BackerKit Surveys Locked and Manufacturing Begins
28 days ago
– Mon, Apr 15, 2024 at 08:39:03 AM
Greetings Officers! All good news in here. TLDR: We're ahead of schedule!
Manufacturing Begins
Since the last update, we've been very busy working with the manufacturer on submitting print files, scouring the proofs for typos, and deciding on final order quantities.
Below is an example of one sheet of proofs in case you're curious -- these are for the cards in the Undercover Expansion. There are about 50 of these in total we've been going through during the proofing process.
But we are happy to report that the proofs are fully approved so the manufacturer can begin manufacturing as soon as they have an opening in their production schedule.
BackerKit Surveys Locked
Since we had to submit order quantities, we locked all the BackerKit surveys so that item quantities cannot be changed. Let us know if you need to make changes as I'm sure we can still accommodate them.
Moving Soon?
Although the BackerKit surveys cannot be modified anymore, you can still change your address. If you need to do that, just log-in to your survey using the link you were emailed or this one.
Credit Card Charging
Your credit card will be charged for all BackerKit orders just before we're ready to start shipping, which will be toward the end of May. We should be able to give you an exact date in the next Update, which should be in about a month.
As always, send us a Kickstarter message or email [email protected] if you have any questions.
Officers Dismissed!
Clayton and Brian
Pledge Manager Closing and Last Chance to Get Your Name on the Big Box
about 2 months ago
– Tue, Mar 19, 2024 at 09:32:10 AM
Greetings officers! We are making good progress on pre-production efforts and everything is still on schedule.
Pledge Manager Closing
The BackerKit survey will close in less than a week -- thank you to everyone who has filled it out! We still have 13% of backers who haven't though, which is surprisingly high for it being out this long. Send us a message or email [email protected] if you have any questions.
Filling out the pledge manager survey will finalize your order, but we won't charge you until just before we start shipping, which is at least 2 months away. Everyone has until March 25th to complete it to avoid delays in receiving your reward.
Last Chance to Get Your Name on the Big Box
On March 26th, we will submit final print files and the quantity of each item to the manufacturer so they can start printing. That means you also have until March 25th to complete that pledge manager survey because it asks for the name you want on the Big Box for those of you who pledged for it. Once it hits March 26th, no more names can be added, even if you complete the survey and include your name after the deadline.
Pull the Pin Agents Discounts
I was mistaken in previous updates where I said the Pull the Pin Agents discount should work for everyone -- it is actually only meant to work for add ons. But we'll stand by giving everyone who couldn't get their promo code to work complimentary credits even if you didn't add anything on. Anyone who was able to get their promo code to work will have their complimentary credit removed because we can't afford to give it twice.
Dice Tower West
I (Brian) went to Dice Tower West in Las Vegas last week and demo'd Good Cop Bad Cop 4th Edition, the Zombies expansion, and our next game, Crash & Grab. It was such a great con. The hall was spacious and quiet, the board game library was comprehensive, the staff and attendees were friendly, they had a bunch of live events, and it being in Vegas meant there were tons of restaurants and attractions (like Omega Mart!) you could go to if you want a break from board games. Hopefully you can make it out to DTW some day!
That's all for now. As always, send us a Kickstarter message, comment, or email us at [email protected] if you have any questions.
Brian and Clayton
BackerKit Coupon Codes
3 months ago
– Mon, Feb 26, 2024 at 01:35:16 PM
Greetings officers! Thank you for everyone who has completed your survey so far! If you haven't, you'll find an email in your inbox with your survey link or you can log into BackerKit here. You'll have until March 25th to complete it to avoid any delays.
Pull the Pin Agent Coupon Codes
As many of you know, you can get a coupon code if you are a member of our Pull the Pin Agents loyalty program. However, we found out the field to input those codes is only showing in the BackerKit pledge manager if you add something on to your order, so many of you will not see the field. For that reason, we've just added on a complimentary credit to your pledge manager equal to the discount you would receive.
No action is needed from you whether or not you have already completed your survey. However, if you'd like to confirm anyway, you can log into BackerKit here or use the link in your email, and you'll see a "complimentary credit" added to your order. Sorry for the confusion for those of you who experienced it!
BackerKit Payments
You'll notice that your credit card is not charged upon completion of your BackerKit survey. We will instead charge your card once manufacturing is complete and we've begun the freight shipping phase. That is likely to happen in ~June or so but we'll give you a heads up before we charge.
As always, if you have questions, add a comment, send us a message, or email us at [email protected] and we'll respond within 24 hours.
Thanks everyone!
-Clayton and Brian
BackerKit Pledge Manager Incoming
3 months ago
– Sun, Feb 25, 2024 at 11:16:26 AM
Today is the day! We are sending out your pledge manager survey. Our manufacturing partners in China should be back up and running tomorrow after Lunar New Year so we'll be able to finalize the print files with them soon. Overall, we're making good progress... you'll be fighting zombies with your friends in no time!
BackerKit Pledge Manager Surveys
Within the next 24 hours, you will receive an email coming from BackerKit with a link to log-in and provide us with some details such as:
- Your mailing address so we know where to ship your reward.
- Any items you'd like to add on to your order.
- Which name you want shown on the Big Box if you backed for it or added it on.
- Your shipping discount promo code from Pull the Pin Agents. (see next section below)
BackerKit will keep sending you emails until your pledge manager survey has been completed.
Shipping Discount from Pull the Pin Agents
If you are a member of our loyalty program, Pull the Pin Agents, you may be eligible for a discount on shipping. To find out, log-in here with the email you use for Kickstarter and scroll down to the Benefits section to find your promo code.
Then you can use that promo code when you check out in BackerKit.
Shipping Prices
Shipping prices went up and down a little bit from the estimates listed on the campaign page. The biggest changes were in EU countries where they went up for some pledge tiers. But since VAT is included in the price in the EU, that won't be added on separately, so I think you'll still find the total price you pay is less than most campaigns.
Refunds
If anyone would like a refund for any reason, that's not a problem at all. Just send us a Kickstarter message and we'll quickly take care of it.
Communication
As we continue moving through the rest of the campaign phases, we'll provide you updates when we have news, or we'll just check-in once/month no matter what just so you know the current status.
As always, let us know if you have any questions with a comment, message, or email [email protected].
-Brian and Clayton
Mission Accomplished
3 months ago
– Fri, Feb 09, 2024 at 07:49:29 PM
Well, officers, we finally completed our mission. The 4th Edition of Good Cop Bad Cop, the zombies expansion, and new printings of all the previous expansions is officially happening! Thank you for supporting us along the way!!!
This one flew by pretty quickly. At 18 days, it was a shorter campaign than usual, but it felt like it was about the right length. We were funded on the first day and it was smooth sailing all the way through. We didn't have any huge spikes in the middle of the campaign, but also zero days of negative backers or funding. You can analyze the campaign data here on Kicktraq.
What's Next?
Following are the major milestones each month for the rest of the campaign.
FEBRUARY:
-
Lunar New Year - The manufacturing plant in China is shut down for another couple weeks, but that's not a huge issue because we need to wrap up the pledge manager before we need to work too much with the manufacturer.
-
BackerKit Pledge Manager Opens - In about 2 weeks, we will be sending you the link to the pledge manager where you can do all of these things:
- provide your mailing address to us
- add on additional items
- tell us which name you'd like to see on the Big Box for those of you who got it
- fix declined Kickstarter payments
- pay for shipping
- in some regions, pay for taxes
MARCH:
-
BackerKit Pledge Manager Closes - No more items can be added on after this point.
-
Pre-Production Begins - We'll finalize the print files with the manufacturer. We have already done most of this, but we'll need to make a few small changes.
APRIL:
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Pre-Production Completes - All print files and samples will be approved.
-
Finalize Print Quantities - Based on the copies required to fulfill all Kickstarter and BackerKit orders, we will estimate how many extra copies we will want to print on top of that for the final quantities for the manufacturer. This is always a really hard decision because you want to print enough to meet demand in the near future, but not too much where we have extra and we have to pay for storage costs of unsold copies.
MAY:
-
Manufacturing Begins - Our manufacturer will fire up the printers to make these games.
JUNE:
-
Manufacturing Completes - Manufacturing will finish. Based on past history, it will likely take about 6 weeks in total.
-
Addresses Finalized - We'll ask one more time for any updates to mailing addresses since shipping will be starting soon.
JULY:
-
Freight Shipping Begins - We'll need to freight ship games to the fulfillment centers we'll be using. The amount of time this takes varies quite a bit.
AUGUST:
-
Freight Shipping Completes - All inventory will have arrived at our fulfillment centers.
-
Fulfillment Center Receiving - It usually takes a week or two for a fulfillment to receive everything and order boxes/supplies for shipping.
SEPTEMBER:
-
Local Shipping Begins - We'll start shipping out in waves.
OCTOBER:
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Local Shipping Continues - All rewards should be shipped out by this time.
NOVEMBER:
-
Local Shipping Completes - Everyone should have their rewards.
That's it! There's a little buffer in that schedule for inevitable issues to arise and be resolved, but we've done this a dozen times now so we'll be able to stick very close to this timeline. And of course you can hold us to it!
DunDraCon
For anyone in the San Francisco Bay Area, Brian will be demo'ing the Zombies expansion and our next game (Crash & Grab) at DunDraCon. Send a message if you will be there and you'd like to play a game!
As always, let us know if you have any questions through a Kickstarter message, comment, or email [email protected].
THANK YOU AGAIN FOR BACKING!!!
-Clayton and Brian
