It's been a month since my last update and it's been with a big reason: I've been swamped with work, a 4 day con and another 1 day con back to back ^^; All with fun work and fun things but it's been very busy which meant that I had to place some priority on things other than the pins.
Good news, I've just emailed my manu contact to pick up the project and start the production. I have to wait for an update on the quote but the enamel pin files are all sent off so it's now waiting for a correct quote and paying that.
The pins have had some minor colour changes to be more accurate with the animals, so I wanted to show you all the (digital) colours as we've chosen now. Mind you, colours can still vary a bit due to screens and print work. (Picking colours is the biggest hurdle of enamel pin making if you ask me!)
All the pin designs in their (most) accurate colours (Colours can still differ due to different monitors and screens.)
Survey info The survey is still open for changes, you can still switch around any choices of pins you'd like. I won't lock the survey until we're closer to receiving the pins. This due to the tariff issue as well in the survey.
As a reminder for the tariff costs non-US backers might saw pop up: I will manually remove these before I charge the survey. The tariff percentage might still changes so I'm gonna leave this for the last moment so it's the most accurate for all!
If anything changes with the survey (locking them, charging the cards, etc) I will first give you all a heads up for this with another update.
The other products update The acrylic keychains have been ordered a few weeks back, those will have the first colour run but I think this is pretty fun to have the differences between the amphibians. So many have different tones of coloures between the same type of frog already, it's like a mimic of real life. After this print run is sold out I will update the artworks to fit the colours of the enamel pins.
The sticker sheets are up next to be ordered, these will have the same colours as the enamel pins.
The socks are now up on the to do list to finish up the product file. My sock manu reached out this week to let me know they are getting more busy and making a sample takes 3-4 weeks now instead of 2 weeks. This means that if the socks arrive later than the enamel pins, those with socks in their orders will have to wait a bit longer on their order being shipped. One way or another, Desert rain frog socks will be send to you if you ordered them <3
As always if you need to reach out to me, do not hesitate to contact me via Backerkit support (the 'Contact us for help' button on your pledge page). Or you can use the contact form on my website, that way you reach me immediately by email and I can help you out much easier. Please keep an eye on your email when you reach out. I usually respond within 48h to your questions.
The past week surveys have been filled in and we've just crossed the 80% mark, thank you so much for the speedy work on your ends! Fun to know is that the Harlequin toad is the most favourite, followed by the Northern Leopard frog and the Luristan newt!
Combined shipping and tariffs (for non-US backers???)
Sadly we hit a big hiccup whilst surveys were being filled in and some have reached out about it, thank you all!
US backers need to pay tariffs, that's a stupid fact but I cannot avert this. Best I can do it collect them upfront from US backers for speedy and smooth delivery. For combined shipping: Local pickup didn't add tariffs for US backers, shit. I reached out to Backerkit and together we figured out a way to add it.
Another problem popped up: everyone now in Local Pickup paid tariffs, even local Dutch and EU/UK/Canada customers. Frogs, back to the drawing board but luckily we found a solution. It's sadly a long tedious and manual solution on my part but should be very easy and clear for backers.
The solution
For those who qualify and go for the combined shipping: please fill in your complete address but choose 'local pickup' instead of your country. This will remove the shipping costs but will add tariffs.
For the NON-US BACKERS: These added tariffs will be removed manually by me. You will not pay them, as you should not pay them. BUT: I need your full address (except country, choose 'Local Pickup' for that) to double check if you are a non-US backer, so please help me with this to make my work easier. I will have to say your are a US backer if your address is all N/A. (I will use the streetname/postal code/city to search which country it is in, hence me needing your full address.)
This work will be done before I will charge the survey. This due to the constant changing of the tariff percentage. (As it is now, it's not even 35% anymore, but we never know what he cooks up next....) So for now ignore those tariffs if you are not a US backer. That's it. That's the solution! Thank you for your patience!
In other news: I saw some mention in their survey that they couldn't get Local Pickup fixed, I will manually change that for you. So those mentions are noted down, not to worry.
Thank you for all the suggestions!
And a HUGE thank you for all the sweet and kind words, it really is fuel to the motivation. Even more so with all the amazing suggestions! Snakes is a big one on the to do list for enamel pins, as well as more frogs of course! Also mentioned: caecilians, gecko's, snails, turtles, chameleons, lizard, bearded dragon and more.
The only thing (and this isn't mention yet) that I sadly cannot do is insects. There might be a few lucky insects (ants, bees, moths, butterflies, weevils, beetles) in the far future, but I have a big fear of spiders and while I now there are bunch of cool and neat ones.. I- I just can't look up reference pictures and study them, ahahahahaaaaaaaaaaa. I usually spend half an hour to an hour looking up reference pictures, of different angles, types, etc for the past enamel pins and would not survive me doing that for spiders (or geji-geji, or mili/centipedes or earwigs, etc).
That's it for now. I'm preparing for a 4 days con out of country starting next week and haven't gotten time to fully vectorize the enamel pins yet. So that's on the to do after the convention to get the ball rolling with my manufacturer!
As always if you need to reach out to me, do not hesitate to contact me via Backerkit support (the 'Contact us for help' button on your pledge page). Or you can use the contact form on my website, that way you reach me immediately by email and I can help you out much easier. Please keep an eye on your email when you reach out. I usually respond within 48h to your questions.
A few minutes ago I've sent off all the surveys! The smoke test (a small % of backers get the survey early to test if things go well) showed one hiccup with the local pickup but it should all be good now! In this update a short summary of things to keep in mind.
What to expect
In your mail you will receive an email with an url to my survey. Follow all the steps, add any items you might missed out on, fill in your address and hit 'place order'. This will make sure your survey is finished and I will receive a tally of all chosen enamel pin designs, which I need to place an order for all the enamel pin designs. Around the time the enamel pins are done with their production I will write another update I am about to lock and charge the survey. This means the choices you've made will be permanent and means you will pay the missing amount. This amount is extra added add-on's, shipping (and possible tariff duty fees) and any missing initial payments.
When the enamel pins are being sent my way (this will be late May early June) I will update again and lock the addresses. Until that update your got all the time to change your address if need be due to a move for instance. But no worries, I will write an update for that before starting fulfillment.
PLEASE fill in your survey as soon as you possibly can! I will need these choices to place an order. I usually wait until 80% is filled in to have an accurate overview.
For those that qualify for Early Amphibian sticker, Returning Amphibian sticker, Pin banner sticker and/or Cross collab freebie, you will find those items in your survey basket already set up!
Combined shipping -> "Local Pickup"
For those who backed both Birds of North America and Frogtastic Frogs you qualify for combined shipping if you want to. You will pay the shipping costs at Birds of North America but these won't be paid in Frogtastic Frogs #2. In my survey you will fill in your address as otherwise except for your country you choose 'Local Pickup'. I URGE you to fill in the rest of your address this due to administrative paperwork on my end. Important notice: this is only available if backed both of our projects. We will check if you qualify for this.
Also good to know is that actual local pickup (at cons or otherwise) is NOT possible.
Only backed Frogtastic Frogs If you only backed Frogtastic Frogs, you can ignore this information and carry on like usual for surveys and fill in your shipping information so you pay the correct amount.
Pre-order shop is open
For those who missed out or have friends asking about enamel pins, the pre-order shop is open. This is a shop via Backerkit which means it's credit card only and fulfillment of these orders will be done together with the Backer pledges. (In de pre-order shop you cannot get the Early/Returning/Pin banner freebies, nor the cross collab freebie pin.)
I believe that's all the important parts, if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me via Backerkit support (the 'Contact us for help' button on your pledge page). Or you can use the contact form on my website, that way you reach me immediately by email and I can help you out much easier. Please keep an eye on your email when you reach out. I usually respond within 48h to your questions.
Last Thursday the project ended and we fully funded all goals including all the stretch goals! I took some days off from the project, mostly to have a weekend off but it's back in the saddle this week!
First of all, thank you all so much for supporting the project! We'll make 22 enamel pins with all types of new frogs, toads and salamanders. Plus one collab freebie pin and mini pin set which puts the total to 26 enamel pins! Thank you again!
Some fun numbers
In total we have 293 backers who pledge for a total of 769 new enamel pins plus another 110 tadpoles mini pin set (added for the 3+ pin pledge backers plus placed as an add-on)! There are 82 enamel pins added as an add-on for previous project pins. Speaking of add-ons: 69 sticker sheets, 30 socks, 12 acrylic key chains and 16 vinyl stickers were added! That's all gonna be a fun packing session. And 249 people backed both Frogtastic Frogs #2 and Birds of North America!
What's next
The past days Backerkit has been charging the payments. So far I've seen 2 backers are still waiting to get charged and so far we have 25 failed charges. I recommend checking your card details to see if payments went through and if you can fix anything right now.
The following two weeks I'll work on setting up the survey. Via this survey you will be able to let me know which designs you want and fill in your address. For US backers you will also see in the last page how much of tariffs/duties you will be paying. (This is collected so you don't have to pay a surprise amount when the parcel arrives at your door.) In the survey you can add more items too if you wish to.
When you receive the survey it'll be send via an email. Please fill it in as soon as possible. I will use the info filled in with to order the amounts of enamel pins I need. Via the survey I will also collect the shipping costs. This means your card will be charged again at a later part for shipping costs (and possible extra added add-ons). I will post an update as an heads up before I will lock the survey (no changes possible) and charge the cards again. The address can still be changed until I start shipping!
Combined shipping, how?
For those who backed both Birds of North America and Frogtastic Frogs you qualify for combined shipping if you want to. You will pay the shipping costs at Birds of North America but these won't be paid in Frogtastic Frogs #2. Information for this will be in Frogastic Frogs #2 survey. To give a heads up, you choose Local Pickup instead of your country, same as last year. Do note: actual local pickup is not available.
Important notice: this is only available if backed both of our projects. We will check if you qualify for this.
Timeline
So in 2 weeks you can expect a survey at the earliest (maybe even a bit later). When about 80% is filled in I will place the order for the enamel pins, this will probably be around end of March. Then the production has the start which will probably take 1-2 months due to the amount of pins. When I receive the shipping notice I will update and lock and charge the cards of the survey. If all goes well I assume it'll be late May to mid June when I can start fulfillment.
That's it for now! I ask you to wait for the survey and fill it in as soon as possible and in the meantime I'll send an update when I got something fun to show!
Thank you all once again, we did it! Even unlocked the last two axolotls despite me offering to pay them half out of pocket. The collection and family will be complete!
As always if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask them.
Have a fogtastic week everyone! - Appel
P.S. I will also open a pre-order store via Backerkit in these two weeks for those who missed out on the project.
The last 5 hours are happening and we're super close to unlocking the first two axolotls! (EDIT: while writing the update we just crossed the €9000 mark with a little bit!)
Since I love the designs myself and I kinda want to keep the collection and the axolotl family complete, I'll unlock and pay the last two axolotls out of my own pocket if we reach a comfy €9500-ish. Around that ballpark. Personally the wild axolotl variant is my favourite so I kinda want to make them regardless.
All the axolotl variants!
After the project ends I will set up a pre-order shop for those who missed the deadline. May this also help with making sure the last two axolotls are unlocked!
Cross collab freebie pins
Don't forget Roundbirbart and I offer combined shipping if you back us both! Info for this will be in the survey of Frogtastic Frogs 2. And if you back us both you also qualify for these two freebie pins shown above!
Also available as an add-on is this pre-order for Desert rain frog socks! If I can quote some friends and followers: the socks I made are super comfy, so get some comfy grumpy frog socks for 2026! And for those who love stickers I've added the two from the summer project and all designs of the amphibians will be available on a sticker sheet as well. So far 51 backers ordered sticker sheets, happy we all love them!
What a fun experience and adventure this Pintopia has been once again. Curious to see where we'll end up at with the finish line!
