Elemental Tea Time 2: Garden Party

Hey all, 

I'm home from all my July shows and pins are graded, so fulfillment is happening now! 

We are officially ahead of schedule with no manufacturing snafus. Shipping might be a bit murky for a week or so though. There's a bunch of fires in my state and there's one just off of the only highway we have going into the city. We are very much safe, so that's not a problem! But mail going out will probably be heavily disrupted if the highway closes. So if packages take a bit longer than usual to arrive, please be patient! 

Also, I have another pin set I was planning to crowdfund in October but might move it up because of some unexpected emergencies we've had to deal with recently (again, we're okay! Just overwhelmed). I'll post more later, but it will be a set of New Zealand birds! There are so many unique species on the islands, and I wanted to do something like this since I grew up there. I'll either do that next or a pre order for more sword pins - the ones I've already done were a hit apparently!

Cheers, and lookout for your pins soon!

That was super quick! All pins have arrived! 

I will lock shipping addresses in a week and start grading in earnest after the weekend. I can't do fulfillment yet because I have two conventions this weekend so I'm out of town and running around the country. 

That being said...

If you happen to be attending Fan Expo Denver in Colorado or MetroCon in Florida, we have a small handful of already graded pins that you're welcome to pick up!! Just show whoever's at the booth your BackerKit confirmation and we'll help you out. I'll be at MetroCon in person on Friday and at Fan Expo Denver on Saturday and Sunday, but will have super nice and helpful booth proxies the other days I'm not there. 

Also WOW the pins look stellar in person! Pictures really don't do them justice. 

Cheers!!
- Lachlan

Hey all!

We're nearing the end of production but have one issue to bring to your attention. Somewhere in the proof process I missed that my manufacturer added extra lines to the Black Cat teapot, particularly to the eye pupils. I guess the line art colour was too close to the eye colour so I did not catch this before the mold was made. I think it looks fine, but because it's different than the original art concept I shared I need to share it with you and ask if it's fine as is or if I need to ask them to make a new mold.


If we do make a new mold, it could delay production by another month. It's fine, I'd rather make sure you all get what you want, but keep that in mind! If you ordered this pin, can you please voice your opinion in the comments on whether you like the pin as is or if you would like it to be remade? I would really appreciate the feedback. My spouse thinks the extra lines makes it cuter, but in the end, it's up to you!

So......Backing Cards
I stated explicitly during the campaign that I was going to forego backing cards in order to make fulfilment go faster, but I also know most of the other Pintopia creators are doing them. So, I made a poll! Do you have strong feelings about having some sort of backing card for the pins?

Please vote if you have an opinion on the matter! I really appreciate the feedback!

A Slight Delay
So apparently, my manufacturer got a rush order between me placing my pin order and now so they had to put everything aside to work on that. We're about a couple weeks behind on production, but that's okay. I worked in about a month or two of delays when I set my original timeline. Honestly it won't affect much for you all because I won't be able to do fulfilment or grading until after the 4th of July weekend since I have conventions. But I wanted to mention this delay anyways for the sake of transparency. Otherwise, all is going very well, as you'll see below!

Final Pin Designs
Lastly, I received all the final design samples of the pins - plated and everything. These are all in the final production stage and should be done soon. Please enjoy how these pins turned out! I'm also including the swords, so this is everything that was available in the add-ons too!
























That's all for now! I'm in super con crunch mode for the next couple days, then I'm going to be stuck in FFXIV Dawntrail brainrot mode until my 4th of July cons, so unless something big happens I probably won't be back with any updates until around the 10th. Production turnaround is usually 45 days and we're right about at that mark, but with the delay it'll probably be another couple of weeks. Can't wait to get these pins though, and I'm glad with how they're turning out!

Cheers!
- Lachlan

Tonight's the night! This is your last chance to fill out your surveys! I will be cancelling any orders with incomplete surveys tomorrow on the 1st - you've been warned plenty!

Here are the last sample photos - all molds are finished and pins are being mass produced now!





The last eye is the dangle on the Angel Teapot! And of course these samples don't have plating yet so ignore the scratchy graininess! 

And the swords are also coming along very well! All of those molds are also finished. But you all are here for the tera pots, so maybe I'll share the swords later!

Take care everyone, and see you in the next update!

Hey all, 

The second to last survey lock is happening tonight so please make sure you have what you need in your surveys! There will only be one more lock on May 31st, after which I will no longer accept surveys. Please plan accordingly! 

Tonight's lock will be a bit earlier, at around 9pm MDT as I'm at a convention on the East Coast. 

***This is just surveys being locked, not addresses - those get locked much later!!***

But also! I have sample pics of some of the pins!! If you're confused by the metal shown, it's because they're using an un-plated metal for the samples and will produce them with the correct plating once everything looks good with the sample. Also these don't have screenprinting yet so don't be alarmed if something looks missing!

I love watching everything come together! We're still missing Sakura Deer and the Angel cup, but I'm sure those are coming very soon! 

And if you're curious about the swords, those are going great too! I'll post those samples in another update if you're interested! 

Yay! See you next time! 
Cheers!