latt-rays! yay!
EDIT: I found a couple of orders that didn't contain latt-rays that slipped through the cracks - these will go out next week when I return from AX. Thank you!!
Good news! The latt-rays arrived and they look great ;O; yay!! I am currently deep in prep mode for Anime Expo (it's next week - see us in artist alley at table K56!) so I will need to work on the rest of fulfillment after I return. But this means I will definitely be finished with fulfillment for this project in July. :D In case you missed my last update, here's where I am with fulfillment:
I have completed fulfillment for approaching 300 backers (those without latt-rays as part of their order). There are still a few with more recently completed surveys/payments that I plan to ship Monday.
I have sent invoices to UK backers for shipping (for those without Latt-rays). Thank you to those who have already paid! I have shipped out the ones with paid invoices.
There are still some unfulfilled surveys and errored payments for shipping/extras. If you have not completed your survey, please do so! You can find your survey through this link. And if you have an errored payment, please be sure to resolve this issue so I can ship your goodies to you. I believe you can update your payment also through the survey link.
If you have any questions or have any problems when your goods arrive, please contact us directly at [email protected] as I do not provide customer service through social media or Backerkit comments for customer privacy/organizational purposes.
Thank you so much for your patience and enjoyment of the creatures!! Nicole
Thank you guys so much for your patience! I gave myself the deadline to get all the orders not containing Latt-ray out by yesterday ... and good news is I almost did it! Let's go through the counts of where I am with the total of ~368 pre-orders and pledges:
257 orders shipped
~75 orders containing Latt-Rays that will need to be shipped when they arrive to me (they are not here yet but have been on the ship voyage for about 23/24 days, so I'm hoping they'll arrive within the next couple weeks)
~30 orders that are packed but not sent because I need to buy and put the labels on them. This includes UK Backers (without Latt-ray bags) that I still need to email about paying for shipping through my shop. So, if you are a backer based in the UK (without a Latt-ray bag), you can except an email from me on Monday (USA time) with more information on that. Otherwise, these remaining orders (that do not contain Latt-rays and are not to the UK) will be shipped Monday.
8 unfulfilled surveys. If you have not completed your survey, please do so! You can find your survey through this link.
8 errored payments. If you have an errored payment, please be sure to resolve this issue! I will be attempting to re-charge these cards again on Monday, but if you update your card, it will likely charge immediately.
If you have any questions or have any problems when your goods arrive, please contact us directly at [email protected] . I'll begin looking at the inbox on Monday since it's the weekend now. I do not provide assistance through Backerkit comments and on social media for privacy reasons, but I am happy to help through email! Please note that I do not offer refunds or returns for the items in this campaign, but if I goofed with any of the items sent to you, we'll help resolve no problem!!
Thank you so much for supporting this campaign!! Nicole
PS I would like to mention that our project collab friend (Loppy Rae with the Hurtsies plush!) has had an unfortunate circumstance where they had some of their funds from the project stolen. They are of course working to fulfill their project despite it all! You can read more about it on their GoFundMe and support them if you wish. And since I've been getting some emails about that project, I wanted to clarify that it's an entirely separate project run by them so all fulfillment questions for that project need to be sent directly to them. <3 Thank you so much. Wishing the delightful Loppy Rae all the best!
It’s summer con season, so I’ve been a bit busy! I’m sorry about that. I have been slowly making progress on the orders not containing latt-rays - I’d say I’m about 50% done with shipping those - i’ve been happy seeing some folks getting them! But the plan is to have all of them by end of next week (by June 20 but likely sooner!). I also will be contacting UK backers soon about paying for shipping since that had to be handled at a date closer to fulfillment.
And for the latt-rays, they shipped out to me at the last week of may!! It was expected they’d arrive within about a month’s time, so I really hope they can arrive within then so I can finish all of the fulfillment before the end of June.
I haven’t been selling any extra stock from the campaign (other than some b-grade pins that have snuck into my b-grade bin 😅), but I hope to bring leftovers to Anime Expo next month then have an update in July/August where other leftovers hit my online shop :)
Thanks for all your patience! If you have any questions, please email [email protected] with all relevant backer info.
Just a quick update to say I am still working on fulfillment for the campaign, for pledges not containing Latt-Ray. This stage is going slower than I'd hoped, but it's going! Everyone will receive an email with tracking information when their pledge ships out. If you have not received a shipping email at this point, I ask for you to wait until I post another update soon stating I'm done with this stage of fulfillment - thank you!!
Latt-Ray Bags
I received word from my manufacturer the bags should finish within the next week. I am currently unsure how long it will take for them to quality check then ship to me when they are done, but I am crossing my fingers they get to me by Mid-June so all of fulfillment can be finished by the end of June. In terms of production, these bags in particular have been affected by the backload of work my manufacturer has been facing regarding the global trade uncertainties, so I really thank you for your patience, as my manufacturer has been thanking me for my patience.
As mentioned in my last update, this is the week I am beginning fulfillment! 🎉🎉🎉 As such, here are a few reminders/updates:
I will be locking addresses with a final notice of 48 hours on May 1st (Thursday). When you receive that email, you will have 48 hours to follow the link and update your address if your address has changed since you first completed the survey. You can also do it before then by accessing your prior completed survey. If there is an update needed after that time, you can email an email with your Backerkit information to [email protected] and we will assist (so long as the rewards have not already been shipped!).
I had charged cards back when the surveys were completed, but there are still some that have not been charged/recharged due to error or later survey completion. As such, I will be charging these remaining cards for shipping/add-ons on May 1st (Thursday).
Reminder that the rewards and preorders that will be fulfilled first are the ones that do not contain the Latt-ray plush. These guys are still in production, and I currently estimate the earliest those rewards will be shipped will by late May-early June. Thank you so so much for your patience.
To end this post, I wanted to share pictures of items that came in the last few weeks that I hadn't shared yet! The enamel pins, lanyards, and collab-exclusive freebie pouch <3
Collab-exclusive pouch
Lanyards!
All 6 enamel pins!
Hello all!! A quick update today is to share that the main 4 plush bags (so not including latt-ray) from the campaign were delivered to me (and look BEAUTIFUL), and to go over the upcoming fulfillment timeline.
Matcha, rye-sopod, breb, pancake are here!
-I have two back to back cons over the next two weekends and I will be out of state for most of that time, so initial fulfillment/quality checking will begin late April. Folks without latt-ray bags should begin seeing their orders shipped with a tracking number in early May. It may take me a few weeks to complete fulfillment. - I will send another update when I’m about to lock addresses - be sure to update your addresses (you can do this through your original survey link) if you’ve moved since the campaign (october). - Latt-ray backers - these guys are still in production. It’s looking more and more like the earliest I’ll be able to send out your pledges is June, but I will of course keep you updated.
I am just so relieved these guys are here. 😮💨 While there was never a problem with my manufacturer or a doubt about the quality of the bags, there’s been a lot going on behind the scenes for the large plush order that has had me stressed out (huge delays in manufacturing impacted by the anticipation around usa’s proposed tariffs on imports, delays at port, and risk of huge tariffs) that had resulted from my apparent unlucky timing of this project. But there’s never a GOOD TIME to do anything when having a small business, so I really just want to thank everyone for being kind, patient, and supportive with this whole project. It’s really helped me a lot. ;o; 💚
Have a great rest of your weekend and start to your week!! Nicole
Hello everyone! Hope you're doing okay! (All the following pictures are from my manufacturer!)
Stack of boxes on their way to me!
I wanted to give the update that if everything goes well, fulfillment should still begin when planned, at the end of April. I do have some out of town events in April, and there is always a possibility of shipping delays, so I will keep you updated. The Latt-ray plush bag production is not yet finished so those orders will be fulfilled at the earliest in late May, but otherwise, everything is either on it's way to me (Breb, Rye-sopod, Matcha, Pancake plush), about to ship to me (pins, lanyards, crossover pouches), or already with me (everything else). Here are some pics of the guys being packed up!
Rye-sopods all packed up!
Brebs all packed up!
Matchas all packed up!
Pancakes all packed up!
Before the plush were shipped, I went through every detail of the finished plush with my contact person (mostly through videos) to ensure the plush were looking good. And the good news is that they all look wonderful! The only slight change was that Matcha's hardware is silver-colored, not gold-colored as I'd received in my sample (meaning the metal parts of matcha's backpack straps). For my vision of Matcha, I didn't have a 'canon' hardware color, but I did want to let you all know in case you had noticed gold-colored ones on the sample! Here are some pics of finished goods I received in this confirmation process!
Pic of Pancakes as I confirmed with my contact
Pic of Brebs as I confirmed with my contact
Pic of Rye-sopods as I confirmed with my contact
Pic of Matchas as I confirmed with my contact
Thank you all so much for your patience, as always! Next update will happen when more goods arrive :3 Nicole
PS If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to [email protected] as I often miss comments on these updates.
The Breb coin pouch, Pancake medicine box holder, Rye-sopod passcase, and Matcha bag are done!! Early next week, my contact will be going through and quality checking the plush and will be sending me pictures (that I will share with you), so if all goes well, the plush should begin their journey to me next week!
This means, based upon prior shipping times from my experience with this company, the plush should ideally get to me next month. I will let you know if there are any delays! :) I expect everything else that hasn't already arrived will be to me soon as well (besides the Latt-ray plush bag that needs more time)!
As mentioned, my contact will be sending pictures next week, so I don't have a lot of pics right now, but here's a picture of some Rye-sopod as they were finishing up! They were looking good <3 Thank you all so much for your patience!! SO excited to hopefully be getting these out to you soon (next month)! Nicole
I have good news on adding Latt-Ray to ya'll's current pledges. As the original bags from the campaign finish up being made, Latt-ray's bag is about to head into production. I know folks were interested in adding Latt-ray once seeing the finished photos, and after some testing with how to best do this, I'm happy to help you do that. Here's some info:
If you made a pledge on Backerkit for the campaign and would like to add Latt-ray, please send me your backer # and/or Backerkit email address to [email protected] by next Monday, February 24th and I can manually add it for you.
It is $40USD to add (price during the campaign) and it will be charged immediately once I add it - though it is possible it may add another couple dollars due to shipping weights. I'll let you know and ask confirmation before charging.
Please note that adding latt-ray may add another month or 2 to shipping times compared to the other items as these will arrive to me later than the original items. All items within one pledge will be shipped together when all are finished.
Since everything else is being made right now or is made, I am unable to add anything else to orders other than the Latt-ray plush bag.
I have been testing the bag and I've been really happy with it! As a reminder, here are some pictures of the sample:
Latt-ray front
Back
Inside lining
Strap
And here's a picture of me wearing it at the farmer's market!
Thanks so much everyone! The magnets and sticker sheets arrived, and the prints and backing cards will be here this week - I'll post an update then! Nicole
Things got a bit ahead of me at the beginning of the year but the first (and maybe final?) Latt-Ray sample is not only done but just arrived to me last night!! I am so pleased with Latt-Ray! She is very light, and upon testing the pouch, she can fit my phone (a larger Pro size), keys, and wallet no prob since the pouch extends wing to wing. She has an exactly 13.5" wingspan, as we had estimated she'd be. She turned out pretty much exactly as I'd hoped but I do plan on having the straps a *little bit* longer for folks who want/need to adjust longer. As a reminder, here's what the design looked like:
Latt-Ray Mockup from the campaign
And here are some pictures of her!! Even the inside lining turned out great <3
Latt-ray front
Latt-ray back
Latt-ray inside pouch with lining
Latt-ray strap clasp
Hope you all enjoy her as much as I do ;o; I'd love to get the ball rolling on her production as the others are finishing up. For folks who have ordered her and have been waiting, I plan to add a little latt-ray sticker to y'all's orders as a thank you for your patience - more info soon! P.S. Enjoy these photos with my cat Pelly in the background haha.
Oh! And the magnets came in! But they turned out a little smaller than expected oops, so I will be reordering them this week. Sticker sheets should be here soon too!
Thank you all so so so much for being so supportive through all of this! Be back soon with more updates! <3 Nicole
Loppy is very pleased with the samples! There will be some minor color tweaks, and adjustments to the functional parts of each plushie needs to be made. Loppy's next update will include detailed information on each edit!
PRODUCTION TIMELINE UPDATE
Because of the adjustments that need made and it being Lunar New Year where our manufacturer is located we will be updating our production & shipping timeline. It is so important to us that we have a good final product for you. Our updated timeline will be revealed as soon as possible.
We do sincerely appreciate your patience and understanding. Because of the uniquely interactive nature regarding the plushies, Loppy is continuing to take extra due diligence at ensuring perfection. For example: Loppy is making sure zippers are sturdy enough for wear and tear. In Mishmash's case while he looks great visually, his stuffing needs adjusted so he can be better used as a backpack.
WHEN WILL I BE CHARGED?
We've had a number of questions regarding additional charges (ie - shipping charges, pre-order store charges, etc). We will make an official announcement when we will be charging cards.
