Hey All, Ive been meaning to check back in, and sorry i havent updated since. At GenCon the manufactuer was able to drop off a number of samples, which i was wable to provide immediate feedback to. And last week I got a box containing more samples. So lets get into them Full spread of things eceived. We'll start at the accessories Overall, most feedback was pretty well received and things are coming together. Shiled was a match, sword was good, Spellbook was good, Hat was good, staff was good, fish were good, boot was good, Main points of new feedback - Sometimes the magnet would be hidden behind some fluff making things like the staff, axe,fishing hook difficult for the owlbear to hold (needs to be on the outside -Below are the Axes (on the far right was the first manufacturer, 1st was the first version we got from this manufacturer, and 2nd is after our feedback to thicken it up...not quite there but at least ..serviceable.. could push for it being thicker..but the magnet is in there and it does work Other weirdness was that altohugh we added a label on the red potion (was only on the blue), for some reason (the pin for them is somewhere in the middle of the bottle and not on the neck)..just weird decision, but i noticed it existed with the first version they gave me as well
And outside of that really only thing left i need to see from them is the fixed foil finish on the bags..which left off a chunk due to bad tooling. Then accessories should be good to go!
Then the rest of the plushes As part of this project alongside the new Amethyst owlbear, we are reproducing the other colors. so part of the process. To achieve the charcoal color on the owlbear, it is quite literally the snowy pattern, then dyed.. So as part of the GenCon delivery, they handed me a grey dyed owlbear to confirm the color... Cool right... looks good, not too big a departure..should be good
Then in the recent package i get this guy ...which...aint quite grey...
Also the texture is right...but its missing the dark line bits that the current snowy/charcoal have Turns out..the color of the lower mesh really matter... kinda hard to see in the below photo but the current Charcoal has a Black underlying mesh (so when you see through the mesh you get those black stripes) ...on this 'blue' owlbear the mesh is the same color (it apeared they dyed the fabric completeyl the same color)
another angle to see the blue (left), vs current (right) And the rest of the Owlbears Brown regular and keychains have already been made, Green looks fine, and Snowy they were able to source the same material as the first one so that is good too.
Schedule-wise: Going to confirm, but as so far, Manufacturing for the Purple owlbear and keychain should be done by the end of the week, as should mossy. This leaves, Charcoal, Snowy, and Accessories remaining on the schedule before the finish line (which i hope to have an update on very shortly given recent rounds of feedback). We're near the finish line, and thanks for hanging in there with us. Andreas
Hey All, I hope some of you were able to enjoy your keychains as they came in...i know its not everybody, but its at least a start,
I was able to nail down a few updates last week, but i thought i was getting samples this week (turned out it was a book sample for a different project). Some things are forward and other things less than I want them to be
What is moving (says should be finished production on 8/28) Full size plushes in production - Purple Owlbear - Purple Keychain - Mossy Owlbear - Brown Owlbear (more of them) - Brown Keychain (more of them) Not yet started need samples (they say a preproduction sample should be ready on the July 10th, which would then need to be shipped to me) - Snowy Owlbear - Snowy Keychain - Charcoal Owlbear
Accessories They've shown me updated axe, red potion and sword. I think the only things im left waiting on is the revised magnet placement of the staff and the gold-foil fix for the bags...then they should be ready to start production (but in my response to them, ive inquired for them tell me what they believe is remaining, and that Id like to review final samples before production, especially since its changed hands since)
International Fulfillment Although we have product in the US warhouese, the idea was that when everything finished, wed do one shipment to our AUS and UK wareohuse respectively...though depending on how long it is from the 8/28 and the planned next set..we'll see how we approach.. as it may change
Also I saw a few emails come in about fixing up the merge on rewards, so will be heading to work on those. Should have another update sooner once these samples and accessories get locked in, Andreas
Most of you, should have received a notice from BackerKi that you need to update your mailing address. If you have not, it means you have items that are not currently in inventory.
Regardless of group if you want to make updates to your order, fill out this survey (backerkit dosent let me put you back into the pre-order store) https://forms.gle/Hw5LrbWy3161ebCn6 If you add items that we dont have in stock yet (wave 2), then we will hold your order until everything is in. If you want to change/add/remove any items from your order, use the above form.
now onto the update, Great news is that wave product has arrived at the warehouse, and finally things (at least most of it) are finally starting come together.
Wave 1 has arrived at the Warehouse, and this includes the following items:
Owlbear Plush Brown
Owlbear Keychain, Brown
Phoenix Plush
Pheonix Plush Keychain (bearded)
Dragon Turtle Plush
Dragon Turtle Keychain
Pins (all of them)
(we do NOT have yet)
other colored plushes inc purple
class accessories kits (wizard, fighter, fishing)
other color keychains
Ive had a conversation with Backerkit, and unfortunately, I can't backroll and get people into the addons page, since people already paid and checked out (but I am able to manually edit orders). So if you need changes to your order, in any direction, or have different questions, just reach out using the form (so i can go down the line, not miss anything by email, and make sure everyone is covered) and I'll get things sorted.
Once things are locked down, starting next week I am going to have the warehouse start fulfillment (they need to order some packing materials, but im gonna get them started.
Starting this weekend, your orders will be imported into shopify, where you will get an email confirmation (a last chance to verify your email)
Accessories-wise and other owlbears - the manufacturer has been painfully slow to respond after CNY, all the more reason to keep shopping around after this project is done. I approved the new production quantities, but I still have yet to see my last feedback on the accessories be updated.
Anyways, I can show more pictures, and happy to answer what I can, apologies for the delay, its tax season and business taxes are always a pain.
More updates on the accessories as they come, Andreas
great news! Wave One has landed at port! Once it gets out of customs, it'll get on a truck and get to the warehouse, in the meantime. In the mean time, ill be sorting through orders to see which can be fulfilled immediately so we can start getting rewards out.
GAMA - industry insider info Also, Two weeks ago was the GAMA Trade Show, which is the Tabletop Game Association (previously known as the Game Manufacturers Association, but expanded to all things tabletop industry). This is a convention mostly for FLGS and publishers-creators, where publishers like Wizards, Paizo, Warhammer and other bigger publishers show off their upcoming products to retail stores. For me, i just had a small booth in a large expo hall to show off our plushes (prototypes) and some of our books. Overall, it was a good show, and talking to retailers really gives me a lot of insight of how they sell plushes, and what we can do better. I did find that retailers were receptive to the keychains (as they should worked well for people who were not large plush people). I was really surprised that many were also excited for the accessories (as in ttrpgs ancillary product is usually 50% or less of the reception of the core). Main bits of feedback I heard was about shelf displays, number of plushes per box, accessory packaging (which is something i need to look at), and that it isnt evident that there is a magnet in the plush (but they love it once they find out it has it, so ill need to look into ways of making that more apparent. Oh! and for some reason,retailers really are not happy with squishables
Wave 2 Manufacturing Workers only recently came back, so I've started communication back and forth to make sure final details are nailed down. Slated for after CNY we had included more production of our colored owlbears (snowy, mossy, charcoal) so that we would have sufficient quantities for fulfillment. In addition, I am waiting for confirmation on fixes to some of the accessories (like magnet placement) before those begin manufacturing. I should be getting a status update on those things soon, and will be posting when i have more information.
Hey all! Apologies for the delay in an update. But for the last two months, we confirmed error phoenix hats, owlbear colors and quantities, new owlbear keychain colors, and made comments to the second pass of accessories. Also we confirmed shipping quantities to our warehouses (US, UK, and AUS).
Schedule-wise, we're at the following.
Shipping (from manufacturer) before CNY (only to US warehouse) - Owlbear Keychains - Drgon Turtle Keychains - Error Phoenix Keychains (with little hats) - Brown Owlbears - Dragon Turtle Plushes - Phoenix Plushes
PS, i notice a few people asking about getting rewards (for those who just got pins or a single owlbear thats in stock), in the next few days ill run a couple filters and see which ones we can get fulfilled (usually its messy to spit things up, esp when export actions, but ill do what i can)
