Surveys almost ready
over 4 years ago – Wed, Sep 04, 2019 at 09:27:35 AM

I checked the backer report today and good news! Everyone's payment has cleared; I should receive funds in the next week and can place an order for wood and hinges.

I've spent the past week working on the Backerkit survey and getting some cases pre-cut. I have about 25 of the cases bases assembled in domestic woods. Not tops or engravings yet, of course, but I've got a leg up on the work to be done.

I'm going to work on finishing up the survey this week and hopefully get it out next Monday. Once you lock in your order, I can really begin work, but don't be in a huge hurry to get the survey finished. Take your time and make your choices on any artwork, add on items you think you might like. While I'll be putting in some work, I have several Cons to go to in the fall, so real work won't begin until November.

Some add-ons won't have great pictures associated with them yet...I'm just scanning the potion tokens and advantage tokens and such. Same with some signs that I'm putting in the mix. Please take that into consideration when making any add on purchase. You are likely to get an item that looks better than what is pictured. One of the things I'm using money raised from this project for is to have professional pictures taken of my full line of products. It is a slow process, but the results are great so far.

That is all I got...expect an invitation to Backerkit within the next week.

John

Project over...what is to come.
over 4 years ago – Tue, Aug 27, 2019 at 07:43:24 AM

While we didn't get the big final day bump that I was hoping for, we did fund the project and several stretch goals along the way. Sometime last night, we hit our 200 Instagram followers mark, so in addition to your case, everyone who pledged will receive at no cost: 1 free Tolkien Token, 1 Advantage Token, 1 Healing Token, and 1 Invisibility Token.

Most people have already had their credit cards charged. About a half dozen people have their charges pending so if you are one of those people, please look into that as soon as possible. The sooner everyone gets their payments cleared, the sooner we can move forward to the next step.

BackerKit

As soon as either everyone's accounts are paid, or after 2 weeks at which point KS locks in everything, I'll be sending out a Backerkit survey. If you haven't used Backerkit before, it essentially works as a shopping cart. You will be able to choose the type of wood you want, any images (engraved or 3d carved), you mouse pad, feet, etc. You will also be given the option of adding on anything you'd like. You can get extra mouse pads, extra DM Solutions, Dice Trays etc. You will also be given the option of adding on many of the other items that I have for sale at shows including (but not limited to) Dice Devil's Traps, Potion Tokens, Coasters, Miniature Cases (formerly known as Rogues), Monk and Bard cases, and several other items I normally have at conventions. If there is something specific you are interested in, let me know so I can add it to the list. There are some products that won't be available because they are undergoing a re-design (Wizards, Priests, Rangers to name a few), but there will be a large selection of add-ons for those who are interested.

Work Schedule

Normally I keep Backerkit open for a month or so before I start getting to work on a project. But since my goal on this is to get all Early Bird backers out by Christmas, I'm going to start working as soon as Backerkit surveys are completed. So if it is important to you that you get your reward by Christmas, please get your survey filled out asap. 

As soon as surveys start coming in, I'll start work, as much as I can, on fulfillment. I have a small supply of domestic wood that I can at least get some of the cases cut right away while I wait for new orders of wood and hardware.  I do have a pretty busy convention schedule in October, so progress will be limited in the early going, but once November hits, I should be able to really hunker down and get things moving.

What's Next?

The creativity bug seems to hit me whenever I already have a lot of things going on. And it decided to hit me about a week ago. I have some designs in mind for a "Character Sheet" concept that I'm getting down on "paper" (OK...Corel Draw). This is work that I can do in the evenings on my laptop as I watch TV, so it won't interfere with the production of this project, but if things go well, I'm hoping t have another project launched around New Years. I'm also working with a Chinese company on outsourcing 2 different projects. These will be a new experience for me and there will be a definite funding goal requirement since I will have to make a bulk purchase of these items. Those are likely to be late summer 2020 or possibly even 2021. I have some more thoughts rattling around in my mind, but they haven't taken full form yet.

Thanks again!

Thanks again to everyone who worked hard to make this project a success. Kickstarter has allowed me to enter into a business, attend conventions, meet new people and expand my love of gaming that never would have happened without all of you. Thank you so much for backing this project and I hope that you enjoy your new products from Hrothgar's Hoard.

Final Day. Last Chances
over 4 years ago – Mon, Aug 26, 2019 at 07:35:45 AM

We are down to 13 hours. We've broken through on Curly Cherry and Advantage Token stretch goals and on the picture in the project page I've also unlocked the Healing potion token because we are only 3 comments away from getting that one and I'm sure we'll do that by the end of the day. If we hit 125 comments, I'll throw in a random Potion Token into everyone's purchase. Keep the comments coming.

I've had projects double in the final day, so keep spreading the word. We can hit all the unlocks. We still need 38 Twitter followers and 14 instagram followers. Go tell your friends to follow the pages.

https://www.instagram.com/hrothgars_hoard/

https://twitter.com/HrothgarsHoard

About 30 hours to go...here's where we stand.
over 4 years ago – Sun, Aug 25, 2019 at 05:34:54 PM

We've been bouncing around the past couple days..up a little, down a little... I've learned to expect this in the final days. I'm still hopeful that in the last 24 hours, we'll pick up a lot of people who followed the project and and just now getting emails on "This project is about to end".

So, here are the stretch goals numbers:

Advantage Token Unlock: Need 775 FB followers. We are at 770. Only need 5 more!

Greater Healing Token: Need 100 Twitter followers. We are at 61. This is still doable because I have so few followers. If you haven't done so already, go follow this.

Rosewood Unlock: Need $7,500 in pledges. We are at about $5,200. I'm hoping we get a last day rush, but be sure to share the project on your social media pages to give this a little boost. 

Healing Potion Token: Need 100 comments. Currently at 92. Only 8 comments to go! If we hit it tonight, I'll put up a 125 bonus tomorrow.

Invisibility Potion Token: Need 200 Instagram followers, currently at 184. This is still reachable. Don't give up!

Who's in the lead for free cases?

That's a good question. I really don't know. I will have my internet minion figure that out for me. But it isn't too late to try to get this. Make a post about the KS on Facebook and whoever gets the most engagement gets a free Accessories Case. Make a post on Twitter and whoever gets the most retweets gets one as well. See the project page for details. Make it easy on me and post links in the comments section.

Other News

I've been hit by the creativity bug this weekend and have been doing a lot of design work on new items. I don't know when these will be ready for sharing, but I'm seriously thinking about running another KS project before the end of the year. A lot will depend on how much progress I make on this project after the surveys go out...I want to get as many as possible out before Christmas, but for some reason the ideas are just flooding in my head and I gotta get things down on "paper" while they are fresh in my mind.

I'll be heading up to Maine for AppleCon in Mid September. I don't know if anyone here is from that area, but if you are stop by my booth and introduce yourself.

I'll be at CinCity Con, Con on the Cob, and GameHole in October. Ditto for those.

November and December I'll be devoting a lot of time to getting these out; I have no cons scheduled and only one local Christmas show. Once surveys start coming back in, I'll be putting extra time into fulfilling those.

That's all for now. Lets all pull together for a great day tomorrow!

New goal hit
over 4 years ago – Thu, Aug 22, 2019 at 03:07:44 PM

Thanks to a few new backers, we hit our $5,000 goal today, unlocking Curly Cherry. Here is the current breakout of stretch goals.

Advantage Token Unlock: Need 775 FB followers. Currently at 761. To follow, go to www.facebook.com/hrothgarshoard

Greater Healing Token Unlock: Need 100 Twitter followers. Currently at 54. This should be an easy goal to hit. Go follow me at https://twitter.com/HrothgarsHoard

Rosewood Unlock: Need $7,500 in pledges. Currently at $5,155. Share this project with your friends so we can hit this goal.

Healing Potion Token Unlock: Need 100 comments. Currently at 71. This should be a piece of cake. Go to the comments section and make a comment.

Invisibility Potion Unlock: Need 200 Instagram Followers. Currently at 181. Go to my instagram and follow me at: https://www.instagram.com/hrothgars_hoard/

We've got four days left. I'd love to see all of these goals smashed!