Melee, Wizard, and Death Test Tooling
over 5 years ago – Mon, Oct 22, 2018 at 11:25:27 PM

Sabrina is going over the factory tooling samples for Melee, Wizard, and Death Test today, making one last round of checks before we give the factory approval to start manufacturing the games. We're still pushing forward on the project, as you can tell, and can report that everything is still on schedule for a March delivery.

Enjoy the pics, and be sure to wish Sabrina luck as she wraps up her last checks on these three items.

- Phil Reed

Box Mockup, JPEG Proofs, Pocket Box Tooling, and Inventory Report
over 5 years ago – Fri, Oct 19, 2018 at 07:49:17 PM

In preparing for upcoming conventions, Ben took time yesterday to construct an actual-size mockup of the Legacy Edition box . . . and it's a monster! The Munchkin box in the photo, shown for size, is 6.25-inches wide by 9.25-inches tall by 1.75-inches deep. As you can see, the Legacy Editon box is slightly larger than that.

JPEG Proofs

Also yesterday, the team at GPI sent over the project jpeg proofs and Sabrina locked herself in her office to check all of the files. This is our last chance to catch/correct errors before investing thousands of dollars in film charges, and we did our best to give Sabrina all the space she needed yesterday to check the proofs in peace. It's a big job, though, so there are still files to check; she'll wrap up the work in the next few days . . . and then we move officially into the tooling stage!

Pocket Box Tooling

And speaking of tooling, we're expecting to see a physical sample of the new plastic Pocket Box next week. Unfortunately, I'll be out of the office, but the Austin team will review the sample and give the factory feedback. If all goes well, we'll find no problems with the design and be ready to move into final production of the plastic boxes.

Inventory Report

" . . . final production of the plastic boxes." That's a perfect segue into a discussion of where our inventory levels currently stand. At the moment, even though BackerKit preorders have not yet closed, we can see that we're going to be slightly shorter on some items than we first anticipated. Everyone backing the project -- and who have already completed their surveys -- will get their rewards, but we'll have slightly less to take into distribution than we had expected.

Items that are going to be in short supply next year include:

• Pocket Box Melee and Wizard - We'll have fewer than 2,000 units for distribution sales after we fulfill the Kickstarter project. Will we reprint this? Reply hazy. Ask again later.
• Legacy Edition - We expected to have thousands of copies, but your continued demand for the game in BackerKit now tells us we'll likely have 1,500 or so units for distribution sales. We do plan to reprint; the second printing will not include everything that's packed inside the first printing.
• Loose Components - All of the loose components will be restricted to direct sales; we have no plans to take the maps, megahexes, dice, etc. into distribution.

Please remember, BackerKit closes the end of this month. If you've not yet completed your survey, take care of that ASAP. And if you want extra goodies, you have until the end of the month to update your add-on selections.

Thanks!

- Phil Reed

Playmat samples arrived!
over 5 years ago – Wed, Oct 17, 2018 at 12:15:03 AM

Samples of Dyson's illustrated Melee and Wizard playmats have arrived . . . and look incredible! The factory did a spectacular job; the printing and colors look incredible, and these are going to be perfect for skirmishes and gladiatorial action. These look so cool that we'll need to consider writing an adventure or two that works with the playmat designs.

But there's no need for us to use words to describe how the playmats look. Photos incoming!

If you need an extra playmat or two, please don't forget that you can add them on in the Backerkit pledge manager (while supplies last).

- Phil Reed

At The Printer!
over 5 years ago – Tue, Oct 16, 2018 at 02:39:09 AM

Today was a day of double-checking corrections, and now the Legacy Edition is officially at the printer! The final size of the Legacy Editioin box is 10.75" x 13.75" x 5". (The I Want It All box is bigger.)

The PDFs will be ready sometime in the next couple of weeks; of course, we will post an update when "will be ready" turns to "ready."

Now that we have officially placed the order, we have locked in our print quantities. We allowed for a little "slop," but if you have been meaning to add things on BackerKit, do it now while everything is still available.

This is also a good place for a completely unrelated plug: our Illuminati Coin project on Kickstarter is entering its last couple of days, so if you want the shiny, we've got your shiny right here.

Thanks again to everyone who backed us, both by joining the project and by sending supportive messsages here and elsewhere. I think you'll be pleased. I know I am. And I'll see some of you at Gamehole Con!

– Steve Jackson

Project Update!!!
over 5 years ago – Sat, Oct 13, 2018 at 12:01:55 AM

First off, we need to thank Sabrina, Ben, and Gabby for putting in a long, long day at the office yesterday and for planning to work through the weekend. We have to send the project to the factory on Monday, and yesterday's pre-mortem review was exactly what we needed to catch the last little bugs and goofs. Those three have put a lot of time into these final days of the project, and they're each killing it and ensuring that we'll get to print on schedule.

Pictures!!!

Rather than type lots of words that you have to read, today we would like to share photos from yesterday's pre-mortem. Enjoy the pics (which are all pre-review), and we'll be back next week with more info on the project (as well as a better idea of when we'll finalize the PDF package).

- Phil Reed