Ken Fiskorne
CREATOR
3 days ago
Project Update: Design cut + production info update
Hey there, Bird Gang.
BIRD CRIMES backers know this year didn't start off great for me. And, unfortunately, contrary to pretty much every effort possible, it's not ending great, either.
The long and short of it: the $2000 or so I budgeted to out-of-pocket costs for GOLDEN AGE PARROTS is going to insurance deductibles on my stolen truck.
To make sure I can get you guys what you paid for, I am making the difficult choice to reopen surveys, and cut several designs from GAP.
There are a lot of things happening in 2024, and a lot of reasons I've had to do this.
BIRD CRIMES backers know this year didn't start off great for me. And, unfortunately, contrary to pretty much every effort possible, it's not ending great, either.
The long and short of it: the $2000 or so I budgeted to out-of-pocket costs for GOLDEN AGE PARROTS is going to insurance deductibles on my stolen truck.
To make sure I can get you guys what you paid for, I am making the difficult choice to reopen surveys, and cut several designs from GAP.
There are a lot of things happening in 2024, and a lot of reasons I've had to do this.
- I didn't get to vend at Anthrocon this year due to unforseen circumstances. I lost a lot of money in potential sales, a rental car, and an extra night in Pittsburgh after a sudden, acute illness from a bad drink (thanks, furries! Stay classy, you lowlifes.) This is in the low thousands, and it was money I was looking forward to using for repairs on my truck and rebuilding a solid retail stock.
- I lost two pets this year, and had a lot of health scares with others. This has been rough, emotionally, but financially it's cut a lot of my free spending money I wanted to drop into rebuilding the HUSTLE.
- I had a semi-emergency move at the end of November, which ended with needing to abandon a lot of crucial stuff at the apartment under threat of violence from an unstable family member. This was planned, but the pace and final few days weren't. I've lost a lot of my work time on commission and design work, which are big money makers, to being harassed by a belligerent drunk letting my dog soil the house or get into garbage and need ER trips.
- Frankly, GAP didn't meet its "real" expectations for funding. It met its base goal, but it didn't do as well as expected. I planned goals based on a higher backer turnout. I took some risks that paid off... and some that, sadly, didn't. We have enough to cover all of production, but we didn't make enough to comfortably cover mold fees for some of the less popular designs. This is a flat $80-150 per design up-front that isn't worth the investment unless pins will sell retail.
- I planned for all this, but, I didn't plan for someone to hot wire, joy ride, and deep fry my truck's ignition and electricals last Sunday. We don't know the extent of the mechanical damage yet, and there is a small chance it may be totaled.
- These clowns smoked in my truck, destroyed some interior upholstery, and, via contamination, caused about a $500 loss in plush stock and porous packaging materials that were still in the back seat. This includes my mailers left over from BIRD CRIMES... which were going to save me some money on GAP. This isn't a dealbreaker, but, it is extremely, extremely frustrating.
- My insurance deductible for any car work (including diagnostics) is $1000, and while I have an insurance-comped rental, it's still about $45 a day with additional insurance. I work two "real" jobs and, as much as I'd like to not have to do it, this is a necessary expense. This'll cap out at halfway to $2,000 on its own if I max out the days allotted.
That is about the last of my expendable money that isn't rent. I am refusing to use any of GAP's funds for personal expenses. But... I can either make less popular designs, that I may not make back an investment on, or I can pay rent this month.
And, with how things are going, I need to pay my rent.
Let's talk what this means for you.
And, with how things are going, I need to pay my rent.
Let's talk what this means for you.
What pins are being cut? With some exceptions for stuff I know will sell in retail sales (like the macaws, kakapo, crows, and blue jays), I unfortunately have to make the call on most pins ordered less than 9 times. This is mostly going to be 1" minis and 2" pins.
For full transparency, these are the current numbers. Any pin highlighted in yellow here will be cut.
For mobile readers, this is the loser's club:
- MINIS: African Gray, Buncho, Cartoon Crow, Sun Conure
- SMALLS: Whiteface cockatiel
- FULLS: 1B Whiteface cockatiel male, 2B Whiteface cockatiel female, 3B Yellow budgerigar male, 4B Yellow budgerigar female, 6A Lutino peach faced lovebird, 7A Black capped caique, 8A Jenday conure, 8B Blue crowned conure, 9C Greenwing macaw, ALL INDIAN RINGNECK DESIGNS (10 + 11), 17 Buncho
What's going to happen to the pins that are cut? At this point, I plan to offer them as stretch goals if I run another GOLDEN AGE birds campaign. Extremely unpopular designs (with 5 or less ordered) may not come back, or they may be offered as preorders if I want to bulk out stock in the future. I'm not sure when either of these things will happen, but I'd like to complete the 3-pin sets for each bird eventually.
Are any other items being cut? Nope. All 2" stickers, sticker sheets, GUNBIRD pins + stickers, are safe. These either do not have a minimum quantity that would make them impossible to manufacture, or they were promised to you and budgeted into the campaign before shit happened.
All custom pins (both morphs and 50x full customs) will also still be delivered as promised.
I wanted one of these pins... what do I do? I am reaching out individually to all backers between tonight, and the middle of this week.
- Keep an eye out for an email from me.
- You'll get a list of your affected pin designs.
- I am offering a substitute + $2 store credit for every subbed pin. In the event you aren't interested, at all, in substitutes, I can offer you a full retail store credit ($16/14/8) for each pin size you no longer want.
- Once you've decided what you want to do, go back into your survey, make your swap, and confirm with me that you've finalized everything.
- I will re-close surveys and re-charge cards on December 26th.
Shit, this sucks, how can I help? Honestly, just, be patient with me, that's the best thing. I can't guarantee Christmas delivery of HUSTLE items right now, but you can check the shop out of you'd like. I don't take donations or tips unless you are receiving products from me.
I am also re-opening the GOLDEN AGE PARROTS preorder store, just in case you do want to get some pins you missed. You can, and should, pick up only the designs that aren't being cut - unless you order 10+ of one that isn't making it, it will not make a difference. That'll also close on the 26th.
I will also, unfortunately, be pulling out of Pintopia 2025 to focus on a backup queue of more immediately profitable freelance work. I have already notified both BackerKit, as well as my business partner Alstro Arts. Merch-wise, I will be focusing my first quarter of 2025 on GOLDEN AGE's fulfillment, as well as COOP CO-OP's. BREED STANDARD dog pins will launch at some point in the future, but I don't have an estimate for this.
This is a really, really shitty situation, and it's unprecedented for me and the HUSTLE. I'm sorry this affects all of you.
If you have any questions, or concerns, before you get your substitute email, you're welcome to email me at [email protected]. Let's take care of this.
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