At The Home Stretch!
almost 10 years ago
– Wed, Jan 21, 2015 at 12:18:16 PM
Hello, backers! I have some very exciting news for you all!
What you see above are the final proofs for the Heist card game. These were express shipped from China a few days ago, so that I could look over the color matching, printing quality, and card matching. Everything looks in good order, and so I have approved the proofs, and they tell me that production has begun!
As you might see in the above image, the game is being branded by both Pair-A-Dice Games, which is how it appeared here on Kickstarter, as well as with my BENagy Gaming logo, which is my personal brand for my other gaming services such as streaming and blogging.
*Side note, if you are interested in the publishing process* One thing to be aware of is that the numbers on the UPC/EAN bar code are slightly blurred (All other images are perfect). The code that I purchased came in a size that (according to my research) was too small of an image to be internationally recognized, so the image was stretched. I have seen other Kickstarter projects with barcodes smaller than my pinky finger hidden on the box, but I wanted to make sure that I did this right the first time, so I didn't take any chances. *End side note*
I believe that not only transparency, but integrity as well, is important for any business--especially one started on Kickstarter. A big part of integrity, to me, is delivering on what I've promised. This is why I am extremely pleased to announce that Heist will be delivered well in advance of its expected release date! The manufacturer has told me that the units are being printed as you read this, and should be sent out before the Chinese New Year holiday for their factory, which will begin on February 10th. Since we exceeded our funding goal, I used some of the extra money to ensure the product is being air-shipped through Fed-Ex with 3 day delivery. This means that the products should be here in the US within 3 weeks or so (though I'm just estimating, as this IS my first time doing this). That puts our timeline in line for delivery somewhere around late February to early March (again, estimated, fingers crossed) to all of you!
CNN did a report a few years ago on Kickstarter projects, finding that only 16% of them delivered by their promised time to consumers. I am supremely happy that we will be shipping out our product to you as one of those top 16% of projects! In fact, it will be arriving on your doors about 4-5 months in advance of the projected date.
Again, thank you all so much for you support and belief in my first project! Things have been running smooth, and this has been a great learning experience for me. As always, if you have any questions or comments, please let me know! Backer Kit should (as I know I keep promising) be up soon, as quickly as I can figure it all out. Thank you all again so much!
Next Milestones:
- Ready BackerKit for backer information.
- Production.
- Shipping to Pair-a-Dice Games.
- Shipping to all of you!
Heist Print & Play Card Backs
almost 10 years ago
– Tue, Jan 20, 2015 at 01:29:02 PM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Happy Holidays!
almost 10 years ago
– Tue, Jan 06, 2015 at 01:20:21 PM
Hello, backers! The last couple months have been exciting, busy, and certainly a crazy time for me! I thank you all for your patience with my slow updates. Honestly, there haven't been many news-worthy items to discuss. Today, however, I am very excited to announce that...
THE (MOSTLY) FINAL IMAGES HAVE BEEN RENDERED AND SENT TO THE PRINTERS!
I am certain that there will be some minor errors with the files in formatting or such that I will notice and fix when I receive the advance copy soon, but otherwise, the game is about ready to be printed! We are still on track for an early release, well in advance of our projected April shipment.
There is still the matter of Chinese New Year that will occur in mid February, and will skew our projected delivery date, but I have already accounted for that, and believe we should not have any troubles with it.
As the images are finally completed, I am also including in this update, the Print & Play files. Here are the rules, and here are the card images.
As always, please feel free to contact me, to ask for any further updates or just to let me know what you're thinking in regards to our release. Our BackerKit should be up soon for you to input shipping addresses and modify your pledge (if for example, you decide that you would an additional copy of the physical game). Thank you all once again!
Next Milestones:
- Ready BackerKit for backer information.
- Approve mockups and samples.
- Production.
- Shipping to Pair-a-Dice Games.
- Shipping to all of you!
Lost In Translation
about 10 years ago
– Sat, Nov 08, 2014 at 01:44:56 AM
Hello, fellow thieves! It has been a while, so I wanted to update you on our progress, and share some (potentially) exciting news!
The manufacturer I was going to work with at the beginning of the project had an awesome quote that enabled us to try funding Heist at the low cost of only $3,500. Due to the popularity of the project surpassing my expectations, we had a little extra, and so I looked into how to get a bit more out of the project's funds. I am pleased to announce that I found another manufacturer that has more of a reputation and offered me a little higher quality on the product (at a higher cost, of course). One awesome thing that the new manufacturer is going to do is air-ship the game, instead of the expected sea-freight that the other manufacturers I talked to offered.
I did extensive research on every aspect of the project before launching, so I am aware of the fact that back-to-back Chinese Holidays near the beginning of the year will slow down or delay production for Chinese manufacturing companies. Luckily, with the faster production and delivery times I've been quoted by our manufacturer, I hope to be able to deliver well in advance of our expected delivery date! To this end, our card layouts have been made and are going to be sent through for review soon, and I am hoping to catch backers at the $50 level to get their card concepts for the expansions. We're close to having everything situated, and sent to print!
As a full-time student with many projects, tasks, and other responsibilities, I have been very busy on many fronts, but please never hesitate to ask for an update, or to reach out to me for info on how the project is progressing. I want to thank all of you so much for helping make Heist a reality. Thank you, all!
Next Milestones:
- Get card concepts for expansions from $50 reward tier.
- Finalize proofs.
- Ready BackerKit for backer information.
- Approve mockups and samples.
- Production.
- Shipping to Pair-a-Dice Games.
- Shipping to all of you!
To All of My Awesome Backers...
over 10 years ago
– Mon, Sep 15, 2014 at 05:33:32 AM
Hooray! As all of you I'm sure know by now, we've been funded, and by almost 200% of our funding goal! I am so hapy that we've made Heist a reality! We unlocked a lot of the stretch goals that you wanted along the way, and I'm excited to be bringing you an outstanding game, thanks to your help!
I know we didn't quite hit 300 backers, but I have been messaged by afew people already who were unable to back the project during its duration. We will be open to more pledges and preorders through BackerKit, and I will update the appropriate variants to the PnP and game rules when we reach 300 backers through BackerKit.
Speaking of, I have started setting up BackerKit, and it will be available soon (as soon as I have satisfactorily figured out all that it can do). ;)
I fear I may be coming down with something, which is why I am making this brief. I want to assure you, however, that I will keep you informed of our progress throughout the entire process. Though I have done countless hours of research, fact-checking, and quoting to ensure that I know what's to come inside and out, experience is always the best teacher. At the end of the day, this is still my first time through this, and I am excited to gain that experience by doing, and sharing it with all of you, so that you tay informed of our progress, as well as walk any future project creators through the process and give my thoughts on it. I expect to have a tentative schedule or at least a list of the fuure steps we will walk through up later on this month.
Thank you all again so much! I am excited to get Heist rolling, and my first published game out to all of you. Look for some awesome updates coming up!
Happy Heisting!
-Ben Nagy
