Samples have arrived!!!!!
almost 3 years ago – Wed, Jul 21, 2021 at 01:49:58 AM

Huzzah!!! They've arrived!!!

Super excited they've finally arrived, there was a little bit of a delay from the manufacturer so I had to wait an extra week.  

• Brown owlbear is still lighter than I expected but still pretty darn cute (not sure if the rose would actually be a better color replacement, or even as a new option) 
• Snowy Owlbear is about hands down my favorite, the fur pattern is amazing!
• Suprise Rose colored owlbear, and honestly it looks really good. It has the depth of color I wanted for the brown owlbear. Not sure if this will be a surprise third option or not. But I do love it!
• Claws look great on all of them
• Toe beans look great on all of them, though I am considering making the color match the fur, so grey or blue for the snowy, pink for the rose, and brown for the brown. 
• Bowtie is cute and uses velcro in the back
• Cape is soft (need to check what the new material is), def smaller than I thought, but works perfectly!
• Fishy seemed small at first, but fits the size of the owlbear perfectly, also soft, and also sticks to the nose with the magnets!! I tried to feel around and they're pretty well hidden/soft/embedded. 

I'll upload more pictures in a bit, but just wanted to share with you my initial thoughts  (and unboxing!)

Now time to check back in with the manufacturer

Thanks again for the patience, with global shipping on the rise, Ive heard increase freight (which we *should* be ok with) and delivery delays up to 6 weeks. Not sure what I'll look like when we get started but I'll let you all know. 

Andreas

Quick little update
almost 3 years ago – Sat, Jun 12, 2021 at 01:15:48 AM

Hey All, 

Just want to keep you in the loop with whats going on. 

Since so many of you liked the giant fishy, I'm asking for cost estimates on it (even if we just get a few). 

Current Status of the Plush is that we're waiting for samples from the manufacturer, we've seen and shared a few pictures of what it looks like.

I should be getting three (i think full) owlbear samples, two brown (with two types of sourced furs), and the arctic, as we've seen, in addition to the accessories that they've been working on. 

I don't have a date on when they arrive, but it sounds like they will ship them to me next week. When they arrive, I'll be sure to do a video and take pictures. 

This proofing/prototype process is taking a bit longer than I have liked, but we are looking to order over 10,000 owlbears...so I don't mind the extra time to ensure that everything is perfect. 

 Owlbear Caretaker Andreas

As a final note:Backerkit is not open (and i don't want to until we lock down dimensions and weight for shipping). Also, we have not collected your addresses yet (this will be done in backerkit, so no need to worry about changing addresses yet, I'll be doing lots of updates when we get to the point of locking that stuff down) 

Development Update
almost 3 years ago – Mon, May 17, 2021 at 03:53:18 AM

Hey all,

Just to update you all on what's going on. We've made our first payment to the manufacturer (as a show commitment and so they can source materials), in addition we've been going back and forth on a bunch of details, looking at things from fur thickness, the toe beans, cape pattern material, much like we we had shown last update. I'm just going to put down bullet points of the things that have been going on and my thoughts, cause there's a bit.

(also, we have not yet opened backerkit, we're not in a hurry to open it as we want to get final weights and solid shipping estimates before opening it up. But when it opens, we will tell everyone about it, and there, we will collect your addresses, as we have not do so yet.) 

• The current update, below, shows claws and toe beans, I think the claws look good on both. The little beans will be filled in and will be sewn, whereas the large will be a material. 
• Eyes are still paper placeholder, just a feature of production, but i like my decision to do grey-blue eyes over the more 'natural' yellow.  I think it goes  a bit better in reinforcing the snow theme, and LOVE the snow coat.
• The brown owlbear i still think the brown is a bit too light, and the manufacturer is going to look into darker options as they begin sourcing. 
• For the In-A-Box, we're looking at doing a display box like the one below, but in order to hold all of the goodies, we're going to have a drawer on the bottom side. This will contain everything that comes with In-A-Box rewards. 
• Mini we're probably sourcing from one of our regular manufacturers (as it was cheaper than going with this plush manufacturer). 
• Cape, we're looking at a thinner material, probably nylon, but waiting for a sample to view.
• Fishy, came in hilariously too large (miscommunication with the manufacturer and the prototype), It'll be smaller.
• Bow tie came in a bit larger and is being tweaked, but is on track.

And Finally, an amazing piece by Crystal Sully that will be going in the artbook,

If there's anything else feel free to reach out and ask, we're working to make these owlbears amazing and adorable! (also, if you're in the US, don't forget to file taxes)

Beastmaster Andreas

First Snowy Plush Prototype!!!
about 3 years ago – Sat, Apr 03, 2021 at 02:00:37 AM

Hey Caretakers!

I just got our first look at the snowy owlbear and I'm super excited to share it with you!!!

Now its important to remember that this is still a prototype, and things can change. Also I did a tiny bit of photoshop work to tweak the eye color and nose (as the eyes were yellow, and the nose was stark black).  So with these tweaks, the nose should be a dark grey, and I like the blue-grey for the eyes, just a matter of what color we can nail down for them (currently they're paper placeholders).

Also, you can see tiny claws from the snowy owlbear which look pretty good. 

On the Brown Owlbear, I have concerns with his elephant trunk legs, as that might shape visibility for the claws. Also it's brown its a bit light, and we're hoping we can darken it a tad. 

Anways that's the update for now, still nailing down things through prototyping and about to make the first downpayment for the whole gambit of things we're getting .

Happy Friday Everyone and have a great weekend,  (sorry if this post was rambly, I wanted to get this update out there and also include my thoughts about what I think about the prototypes I just saw). 

Andreas

Early Accessory Prototypes
about 3 years ago – Wed, Mar 24, 2021 at 11:14:02 PM

Hey everyone, 

First up, Backerkit won't be available until I have a prototype of the arctic plush to show off, I will also do a post announcing and explaining it.

I hope you all have been doing well, its been a fast month, currently, I've been going back and forth with the manufacturer on specs and scope, as they're costing out all of the various items this project has come to offer.

I'll do a full breakdown of the costs, but interestingly the plush itself was a bit higher than I expected with the additional items being lower than I expected. 

A peek behind the curtain

Moving forward, some that is worth sharing is the prototyping phase.  Here is where the manufacturer will roughly create items for cost estimation and shape purposes.

As you see below, is a prototype for the plush with experimental claws, as well as the cape and bowtie.

My own critique is that, I'm not a fan of the claws, and would rather have toe-beans. The cape looks to be too thick (made of micropolar fleece). And I'm unsure about the high the edges of the bowtie.  Its all expected and part of the process.

THESE ARE VERY EARLY EXPERIMENTAL PROTOTYPES

In addition, for the snowy plush, I believe we've identified a pattern for the snowy plush, but it's hard to tell if the effect will work until we see it in prototype (which I am waiting to see). 

All the best and I hope to have more to share soon, 

Andreas