Belated update
over 8 years ago – Tue, Jan 19, 2016 at 08:48:41 PM

Hey folks, its been a few weeks so I thought I better catch everyone up.

1. I have put my previous project to bed. I've shipped all the WARRIOR and BATTLE Chests and no longer have to worry about that.

2. The weather has been frickin' cold here in SE Ohio. I'm in the shop whenever I can to cut out BARD, MONK, and other cases. But the biggest problem has been that its been too cold to do finish work. I need to wait until I can get a couple days of above freezing weather to get to work on that.

3. Things look optimistic for a few days this week. It'll be warm enough for me to turn the heat on in the finishing room and it should stay in the 50s, so I'll be able to do some finish work this week.

4. The dice from Chessex are in. There were a few sets that were out of production, so if I couldn't get the set of dice you wanted, I'll contact you soon with alternatives.

5. With luck, I'll be able to start shipping either Friday or Monday. I don't know how many I'll be able to get out by then, but once the process starts, I can narrow down what still needs to be done and such.

6. Getting this closed by Feb. looks unlikely. Sorry for overpromising there. So as to not make that mistake again, lets just see where things go in the next week. Now that the other project is finished, I'll post on Friday (including this week) giving everyone a status update.

Thanks for your support and I'll check in on Friday.

John

January 2nd update
over 8 years ago – Sat, Jan 02, 2016 at 05:06:19 PM

Those who back the WARRIOR chest project may be aware of some of this, but please read this anyways since it focuses on the Skald's Song project.

I'm still in the process of finishing the WARRIOR project and hope to be as done as I can be by the end of the week. At that point, I'll really be focusing on the Skald project to get it out. I've been cutting out blanks for quite a while and have *most* of them done...I think...I'm not really 100% sure on numbers yet, but I have a good idea. I plan on starting to ship either late this week or next week. I'll ship out as I get them done...this project was small enough that I don't need to focus on backers by their order number. I'm going to try to get as many out as possible by the end of January. I have a pretty demanding convention schedule starting in March, so not only do I have to get this project shipped, I have to build inventory for conventions as well.

I'll post another update in about 2 weeks.

If you haven't completed your survey yet, give it some thought. The sooner you get it in, the sooner you can get your stuff. You can still add things on, so take a look at the ROGUE, PRIEST, AND WIZARD items. 

If you have completed your survey and want to add things on, send me an email and I'll open your survey back up.

Convention Schedule

For those who are interested, here is my current convention schedule:

March: Gary Con and Cleveland Concoction

April/May: Indiana Comic Con

June: Origins Game Fair

August: Gen Con

November: Con on the Cob

December: Athens Art Guild

I hope to add Dragon Con and Game Hole to this schedule and will try to attend the GAMA convention in March in Las Vegas.

Hope to see you at some of these this year.

John

twas the week before Christmas....
over 8 years ago – Thu, Dec 17, 2015 at 09:16:16 PM

I've been focusing on the WARRIOR project fulfillment and almost have it done. With luck, I'll be able to completely close it next week. I'll take the Christmas weekend off and then get to work on SKALD'S SONG.

I've had my CNC working hard on the project when I'm not using it for anything else, so I have a lot of blanks cut out already. I'll be able to start finishing and I should be able to start shipping right around  New Years.

If you haven't finished your survey yet, no worries. I'm not going to pressure you on getting it in. Take your time and see if you'd like anything else from the backerkit shop. 

If you have closed your survey and now want to add more to it, just shoot me an email and I'll open it back up. 

I'll make a post before the holiday weekend and if everything is on target many of you should receive your rewards soon after the new year.

Happy Holidays!

Problem solved
over 8 years ago – Sat, Dec 05, 2015 at 05:42:16 PM

I am extremely low on the thin foam for the bottom trays. EXTREMELY. I thought I might have to delay things on the final 20 orders or so to wait for some more foam to come in. I thought this might set me back a few weeks because the company I order foam from is...shall we say...a wee bit slow in customer response. And they have pretty bad customer service. I've been looking for another foam supplier, but honestly haven't been able to find any that are anywhere close to the price.

Well, as I was laying awake at 3:00 am (as I am wont to do), it occurred to me that the thin layer of foam was just a piece of padding so that the minis aren't in direct contact with the wood. Then I began to think of other things that might serve the same purpose. 

3:00 am solution? Double layer of felt.

Felt I can get in town at a good price. Felt is relatively inexpensive (at least with 50% off coupons). Felt is available by the bolt which gives me lots and lots of material. And finally, I have several rolls of felt already in stock.

Cut some blanks, put them in the laser to cut to size and gotta say that I really like the result.

So, no delay after all. Going to cut a bunch of this and get back to work this afternoon. Hope to get a few more shipments out Monday and then get to work on the final stretch. Keep your fingers crossed...I hope to close this out in the next couple weeks.

John

GEN CON bound again!
over 8 years ago – Fri, Dec 04, 2015 at 04:40:11 PM

I thought I'd also post a quick update and see if anyone has some input for me.

I've been accepted to Gen Con again this year. I wasn't really expecting this because I have no accumulated points yet and Gen Con gives everyone who has points (earned through vending in previous years plus advertising $$$ spent) priority over those of us who are newbs to the industry. So, YAY ME!

So this year I'm planning on doing some advertising and have been looking at the coupon book. It has been suggested to me that I should offer some sort of Gen Con specific trinket as a free promo to get people to my booth.

So, my question to you is what type of little freebee can I offer that would get YOU to visit my booth if you hadn't otherwise known about me. I think I'm going to have to do something where I can buy something that was mass-produced rather than make it myself...I just don't have the time to make something like that. I'm completely open to ideas here. Share your thoughts.

John