Snakes are almost done. They have been colored & plated, now they are getting screenprint done next. I knew these would finish sooner than the bearded dragons either way.
I did ask about the colors on this since we did a sample and for some reason that orange seems dark. It could be a lighting issue. Either way just know I've already asked about it. Sample that was approved for reference.
Updated 9/15/2026: They said it was a lighting issue and that they are being based on the sample.
I know these are gonna be slow but she sent some photos for now. I have to check the vector on the one nugget design before I can get those sent in for production, but we're almost done!
If your order hasn't already been locked, I will be locking anything else and charging some time in September.
If you missed a design, I do have in hand pins in limited quantities on my site so whatever was left can be purchased that way. Please don't do extra add-ons since some people never update their card info as it is and I'm often left to refund the entire order because they never respond to emails. On site stuff is faster and easier to deal with atm.
August & September cons will help me get the final designs into production. The fanart designs have also increased having sales regularly which will help me cover the remaining costs on this project. Those pins cost substantially less to produce as well.
Anyways for transparency on costs: first order was $1630 (freebies), second was $1955 (3 dragons) and the current order I placed is $2289 (bearded dragon & snake). So I am about $5,874 into the project, final two large pins I need an updated quote on then I'll do a minimum order on the smaller designs once I have the two larger designs with new quotes. Smaller pins are always way faster than the larger designs. Hopefully the next run won't be over $2k since I'm ordering the minimum (50) to just make sure I can fulfill this. I'll reorder extras later if I find a need.
Reserved pins are set aside with printed out packing slips even if you haven't received a Shopify notification yet.
Since these pins ended up fine (I had one really flawed one), I paid for the bearded dragon pins today since that's the same manufacturer I make my Nebula designs with and they had the sample anyways.
I am getting a quote from my other manufacturer for the smaller designs. I was originally gonna have with the same manufacturer, but frankly I am too impatient to wait for them to do those + the other Nebula designs (Waffle & Nuggets) when they are already slow.
Also yes I am slow on this project bc $3k did not cover production for all the pins + just .. forgetting it existed when I was busy/having family things to focus on last year. The 3 large dragons that just completed cost $2k, and I had previously put the freebies into production last year and I can't remember that cost anymore so I am still making sales to help pay for this and the piles of plush projects to close both of those projects out.
I won't be saying yes to unlocking everything in the future because of how much debt I put myself into on backerkit projects lol.
I do have a project launching in September which is fanart focused so we'll see how that goes compared to these.
I did two mail drop offs (one Monday, one today). I need to move a lot of orders from here over to my shopify which .. I never made listings for. Either way wanted to do a quick update on pins. And anyone who is upset I'm doing those monthly pins, those have increased my online and in person sales, so it's helping me slowly get out of my $30k plush debt that was draining me and helping me.. I guess be in more debt for a temp time to get these produced.
I really just want to get everyone their products because I messed up a LOT with unlock decisions I made in 2025 + sampling issues with plush.
I refunded people who didn't fill out their surveys since I ordered the bare minimum of pins (50-100 depending on how many were ordered on surveys). I just need these filled.
Anyway... I will post more updates once I get pics from manus. Waffle and Nuggets will probably be the very last designs to complete since I probably need another $2k just for those so I'll be working my ass off to get sales to start those. At least I only have to order 100 Waffles and 50 of the Nuggets so I won't need too many total.
Thank you guys!
Monday Drop Off
Tuesday Drop Off
Update 8/12/2026: Bearded Dragon ETA is 1.5-2 months give or take I guess. I always do 50/50 with this manu bc the pins take so long to produce. Either way, that is the update for you on that design. I will get the other stuff into production probably after my cons are done and I see how much I to spend. Each of these design orders are around $2k for a project I only made like $3k on. We're what.. 6 designs in now? We have some mini pins, 2 dragons and a snake left to start. I am double checking Pantones this week on those before I submit them. I am ordering the bare minimum for all of these to fill the orders so I won't have any significant number of pins left afterwards.
Update 8/13/2026: Snakes are in production and will be shipped with the bearded dragons.
I am going to send partially completed orders if there are a large number of pins in your order - so expect two packages. Otherwise I will be setting things aside in bags until I get the remaining designs completed. I have this and that plush project that never funded completely that I am working on completing as well.
Either way, if you're getting email notifications, that's why. My favorite manu is expensive and slow so I'll get you updates when I have them. I will be posting photos of the pins when they arrive this afternoon in discord and on FB since I don't want to make an extra post since I also have soccer stuff to do this week for my kid and will probably forget to make a new post here.
Going to be digging through orders before the pins arrive today to make sure I get things printed so I can send them more quickly. Thank you for your patience!
