Pledge rewards include Official Catan Board Gaming Bags, artisan wood/leather Catan Collector's Boxes, & Seafarers of Catan Game Boards
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Ultimate Collector's Box Production
over 9 years ago
– Mon, Oct 26, 2015 at 10:29:46 PM
Hi everyone, I visited our wooden manufacturer on Friday. Here's some photo updates on production:
Front, backs and sides for part of next 50 Ultimate Collector's Boxes
Ultimate-sized Part Cups ready for final machining and finishing
Hex Dividers ready for edge routing and finishing
Internal dividers ready to be inserted into finished boxes
More box sides for the next run.
We're still waiting on the Catan Bag sample, but we just got this photo from them so it looks like it may be nearing completion.
Seafarer's mold is still getting fixed by the polisher. They were willing to make good on their error.
Also, I'm behind on my KS messages, so if you've messaged with shipment issues or anything, please have patience, we'll always make it right. We're redoing both our warehouse and our entire retail distribution network right now, so we have a lot on our plate.
Mayfair told our retail distributor for the US market not to buy from us, so now no one can purchase our boards at their local board game store. Not to worry, though, we're setting up a direct dealer network, so hopefully next year that will change and people will be able to walk down to their local store and get a board and some of our other gear more easily.
Look forward to shipping the Ultimate Boxes soon. Cheers.
Seafarers Mold Texturing Issue
over 9 years ago
– Thu, Oct 01, 2015 at 11:18:58 PM
Hi everyone,
Our operator ran first articles of the newly polished/textured mold yesterday, and ran into an unexpected issue. Apparently the mold polisher used too rough of a texture as it doesn't match the texture of the original Settlers Board parts. When he went to pull the part off the mold, it stuck inside of the cavity and caused breakage of the parts as he pulled them out. See below for carnage:
He's going to try a few things to see if he can overcome this issue with part cooling and temperature management, but he won't be in again until Monday as they run the shop at four 10s.
The boxes are ready to be filled if he is able to solve the production issue:
I was obviously crushed to come in and hear this, but I'm optimistic that he'll be able to figure something out. If he doesn't, we'll have to crate up the mold again and send it down to be re-textured with a lighter texture.
On a more positive note, we launched Christmas pre-orders for our bamboo boards for those who're interested in getting one for a friend or for themselves for this Christmas. We'll run it until October 31, or until we max out our production capacity of 500 units. Our manufacturer has guaranteed Christmas delivery for the boards sold during this period. He's planning on completing production for this Kickstarter's bamboo products by October 31st, so that timeline won't be affected.
I'll update next week once I have more info on the Seafarers mold. Thank you.
Ultimate Box Production Update
over 9 years ago
– Tue, Sep 29, 2015 at 11:02:50 PM
Hi everyone,
Stopped by the bamboo shop this morning, and here are the production update photos:
Our manufacturer is building them in runs of 50, as that's how many his shop can hold at one time. Orders will be shipped out in the order they were pledged for.
Bamboo as far as the eyes can see.
Dice tower backs being machined on one of the bed routers
More dice tower backs on the other bed router.
Dice trays and card banks drying after hand-finishing
This is what the dice trays look like before the hand-finishing process begins. Almost no waste of bamboo.
Seafarers Board Production Update
We got all of the Seafarers Board shipping boxes into our plastic warehouse, so production on the Seafarers Boards will begin either tomorrow or Thursday, depending on how long it takes to swap the molds out.
So many boxes
We had to fit a stack over in another corner because there wasn't enough room in the shop for all of them.
Catan Bag Update
Ordered the samples from the Chinese manufacturers, will update once they arrive.
Thanks
Ultimate Box Production and Catan Bag Good News
over 9 years ago
– Wed, Sep 09, 2015 at 10:35:50 PM
Hi everyone,
We've gotten all of the quotes back from the Chinese manufacturers and there are three that can meet our price point, including one who claims to manufacture some of Filson's bags. I went to go investigate Filson's website, as I thought all their products were made in the US, but I notice they say Made in the US from Imported Material. So perhaps they assemble the bags in the US from mostly pre-made panels or something. Not sure, either way, the important news is that we now have three possible manufacturers that can execute the original design for the price we need.
I'll be working with them to obtain samples, and will post an update on that once we receive the samples.
Since we're not going to be going with the duffel bag option, I'll show you the sample we received from one of the manufacturers. The build quality is surprisingly high, and what's more this manufacturer is actually the lowest quoted price we got back.
The canvas weight and cotton webbing quality is solid.
Hardware quality seems to be up to snuff. No fake leather anywhere, just real leather.
Sizing and fit was exactly as requested.
Finish detailing options were numerous. This nautical stripe struck me when I was looking over their sample sheet. Quality of the fabric was good once we got it.
So I'm optimistic about these upcoming samples for the actual Catan Bag. Once we get them, I'll post an update on them with a fit test for all of the parts.
Ultimate Catan Box
The Ultimate Box production is well under way and all dimensions have been double and triple checked for accuracy.
In fact, the production Ultimate Boxes are actually better than the original prototype, as they'll have a foam protective section for the dice tower that's super snug and secure.
Production prototype fit test
The foam surrounds the dice tower on all sides. (Sawdust not included in production boxes :-)
Here's a production box before being filled.
Current box inventory
Current box cover inventory
Close up of the Ultimate Box lid. The laser engraving makes the design look even better than I'd hoped it would, super stoked to see a completed box ready to ship.
Seafarers Board
Seafarers Board production hasn't started yet, as we're waiting on boxes, but as soon as we do I'll send out an update.
Settlers Box Issue
There seems to have been a slight overreaction in the comments section to the issue of the Settlers Box being only high enough for one card bank set.
As I mentioned in the previous update, we will be making it right, we just aren't in a financial place to do that yet until we complete the Kickstarter production and can begin public preorders/sales. We will be re-making the box portion and sending new ones out to everyone, but not until all production is complete.
The reason I went ahead and shipped the incorrect ones out (even though it will mean we pay double the shipping cost) is to ensure that everyone who pledged for a Settlers box will be able to enjoy their box and gaming gear (even though one of the card bank sets has to be carried in a separate red velvet bag) until we're able to send the correct ones.
The comments section seems to have become a place to ridicule me and speculate on whether our company will fail. These comments are stated in a way that paints our Kickstarters as a battle of "us vs. Bill". The reality is that we're all on the same team. Either everyone wins or everyone loses. So comments like "WE MUST DEMAND REFUNDS" and "BILL'S COMPANY IS DOOMED TO FAIL AND WE MUST SEND LETTERS TO THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE TO ENSURE IT DOES" are actually working against everyone, not for them. In case you think that last one is a joke, I literally received a letter from the Department of Justice stating a complaint had been lodged against our company by one of our Kickstarter backers. All that does is mean that now I have to take time to write a response, mail it, and waste time that I could have spent working on getting bag samples and folding Seafarers boxes.
We're all on the same team, we all want to see everyone get the correct products, and we now have a clear plan to deliver every product, as promised, to every backer.
So let's keep it positive, we'll all get there eventually and then we can celebrate and begin the process of bringing these products to the public at large for everyone to enjoy. Cool? Sweet, thank you.
Settler's Collector's Boxes Issue
over 9 years ago
– Fri, Sep 04, 2015 at 11:52:01 PM
Hi everyone,
As has been noted in the comments, our manufacturer made the Settler's Collector's Boxes only tall enough for one set of card banks. This was an error on his part and he has acknowledged it. After the Kickstarter has completed fulfillment, we will do our best to come up with a solution to make this right, but unfortunately we are not in a financial position to remake them all right now.
We've gotten a sample of the duffel bag, and are waiting on price quotes to make the original design in China. Because of the custom nature of the original bag design, it's taking a bit longer than normal for them to quote it. The duffel bag is cool (genuine leather trim etc), and works pretty well actually, but we'll wait to see how the prices look for the original design first before we look at that.
