Where things are right now (Pintober remakes are still not done)
Hello,
I'm seeing some confusion over where things are with my Pintober campaign as well as this one. Frankly, I'm unsure why, as I update frequently compared to most crowd...
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Midnight Springs
18 days ago
Charging in 48hrs!
Hi everyone, all who have NOT yet been charged for their share of pledge manager funds will be charged in 48 hours!
That, to me, will finalize counts and I can make sure...
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Midnight Springs
30 days ago
The paws are here!! + quality update
Hey everyone,
Because of the massive economic uncertainty we were all suddenly FLUNG into, my pin manufacturer put the paws on a rush order. While I am incredibly gratef...
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Midnight Springs
about 1 month ago
Interim update (wow everything is bonkers)
Hi everyone,
So uh, I and literally no one else on the planet it seems has any idea what is going to happen with the tariff situation. What I can tell you is that while the...
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Midnight Springs
about 2 months ago
Some progress photos of paws!
Hi everyone!
Firstly, I reattached the recent poll in case it's of interest and you missed the recent update. I still haven't sent out my full email about this summer pin c...
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Midnight Springs
about 2 months ago
Progress update! + NEW POLL (monster girls!)
Hey all, here's where things are at right now (in no particular order):
• I'm on the tail end of a sinus infection that my dr actually caught well before I even suspecte...
I'm seeing some confusion over where things are with my Pintober campaign as well as this one. Frankly, I'm unsure why, as I update frequently compared to most crowdfunds and am extremely transparent. Probably overly so.
However, I will keep this one shorter: the Pintober backers have been waiting a long time because that order had an even worse flaw rate than this order. I have made it very, very clear to them that I am trying my best to get that fixed - and I did tell you all that despite my reservations and guilt about it, I ethically prefer to fulfill my campaigns in chronological order.
However, because some haven't been reading my updates and did not contact me directly regarding this issue but instead went above me, it appears there's been some sort of misunderstanding.
I am genuinely doing my best. This is also not an excuse, but the reality: I am profoundly chronically ill. I can only do so much at one time, and I mentioned this in the fulfillment timeline portion of the campaign. I can only request your patience and understanding, I would never demand it.
While I am still waiting on the moths in which quality and quantity is lacking for campaign fulfillment, and I do feel bad about not immediately sending out the paws upon receipt of them, the only paws I'm bringing to Colossalcon are seconds pins to try to recoup what I will be charged in tariffs on these remakes. The pins being "free" remakes does not mean I don't have to pay approximately $70 per box of remakes in shipping costs as well as whatever tariffs I am charged. The timeline I laid out in this campaign was anticipated fulfillment in Summer of 2025. So we are not yet behind. May is technically still Spring.
I will make a similar update to the moths campaign in a few hours as to not overlap too closely. Anyone still waiting for their moths who has fulfillable paws in their order will have them shipped together and 1 shipping fee refunded.
I truly appreciate your support. Any firmness coming across through my tone is just me being more frank than usual.
Hi everyone, all who have NOT yet been charged for their share of pledge manager funds will be charged in 48 hours!
That, to me, will finalize counts and I can make sure everything is set aside to start going out, though I am still chipping away at moth fulfillment too.
I will not make another update when I charge! Only when I have more updates for you.
Because of the massive economic uncertainty we were all suddenly FLUNG into, my pin manufacturer put the paws on a rush order. While I am incredibly grateful for the consideration, it also makes me very nervous about quality when that happens, so I waited to update until I was able to grade all of the pins.
So, I have good news and bad news. The bad news is that there's around 1/3 of the order with epoxy coverage issues because the fulfillment was rushed. This is an example of what I mean:
These are some of the milder ones honestly
The worse news is that one of the colorways with this problem on almost all pins is Void/all-black. The most-ordered colorway.
The good news is that I negotiated remakes and they were approved. I have to pay for shipping but not the unit price. It's very obvious the last stages of production are where things went wrong, because the other stages (enamel, plating, glitter) are overwhelmingly great quality, with only a handful with issues there out of the whole order. I sent videos of the pins I wanted remade and they agreed to the quantities I proposed, because this shouldn't have happened.
There are some that have very small coverage issues that I'm still considering to be standards, because they can't be seen after about 1-2ft away from your face which falls well under my grading definition. The bad news again is that I am probably going to be tariffed on the remakes... and I won't be able to send out a large chunk of orders without those.
Taken a little bit over 1ft away, and you can probably tell (or not tell, rather) that there's practically no distinguishable issue. Without direct shining light and right in front of your face, these are great and don't have issues with anything else.
The 3 colorways with the highest flaw rate are: 1. Hot pink with white (88%) 2. Void (80%) 3. Siamese (60%)
The colorways with the least pins with this epoxy issue are: 1. Black with gold metal (0 flawed) 2-4 tied at 12%: Monochrome, Honeydew, Martian 5. Purple and black (15%)
That 2nd section and most other colorways can be fulfilled.
What this means for fulfillment is that, while the moths still await remakes, I will start sending out what paws I can - to Canada first because of the tariff situation and border uncertainties... but only after I have set aside EVERYTHING claimed for by backers already, so I will be waiting until after April 26th to fulfill so that I know what final counts people have locked into.
(I will update again April 24th to warn everyone of the pending charges! That's in just a few days!)
Also, as a side note, the arrangement of the paws on the sticker sheets is going to be slightly different compared to mockup. I made more room for the cutlines and also managed to somehow make each paw sticker a bit larger in the process, so these are both good things.
After everything is set aside, even though fulfillment of those won't be complete yet, I will need to sell seconds pin grab bags there since I won't have leftover standards for gacha pulls (yet). Every one of you still had access to many freebies and individual choice pins while convention attendees will not have access to those benefits, so I hope this is okay with you. I am unlikely to have my septum rings with me at this show so I am going to need all the help I can get with income.
Speaking of the septums... (backer update only below):
So uh, I and literally no one else on the planet it seems has any idea what is going to happen with the tariff situation. What I can tell you is that while the de minimis is still in place (until May 2nd), I was promised by my manufacturer that I will receive the pins and be exempt of extra duties.
I'm genuinely worried that this expedited last track of production has jeopardized quality...but we will see. Nothing else can be done, really, because I already paid for them and I can't afford to pay their same (or more!) value again in tariffs, it would be impossible for me.
Even though I've been told I will receive them soon, I'm still holding off on charging surveys for those of you who opted to wait, April 26th will still be charge day. Please make sure you have the money in your account that day if you want to receive your order. Otherwise, if you continue to not pay throughout this last stretch of fulfillment, I have to consider your initial BK pledge as a donation.
I am still juggling health things and will sort/grade pins as quickly as I can...I don't know what that means for fulfillment but we are a bit ahead of schedule actually, so I think we're good. I'm still waiting on remake moths, too, as far as the remaining Pintober pledges are concerned. Those I am likely to be tariffed on...and also can't afford to do that for...
Firstly, I reattached the recent poll in case it's of interest and you missed the recent update. I still haven't sent out my full email about this summer pin campaign yet because I'm still working on a banner and touching up the designs.
Anyway, this update is partly to serve as a reminder that the charge date for everyone is April 26th, unless you are someone who still hasn't filled out their survey yet but choose to be charged upon submission before that date. The preorder septum rings were just paid for to begin production last week, so again - those will be charged for.
Here's an update on the paws!
Shown are Pink and White, Donut's paw (return backer freebie), Dilute Tuxedo, Tortoiseshell, Dilute Tortoiseshell, Orange, Honeydew, and Strawberry. None have epoxy or printing yet, and none of them except Pink and White have enamel in them yet except for the glittery paw pads.
Thankfully this is moving pretty quickly as I've approved these samples already, and the 5 that were sampled before were already approved! That leaves just 7 colorways that I haven't seen WIPs of yet/are unapproved.
My previous 2 pin campaigns on here will have updates this week as well (the final one for Jellinoms!).
