Good evening, bird gang!
I got back from Woodsflock and immediately got slapped with con crud. Oops. I guess getting coughed on by people who don't know how to accurately r...
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Ken Fiskorne
20 days ago
Mini update, product photos!
Good morning, bird gang!
Damn, first time I can ever say that in an update. Usually I'm not even a sapient being till after happy hour.
I just want to share a cool litt...
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Ken Fiskorne
23 days ago
THEY'RE HERE! What to expect for fulfillment
Good afternoon, bird gang!
Well, pins are here.
Despite the FedEx guy's best efforts, leaving 5 huge packages unsigned on the street side in front of God and everyone, GOL...
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Ken Fiskorne
26 days ago
ALL PINS COMPLETE, SHIPPING THIS WEEK!
Good afternoon, bird gang!
It's been a busy one over here, but, I got the final pin photos from my factory, and just paid off the second half of GOLDEN AGE PARROTS' producti...
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Ken Fiskorne
about 2 months ago
MORE PIN PHOTOS - We're in the home stretch!
Good afternoon, bird gang!
Just a quick one for you today, before I head to the evening shift. I got some more photos from the factory today.
Here's a nice selection of ...
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Ken Fiskorne
2 months ago
STICKERS ARE IN! Starting fulfillment prep
Good evening, bird gang!
I'm sending this from my local dive. After hitting the home stretch on our packing slips, I realized my fridge is almost completely empty. I'm no...
I got back from Woodsflock and immediately got slapped with con crud. Oops. I guess getting coughed on by people who don't know how to accurately report allergies without having a tantrum wasn't a great party trick.
Anyways, the show must go on, so, first batch of shit is going out today. All orders containing custom pins (both fully custom character 50x, and 10x custom morphs) will be shipping tomorrow.
If you are in one of these tiers, you will be getting a tracking number tonight. Your order is insured at no extra cost, just in case someone (UPS, it WILL be UPS) screws up and I need to reorder your $400 of pins.
Some select customers who have outstanding orders with me will also be going out tomorrow. This does not include international orders, who will be going in the coming weekend.
Local pickups are ready! If you are in the local pickup area (Western New York) I will be offering item pickups as soon as I get over my head cold.
Starting next week, we can find dates to meet at the Rochester Costco. I can meet on Monday afternoons and select weekday evenings.
Let's grab dinner at Dogtown. I'm usually around after 9 PM on all weeknights.
Are you the fun-loving type? I will be at the Strong Museum's Happiest Hour on May 15th. You will need to meet me either before or after the event to grab your pins. Let me know if you are going via email and we can arrange a goodie bag for you.
Missing all this? Let's just ship your shit. PayPal me another $3 and I'll just toss it in an envelope and get it to you.
As for everyone else, we gotta wait for pins to be graded and wrapped. It's more efficient to run through all that at once, and inventory it, before starting on the majority of pledges.
It's going to be a fun time, the next few weeks. I'll be temporarily taking down KEN'S PIN HUSTLE for a full shop inventory and rehaul, to accomodate GOLDEN AGE PARROTS. The format my items are sold in is going to change drastically: instead of everything being grouped together, which hurts search results, every design/character will be getting their own listing.
This will also apply to the CRIMES pins, so that means taking everything down. On top of CRITTER CRIMES stuff, expect me to be even slower on responses for a bit. Yes, I'm also questioning if that's possible, but, it's something that's gotta get done for the upcoming con season.
I don't have an estimated date for GAP's retail sales or the shop's uptime. If you want to buy pins, reach out to me directly, and let's get you sorted.
You probably heard it enough already, and you're gonna hear it again if you backed CRITTER CRIMES: thank you guys for being patient on both of these projects. Shit's gone sideways, and sideways as it might be, I am dedicated to getting shit out. It might be slow, and it might involve some goofy workarounds, but it'll happen.
That shit closes on the 21st, by the way. Wanna preorder some? Go do it here. Remember: no matter how stupid economic conditions are, we're donating $2 from each PRIDE PARROT to GMHC.
Damn, first time I can ever say that in an update. Usually I'm not even a sapient being till after happy hour.
I just want to share a cool little part of the process with you guys. We're getting professional photos done of the GOLDEN AGE birdies.
A friend needed some new lighting stuff for his camera setup, and I needed store listings that aren't taken in a thin 2 PM window with natural light on my dining table. Remember, kids: you don't have to pay your contractors a 1099 if you pay them with YOUR business expense. Thanks, tax loopholes!
Enjoy these extremely unprofessional photos of the professional photography process. Featuring Kirkland coconut water cameo, and the staging area, which is an Ikea box on top of my kitchen garbage can.
As for you guys, pins will not be shipping this week. I have to run down to Tennessee for an event, and I get back on the 15th. A few select orders (custom $400 pins, color morphs, and backers who have outstanding item orders) may go out tomorrow with my shop mail, if I have time.
My living room is currently a war zone of dime bags and packaging materials, and I need to shove all that shame into my office so my petsitter can sleep on the couch.
We, unfortunately, had a hiccup during grading, involving my friend's Nissan Altima and other Rochester drivers being unable to dodge dangerous, fast-moving stationary objects. We lost a lot of time to this, and while pins wouldn't have been finished Friday night anyway, we could have gotten a whole lot more done and been closer to fulfillment - possibly able to start shipping Monday. It's not a huge deal, but, it was a delay, and I apologize.
I can individually grade, wrap and pack pins for a few orders, but for efficiency's sake, I'd like to get it all done before we start really packing stuff. This will have to come after my event.
I hope to have retail stock up by the end of this month.
The rest of my three days left is going to prepping my house, and my job, for my time off. I'll see you guys on the flipside!
Despite the FedEx guy's best efforts, leaving 5 huge packages unsigned on the street side in front of God and everyone, GOLDEN AGE PARROTS' pins have arrived at my house. They are all accounted for, but they are not graded yet. Look at these little guys!
Do you wanna see any of the pins closer? There's so many, I'm not sure who to grab... leave me a comment if you want to peep a specific parrot's final pin!
It's gonna be a long week for me, for other reasons, but I'm going to try and get all of these little fuckers checked and packaged before I leave for Tennessee on Wednesday. I'll be out of town until the 15th.
For you, that means.... addresses are locked. I will not be changing them, since we had a whole lot of chances to get that fixed.
If you absolutely need your address changed, you can reach out to me via email. Do it today. I already have packing slips and stickers sorted, so it'll be a pain in the ass, but I'll do it just this once.
I'll be buying postage and putting together local pickup orders soon. Then, after that, you should expect domestic stuff by the end of April. Retail stock of both pins and stickers should be up late Spring, and all remaining pins should have a few available for purchase at Anthrocon.
Thank you for being with me through this roller coaster of a project. I hope these pins make up for the mess.
It's been a busy one over here, but, I got the final pin photos from my factory, and just paid off the second half of GOLDEN AGE PARROTS' production costs.
We are officially in the home stretch for GAP.
I am waiting on a tracking number to finally plan fulfillment dates, but it's in the cards for April. I'm satisfied with the quality, communication and prices from this factory, but we are definitely behind schedule and a little slower - as expected. I'll make my timeline estimate a little more generous for future projects.
Packing slips and stickers are already assigned, so I'll spend a few hours getting shop listings for stickers + pins set up. Retail sales for some stock will begin shortly, with items available in-person at Anthrocon in July.
Until I know when stuff's arriving, there's not much more I can say.
I guess, if you backed CRITTER CRIMES, go see if your survey is filled out yet! They got sent out two days ago, and we need about a hundred more backers to turn out.
Did you not back CRITTER CRIMES? Want some pins? I have both CRIMES pins, stickers, washi tape, and our 2025 charity PRIDE PARROTS up and ready to fly. Check out the preorder store!
Just a quick one for you today, before I head to the evening shift. I got some more photos from the factory today.
Here's a nice selection of our 2", 1.5" and GUNBIRD pins. Plus, one of our custom characters for the $400 tier: Oboe!
There's something to note here, though, for everyone who doesn't deal with overseas enamel work. The only pin photos that are color accurate here are the GUNBIRDS and our Crow and Cartoon crow. Please don't be concerned: everything else looks a little bit darker and more washed out than the pins you will be getting in the mail.
Factory photos are taken with the light of a single Yankee candle and a Nick Click. High quality product pictures are my job... or, the job of the local I'm paying in braised pork belly and afternoon custody of my dog.
We will have some better ones once they arrive.
At this time, my factory rep says all pins are either being finished up, or are packaged and ready to go out.
Barring any customs or freight shenanigans, I am expecting them to get to the HUSTLE within 1-3 weeks.
All addresses and selections for GOLDEN AGE PARROTS pins are finalized, but, if you absolutely have to make changes or can't go without one of these shiny little guys, you are welcome to contact me at [email protected]. I can't guarantee anything, but, it's worth a go.
I'll be doing a shop inventory for current stock to make way for GAP stuff some time in the next 2 weeks. I'm not sure when they'll be up, but I will be listing the 3" sticker stock a little bit before pins go up.
My focus after this will be on Anthrocon prep, CRITTER CRIMES... which ends in about 9 hours. Have you checked it out yet? Everything is unlocked, it's a really great time to back without fear of a preferred design or item being missed.
There's some great pins in this one, and if you're getting this email, you'll get a free Barn Owl pin just for backing!
That's all, for now. I'll poke you guys again when I have a confirmed arrival date, and fulfillment dates.
