So I finally heard back from my chosen manu on the mini bags! They've been preparing for their big break for the Lunar New Year and the request for pricing and prototypes got...
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October
about 18 hours ago
Stretch Goals Re-arranged!
Hey all! Now that the campaign has been live a few days I've been able to get a more solid idea of what folks are after and what might be confusing. Thank you everyone who ha...
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October
2 days ago
Neon Dino Haunch UNLOCKED!!
The neon dino haunch bag is now available!!!! I started writing everything up to post when it crested that goal, but right as we were about to get there someone canceled, so ...
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October
4 days ago
FUNDED!! OHMYGOSH
THANK YOU SO MUCH Y'ALL!!
Funded in 6 hours! The Neon Dino 2-Bone Bag is now unlocked, and we're on to the Haunch bag!! Whatcha gonna put in yours do you think? Comically l...
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October
4 days ago
Carrion Baggage is LIVE and HALFWAY THERE!
We've been live for just over an hour and a half now, and we're already over halfway to our first goal! That's amazing, thank you everyone! I am really hopeful that we'll mak...
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October
5 days ago
We launch TOMORROW! Here's the rest of the stuff!
Oh my gosh! Launch is TOMORROW!
Carrion Baggage goes live Jan 23, 2025 @ 12:00pm CST!!!
I'm participating in 2025's PINTOPIA, a creative celebration featuring over 175 c...
Hey all! Now that the campaign has been live a few days I've been able to get a more solid idea of what folks are after and what might be confusing. Thank you everyone who has shared their thoughts, the more I know the better I can fit your needs and wants so I really appreciate it!
The remaining stretch goals have all been re-arranged! Zebra Haunch is the next unlock, and then we will be going straight to the first 3 Premium Cuts in whatever order they end up being unlocked in. After that the Zebra 2-Bone can finally be unlocked, and then it'll be the mini bags and the final premium cut. I hope this new order is more appealing!
If you want the Premium Cut bag designs to unlock please back for a haunch or 2-bone bag! You can change your pledge once the goal is met and they will be around the same price as the 2-bone bags, but if people aren't pledging they simply won't get unlocked at all!
Remember that a pledge is not a permanent promise and you are not charged when you pledge! You can cancel any time before the campaign ends, and you can always adjust your pledge level or get more/less add-ons. So if the bag you want doesn't get funded you have a lot of time to back out, but we'll have a much higher chance of unlocking designs if people pledge instead of lurking!
The state of things at 5pm central Jan 26
I hope that the new order is appealing to most! I'm sorry if this has upset anyone, I'm sure someone will feel a bit bummed by the change, but please know this was done to try and give everything the best chance of funding - including the design you're after! COMMUNITY CHOICE COMPETITION IS FIERCE!!! The most popular designs have been flip-flopping and are generally only 1 to 3 votes apart at any given time! Poor Royal Chow is very much left in the dust, but really out of the other 3 it's anyone's chance. Bear Chow doesn't have an untouchable lead and Mako Chow + Alley Chow are basically neck and neck! Anyone with a backerkit account can vote, so consider sharing it around to folks who you know have similar taste if you want to influence the poll a little. Who knows, they might back and put us one step closer to unlocking enough of them that the poll doesn't matter as much!
Thank you all for reading and I hope you've had a wonderful weekend!
So I finally heard back from my chosen manu on the mini bags! They've been preparing for their big break for the Lunar New Year and the request for pricing and prototypes got lost in the hustle and bustle. That's totally fine and I half expected to hear back in February. I am also very used to making big, BIG plush with lots of details and fabric types lately, and that bit me in the butt while preparing my estimates. They will be FAR less than I had anticipated and budgeted for! Like, an embarrassing amount 😳 Meaning there's significant wiggle room there!
Egg Mini Bag
Salmon Mini Bag
T-Bone Steak Mink Bag
The thing is, while prototyping and unit price have been far lower than I anticipated, my shipping estimate was spot on. Safety testing costs are also not determined by size, they are flat costs, and they are not cheap. If it wasn't for those I would fully unlock all 3 bags and just plan to pay out of pocket, but shipping and testing triples their cost.
So there are a couple things I could do:
Combine all 3 under 1 stretch goal, and if met use that to pay for most of the shipping and testing specifically. I would be selling them at a reduced price for the Backerkit, but not until that goal is met.
Unlock them all now so they are available immediately, but they would be at full retail price which would be higher across the board. I would be taking a much higher personal risk, but in the end anyone willing to pay for a bag gets a bag and that's what matters.
Soft unlock them all immediately, where they become "Mini bag OR $X credit for Lairbrew." I would put these costs in to one stretch goal and make them available at a more ideal retail rate, but getting one as an add-on means getting one if the goal is hit or getting an equivalent gift card for my shop.
Unlock them all immediately while also putting up an option to get store credit or a percentage off coupon, and adding a tip jar option. I'm still shouldering the same amount of risk as the second option, but anyone inclined to lend me a hand would be able to, so there might be less pressure on my finances in the end.
There are pros and cons to each:
The first one is a very simple option, it gets everyone the best price and is the least out of pocket risk for me, but it would also still be banking on us getting the campaign to 26k to make them available at all. Right now that seems unlikely.
The second one is equally as simple, but the biggest risk on my part and the highest end price for people getting them. It is the one way to guarantee everyone who wants them gets them regardless of stretch goals though.
The third is a more complicated option, and while it makes them available right away it is more of a hypothetically available. Sure, people would be contributing more to the campaign so advancing to other stretch goals would be more likely, but it's still reliant on the campaign hitting 26k.
The fourth is complicated for me, but not really for anyone else. It isn't the best end price and I worry about making just credit/coupons available or putting up a tip jar because I feel like someone is going to look at that and see it as me being greedy when it is really very much the opposite.
What do you think? This is a pretty big decision, and my immediate impulse is to just make them available and trim the fat on some grocery bills for the year, but I'm very biased toward "do the thing that makes the most people happy." I need to at least force myself to move past that instinct and think about it, and feedback from outside my own head helps.
The neon dino haunch bag is now available!!!! I started writing everything up to post when it crested that goal, but right as we were about to get there someone canceled, so it dropped straight back down.. but I'm excited anyway, so I'm unlocking it a lil under $200 early. As far as I can tell, folks really like the haunch bags the most anyway! EDIT: 7k has been genuinely surpassed! We're officially on the road forward!
In fact, speaking of that, I have a quick poll to share w/y'all
Which bag should unlock first, the 2-Bone Zebra or the Haunch Zebra?
The zebra 2-bone
The zebra haunch
I mistakenly assumed the 2-Bone bags would be more popular just because they're larger and my personal favorite, but the haunch bags seem to've been doing better in general! I have put up a brief poll so everyone can chime in on what order they would prefer the next 2 bags get unlocked in. If more folks want the haunch bag first I am not adverse to it!
Alley Chow has caught up with Mako Chow in the Premium Cuts vote by the way! I wasn't expecting that, but it is exciting to see! The Mako Chow and Bear Chow had a solid lead for so long it really seemed like the vote might just be between the two of them, but between 3 is more interesting.
Someone asked for more photos of the grilled meat plush keychains! I was trying to get them photographed with the keychain attachments visible, and it proved to be pretty difficult. Especially the haunch which really looks like a blurry bigfoot tit. So here are some more photos of it!
A fat lil ham
The bone fabric has no raw edges
There are multiple end parts for the keychain
I probably should've just done something more like this
Holding it like this all it wants to do is spin haha
And a few more photos of the 2-bone keychain! It behaved much better during the photoshoot so there aren't as many angle attempts, but this might still show it a little better.
No raw fabric edges here either
I would like to bite it
Small for a plush, decent size for a keychain!
That's all I have for now! Thank you all so much for your support so far! If you know anyone who might like these bags, or maybe someone who might have an opinion on the Premium Cut designs, please share this campaign with them! Even if they're not interested in getting anything right now their votes are still valuable information for me to consider. See you soon!
Carrion Baggage goes live Jan 23, 2025 @ 12:00pm CST!!!
If you back my campaign partner and I you'll get 2 enamel pins FREE!!
I'm participating in 2025's PINTOPIA, a creative celebration featuring over 175 creators launching pin and plushie projects! I'll be partnered with grind3h, who's making amazingly adorable dragon pins and plushies over at A Colorful Horde - Dragon Enamel Pins and Plush! If you back both our campaigns you'll receive a free pin with your rewards from both of us: a hungry kobold from me and a meat loving dragon gtom hrind3h! There's lots of incredible projects in Pintopia this year, and I hope you'll consider supporting ours tomorrow at launch.
There are more freebies and launch specific goodies!
First up: EARLY BIRD DEALS! There will be 3 limited Early Bird tiers: 1 haunch bag, 1 2-bone bag, and 1 for a set of both. These are a whopping $20 off price for the rest of the campaign! There are only 30 of these total available, so if you're determined to get one make sure you're there at launch.
Backers in the first 48 hours will get a free button badge themed after a meat label. There are 3 designs: one for beef, one for poultry, and one for seafood. You'll get to choose whichever one you want when surveys go out! If you want all 3 or miss the 48 hour window they will still be available as add-ons.
The designs!
Did you back Comet & Friends last spring? Returning backers get a free sticker! These stickers are matte with a very fine glitter that doesn't shed and adds a unique texture. A big, meaty dragon tail! Gotta combine those themes, after all.
Design and laughably bad mock-up.
As for all the rest: Other than the bag designs that have already been shared, there's several other protein-inspired goodies that aren't going to be dependent on stretch goals! These include a sticker set, a sticker sheet, and two plush keychains!
The stickers!
The sticker sheets!
One of the plush keychains!
Plush haunch keychain production sheet
2-Bone plush keychain production sheet
One of the sticker designs!
In case you missed all the other updates, hi! I got meat bags for ya! Here's all the designs! The prototypes for the first 4 unlocks, and the design sheets for 4 full size bags and 3 mini bags! If you see one you like I really hope you'll come support the campaign at launch! If you go through the other launch party updates you'll see cut designs and more information on the ones that made it.
Neon Dino 2-Bone Meat Bag
Zebra 2-Bone Meat Bag
Zebra Haunch Meat Bag
Neon Dino Meat Bag
Bear Chow Bag
Alley Chow Bag
Royal Chow Bag
Mako Chow Bag
