Sat Apr 7 '18 Announcement
over 6 years ago
– Sat, Apr 07, 2018 at 02:33:02 PM
Saturday Greetings,
The manufacturers are nearly done with their prepping/calibration processes. The final calibration focus is on one particular part--the chest--which is the most complex as it is the only part with 4 sockets--it attaches to the neck, 2 shoulders, and mid-section. Production will start this month, meaning the shipping process could still feasibly begin by the end of April, however the bulk of orders will be shipping through the month of May, and the shipment of more recent orders will push into June. Thankfully we have not had any more major delays and we are happy with how everything is looking and working, with the final chest calibration being worked on now.
We’ve had discussions with our manufacturers regarding the best way to begin the big production run for our backers to ensure we’re shipping you the highest quality product without mistakes. We will start off producing Stickybones at a careful, cautious pace being meticulous to ensure the first production Stickybones we are producing for backers are meeting our specifications and quality standards. It will allow us to catch any early errors that could occur. When we then verify we’re getting consistent, excellent results at this initial pace, we will pick up the speed until we reach maximum output, producing the rest of the Stickybones while still keeping quality assurance practices in check.
Please keep in mind that we are instructing our fulfillment partners to attempt to ship in chronological order as much as feasibly possible. So if you have been waiting a long time, you’ll be nearest the front of the line, and vice-versa. Once it begins, the entire production run to complete all Stickybones will take at least 6 weeks. In the effort to begin shipping Stickybones as quickly as possible, we will be shipping groups of orders out as Stickybones come off the line, rather than wait until the entire production run is complete and ship everything at the end.
We have not sent the Backerkit surveys yet, but will do so before shipping. We’ll give many reminders once they go out and reach out to people who do not respond. And please don’t worry--we will not ship to you until you’ve completed your Backerkit survey(s) therefore selecting your color choice, paying shipping fees and inputting your final mailing address.
And now so this update isn't totally dry, let's give you some imagery here...
FLY-RIGS: The photo below is an example of something you can easily create with the Fly-Rigs—We’ve digitally removed the Fly-Rig holding Stickybones mid-air. (a little motion blur was added to the blue Stickybones in Photoshop.)
[Below: before Fly-Rig Removal & Motion Blur]
When we're past our big manufacturing "hurdle" (pun intended, obviously!) we will teach you the technique we used here to quickly remove the Fly-Rig from the photo as well as other techniques you can use.
Reminders:
Is your order correct? If you haven't already, please take a moment to log into your Indiegogo account and verify your order(s) look right.
Have more than one Indiegogo account? Please email [email protected] with Subject line: “Backer Multiple Indiegogo Accounts” if you didn't already. (Having multiple PERKS is totally fine, this only applies to multiple Indiegogo login accounts.)
Need to change your address? You will be able to do that directly in the Backerkit surveys that will be coming soon, no need to update addresses on Indiegogo or via email.
Stages. Thanks to those who emailed that they want a Performance stage(s). We are still sold out but will let you know when they become available.
Have a great weekend and thanks!!!
Team Stickybones
Fri Mar 2 '18 Announcement
almost 7 years ago
– Fri, Mar 02, 2018 at 10:35:40 PM
Stickybones Update:
We’ve received from our manufacturer the full manufactured Stickybones character in Spark Blue. We’re definitely loving this winning backer-voted color.
^^ Spark Blue Stickybones! ^^
We had a meeting with our manufacturer a couple days ago to discuss what exactly is left for them to do to finish calibrating the molds for production on their end and how much more time they need to do it. We also communicated to them again, in as many ways as we could, the importance of speed. They are fully aware that we have eager backers waiting for the finished product to ship out. They communicated to us they are working paid overtime to get this big job completed. We left the meeting with encouraging news: They believe they will be able to get the molds finalized for production by April 1st. This means that we are still within reach of beginning shipping in late April.
PERFORMANCE STAGES:
We are SOLD OUT of Performance Stages. (Okay, there are 2 left, but that’s essentially sold out.) Right now our main focus and efforts are on getting Stickybones and the Fly-Rig produced--but we know the Performance Stages are also popular. We’re deciding on when and how many Performance Stages we’ll make for Round 2.
If you want (or might want) one or more Performance Stages, please email [email protected], Subject line: “I want (1, 2, 3, ect…) Performance Stages”. **Note: The email is just to get a gauge of interest... it is not an official order.
IMPORTANT:
Now is the time to double check your orders!
Please take a moment to log into your Indiegogo account and verify that everything you expect to see is there.
If you don't see all of the perks you think should be there, it is possible you have two Indiegogo accounts--which is actually quite common. (Often people are not aware they have two Indiegogo accounts.)
If you discover that you’ve accidentally pre-ordered perks on multiple Indiegogo log-in accounts, please email [email protected] with Subject line: “Backer Multiple Indiegogo Accounts.” On our end, we will have to manually consolidate your perks to a single email address on Backerkit and the sooner we can get started with this process the better.
If you do not see your perks at all and need help, please email [email protected] and they can assist you in locating them.
Thanks!!!
Team Stickybones
Sun Jan 14 '18 Announcement
almost 7 years ago
– Sun, Jan 14, 2018 at 08:50:28 PM
Here’s the latest info as to where manufacturing is currently.
But first, we want to express our sincere gratitude to our backers for supporting us throughout this long journey and we also apologize for the delays we’ve experienced during this very extended manufacturing phase. We could not have more gratitude for our backers.
STICKYBONES PROGRESS
We expected the last handful of our molds to arrive shortly after our last update--This did not occur, which according to our manufacturer, was due to hang-ups with the mold maker and shipping logistics. This ‘hang-up’ did cost us an additional 8 weeks without our last critical molds in our possession. Which, needless to say, is more than greatly frustrating.
But, to look for the silver-lining, fortunately all of our molds are at our manufacturer's facility and our manufacturer is working in overdrive in an attempt to make up for the many delays and hang-ups. Despite the frustration felt with manufacturing delays, having all the molds in our possession brings us great relief as it means our molds will now be staying put under our manufacturer’s roof from here on out.
Our manufacturer has also just confirmed they will be done sampling all of the Stickybones molds in 1- 2 weeks at which point they will then give us the produced samples of the entire Stickybones character.Invariably, as is nearly always the case, they will have to make some minor adjustments (some of which they’ve already made on the molds they’ve been working on) as they get the parts into specification on their own machines.
Once they provide us with a final sampled Stickybones that is to specification, our manufacturer will be able to finally provide us with their schedule for production. (Something they have been unable to provide specifically to us yet.) However, our manufacturer has indicated that once we go into production, it will take them about 6 weeks to produce all the parts. That being said, we are going to do our best to begin shipping Stickybones as they come off the line rather than waiting the full 6 weeks.
When Stickybones do start rolling off the production line, it will take about a week to get logistics sorted with our fulfillment center to then start loading shipping trucks full of Stickybones. So, when adding up all the weeks, and without the final production schedule from our manufacturer, we are still, unfortunately, an estimated 9 weeks out from shipping the first Stickybones that roll off the line. We will then continue to package and ship the remaining Stickybones orders as they roll off the line for the following few weeks thereafter. We will post another update as soon as we get that information.
And again, we are so sorry for the long wait --we are getting there and your Stickybones and Fly-Rigs will be amazing.
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If it feels like there is a lot of repetition in the processes we’ve been describing in our various updates--this is simply because, quite frankly, there is. When you have as many parts as Stickybones does, they all require iterations and testing and sampling at BOTH the mold makers facility AND then the manufacturer's facility. (However the process with the manufacturer will go much, much faster because it happens for confirmation, calibration, and, if necessary, MINOR adjustments.)
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FLY-RIG UPDATE
The photo below shows Fly-Rig parts as now sampled by our manufacturer (not the mold maker) in our custom material in chroma-key green: Our manufacturer informed us that they had to make some adjustments to the molds in order to allow it to inject properly--and here we show a photo of the results.
Something fun to note: Because we are taking care to create standard ball and socket sizes, you will be able to create all sorts of combinations with various parts of Stickybones and even the Fly-Rig. You can get as wacky as you want and create a Stickybones/Fly-Rig hybrid creature. (We’ll post examples of this in an upcoming update.)
COLOR
Below, you can see the partial samples we have been given from our manufacturer in SPARK BLUE. As mentioned above, we should see the rest of the FULL character within 1-2 weeks. In an upcoming update, we will post photos of the ENTIRE Stickybones in Spark Blue material so you will be able to see the full character in this color to help you with your color choice(s).
We have a limited amount of this special, backer-selected color material and when we run out, Spark Blue will no longer be offered.
Again, a heartfelt thank you to you, our backers. For those who have been waiting for an extra long time during this journey, we hope it is some consolation that we will be shipping you an amazingly high quality and unprecedentedly functional product that you will get lots of use from for years to come.
Thanks for reading and for your ongoing support and understanding,
Team Stickybones
Thu Nov 30 '17 Announcement
about 7 years ago
– Thu, Nov 30, 2017 at 02:49:25 PM
FLY-RIG MOLDS
The Fly-Rig molds are now all with our manufacturer and the inspection of the molds is nearly complete. For the next step, we need to see our manufacturer create the molded Fly-Rig parts on their own machines. We’ll then physically inspect those final parts and verify that everything is indeed good to go (ex. no damage to the mold was incurred during transportation, and that our manufacturer is getting the same parts and measurements as the samples we saw from the actual mold makers, etc…). Once that happens, we will have our manufacturer officially start the Fly-Rig production run for our backers.
STICKYBONES MOLDS
Additionally, some more good news is that our manufacturer has received the vast majority of our many Stickybones molds at their facility, and the last of them should be arriving any day now. While, yes, we are frustrated that the process of transporting our molds inexplicably took much longer than it was supposed to, the positive takeaway is we will no longer be at the mercy of our prior mold maker and we expect communication and remaining efforts to happen at a faster pace now with our manufacturer.
Currently, our manufacturer is inspecting the Stickybones molds and is beginning to make final test parts on their machines, just as with the Fly-Rig. We suspect our mold makers may not have addressed one of our last critical notes in relation to the chest part. If this is confirmed by our manufacturer, when they test the chest, then they will fix it themselves.
The final biggest factor influencing delivery timing will be determined by our manufacturer’s samples and if they need to fix anything the mold makers missed (for example the chest piece.) We’re actively looking for other ways to save time and ship sooner without cutting final quality corners. Likely, the soonest we can start shipping would be late-January, but, of course, this date is contingent on not running into additional hiccups and minimal additional work being needed, which, again, will be determined by the final manufacturers parts.
We will frequently be on-site at our manufacturer’s facility in order to expedite this final process and push the production forward in any and every way we can.
Thank you,
Team Stickybones
Mon Oct 9 '17 Announcement
about 7 years ago
– Mon, Oct 09, 2017 at 04:33:14 PM
A Stickybones Brief Update
Progress to report:
We have initiated a major step towards production. Most of our many Stickybones molds are now being transported from our mold maker to our manufacturer's facility. Our manufacturer will begin their systematic processes in preparation for the manufacturing run of Stickybones. This includes testing and calibrating our molds on their specific machines and implementing quality assurance processes. A small minority of our molds remain at our mold makers so they can finish the last notes that they must address which did not get done in the GREEN sample (shown below.) Once done, the last molds will also be transported to our manufacturer and put through the same paces as the first, larger group.
Magnets
For Stickybones and Fly-Rigs, we have had tens of thousands of magnets custom made.
All of our custom magnets have arrived safe and sound to our manufacturer's facility and are ready for installation as soon as the Stickybones and Fly-Rig parts start coming off the line.
Each Stickybones contains 6 magnets: 2 in the hands, 2 in the toes, and 2 in the heels.
Please see our our latest GREEN Stickybones sample in the photo below. (The YELLOW is one iteration prior.)
[above] 'Hanging in there' during this feat of extreme endurance. For this photograph, we re-purposed a wind chime to allow Stickybones to transform into circus-inspired aerial hoop acrobats.
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The most recent GREEN samples from our molds addressed some, but not all of the critical notes, so it adds a little bit of time, since we had to allow a minority of our molds to remain with the mold maker. Just as in the last update, because of this, there is still a degree of timeline uncertainty, however we are absolutely closing in on final. (As mentioned above, most of our molds are being transported to our manufacturer--a major step towards the full production run.) In the last update we assessed shipping could not have started earlier than November, and now, based on our assessment of the green samples, we can assess it can begin no earlier than sometime in December. It could potentially push out a little further, but we are pressing forward as hard as we can to get these shipped as soon as possible. We are so sorry for the manufacturing delays and the subsequently long waiting period to get your Stickybones. We’ve come this far and getting the final couple notes done will be worth it and make a difference in the final functionality of your Stickybones.
Our gratitude for your extended patience is immense--we know you are eager to get Stickybones. Thank you for your continued support and encouragement.
Happy Monday,
Team Stickybones
FAQ
Q: Has the survey gone out yet that collects my final mailing address, shipping fees and color choice?
A: Not yet. They will be sent through the crowdfunding fulfillment service, Backerkit a bit closer to shipping.
Q: Can I get Stickybones in the Sample colors from this or the last update?
A: Stickybones will come in 2 color choices for this first ever production run. All of our custom materials are already made and waiting at our manufacturer. The color choices you have are Dark Storm (the classic color you see in our prototypes) and Spark Blue (which was voted in from a backer survey.) Fly-Rigs are chroma-key green so you can easily key them invisible in your photos and videos.
