It's finally that time! All of the finished Sakura Samurai enamel pins just got delivered to me, and guys, I am SO happy with how they turned out :) The colors and gradients look even better in person — I can't wait for each of you to see them in-hand. Info on the next steps for shipping, plus an important question I need your help on below, but first, please enjoy these fresh pics of the completed pins:

Now I'll begin the process of grading each pin and making sure all the best ones get shipped out to you guys! You should have already received a few automated emails from Backerkit notifying you of credit cards being charged, as well as mailing addresses getting locked. Please, please update your payment method right away if you get an error message saying that your card was declined, and if there have been any recent changes to your address, make sure it's up-to-date so that your samurai get shipped to the right place soon!

While I work on inspecting and grading the pins, my best friend/sister-in-law @dragonleafstudios is hand-making some gorgeous foil card backs for these pins, and I am SO stoked for you all to see them 🤩 She's an absolute stationary wizard and makes the most special and unique handmade cards. It's an honor to work with her on this project and for the samurai pins to get such fancy packaging! I'll let you see those for the first time in person when your pins arrive ('cause who doesn't love fun little surprises?!)

Finally, a quick little poll for you all:

While the colors and details of each pin variant all came out fantastic, there was one unfortunate error that the factory made. The backs of each pin have their respective names (Midnight, Sunrise and Sketch) laser engraved into them, along with serialized numbers (i.e., "1/25", "10/15", etc.). This is a fun extra detail I added on to the pins for collectability purposes, as it's something I've always enjoyed on many pins in my own collection.

Unfortunately, someone at the factory messed up the back of the Sketch pin variant (black & white). They accidently used the same laser file that was used for the Sunset variant, so now both the Sunset and the Sketch pin say "Sunset" and are numbered "X/25" on the back. This means that the Sketch variant pin has the wrong name and the wrong numbers on the back (it should of course say "Sketch" as well as be numbered "X/15").

I'm currently exploring my options with my manufacturer on what can be done about this, but first I'd like your opinion on if this error on the back of the Sketch pin bothers you or not. Does it make you not want this pin variant anymore? Or is the name and number on the back irrelevant? If I ship out these pins, would you be okay receiving them as-is? Would it help if I included a freebie sticker of that pin along with it (or some other bonus)? Note: the entire front of the pin and everything else about it is perfect—the only error is on the laser engraving on the back side that shows the name and number of the pin. And this error is just on the black and white Sketch variant. The Midnight and Sunrise pins are perfectly fine 👍

Please let me know your thoughts on this, and I'll see what I can do to either fix the pin backs or add in a freebie compensation to everyone who ordered the Sketch variant. I know it's a pretty minor detail overall, but I'd rather get your opinions on it instead of just shipping out the pins without notifying you all first 😊

Thanks so much, and I'll be in touch again soon! 🤗