ACBA Facebook Live videos - hands on with the FEP samples
over 9 years ago
– Sun, Nov 13, 2016 at 10:03:02 PM
Wanted to get this update out to you guys while we're all still enjoying the weekend and possibly have some spare time.
If you weren't able to make it to the Facebook Live event yesterday hosted by ACBA and you're looking to kill over 2 hours(!!!!) you can head over to their fan page to check out the recordings:
part 1
part 2
Minor technical difficulties aside (devious wifi connection), we had a blast and really enjoyed having some people outside of the AI design team getting some hands on time with the FEP samples, the reactions were overwhelmingly positive!
ACBA Facebook Live event
over 9 years ago
– Fri, Nov 11, 2016 at 11:32:52 AM
Saturday, November 12th at noon PST head to the Articulated Comic Book Art fan page for a facebook live interview and Q&A.
Rene Aldrete and Adam Van Wickler from the AI design team* will be at The Comic Bug in Manhattan Beach with some of the factory test shots and painted FEP samples.
We'll do our best to get an update out shortly thereafter with a recording of the event so those of you who can't make it don't miss out!
*Beardy can't make it cuz he's too busy celebrating his birthday and not inviting us :(
Final production schedule & scale pics
over 9 years ago
– Mon, Nov 07, 2016 at 09:52:10 PM
We received the final production schedule from the factory. They are busy addressing all of our notes as they move forward and have informed us that our full order of all 17 SKUs has an ex-factory date of December 31st. Our freight forwarder will pick them up on the 31st and transport them to our distribution center here in the US, we are anticipating 1 month door to door. Our distribution center will begin shipping Kickstarter rewards and preorders in February with the goal of getting everything out before the end of the month.
We will be closing preorders on January 1st. We will open up orders for any remaining stock after we have completed shipping all Kickstarter rewards and preorders. Just as our Kickstarter backers received the best pricing per figure and shipping costs, our preorder customers will receive the same treatment and remaining stock items will likely be a few dollars more per figure / shipping as we continue to learn about the numerous expenses and fees that occur when you manufacture an item overseas, transport it to the US to a distribution center that then repacks and ships out orders.
It's been quite a learning process for us and we are so grateful to all of our supporters who have helped us navigate our way through our first toy line (17 SKUs in wave 1, what were we thinking?!?!?). The finish line is in sight and we'll all have our toys in just a few short months. Yes we were 8 months off on our Kickstarter estimated ship date (those last minute additional stretch goals didn't help either) but we are extremely happy with what we've been seeing and hope all of our supporters are as well.
With all of that said, here are a bunch of pics of the red ninja standing next to various other toy lines so you can get a sense of the final product scale. Our basic ninja is just a hair over 6" tall (approx 6 1/8") which in 1:12 scale puts him between 6'1" and 6'2". Enjoy the pics and keep your eyes peeled for some other cool updates coming soon!
Painted FEP Samples
over 9 years ago
– Wed, Oct 26, 2016 at 10:40:39 PM
For those of you who read the previous update, you know that we received 2 sets of painted FEP samples from the factory. After the design team compiled our notes, "we" (the royal we, meaning actually just Beardy AKA Harvey Beardman AKA Beardimus Prime AKA craarl AKA Green Acres AKA Scott Akers) picked the better of each figure and made any further necessary revisions to each figure so that we could sign and return a perfect set to the factory. The images you see below are the other set, so some of you more eagle eyed followers may notice some of the little nits we picked in our 4 1/2 pages of notes.
The factory is hard at work incorporating our comments as they move forward with production. Keep your eyes on our Kickstarter updates, The Fwoosh, the AI discussion thread, and the Articulated Icons Instagram for ongoing info.
You can always reach out to us at any of the above or shoot an email to [email protected]
Once these are on their way to our distribution center we will be closing preorders, we will sell any remaining stock AFTER we have completed shipping out all of our Kickstarter backer rewards and preorders. Shortly after closing preorders we will send an email with mandatory address confirmation before we begin shipping.
Enjoy the pictures, more updates coming soon!
Packaging First Look
over 9 years ago
– Tue, Oct 18, 2016 at 07:30:13 PM
About 2 weeks ago, the AI Design Team received packaged FEP samples from the factory. We were sent 2 sets of all 17 of our SKUs (15 figures, modular base, arms pack). Our job then was to review both sets, making sure our previous notes had been addressed while also compiling any new comments.
Between the 3 of us we came up with a 4 1/2 page PDF with all of our notes (we are very thorough, i.e. nitpicky). We then went through all 34 pieces and put together a "perfect" set; this included having Scott "Beardy" Akers going in and modifying/repainting some of the figures that were then signed and sent back to the factory as our gold standard. Our notes covered everything from accessory packouts, to joint tightness, and even reworking some paint details (like getting Solitaire's mask decal closer to the original Kickstarter mockup). The factory already has the signed set back in hand and are working on our notes as they continue to move forward in production. We will be sharing our shipping timeline as soon as we have the finalized production schedule from the factory.
Until then we wanted to share some more progress pics with you all.
Below you'll see a bunch of images of the packaging for Articulated Icons: The Feudal Series. The only difference between what you see in these images and what you will be getting in your hands will be the paper stock and some of the stuff not pictured, like the bagged heat sealed accessories. All of the figures will be in a blister tray in a "vanilla" pose so as to not cause any warped parts, and we've even included our resealable bag with the AI logo to store all of your additional accessories when they are not in use!
So, we hope you enjoy seeing these pictures of the Articulated Icons: The Feudal Series packaging. Our next update (coming soon) will be images of the actual factory painted figures, so it is time for me to go take a bunch of pictures!
