Thank you again for your patience as I've worked through fulfillment of our spooky Mythical Bards!
Let me start with the less awesome news. Unfortunately, when grading the pins I found that over 2/3 of the cat-sìth pins had colors just... in the wrong places. The proof was correct, but the pins were not. It's always disappointing when I start going through pins if they don't quite turn out as expected, especially to such a large degree.
That said, on to the good news!
Half of the orders have officially been sent, including some of the cat-sìth orders and 100% of international orders that have completed the survey/payment processes. There were still some good cat-sìth pins! Just not nearly enough for everyone (yet).
New cat-sìth pins are incoming! My manufacturer is correcting the wonky pins and sending a new batch my way. It will likely be another 3ish weeks, give or take, before they arrive, but then we should be sending the rest of the orders out!
So, what next? If you completed your survey and payment and have not received your tracking information yet, that means you had an order with a cat-sìth pin I wasn't able to fulfill yet and it'll be a few more weeks before the pins head your way. My sincerest apologies for the delay! I have everything else in hand and am pre-packaging everything I can so that these can get out the door as quickly as possible when the replacement pins arrive.
If you haven't completed your survey yet or had a payment error, now is the time to address it! I can't send pins your way unless these steps are complete. Once all other orders have shipped, I have an additional three month buffer for these steps to be completed before the project is closed for good and I want to make sure you get your pins. Please make sure you've completed all survey/payment steps so I can send your pins to you!
Thank you so much for your continued patience! I'll be sure to keep you updated as we get through this hiccup and the remaining orders.
You should have just received notice that addresses are locking. That's because, at last, the bards have arrived!
All five bards are now in hand, along with the two mini pins. I took a quick look and am really happy with how these turned out. At this stage I'm just waiting for the backing cards which are due to arrive on Tuesday. I'll start grading the pins as early as this weekend and, pending any major issues I find in the pins, these should start shipping next week!
Below is a picture of the five bard pins (not the greatest pictures, but they're there!)
Keep an eye out for a tracking number - I can't wait to get these to you!
Hello, Adventurers! It's been a heckuva ride over here as we've run through proofs, and we ran into a few hiccups along the way, but we are back on track and I have a few updates on our spooky bards below!
As of this morning, all proofs for our five new bard pins have been APPROVED! There was a lot more back and forth on these than I had been hoping for to make sure that the pins would come out as planned, but they're also some of my most complicated designs to date so we were bound to run into some challenges. All five are officially moving into production!
The two glitter pins (for early backers and Pintober backers) already arrived, but one needed an update. I was so excited to get a first look at some of the new pins, only to find that the storytelling pin had mistakenly been made in soft enamel instead of hard enamel which resulted in a very different look than expected. Fortunately, it's been an easy fix and the re-made pins (in hard enamel) should arrive likely before the end of the month. (Shout out to my manu, who has been wonderful through this whole process!)
Pending any further complications, fulfillment should begin in early to mid-April. I'd originally targeted February-March for fulfillment but it's unlikely that the bard pins will arrive before I'm back from WonderCon at the end of the month. However, I already have all the stickers on hand, the bard cupcake pins are already on hand (and BEAUTIFUL, the glitter frosting is especially otherworldly, the photo below doesn't do the glitter justice), and I'll start grading what I have in the meantime to reduce as many additional slow downs as possible. I'll keep you updated if we run into any other complications and need to shift this further.
Now that we are FULLY in production, a couple quick reminders:
If you haven't completed your survey yet, I have continued to check periodically and am locking surveys and charging cards (both with a 48-hour notice) as they are completed. 90% of backers have completed surveys (thank you!) and I've just sent reminders to the remaining 10%.
If you did complete the survey, please double check that your payment went through. A couple pledges ran into errors. I can't send you your pins without these crucial steps completed!
That's all for now! Enjoy this close-up of our little bardic cupcake and my best attempt at capturing its awesome glittery-ness. More to come soon!
Mini bard cupcake pin (and the closest picture I've ever seen of my own hands lol)
Hello, Adventurers! I'm popping in with a super quick Mythical Bards 2 production update before we head into Pintopia later this week.
As you've seen, surveys have been locked and cards charged.
If you haven't completed your survey yet, I'll be checking periodically and locking surveys (with a 48-hour notice) as they are completed.
If you did complete the survey, please double check that your payment went through. A couple pledges ran into errors. I can't send you your pins without these crucial steps completed!
Production Updates
A couple quick updates on production:
All pins have officially been ordered! I always order extra to account for any production goofs and ongoing orders. I'm hoping to have all proofs approved by the end of the month. We'll see how it goes!
Stickers have already arrived and are looking great!
It's going to be a little quiet on the Mythical Bards 2 side while we run through Pintopia, I approve Mythical Bard pin proofs, and the pins head into production. I'll let all of you know if any changes come up for any reason, but otherwise you may not hear from me until the pins have arrived and we're ready to get packing, hopefully mid- to late-February!
I had initially asked for surveys to be filled out by January 25 because I wanted to make sure that we had plenty of time but nearly all of the surveys are completed already! Thank you all so much for promptly completing these!
I would really like to wrap up notifications on Mythical Bards 2 ahead of Pintopia launching next week, because there is always a FLURRY of messaging around the Pintopia event and I don't want important messages about this campaign to get lost, so a few updates:
I will be locking surveys on Friday, January 16. Any surveys completed after this point will be locked as they are completed.
Cards will be charged on Monday, January 19. It's only about a week earlier than originally planned, so I'm hoping that disruption is minimal.
Production Updates
Production is kicking off!
I have ordered all Mythical Bards 2 stickers and approved proofs. Huzzah!
I am cleaning up files for the pin order and plan to order pins late this week/early next week. I'm hoping we'll be able to fully approve all pin proofs before the end of January!
Reminder: Con Adventurers 2 Starts January 22
Pintopia is coming soon, and with it the return of my Con Adventurer series of pins, which celebrates all the fun adventures that happen at conventions! If you want to make sure you get a reminder when the campaign launches, please make sure to join the launch party. I've revealed the first of six new designs so far, plus my artist cross-collaboration freebie pin. More to come soon!
