Survey Issues
over 8 years ago – Wed, Mar 30, 2016 at 11:44:44 PM

I've received several reports of Backer Surveys not being received since they were sent out on Tuesday.  According to my reports, all of the emails were sent out successfully, but obviously something has caused a significant number of errors.

After sending private messages to address the reported errors and continuing to hear about missing surveys, I have opted to send a reminder email to all Backers that currently show No Answer on the Surveys.  I was planning on waiting until next week to do this, but I need to see how deep this rabbit hole goes.

If you have not received your Survey and do not receive a Reminder - Survey email tonight, please let me know with a comment on this update or a PM.

I am talking with BackerKit to find out what caused the initial problem.  Hopefully the Reminder emails go out without a problem and we can move on to the fun stuff.

Thanks,

Josh Krause, Original Magic Art LLC

Backer Surveys are Go!
over 8 years ago – Tue, Mar 29, 2016 at 12:27:36 AM

With Backerkit's seal of approval in hand, we just sent out the Backer Surveys and have already seen a large number completed.

Surveys will be kept open until Friday, April 22. This should give everyone long enough to complete their surveys and select additional Add Ons as desired. 

We will send out weekly reminders to anyone with an incomplete Survey until we are at 100%.  I want to make sure everyone gets to a chance to pick out their Add Ons and see that no gets left out.

If you run into any problems or have a good (and especially if you have a bad) experience, let me know in the comments or via PM.

24 Hour Survey Contest

I am running a Guessing Game on Twitter (@OriginalMtGArt) for whoever can get closest to the number of completed Surveys within the first 24 hours without going over.

Price is Right rules apply, 1 Guess per Person.  Guesses will be accepted via the above Twitter link until 11:15PM EDT tomorrow.

We've already got 6 guesses in so far.  May the odds be ever in your favor.

Just a quick update tonight while we sift through the data from the already completed surveys.  We will definitely give a breakdown of most popular tokens and playmats in a future update.

Thanks as always for your support.

Josh Krause, Original Magic Art LLC

Backer Surveys Coming Soon
over 8 years ago – Thu, Mar 24, 2016 at 08:48:49 PM

While you may have been too excited for Shadows over Innistrad spoilers to notice (kudos to the WotC marketing team for their efforts, they've been killing it lately), we are just about ready to send out backer surveys for the Classic Art Token project.

The surveys are currently under review with Backerkit and will be sent out as soon as they are approved. 

Dropped Backers

For the 26 backers that were not able to get their payments approved through Kickstarter, do not fret.  You will still be receiving a Survey, although you will be showing a negative balance as your payment was not processed successfully.

If you experience any difficulties with your survey, there should be a support option that you can contact, or, failing that, you can always message me here.

How the Surveys Work

If you've never backed a project using Backerkit before, you are in for a treat.

When you open the email, you will see the project image, your email, your pledge amount and the reward level you chose. 

You will be asked to confirm your country for shipping and will have an opportunity to upgrade your Reward Level as well.

Once you click "Get Started!", you will come to the really exciting portion of the process: Add Ons, Add Ons, and more Add Ons.

The survey will already have the reward you chose and the amount you pledged through Kickstarter.  Any funds over and above your Reward and shipping fees will show as credit that you can use to select your Add Ons.

Want 35 Colorless Tokens and 6 Beast Playmats? You got it.  An extra Full Set and 12 more Bonus Sets?  Consider it done.  Want to upgrade to a higher Reward?  You can do that too (in the upper right corner).

All you have to do is click on "View" for the item you desire and enter the quantity and it will be added to your "cart" of Add Ons.

You are able (and encouraged) to select more Add Ons over and above what you pledged for in the Kickstarter. You just pay for the difference once you're done and you're all set.

*Note: Any unused credit will go into the Tip Jar.  It's definitely appreciated if it happens, but I just wanted to make sure you are aware of that.

Finally, you will be able to enter your address information and confirm it before submission.

At any time before I lock down the Surveys (late April) and Shipping Addresses (Late May) you will be able to go in through the link in the email and make changes to your survey.

Overall, the process should be smooth (that's the hope at least) and if you run into any snags, just reach out to me and they will be addressed.

In the Meantime

What will I be doing while I wait on responses from all of the surveys (other than messaging the stragglers)?  A few things:

• Proofing the Playmats - We already went over the designs a few times, so now we will be sending the files to Inked and getting proof mats for each of the Designs.  We will definitely include pictures of these in an update once they arrive.
• Finalizing the Box Design - Initial proofs have already been ordered from the printer of the Basic Set box with a few variations in tone and color and they should be arriving soon.  Once we check them out, we will order the UPCs and finalize the box design for a second (and hopefully final) round of proofing.
• New Projects - In addition to gathering art for a Token Project 2.0, I'm working on the rough drafts of two new projects, details of which will be available in time.  Cryptic, I know, but I'm pretty sure you will like them.

As always, thank you for supporting me and the project.  The surveys will be coming out soon.

Josh Krause, Original Magic Art LLC

Progress Report and a Reminder
over 8 years ago – Sun, Mar 13, 2016 at 10:48:42 AM

Just a quick update before I head back to GP DC.

In a bit under two weeks, we will be sending out the Backer Surveys.  That is where you will be able to choose your Rewards (Playmats, Token Collections, etc.) as well as your Add Ons that you already purchased.

In addition, you will be able to purchase additional Add Ons through the survey, so if something catches your eye, you will be able to add it to the rewards you selected through the project.

We are working on proofs for the custom token boxes as well as the new playmats to make sure all of the colors and design work are printed correctly.  I'll share some pictures once we get them back from the manufacturers.

Time is Running Out

Aaron Miller's Kickstarter for custom tokens (including a Glow in the Dark Germ token that is just outstanding) has just about 3 days left to go.

If you didn't see it on the project page or in the update I sent out, anyone that backs both of our projects, will be receiving Free Bonus Tokens from both of us.

Aaron Created an excellent Demon token just for this promotion and even pointed me towards this absolutely perfect Angel token.

If you are interested in getting these tokens and supporting Aaron's project, click on the image below.

 I'll be sending out another Update before the Surveys go out, but if you have any questions in the meantime, leave a comment or send me a message and we'll get you an answer.

Thanks as always for your support.

Josh Krause, Original Magic Art LLC

What's Past the Finish Line?
over 8 years ago – Thu, Mar 03, 2016 at 09:36:10 PM

1,836 Backers.

$108,848 in funding. 

1,000+ Playmats, 800+ Token Collections and 1,250+ Full Sets between all of the Rewards, not counting Add Ons.

To say that I am astonished is insufficiently explanatory.  You have put a lot of trust in me and I plan on honoring it to the fullest.

Where we go from here

First things first, I am working on the Backer Surveys and getting those ready to send out.  Since I've already heard reports of difficulties with payments, I will be waiting until all of those have been resolved, which will be ~3 weeks from now.

The way Kickstarter handles rejected payments is a two step process:

• Payments are collected by Kickstarter for 2 weeks.  Any rejected payments will be re-attempted every 48 hours and (if I read the notice correctly) you will be notified upon rejection.
• Any payments that were not successfully collected will then have a grace period of 7 days to get their payment method finalized and confirmed after which one final attempt to secure payment will be made.
• If, after that final attempt, your payment does not go through, your pledge will be cancelled.  I REALLY don't want this to happen, for both of our sake.

Once Backer Surveys are sent out, I will then allow 3 weeks for everyone to complete them.  I thank everyone in advance that completes them as soon as they hit their inbox. You da real MVP.

The Backer Surveys will be where you can update your address, select Add Ons, and select the Playmats / Token Collections for your chosen Reward Level.  I already have most of that set up and it's a super easy process.  If you've never backed a project using Backerkit before, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

After 3 weeks, I will close the Surveys for selecting Add Ons and Reward Level choices so I can get a final count for printing.

Around a month later, if everything goes to plan, I will be closing the Surveys for Address changes so we can begin shipping. 

Am I shooting for a June ship date?  Yes.  Will we hit it?  Well, I put the ship date as August for a reason.  I will do everything I can to maintain this schedule, but unforeseen delays are always, well, unforeseen.

I haven't determined the shipping order of Rewards yet, I will likely get the more complicated orders out of the way first and work down from there.  1800+ orders is going to take some time to get out, so I ask in advance for patience.

That's the rough timeline of where we're going from here. I hope that answers some of your questions in advance.  If you have any additional questions, let me know in the comments.

New Add On!

That's right! I made a new Add On that you will be able to select through your Backer Surveys. 

Since I received a few inquiries about getting more Bonus Tokens, I decided to offer an extra set of them for $20 as an Add On.

Every backer will still be receiving their free set of Bonus Tokens, no changes being made there, this is just an option for those that may be interested.

Pre-Orders

If you've visited the project page recently, you may have noticed the "Back this Project" / "Manage your Pledge" button has changed to "Pre-Order Tokens & Playmats".

One of the benefits of Backer Kit is the Pre-Order page that they build so you can offer your products for those that missed out on the Kickstarter.

If you click on the button you will see that it's missing the Single Token options and Package Deals that were available with the Kickstarter.  I wanted to make sure that everyone that took the plunge with me gets a bit of extra value and flexibility while at the same time keeping the project open to others.

Pre-Order buyers will not be eligible for free Bonus Tokens, another Kickstarter only benefit, but they will have the option to purchase them if they so desire.

So, if you know of someone that might be interested in the project but were too slow, you can still direct them to the project page so they can get their Full Sets and other products.

Pre-Orders will be accepted until I close the Backer Surveys for Rewards and Add Ons so I can get final counts for the printers.

Closing Thoughts

Overall, I think the project went splendidly.  2000%+ funding is certainly nothing to cough at it and it's given me a ton of motivation towards doing things like this full time.

It's been an amazing experience, made all the better by you and your fellow backers.

Since the project did so well, work has already begun on version 2.0 as well as something, well, something pretty cool.

Until next time,

Josh Krause, Original Magic LLC