And so it begins.
almost 4 years ago – Mon, Jul 06, 2020 at 11:13:57 PM

So... my lounge is a bit crowded. 1500 Dragon Bagons in 15 boxes.

I'm taking a quick break from QA to post this update. This is the Aotearoa/New Zealand half of the shipment. The US half should be arriving some time this week or early next.

It's always interesting to come across folks outside of the hobby when it comes to Dragon Bagons and other little beasties. They have no frame of reference for what this is. I've been getting phone calls about the shipment and the people calling me are like "So... I have this shipment of... Draaaag... on Bag ....ons? for you?". I opened up a box to show the courier who delivered the shipment. After some explanation it seemed to make sense to them.

We're not there yet, but alongside overwhelming and crowded, this does feel like progress.

Shipping addresses
almost 4 years ago – Fri, Jun 26, 2020 at 07:31:56 AM

Update on where we're at

•  Manufactured Dragon Bagons: Both the US and NZ shipments are due into port in approximately a week (around July 3rd or 4th). From there it's customs, paying taxes/duties, and delivery to me and our US fulfillment partner. After the QA checks we'll send a smaller shipment to our UK fulfillment partner, and hopefully by then we'll be close to confirmation on an EU based shipping solution as well.
•  Remaining custom colour Dragons (including upgrades to handmade): The custom colour Drakelings, Dragon Bagons, and Elder Dragons from orders that also contain a manufactured Dragon Bagon have been hauled out of their storage containers and sorted. We send these orders to our fulfillment partners individually bagged with their packing slips (since most colour combinations are unique and we want to avoid confusion), so we'll need to start locking down shipping addresses soon to avoid confusion with those packing slips.
•  EU shipping test: We've sent out some parcels for the test already, and we're finishing some handmade dragons this coming week to for some of the test parcels

We will still be doing the QA checks that I've mentioned before, and obviously customs clearance may cause delays, but if we can confirm shipping addresses earlier it means we're better prepared to start fulfillment a little bit sooner.

Sometime soon folks who have manufactured Dragon Bagons ordered should receive a 48 hour notice regarding confirming their shipping addresses. Checking and updating your shipping address will help us get your pledge out to you as soon as possible.

If you have NOT received a notice about confirming your shipping address by the 3rd of July, please first go to dragonbagons.backerkit.com and enter your email in the "lost survey box", which should send you a link to check and update your details. If that doesn't work, please get in touch with me over kickstarter messenger. I'm asking that folks try these steps before contacting me about updating their address, to avoid a lot of messages at once causing some to be overlooked.

Manufactured Dragon Bagons on their way
almost 4 years ago – Thu, Jun 11, 2020 at 05:44:11 PM

Here's where we're at

I went with the slightly quicker, slightly lower cost shipping quote. There was a lot of email tag  between myself, our fulfillment partner (who found the quote), the shipping agency, and the manufacturers to get everything confirmed and sorted.

I've paid the balance payment for the manufactured Dragon Bagon run, including the cost of the custom dying.

The manufacturer has confirmed that the two shipments of manufactured Dragon Bagons (one for me here in Aotearoa/NZ and one for our fulfillment partner in the US) have been picked up. 

We've been given an estimate of about a month for delivery, weather and what customs decides to do will also impact that. I'm hoping we'll be able to pay the duties and get through customs fairly quickly (fingers and toes crossed).

As soon as the NZ shipment arrives we'll start quality checking. Once that's done, we'll get fulfillment underway. We'll be testing the EU shipping method in the next few weeks, all going to plan we should have a solution there soon. I'll be couriering a shipment direct from NZ to our UK fulfillment partner to cover orders within the UK. The pandemic is likely to affect different areas in different ways, so unfortunately that may mean delays.

I need to start finalising everything as soon as possible, so the option for refunds will be open for another 48 hours, and then I'll need to close it at 12pm on Saturday the 13th of June, 2020, NZT.

If there's any backers in the EU (sorry, the UK doesn't count) who want their manufactured Dragon Bagon upgraded to a handmade one for free (with the knowledge that they may be charged VAT by customs), that want to take part in the shipping test, please let me know, as I would like to prioritize places for backers.

Hopefully you're all safe and well.

QA report and importing
almost 4 years ago – Sat, May 30, 2020 at 01:20:35 AM

Hi Folks,

Here's a quick update

Quality checking

The QA report came in, the manufacturers used AQL level 2, which means they pulled 125 pieces out of the run at random (the run itself is a total of 3,000), and inspected them. Provided that critical, major, and minor flaws are below certain levels, it's a pass.

There were zero critical flaws, 2 major flaws, and 9 minor flaws, all within the level required to pass. Looking at the photos provided, they appear to have taken on board the very long quality guide I sent them, which is positive.

This type of inspection is standard in the industry. It doesn't mean that there won't be other flaws in the run, and if we're really unlucky there might be a higher percentage of flaws in the run than the random sample detected, but that's a risk we can't avoid unless we do a 100% inspection (and even that isn't a guarentee), which is cost prohibitive.

Once I receive my part of the run, my helper and I will be inspecting as many as possible as well. We were originally going to inspect the entire shipment for Aotearoa/NZ, but now that we're receiving the dragons intended for the UK and EU as well, that may not be possible (we're talking 1500 dragons here, we'll be lucky if they don't immediately eat us). The second inspection will give us a better idea of how accurate the AQL level 2 inspection was, and whether we need to ask our fulfillment partners to do spot checks as well.

All that being said, if you receive your order and it contains a faulty item, we will replace it.

Shipping

In terms of shipping, the shipping agent that provided the first quote decided after a few days that they don't want the job, as they have a lot of other work on and aren't interested in a shipment this small. The manufacturers have found another quote, it is more expensive and has a longer time frame (5-7 weeks). I have reached out to my contacts who have managed to find a quote with a slightly lower cost and a slightly shorter time frame (4-5 weeks), I'm working to confirm that I know all the potential hidden costs. Either way, I want to make a decision within a few days. I also approached a logistics company for quotes, but I have not heard back from them. If needs be we can have the NZ shipment and the US shipment handled by different carriers, though I would prefer not to do it that way if possible.

I'll update with more info once the shipping agent has been confirmed, I've sent the balance payment, and the shipments are picked up and on their way.

In other news

Remember the situation with the Rainbow Dragons and a deal that disappeared, leaving a large hole in our budget? Well, a while ago a dice maker called Ice Cream Dice promoted the items we had on hand to help us out. The extra promotion helped with making sales which in turn helped to narrow the gap in the budget. Now Ice Cream Dice (in response to direct requests from the LGBTQIA+ community) is launching a kickstarter on June 2nd to make the first five of hopefully many more pride dice designs. And the dice are gorgeous.

Note: According to Ice Cream Dice, the final sets will be 11 piece, not 7 as displayed in some of the photos.

You can sign up here to be notified when the kickstarter launches

So if you want pride dice and have some spare coin (the pledge levels are very reasonable), please consider supporting them :). If you want to support them but don't want pride dice, they have a bunch of other super cool options over on their website - https://icecreamdice.com/

*

That's it for now. Take care folks.

Manufacturing complete
almost 4 years ago – Thu, May 21, 2020 at 12:34:33 AM

First up, I hope you're all as safe and well as anyone can be in these unpleasant times. Aotearoa is starting to reopen, but I suspect even here the pandemic is far from over. The ministry of health is doing a lot of tests. I got one done last week, it came back negative as expected, but it was still nerve wracking (I also wanted to sneeze inside my brain for the next three days). 

We're starting to make more masks as well. There isn't a huge demand here, but I'm hoping to send them overseas to places that need them. If anyone knows of groups that work with refugee camps or anywhere that doesn't have a modern healthcare system, let me know please? I'm trying to find the right connections to do some good.

Manufactured run

I've had confirmation from the manufacturer that the run of manufactured Dragon Bagons is now complete. I'm currently waiting on the quality check report.

The next step (provided the report is clear) is shipping them to our fulfillment partners.

Here's the situation

• The cost of freight has skyrocketed, in some cases doubled due to the pandemic.
• The timeframe for shipping has increased significantly as well due to the pandemic.
• Shipping in Europe is even more difficult due to the pandemic. We have not yet found a new fulfillment partner in the EU (many are in lockdown), and our UK fulfillment partner is still in lockdown.
• We have a possible solution for fulfillment in the EU, but we need to test it to find out whether backers will be charged VAT on parcels (since we want to cover that for backers)
• We've had one lot of shipping quotes, we're waiting on more.

This is my plan at present 

• Wait for the quality report and the next set of shipping quotes.
• Split the shipment in two rather than three or four, have half sent to the US, and half sent to me in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
• Continue to look for an EU fulfillment partner or another solution that will cover VAT for EU backers.
• It's looking like shipping will take 25-35 days from the date of shipment, and it will depend a LOT on what customs is like the week the shipment actually gets in as to how long clearance takes. Unfortunately everything is less predictable than usual. Hopefully by the time the shipment arrives, the UK and at least some parts of the EU will be out of lockdown. I can then ship smaller quantities to them from NZ to be broken up and sent to backers. It's a bit of a roundabout way of doing it, and if a better solution presents itself (or the other solution we're working on pans out) I'll take it.
• Once the shipments arrive, I'll inspect my one for quality, and give info the the US fulfillment partner for spot checks. All going well, we'll start fulfillment ASAP. Depending on pandemic information at the time we may need to leave any boxes opened by customs in quarantine for a week, just in case. There's very little risk of anything transferring from the manufacturers as the boxes will have been sealed for about a month in transit, so it's just the ones customs decides to open that we may need to be mindful of. Again, we'll be encouraging folks receiving parcels from us that have been in transit less than a week, to leave them in quarantine for at least a few days, just in case.

EU Backers

Are there any EU backers who want to help test our shipping solution? It means we send you a parcel (for free) and you tell us if you're charged any VAT to receive your parcel. It will most likely be a set of Dragon Bagon dice. 

Finances

Sales have been bizarre over the past few months. We'll have a patch of silence for two weeks, then suddenly a bunch of orders come in over two days, then silence again. We're definitely still hurting from the pandemic fallout but you lovely folks adding to your orders helped a lot, and we're doing ok for the moment. We were able to get some help through the government response to the pandemic. It doesn't solve everything but it helps. We've almost closed the gap in the budget even with the rising cost of shipping (which was offset somewhat by good news from the manufacturer that we no longer have to cover the cost of the returned blue/purple fabric) and the drop in regular sales. So we're not in a perfect position and we could still use your support, but it could be a lot worse.

Ways to help

Spread the word about Dragon Bagons: Preorders will be open until we're ready to fulfill, and the more folks that preorder, the better off we'll be. https://dragonbagons.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders

Spread the word about our existing designs and discounts: There's a major sale on in the etsy store (https://www.etsy.com/shop/WaywardMasquerade) until the end of May, and some discounts will continue into June. And remember that backers get the old prices from the original KS, so many items in the store are much cheaper for you.

Add to your order: If you have the spare money and you want to add some more draconic goodness to your order, we can make it happen.

Refunds

For the time being I'm still offering refunds on manufactured dragon bagons to backers who no longer want to wait. However at some point soon I will need to lock everything down. I'll try to give at least a few days notice before I do. Obviously if there's a faulty item discovered after delivery, we would still offer a replacement and if that wasn't possible, a refund.

Shipping addresses

You'll still be able to update your address until about two weeks before we start fulfilling in your area of the world.  If you've lost your survey link and need to update your address you can go to dragonbagons.backerkit.com and enter your email in the "lost survey" box, it will send you a link to update your details.

Surveys

There are still 17 surveys that have not been completed, either through invalid payment info, invalid addresses, or other issues. We won't be able to fulfill these 17 orders until their surveys are completed. If you've lost your survey link you can go to dragonbagons.backerkit.com and enter your email in the "lost survey" box, it will send you a link to complete your survey.

Other news

I made a cat bed out of scraps of microfleece. It's going to a cat called Gus. We've got others in the works too, they'll most likely be going to our local feral cat rescue group - Outpawed (https://www.outpawed.org.nz/)

We've also added a new design to our handmade Pride Dragon Bagon line up. This one is the Genderqueer Pride flag design. If any backers would like one I'm happy to do the old backer price :)

The snails have been destroying my garden again so I've made teeny tiny greenhouses out of old plastic bottles to protect the seedlings. The neighbours cats have also been having some kind of weird turf war over my garden that seems to involve pooping in as many planter boxes as possible, so we're trialling some bark mulch to see if that helps.