A metal bookmark tier ($10), add-on for one metal bookmark ($10) and a pair of both Sakura and Hops bookmarks ($18) add-on have been added to the campaign already due to an unexpectedly large amount of backers saying they would want one! (57% out of a pool of over 100 already) For those pledging to just the bookmark tier with no pins, you can add an additional metal bookmark as an add-on for $9 of your choice (exclusive to this tier) since I'll be able to save some on shipping by using a flat mailer instead of a box.
Printed Bookmarks will likely still be added, but I will only be adding them if I have time to complete the art before the campaign ends. I will update if/when that happens. If you want to vote on which designs will be added if I can first do Iris, Cornflower, Chrysanthemum, and Foxglove... you can do so at this Discord link HEREwhere I already have a poll running.
Slight update to Sakura dragon, where I forgot to fill in the deep red on the back.
Howdy folks, we found a big enough hiccup with the "A Toast of Two Beer Dragons or Shields" bundle that it needs a fix before I can send out the rest of the surveys. (So if you're having trouble with this option as a smoke test taker, it's not you, and hang tight.)
I've already sent off a help request to Backerkit, but as I need to depart for Tekko shortly I won't have time to address it until I get back.
I've also temporarily hidden this option on the pre-order store.
I should be able to respond to comments, but my responses will be pretty delayed.
By the way, if you're at Tekko you can see the Green Beer Dragon sample pin, and stickers in person! Expect to see another update Monday or Tuesday with a fix in place and the rest of the surveys going out.
I finally got through sending my Kickstarter rewards and doing a count of available pins from The Return for events and the Pledgebox surveys.
Then after much head scratching and fumbling with said survey construction (and much help from the team at Pledgebox!), that's been completed and smoke tests have gone out to about a dozen folks.
Samples for Amber Ale are likely going into round 2, as I was unhappy with the clear enamel chosen for its belly/underside. (It's a little too yellow green.) It'll also need an adjustment to the mold; similar to what I went through with Cascadian Dark. The process that changes the metal color bled into the entire beer glass area, which overpowers the semi transparent white enamel. So while I tried to avoid it having a hard line on the shoulder/wing area "behind" the beer glass, it will be necessary to stop the color bleed.
Samples for Stout are getting an adjustment on the screenprint; both came out too light so we're tying a darker color. I will also likely go one darker on the tail's soft enamel for full production.
The enamel and screenprint color fixes I consider to be minor, the mold fix is more worrisome because if it can't be modified we'll need an entirely new mold. But I trust in the skills of the folks that work with these materials and am likely worrying over nothing.
Here are some photos!
Amber Ale sample, no screenprints.
Stout sample, green beer variant. Screenprint too light, but gosh I love this chonker.
I'm heading to Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) for Tekko this weekend, so if I don't have time to double check and/or adjust after the smoke tests before I hit the road, expect early next week the rest of the surveys will go out. I'll also have info and a link to the (now open) pre-order store to advertise at the convention. Here's the link if you want to pass it on to fellow beer dragon enthusiasts: Drachtoberfest: Green and Gold pre-order store
Thanks again for y'all's patience while I had a ... whole bunch of curveballs thrown at me over the past few months. As always, I'm happy to answer questions and otherwise, Cheers!
Thank you guys for getting those surveys finished!! We are at 90%, and I have a pretty good estimate of the final order counts, but if we can get those last few surveys in, that would be fantastic!
Based on the add-ons, there may also be some reorders of some fan favorites, such as the Rainbow Mythical Dragon (90+ ordered!)
More fun stats:
The Strawberry Family collab pin came in around 205! The Wine dragon collab pin came in at around 170!
Orders will be locked and cards will be charged when we get a closer survey count. Reminders will be sent out, but if they remain unresponsive, we may go forward with locking in the orders we have so we can keep things moving along =)
Here is a summary of what is going on now for Bouquet of Dragons:
Survey are still open, 21 backers still need to fill it out
Survey will stay open though until samples are complete
Samples should be getting an update any day now. Tariff situation backlogged my manufacturer a bit so it is taking some time to catch up.
Until Survey lock, you can manually update your address, add more pins / stickers, or select different stuff if you have changed your mind. You can even message me if you want to swap around your stickers for pins to some degree.
The Pre-Order store will be open until samples finalize as well. So if you missed out, you still have a chance to get them steeply discounted.
If you are a backer that can't find your survey, feel free to email me so I can try to help you out. Otherwise you can try this first: Survey Recovery Page
Other Updates:
If you are in the USA, I will be at Anthrocon next weekend. You can see all my merch in person if you wanna touch stuff.
Phew, I tell y'all what. Some of the survey building has kicked my butt. "Why does this pledge level translate as expected to an add-on but this one doesn't? Why is this pledge level acting exactly the opposite?" "How on earth did I make 400 variants for this one item?" Reasons. (Backerkit CS helped me out!)
But all that has been largely resolved, and I expect to send out smoke tests next week. This is so I can wrap up fulfilling "The Return" Kickstarter rewards, and expect to offer a limited number of the Mead (special edition/SE) pin in the survey (This variant, like the accidental blue glitter Mead, won't be produced again.) Here are some photos of The Return pins!
Here's what else I've gotten done in the time between:
Samples purchased and in production. As I'm doing variants for Amber Ale and Stout I'm trying a couple different enamel combinations in the samples. It didn't occur to me until I was picking out Pantones that the green ale/beer variants should also be gold metal (instead of rose gold/silver) to meet the theme of this campaign. Y'all might end up with some super limited variants here!
Picked out the final color combos for the GBD based on the samples. It's ready to be ordered once I get the counts. Mango, Hawaiian Hibiscus, and the Rampant Marzen Shield(s) have been ready to go and will be produced slightly larger than initially promised. (After making some at-scale printouts, they just look better at 1.6 and 2.1 inches.) There is no price difference on your end, and ordering is just a matter of getting counts.
Outside of minor adjustments, sticker and pin banner arts are also set.
I guess, other than saying I'm almost ready to launch the survey is to ask, should I add t-shirts? I produced a design with the Rampant Marzen and can offer them at XS-3X and will likely need to order more after Tekko anyway.
shirt!
So! That's where things are, thanks for being patient while I handle a lot of things. Happy Juneteenth, have a lovely weekend, and I'll keep an eye out for comments/questions.
A smoke test was sent out to a randomized few backers to see if the surveys work without issue. If everything works out right, we can send out all the other surveys!
also a better render of our collab pin
Still working behind the scenes to keep the project moving along =)
