me know and I will be happy to send along your custom link through a message here on KS.  

Please fill out your survey as soon as you can, as I will be using this information to make sure I have enough of each design produced.  

Unrelated Side Project - Graffiti Wall

Last year (2020) I did my first numbered Limited Edition pin.  It was a fox and a squirrel having a conversation with a tree spirit.  I really enjoyed that project and have decided to do another Limited Edition pin this year, but of a completely different subject this year.  

65 pre-order slots of these pins are available as add-ons on BackerKit (limit two per person) for $20 each and the remainder will eventually be put up on my website at a slightly higher price.  I cannot have all 100 available on Backerkit, just in case some of them come in with flaws.  UK Backers: If you are interested in one of these please let me know, I would be happy to hold one of the pre-order slots for you if you would like.

This sidewalk scene is a HUGE design that measures 2.5 inches wide by 2.35 inches tall.  There will be 100 laser numbered pins made plus two Artists Proof pins for my personal collection.  The intent of this design is for people to be able to add their own 'graffiti' to the large open part of the wall.  I am hoping that dry erase markers will will work on this surface for those of us who want a less permanent marking, but I have NOT tested that...

I hope that you have a fantastic weekend!

As always if you have any questions or concerns please let me know and I will be happy to answer them to the best of my ability.

Kindest regards, 

Joshua R Pinkas

We did it! What happens next?
about 3 years ago – Sat, Mar 27, 2021 at 04:24:06 AM

Hello Adventurer!

We had an amazing finish to an amazing campaign!

Over $35K in pledges and over 680 backers!

I want to sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart! Your support makes a huge difference not only for me personally, but for my family as well, so thank you!

I wanted to give you a rundown of what is going on now, what to expect coming up. I also have a section below specifically for the UK folks, as your situation is a bit different.

What is happening now?

I have already ordered a small number of the core classes from my production partner. I am expecting to receive them by mid-April if not earlier. These are mostly for me to make sure there aren’t any production issues with the designs before we go into full production.

I am finalizing the BackerKit setup.

If your payment method for Kickstarter encountered an error Kickstarter will send you an email with instructions on how to correct this. If it is not corrected within 7 days Kickstarter will unfortunately drop you from the campaign.

What to expect next

The BackerKit Survey will be sent out in about a week (Both Kickstarter and BackerKit recommend waiting a week before sending out surveys). This is how you will tell me what you want and where I should send it! You can also add additional pins and pay for them through BackerKit if you so choose. (Items added and paid for through BackerKit will not be immediately charged to your payment method, instead they will be charged about a month before we ship out your items.)

Please fill out your survey as soon as possible once you receive it. I use the surveys to determine how many of each design to have produced. If I order too many, they will eventually sell, but if I don’t order enough, some of you might have to wait for more to be made, and I don’t like making people wait any longer than needed.

I will continue to send out project updates once or twice a week. We still have a number of Design Insights to do, and I also want to provide general updates along the way.

I should have enough survey data to place the main order of pins by mid-April, assuming that I have received the sample batch by then to review. It will probably take my production partner a month or two to produce the pins after I place that main order. Then once I receive the main order, I will need to inspect them before I begin packaging and shipping them out. 

We still have a long road ahead of us, but good friends make for quick travel!

UK Backers Info

Hello friends across the pond! You can ignore all of that Backerkit talk above, as we will be doing something a little different due to the current VAT circumstances.

I will send you a message through Kickstarter asking you which pins you would like.  Please put each pin you would like on a separate line for easy readability.  If you want any of the pins from Series 1 please put S1 next to them so I know. If you just say ‘Bard’ for example, I will assume you mean the Series 2 Bard unless you specifically say ‘S1 Bard’. I will tally these numbers with the survey numbers to make my main order with my production partner more accurate.

Then you get to wait a while…

A few months from now, once I have the pins in-hand, I will set up a custom Etsy listing just for you and will send you a link to it. Etsy will then be responsible for collecting, remitting, and record keeping for the VAT.  The costs for you will match whichever backer tier will give you the best cost per pin. You will also receive a free Owlbear just like all the other backers!

Thanks again!

If you have any questions or concerns please let me know, I am always happy to answer them to the best of my ability.

Kindest regards, 

Joshua R Pinkas

Fun little comic!
about 3 years ago – Wed, Mar 24, 2021 at 07:01:04 PM

Hello Adventurer, 

There is only one day left on this campaign!  After it ends I will be posting a nice 'What Happens Next' type update, but for now, please enjoy this little comic that I put together!

Have a fantastic day!

Kindest regards, 

Joshua R Pinkas

About the Lich and a General Update
about 3 years ago – Sun, Mar 21, 2021 at 01:11:07 AM

Hello Adventurer!

We have less than a week left on this campaign! Thank you so much for the wonderful support!

I will be temporarily putting the Design Insights posts on hold until the campaign is finished. This will allow me to focus on make sure that I set the BackerKit surveys up correctly and take care of a few other administrative tasks.

Don’t worry though, every design in this campaign will get a Design Insights post if it has not already had one.

About the Ancient Lich

I also wanted to have a brief discussion about the Ancient Lich add-on pin.

Size

This pin will be 2.25 inches tall. Compared to the other pins in this campaign that is VERY LARGE. Above is an image showing the relative size of a few pins. I did this to help you understand the cost difference and so there would be fewer ‘It is much bigger than I was expecting’ comments later on. Having said that I still think it will feel bigger in person than you were expecting, LOL.

Enamel

I want this particular pin to feel special, so I plan to do something a little different with the green flame color. I will be having the green color enamel filled in with semi-transparent enamel instead of solid opaque enamel. It will not be perfectly clear, but instead it will be a cloudy green color because the formula has some white pigment in it in addition to the blue and yellow.

The best example I have of this effect is on my Bee pin. The honeycomb is filled with a transparent yellow that also has white in it, so it has a semi-transparent effect. I think this is more evident in person, but you can kind of see it in this photo.

Glow? Maybe…

I am considering also making the green on the Lich pin glow-in-the-dark. It is a cool effect, but I do have some concerns.

One concern is that to make them glow a very fine powder is added to the enamel. In opaque enamel this is not a concern, but since I want the green to be semi-transparent I am slightly concerned that this will give the green a grainy or speckled effect. My production partner said that they have produced pins with both of these features on them in the past and that it looked good, but they don’t have any current samples to show me, nor photos…

Another concern is that in the past I have received a higher number of flawed pins when using the glow-in-the-dark effect. So depending on how many people end up wanting this pin I will have to be careful with my math when making this decision.

I will have to make this decision soon, but I still have some time to mull it over.  Feel free to comment below to let me know your opinion, but this isn't a majority rules situation, as I will be making the final decision on the glow based on what I believe will be best for the design as a whole.

If you have any other questions, just let me know!

Please have a fantastic rest of your day!

Kindest regards, 

Joshua R Pinkas

Design Insights: The Ranger
about 3 years ago – Thu, Mar 18, 2021 at 08:39:28 PM

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