Manufacturing has begun!
over 2 years ago – Wed, Aug 18, 2021 at 11:14:02 PM

MANUFACTURING UPDATE

Back-and-forth to get the die tools exactly right took much longer than expected due to COVID's impact on the labor force and related backlogs at the factory.  But we're happy to say that manufacturing is officially underway on all products.  We expect this production run to take 3-4 months based on Panda's estimates.  That's also 4-6 weeks longer than usual, again due to labor and backlog issues.

So how does this impact timing for delivery?  3-4 months for manufacturing puts us in November or December.  But after the production run is complete the finished product needs to get on a container (which are difficult to secure in a timely fashion right now), float across the water, get through customs--which is also backed up--and then make it to distribution hubs. 

We currently expect that will put us at late winter, but it's possible for that time to extend into early spring if the container and customs issues continue or possibly even worsen. There's just a lot of uncertainty in global freight right now, so "late winter to early spring" is unfortunately the best estimate we can give at the moment.  As we hear more, we'll continue to share with you.

PLEDGE MANAGER SURVEYS

We still have a bunch of unanswered surveys in BackerKit. As a reminder, this is a separate and necessary step distinct from Kickstarter that is required in order for you to receive your pledge. If you're a backer who has not completed your BackerKit survey: please do so today. Incomplete surveys result in shipping delays and other problems down the road. If you can't find your survey or don't know if you've completed it, search your inbox for "Pledge Confirmation" sent to your email address you use for Kickstarter, or email us at [email protected] and we will retrieve it for you.

ROADMAP UPDATE

Like we mentioned above, we are still dealing with some fallout from the slow downs in manufacturing, lack of containers at the ports, and global freight and supply chain bottlenecks just like everyone else in the tabletop games industry. This has resulted in delays in production and shipping schedules.  If you'd like to read an established industry veteran's perspective, the CEO of Steve Jackson Games has an interesting blog post on the subject. We're not going extinct, but the grim picture he paints is real. We appreciate your support and patience. We'll get through it together. 

That said, we have been making progress as shown below:

•     All artwork has been delivered to Panda Manufacturing - COMPLETE  
•     Blank punch-board samples received - COMPLETE  
•     Blank punch-board samples reviewed and approved - COMPLETE  
•     First color samples received - COMPLETE  
•     First color samples reviewed and approved - COMPLETE  
•     Mass Production start - COMPLETE  
•     Full retail sample received - EXPECTED NOVEMBER  
•     Full retail sample reviewed and approved - EXPECTED NOVEMBER 
•     Mass Production complete - EXPECTED NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 
•     Outbound freight to our fulfillment partners - DATE TBA  
•     Fulfillment shipping to you started - DATE TBA  
•     Fulfillment shipping complete! - DATE TBA  

-ONWARD!!!

Factory Samples!
almost 3 years ago – Fri, Jul 09, 2021 at 03:26:21 AM

Hello faithful kickernauts. Today we have:

• Factory Samples
• Pledge Manager Surveys
• Roadmap Update

We're a bit late with this update, so apologies for that. Our small core team has had a few unexpected health setbacks. Thanks so much for the understanding on that front. Things are on the mend. :)

FACTORY SAMPLES

This is the big exciting news for today. We've received all our factory samples to TinkerHouse Games HQ in Seattle and wow, are they looking great. Here are some shots of the assembled terrain. 

(NOTE - These aren't full sets of many of these. These are our test assemblies to confirm the tooling and colors are correct)

We have made a couple of small shape fixes on a couple of the sets, as well as some color adjustments on a few of the containers. We are waiting on those samples to be delivered and then we go into full manufacturing!

And finally, here's a neat test Tinker Chris did with some model railroad graffiti decals. Don't they look cool? We're considering offering decals in the future for this type of light hobby customization. Let us know what you think!

PLEDGE MANAGER SURVEYS

We still have a bunch of unanswered surveys in BackerKit. As a reminder, this is a separate and necessary step distinct from Kickstarter that is required in order for you to receive your pledge. If you're a backer who has not completed your BackerKit survey: please do so today. Incomplete surveys result in shipping delays and other problems down the road. If you can't find your survey or don't know if you've completed it, search your inbox for "Pledge Confirmation" sent to your email address you use for Kickstarter, or email us at [email protected] and we will retrieve it for you.

ROADMAP UPDATE

We're still dealing with some fallout from the slow downs in manufacturing, lack of containers at the ports, and global freight and supply chain bottlenecks. Just like everyone else in the tabletop games industry, this has resulted in delays in production and shipping schedules. That said, we have been making progress as shown below:

• All artwork has been delivered to Panda Manufacturing - COMPLETE 
• Blank punch-board samples received - COMPLETE 
• Blank punch-board samples reviewed and approved - COMPLETE 
• First color samples received - COMPLETE 
• First color samples reviewed and approved - COMPLETE 
• Mass Production start - EXPECTED JULY 
• Full retail sample received - DATE TBA 
• Full retail sample reviewed and approved - DATE TBA 
• Mass Production complete - DATE TBA 
• Outbound freight to our fulfillment partners - DATE TBA 
• Fulfillment shipping to you started - DATE TBA 
• Fulfillment shipping complete! - DATE TBA 

-ONWARD!!!

Logistical update
almost 3 years ago – Mon, May 24, 2021 at 12:37:02 PM

TL;DR

• Manufacturing delays from labor and global logistics
• What we're doing about it
•  PLEASE fill out your Pledge Manager if you haven't yet!!!
• Roadmap

MANUFACTURING DELAYS

If you're like us, you may have been seeing a lot of news articles like this one: 

Bloomberg - The World Economy Is Suddenly Running Low on Everything

The manufacturing and shipping pipeline for high-quality full-color terrain is no exception to the global trend. The best-available information indicates that the anticipated date for our manufacturer to get this print run delivered to our warehouse is now December. 

Our manufacturer is coping with scarce raw materials and increased demand. They're at full capacity with diminished labor force and scrambling for resources, causing delay--and those delays are compounded by a freight industry that's still boned from a worldwide container shortage and port bottlenecks. Then there's the whole Suez Canal blockage (which had a ripple effect across the planet). And last mile shipping costs have increased significantly.  It's a perfect storm for those in the business of making and delivering things. 

Delays are no fun for anyone. The manufacturer has orders piling up, a strained labor force, and difficulty shipping the orders they're able to complete. The retailers are running low on stock. Creators like us have to eat the increased material and freight costs. And our beloved backers aren't able to enjoy the sweet terrain they backed.

WHAT WE'RE DOING ABOUT IT

So, that's a bunch of problems. Now for the solutions: 

• All final-approved files have been handed over to the manufacturer, and we're searching for speed efficiencies. For example, we're in constant contact with the manufacturer to ensure the terrain is produced to our exacting standards, right from the first production sample. The aim is to reclaim some of the time lost to the above delays by cutting down on iterative production samples (which need to be physically shipped to the US for inspection). If they get it right the first time, that'll reclaim a week or two.
• We're breaking out the reprints from the production of the new 2.1 terrain. This will cost us some economies of scale, but will ensure we can get those already-QA'd reprints into the production queue now, without having to wait for final Quality Assurance passes on the new terrain designs. The idea being that if we've got 30 products to print, and 4 of them are QA'd and print-ready, let's get started manufacturing those rather than wait until the QA is complete on the other 26 products. 
• We're adjusting our strategy for future Kickstarters. The extent of this global crunch has surprised and impacted everyone. Our future Kickstarters will bake in more considerations for the effect of these crunches. Along with friends and allies in the game industry (who are facing similar challenges), we're exploring ways to mitigate spikes in production & shipping time and materials & freight costs. 
• R&D continues uninterrupted on cool new terrain. We've revealed a Fantasy line before, and we've got a few other things in the works as well. 

We'll provide more updates as production moves along. Thank you for your understanding. 

PLEDGE MANAGER SURVEYS

We still have 56 unanswered surveys in BackerKit.  If you haven't completed your survey yet please do so as soon as possible.  The longer you wait, the more likely it becomes that the item selections you want will not be available.  Search your inbox for "Pledge Confirmation" sent to your email address you use for Kickstarter.

ROADMAP

• Files delivered to Panda MFG - COMPLETE
• White samples delivered to THG - COMPLETE
• White samples reviewed and signed off by THG - COMPLETE
• Pre-Production Copy delivered to THG (first color samples) - PARTIAL
• Pre-Production Copy reviewed and signed off by THG - EXPECTED JUNE
• Mass Production started - DATE TBA
• Mass Production Copy delivered to THG (full retail sample) - DATE TBA
• Mass Production Copy reviewed and signed off by THG - DATE TBA
• Mass Production ended - DATE TBA
• Outbound freight underway (will be broken into multiple carriers when we know) - DATE TBA
• Outbound freight arrived at customs - DATE TBA
• Outbound freight cleared customs - DATE TBA
• Outbound freight arrived at fulfillment centers - DATE TBA
• Fulfillment started - DATE TBA
• Fulfillment complete! - DATE TBA

-ONWARD!!!

Pledge manager closing soon & Other important things!
about 3 years ago – Tue, Apr 27, 2021 at 09:36:42 AM

Hello backers!  Let's talk wrapping up the pledge manager and pre-order store, current progress, and next steps.

PLEDGE MANAGER & PRE-ORDER STORE

This is the final week of the pledge manager before we can't guaruntee you will recieve your choices.  This means, unless you've specifically communicated with us about a later date, you must have your pledge manager choices in and card info by end of day Sunday May 2nd.

This will also be the final week we are allowing people to purchase from the BackerKit pre-order store with kick pricing and flat rate international shipping.  We will open up pre-orders on our web store again later this year, but shipping will be normal international rates then so out of the continental US will be higher.

CURRENT PROGRESS

We are almost done assembling all of the factory samples to take pictures of.  Once that is complete we'll do a full photoshoot as an update.  We have assembled one of every piece so we can give the manufacturer any feedback necessary for final changes and we're pleased to say there were only three small changes.  We're also still waiting on color samples for the final added sets like the MagLev Depot v2 and the new wall pieces.  Once we have those in hand we'll understand the manufacturing and shipping timelines better.

ROADMAP

We're going to start featuring a standard end of update set of information to track progress so it's easy to understand at a glance.  If you think it's not easy to understand, or you think it needs more information please say so and we'll see what we can change!

• Files delivered to Panda MFG - COMPLETE 
• White samples delivered to THG - COMPLETE 
• White samples reviewed and signed off by THG - COMPLETE 
• Pre-Production Copy delivered to THG (first color samples) - PARTIAL 
• Pre-Production Copy reviewed and signed off by THG - EXPECTED MAY
• Mass Production Copy delivered to THG (full retail sample) - DATE TBA
• Mass Production Copy reviewed and signed off by THG - DATE TBA
• Mass Production started - DATE TBA
• Mass Production ended - DATE TBA
• Outbound freight underway (will be broken into multiple carriers when we know) - DATE TBA
• Outbound freight arrived at customs - DATE TBA
• Outbound freight cleared customs - DATE TBA
• Outbound freight arrived at fulfillment centers - DATE TBA
• Fulfillment started - DATE TBA
• Fulfillment complete! - DATE TBA

Thanks for the continued support as we move ever...

-ONWARD!!!

Factory Sample Preview & BackerKit Locking
about 3 years ago – Fri, Apr 16, 2021 at 11:45:12 AM

Well look at what we have, a whole mess-o-turf!

We are busily assembling the color samples for almost all of the terrain from the kick.  There are a few items still to come like the revamped MagLev Depot and the new wall segments.  We'll post a more complete set of pictures when we get everything assembled.  It takes a while the first time though because we also take careful notes on any changes needed for Panda.  Here are some preview peeks though.

Needless to say this is an exciting time for us.  Can't wait to show you all the rest of it when it's assembled!

Pledge Lock Reminder

We're going to do a bi-weekly pledge lock and charge this Saturday April 17th again.  You should see an email from BackerKit reminding you to  finalize your choices.  As stated previously, we're going to do this  every other Friday up until April 30th.

We’ll keep the pledge manager open until April 30, to give folks  plenty of time to enter their information or add more components with  the advantage of the Kickstarter’s flat shipping and discounted pricing.  If you’ve already made your final selections and entered your info:  thank you! Our accountants tell us the credit card companies don’t like  super long “open” charges, so rather than wait until the end of April to  process everything at once we’ll instead be locking any completed  BackerKit orders and running cards every two weeks.

"But what if I want to add more terrain pieces or change a choice after BackerKit processes my order and runs my card?" we hear you say with a note of mild concern. No worries there! Reach out to us at [email protected] and we'll make sure you can make the changes you desire up to the final lockdown at the end of April.

Until next time,

-ONWARD!!!