Hope you've been well. There's a lot going on behind the scenes here, and once some things are sorted I can give this campaign my full attention again.
Thank you for responding to the survey, over 80% has responded at this point! Extra thanks to those of you who added any add-ons, this really helps to give me a bit more of a buffer when ordering. 55 of you still have to fill out the survey. You have a few weeks to do this still, though it's extra helpful for me to get surveys in early, to make better estimates of order quantities. If you're still unsure what you want to pick or can afford, or are waiting for stretch goals to unlock, you can fill out the survey and come back to change it at any time.
The new embroidered patches have been finished, and already arrived in Austria. I will have them in my own hands next week. Here's a factory photo from right before they got shipped:
I stocked up on some more pigeons as well!
Meanwhile, this is how things are currently looking for the stretch goals:
The African wild dog is very popular, and the tayra and kinkajou got partially sponsored by the same generous backer who sponsored their portraits as well.
I think the corn snake portrait and the full body clouded leopard have a pretty good chance of making it! I'd personally love to see the bats, lemurs and hare get some love, but otherwise they will be saved for the future. The pre-order store is still open to those who did not back the campaign. If you know anyone who might be interested, you can send them that way. These orders will be shipped alongside the campaign rewards. You can also check it to see the status on your favorite stretch goals! Both the pre-order store and the backer survey add-ons add up to the same total.
Last week I got to take a short break for a zoo visit. It was a great opportunity to study the clouded leopard, which I had never seen this well before! I rarely take the time to export and edit my photos, but here's a few of the clouded leopard and a fossa as they're sitting on the camera right now:
You'll just have to take my word for it that these look better on the actual screen..! I also got to look at tayras, striped hyenas and African wild dogs, to stay in campaign theme. The maned wolves were sadly hiding the entire day!
That's it for now. Feel free to write if you have any questions or comments.
What's the difference? The pre-order store is for those of you who missed the original run of the campaign. You may not have pledged, but in the store you can still buy everything as add-ons just as all the backers can through their surveys. The only items that are NOT available are any of the campaign-exclusive freebies, but there's still dozens of pins, stickers and patches to choose from. You can even still help to unlock stretch goals!
If you've backed but know anyone else who missed out and might be interested, you're more than welcome to send it their way!
Both the pre-order store (for those of you who didn't pledge during the campaign) and the surveys (for those of you who DID pledge during the campaign) will hopefully go online relatively soon! It just takes some time to make sure everything is working, especially with so many designs to choose from.
That said, here is an overview of ALL the sticker and pin designs you will be able to choose from when pledging for or buying add-ons. I tried my best to update as much art as possible, but some of the unlocked designs are still pretty rough. Rest assured that these will be drawn with the same care as the finished designs!
The spectacled flying fox got added, and there's updated art for the wukongopterus and many other animals!
Plus, by popular demand, there are many post-campaign stretch goals to unlock! These can be picked a separate add-ons, and will get made if the minimum amount gets ordered (which is 25 in most cases). If you purchase one and the goal does not get reached, you will get the money for that design refunded. If enough people support these stretch goals in the add-on section, they will become available in the list of pins and stickers to choose from.
PIN SETS
If you pledged for one or multiple hyena pin sets that came with a freebie, you will be able to choose between these two:
If you bought any sets as add-ons, you will be able to choose African canids and lemurs as well!
Then there are two more sets to unlock! A gold version of the African canids set, and four striking flying fox species.
SINGLE PINS
STICKERS full body / regular
STICKERS portrait / large (also included in letter mail tier, and sets of 6 and 20)
There's also a first look at the newly made hyena patches. These are prototypes, and might slightly change still. Please note that the patches are slightly larger than originally advertised! They will be 8 x 10 cm (3.2 x 3.9 inch).
I've already seen a bunch of surveys come in from fellow pintopia creators, but as mentioned before, mine will come a little bit later. Both because I need some time to set up all the products and the survey, and because I'd still like to update the art of several of the designs beforehand. Speaking of...
Some art updates
Here are a few updated sketches! The art is not final on any of these, but you get the idea. I really appreciate the trust put in me by any backers who pledged to get the unfinished designs, and I'll put as much care into them as the hyena portraits!
Maned wolf, with their halfway elegant and halfway awkward faces.
The line art for the tayra has been cleaned up.
The African wild dog and Ethiopian wolf are a bit further along.
I'm still toying around with the seal sketch.
Failed payments & shipping
23 of you still have payments that didn't come through, most likely due to your bank blocking unusual transactions. Please double check if that's you if you're not certain and have it cleared up with your bank! Once the surveys are out there will be another opportunity to pay the full amount, plus any additional items you decide to buy. For those of you who also backed Challenge Coin Critters, there will be the option to have your shipments from both campaigns combined into one. You should already have seen the options if you filled out the CCC survey, which already got sent out earlier this week. The shipping will be charged later, closer to when things actually ship. Right now it's still very difficult for us to make weight estimates, and things are fluctuating a lot right now in general. We'll get you the best possible rate when it's time to ship your package. Orders that ONLY contain stickers and prints will most likely be shipped fairly soon.
Pre-order store
I will also be working on a pre-order store. This is a separate shop where anyone who did not pledge or missed the campaign can still-pre order any of the unlocked pins, or even help unlock some more. The shop will only be open temporarily, and these orders would get shipped alongside those from the campaign. If you already pledged, there is no need for you to use this store and pay double shipping, since all of its items will be available through the survey!
Unlockable pins and stickers
I will also be adding a roster of unlockable items; ones that people have asked for and/or ones would match the current pins. These did not get unlocked during the campaign, but if enough people purchase one, it'll get made anyway! In case it doesn't reach the needed amount of pre-orders (25 in most cases below), the money will be refunded. The designs for these will stay very rough until it's clear there's enough interest, since I'll have to plan in the time to draw them. Here's the full list. Let me know if you're rooting for any of them!
Hare portrait pin + sticker
Hare full body pin + sticker
Pronghorn portrait pin + sticker
Pronghorn full body pin + sticker
Corn snake portrait pin + sticker
Corn snake full body pin + sticker
Clouded leopard portrait pin + sticker
Clouded leopard full body pin + sticker
African wild dog full body pin + sticker
Ethiopian wolf full body pin + sticker
African golden wolf full body pin + sticker
Black-backed jackal full body pin + sticker
Kinkajou full body pin + sticker
Tayra full body pin + sticker
Indri full body pin + sticker
Aye-aye full body pin + sticker
Golden bamboo lemur full body pin + sticker
White-fronted lemurs full body pin variant + sticker
African canids pin set gold edition variants
Stickers & samples
And last, I got my first few sticker designs in. I want the hyenas to serve as an example of what all the portrait stickers will look like, but sadly they did not come out as I intended, so they're being remade. I should be recieving sample photos of the embroidered patches very soon as well. I do already have the glow in the dark green hyena stickers! They came out great and glow super bright.
