I apologize for the lack of updates as of late. If you were present for the fulfilment era of Snughouls S2 then you may be able to guess what's happening...once again a supplier has overpromised and underdelivered, leaving us somewhat in limbo while we wait for items to arrive and I've been hesitant to share any new ETAs until I had something concrete.
I do take the blame here partially for not considering how the post-Spring Festival backlog would grind things to a halt on the manufacturing front as factories struggle to catch up with orders, but unfortunately that doesn't change the fact that items I expected to be delivered 2+ weeks ago are still in production and holding up much of our fulfillment.
The good news!
The Cryptid Crush plushies ARE here...mostly. We've still got about 40 boxes caught up in customs (and over 100 already delivered), but they're expected to be delivered today last time I checked.
Keychains and stickers are here. Currently waiting on a sample batch from the warehouse so I can personally get some good photos, but here are the keychains on a sheet of acrylic to share the vibrancy! Greens and purples are notoriously difficult to print so I'm pleased to see how bright these are.
The remake of the classic wolfman plush is finally complete and on the way to me as of today. If you remember, my supplier said they would have those out before February 15th and clearly that did not happen, but nevertheless I'm happy they're finally finished and on the way.
A scrunkly fella.
We have enough stock to begin shipping this week. You may have noticed I sent out the final 48 hour address change notification early this morning. That's because I plan to start pushing orders that don't contain pins to our fulfillment partner asap.
The bad...or at least less good news.
Pins were supposed to be finished on the 10th, but are still in production. Thankfully all this does is slow things down a little bit, but I know we're all anxiously awaiting our Cryptid Crushes so I hope you can hold out a little longer 🙏 The pins look awesome, even in this poor lighting (the mini mino and taken pins are missing from this preview, but I should have those photos this week) and I can't wait to rub my grubby fingers all over them in person.
I will be back with another update as soon as the first orders begin going out (hopefully in the next few days), and again when the pins leave the factory (again, hopefully in the next several days but please understand I'm at the mercy of my supplier here).
I also want to stress that Tiny Teeth has over 10k orders under our belt and I am wholly committed to getting folks their items and inflicting my cryptid obsession on everyone! But I'm also a one man show (apart from my fulfillment partner who I would die without 😭) and by no means infallible. My silence at times does not mean things aren't progressing, just that I've got my nose to the grindstone bringing these projects to fruition.
Thank you all for understanding! I'll see you later this week with the rundown on where we're at on fulfillment 💖
At long last the Cryptid Crushes have left the factory! All several thousand of them are en route as of last week, and are expected to arrive at the warehouse in the next 25-30 days.
'Why so long?' you may be thinking, and the answer is that sea freight is slooooow! Unfortunately, with well over 100 boxes to ship, traveling by sea is also the most economical option and why 99% of people in my position choose it.
While I'm thrilled they're finally on the move, this development comes with a bit of bittersweet news because my supplier made a rather large error when producing the Classic Werewolf. Instead of the finalized version, they made an earlier version with red eyes.
At first I was devastated for obvious reasons, but thankfully we did come up with a solution that means their hard work won't go to waste, and I receive the correct Classic Werewolf as well. What's more, this mistake shouldn't slow things down too terribly. V1 is in production now and should ship out in the next two weeks. If they ship them by air this will allow everything to reach the warehouse at roughly the same time 🤞
Now this also means I have an extra several hundred werewolf plushies I wasn't counting on! And I know some of you preferred V2 over V1, so if you pledged for the Classic Werewolf I would like to offer you the opportunity to sub your V1 wolf for the V2 wolf.
‼️By default, if you pledged for the Classic Werewolf you will receive the plush you paid for, but if you would like to receive the red-eyed wolf instead PLEASE FILL OUT THIS GOOGLE FORM:https://forms.gle/ELVxXTbF2zSPfQSC6 ‼️
You have until February 16th to let me know you would like to make the swap. After that date I cannot guarantee your form will be seen.
I believe that's all for now critters! With fulfillment on the horizon addresses will be locking in the next two weeks, so keep an eye on your inbox for that lock notification. I'll be back with another backerkit update at that time as well! 💗
Time has really gotten away from me this year. Admittedly it's been a pretty tumultuous and awful couple of months in my household due to a family member's failing health, which stretched us incredibly thin and finally culminated in their passing earlier this week.
This doesn't affect the project or item production in any way, but it does mean I haven't been able to effectively communicate what's going on because I've been in a constant state of fight or flight dealing with things at home. It sucks! I'm no stranger to loss, but losing someone in our household in such a long, drawn out way is a first for me and has been one of the most draining experiences of my life.
But I know these updates are crucial as well, and I'm sorry for taking so long to share what's going on.
Production has been slower than I wanted or anticipated, but we are a week or two away from wrapping things up according to my rep. Here's the latest update from my supplier,
And some photo updates from a few weeks before that (bear in mind these pictures are about 3-4 weeks old so the bulk order is likely complete and being quality checked/packed now).
So things are moving! Turnaround for bulk orders is advertised as 1-2 months and I'm disappointed this took closer to 4 months to complete, but ultimately I would rather wait an additional 2 months for a high quality product than receive something rushed and subpar.
CE and CPC certification for all plushies is complete now too! (They often safety test alongside bulk production.) But why does this look so much like a mugshot?? 😅
That's all the major developments for now! I hope to be back within the first to second week of January to announce that the plushies have left the factory and share some additional pictures of the piles and piles of cute cryptids 💖
Tonight at midnight (CST) I'll be locking down the preorder store and sending out the final notice for surveys-- this will give backers 48 more hours to lock in any last LAST minute changes, and after that surveys will lock automatically.
-Preorder store closes TONIGHT, surveys lock in 48 hours after backerkit sends out the final notice email to everyone. -If you have an outstanding balance, charges will process around the 28th for most of you (but this could vary by a day or two).
-If your payment fails, don't panic! You'll have roughly a month to get that sorted. I plan to do a "last call" for payment corrections as production wraps up and items are on their way to the warehouse.
-Addresses can still be changed! This portion of your survey will remain open right up until about 2 weeks before we ship.
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Now, on to the poll results! The v1 clothes won the poll by a generous margin, so this is VERY close to what you can expect with your final order. Any changes I make from this point will only improve the final texture and fit (the shirt, for example, could be stretchier to make it easier to put on) without changing the way they look on your Cryptid Crush.
When the factory shares the final versions with me before production, I'll share them with you as well so sit tight! 💕
I'm back with some important updates today, both to our final timeline and regarding the outfits. Let's jump right in!
Important Dates
August 25th - Surveys lock, preorder store closes, and the card processing begins. August 28th - The bulk of all charges will be processed by this date.
And please note this DOES NOT lock your address! If you're moving in the near future, you can still edit your address up until about 2-3 weeks before plushies begin to ship.
New outfit added to the survey!
The summer toga has officially been added to the survey and preorder store! This includes the toga, sash, and bandana and was designed with the gorgon in mind, but will fit all crushes.
To edit your survey, simply revisit it, make your new selections, and then re-submit your answers. The new submission will overwrite the old one and you'll be good to go!
Clothing changes, struggles, and more...
This one is on me for thinking sampling these outfits would be the most straightforward part of this project. To put it simply: its actually been a nightmare.
Getting them up to the level of detail I want, making sure they fit all the crushes and are not an impossible challenge to put on, all of this has felt like a sisyphean task but we're finally getting somewhere as of the last couple weeks and I'm feeling optimistic again 💖
Before things began to come together with the first supplier, I opted to sample the clothes with my main supplier as well to see what they would come up with. Apart from misunderstanding a few details (namely the pattern for one of the shirts, and the size of everything overall) they did a great job and out of transparency I wanted to share them with my backers too!
Moreover the V2 version got a few details right that we had to compromise on the V1 version, so I wanted to ask you which version you prefer.
Ultimately both have their pros and cons. The biggest issue with V2 is prototyping started later and will take a little longer to complete. I can't reasonably delay the plush production any longer though, so I have to lock surveys by the 25th. This means the V2 clothes might not be complete before surveys lock.
No matter which version is chosen, I will make sure they meet or exceed my already high standards! I've put a lot of love and hard work into this project already, and I refuse to do anything halfway 💪
Poll will end next Monday so I can make a final announcement with the results before surveys lock. I've also extended the lock date just a little bit to accommodate all these changes and give backers a bit more time to decide.
Thank you all so much for bearing with me! Despite not being the biggest campaign we've ever fulfilled, Cryptid Crush is shaping up to be the most detail oriented and that brings with it a whole new set of challenges 💕
