BackerKit Lockdown Final Extension- now Nov. 7th. Plus new raptors sculpts!
over 9 years ago – Wed, Sep 28, 2016 at 07:41:30 PM

Hi all,

As October 7th looms closer, it has become apparent that I will need more time to complete all of the Beasts of the Mesozoic prototypes in order to meet the high standard that has already been set. I estimate an additional month is needed to complete the sculpting process for the remaining items, which sets the new BackerKit lock down date at Nov. 7th 2016. My sincere apologies for the delay. Currently I am looking to finish up all four accessory pack raptors within the next week and then right on to bases, nestlings and environment accessories. Here's a quick progress update on the new raptors:

It's a learning process

It is obvious to me now that I began my Kickstarter with way too little product prepared. The huge response caught me off guard as it really grew into something much bigger than I could have anticipated. (not to sound like I'm complaining however)

So now it's nearly October and I'm about one month away from getting back on track. This time I have a timetable laid out, detailing my plan to finish the remaining products showing exactly how I plan to execute the remaining pieces. I also worked in an extra week at the end in case I fall behind again. Rest assured, I am taking notes along the way on how to run things more efficiently on the next go around. But there was no way to learn until I dove in and did it, so here we are, and honestly it's been a great experience so far.

Why not close the BackerKit surveys anyway?

So far 15% of backers still have yet to complete their surveys and I can only imagine this is because you all want to see all of the product before making your final decisions. During the Kickstarter campaign, I made a promise that I wouldn’t close the BackerKits until I showed ALL of the product, and I feel that I need to stand by this.

Another extension?

Yes this is the second extension now, but please know that I wouldn’t set the schedule back unless it were absolutely necessary and for the benefit of the products. I am very much looking forward to having these toys in-hand as much as anyone. But how does this effect the outcome of the project? Let's take a look.

Pros:

-Backers will be able to make informed decisions about what they are ordering by seeing the final prototypes.

-Prototypes will be as good as possible due to the development process not being compromised.

-Backers will have more time to complete their surveys if they choose.

Cons:

-A delay at this point could effect the final estimated ship date for the action figures.

-Printed materials will be delayed by one more month.

-Surveys and pre-orders will not charge automatically on Oct. 7th for those expecting it. All BackerKit orders will now be charged on Nov. 7th instead.

For those who ordered calendars and other printed materials, they will still ship in time for the holiday season this year. I now estimate shipping for these items will begin in mid to late November.

And as with the previous extension, if you need me to charge and close your order, it's no problem at all. Just send me a message here on Kickstarter or email me at [email protected]. I realize that you all have schedules of your own to keep, and I wouldn’t want to complicate that so I can lock down your order at any time by request.

Also, if you have submitted your survey and you decide that you want to add an additional item or items, I can reset your survey or add items for you, just let me know. (this has actually happened several times recently).

Okay okay, one more month then

I will continue to update progress here on Kickstarter periodically, but for the day-to-day Beasts of the Mesozoic news, please follow my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts.

And the pre-order store will remain open until the lock down date as well. Please help me spread the word to those who may miss this message and feel free to copy and re-post the image below if you'd like. Thank you all for your continued support and patience- I look forward to showing you more progress soon.

BIG UPDATE- Raptor Photo Roundup, JerseyFest Display, and Accessory Pack Progress
over 9 years ago – Mon, Sep 19, 2016 at 12:07:31 AM

Been meaning to catch up on the photos for the last several raptors including the Fans Choice figures. So finally, here are photos of all the raptors you've been waiting to see more of. Here we go...

The Raptor Photo Roundup

Zhenyuanlong suni (mainline- revised version)

 Pyroraptor olympius (mainline)

Dromaeosaurus albertensis (Fans Choice)

 Pyroraptor olympius (Fans Choice)

Saurornitholestes langstoni (Fans Choice)

Zhenyuanlong suni (Fans Choice)

 Anddd... that gets us all caught up on the main raptor photos. I will be adding all of these to my website as time permits. What's that? You want to see them all together- okay...

Also, I made a few small adjustments to the parts map. One of our helpful backers, Sim, was able to catch some inconsistencies that I overlooked. So the changes have been made and this seems to be accurate now (finally). The parts arrangements have definitely gone through their own 'evolution' during the course of this project. Variants have also been noted as well. Hi-res version here.

JerseyFest 2016- Beasts of the Mesozoic display

Just wanted to briefly show off the display at the recent JerseyFest model show this past month.

It was great turn out and I want to thank those here that were able to make it out to see me and the raptors in person. It was awesome meeting you all and I had a great time talking dinosaurs and making new friends.

One of the best parts of the show was that two people who have been integral to the success of Beasts of the Mesozoic were also at there- my moldmaker Jeremy Monz (left) and my painter Matt Holt (right). I don't get to visit with these guys often enough so it was great that we were all in one place.

 And for a more 3D look at the raptor prototypes, I shot this little video while the display was up at the show. (Matt has a cameo.)

Accessory Pack sculpt update

And here's an early look at the upcoming 6" raptors for the environment accessory packs. I'm hoping to get these done sometime in the coming week with the bases soon to follow.

 As you can see from the photos, the articulation will be more limited and will consist of jaw, base of the neck, shoulders, hips, and base of the tail. They will also have individual foot bases and a foot peg (not seen) that will allow them to be interchangeable between all of the accessory pack bases

Was that enough? No? Okay well here's something else...

Okay I'm done now. Hopefully you made it this far.

More on the accessory packs and new package art reveals soon. Until next time!

BackerKit lock down date extended to Oct. 7th!
over 9 years ago – Fri, Aug 26, 2016 at 08:41:27 PM

 Although progress has been very steady in developing the remaining figures, it has been moving along slower than I had anticipated and I've been considering this for some time now.

As you may recall, I recently decided to set the schedule back a bit to re-sculpt the Zhenyuanlong head and wings.This set back, and just a general slow progression of preparing each prototype has lead to me pushing back the BackerKit lock down date from September 6th to to October 7th 2016.

What does this mean for the project?

With projects like this, there will inevitably be some delays, but always for the sake of creating a better product. I am very happy and proud of what has been produced and what we've been able to achieve so far. Moving forward I want you all to know that at no point in this process will I accept a quicker easier way at the expense of quality. I could leave the lock down date at Sept. 6th, but I still have about a months worth of work left for developing the environment packs and the hatchlings and since I won't be tooling parts in China until all of the pieces are sculpted and sent together, I may as well leave the BackerKit open a little longer. Plus, I know there are many of you who would like to see what you're buying before you pre-order. I can respect that and that was always the intention.

Considering that the orders aren't charged until the lock down, there may be a few of you who were planning to be charged for your order on Sept. 6th and that is not a problem. If you would like me to lock down your BackerKit survey or pre-order at any time, please contact me directly and I can lock down orders on an individual basis. Otherwise, all orders will be scheduled to close and charge on Oct. 7th.

I thank you all once again for your help in supporting this project and for spreading the word to others. The BackerKit totals are going up every day with new orders from new backers who just found out about this project.

Keep checking my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for up-to-date reveals. And of course, you can find the pre-order store here.

I have to prepare for JerseyFest now! Keep an eye on my social media for some cool pics from the show as well as more Fans Choice reveals in the days to come.

Until next time!

Finished Acheroraptor and Linheraptor, Zhenyuanlong revisions and more!
over 9 years ago – Sat, Aug 20, 2016 at 10:14:28 PM

Alright, it's time for another update! As many of your know, this is mostly a collection of news about the line that I've posted on social media the past week or so. Big thanks to all of those who follow me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr.

This is another beefy update, so let's dive in!

New Finished Prototypes- Acheroraptor and Linheraptor

Below are in-depth looks at the recently completed prototypes for Acheoraptor and Linheraptor. Both were brilliantly painted by my boy, Matt Holt. I don't know what I'd do without his help in getting these done. Take a look!

Finished Acheroraptor

Finished Linheraptor

These will both be updated on BackerKit shortly.

And here's a  seek peak at the new Pyroraptor, painted by Matt and myself.

Re-sculpted head and wings for Zhenyuanlong

A lot of you already know about this, but I recently decided to make some major changes to the previously finished Zhenyuanlong. Despite the response to the first version being mostly positive, there were a few people who were disappointed with the head and the size of the wings. Even though I've created a very tight schedule for myself to get these figures done, I couldn't help but to agree with the handful of people who voiced their concern. This is one that myself and many others were really really looking forward to and it needed it to not just be good, but great. Well I decided it was well short of great and thus I took a few steps back and completely re-sculpted the head to be a little smaller and have more of that flare from the initial concept while not deviating too much from the package art. I also modified the existing wings to be larger and shaped more like the reconstructions based on fossil evidence. These wings will now replace the primaries on Balaur as well. The new secondaries/ forearms were intentionally not changed too drastically because they will also be shared with Balaur, Dromaeosaurus, and Linheraptor and I didn't want to effect the overall look of those. Expect to see more on this very soon as the new resin parts are literally in the mail as I type this. Until then, I've included a comparison of the modified version and the original version.

Beasts of the Mesozoic Raptor Prototypes at JerseyFest- One Time Only!

Just a quick note of interest for those in the New Jersey area- I will be showing all 16 of these raptor prototypes as well as my model kits at JerseyFest next weekend August 27th and 28th in Whippany, NJ. This is the only time all of these prototypes will be on public display before I have to send them off to China as paint masters for the toys. I will also have some of my model kits for sale as well. It will be my fourth time doing this show and there is always a lot of cool stuff to see so come check it out if you can!

Accessory Pack Wetlands package art tease

And I have not forgotten about accessory packs. The ball is in motion on those and here's a tease of Jonathan Kuo's package art for the first set- Wetlands accessory pack with Buitreraptor. Keep an eye on the social media for a full reveal soon!

That will do it for now. I actually have even more to show, but this is pretty lengthy as it is so I'll save the rest for later.

Until next time!

Painted Adasaurus and Zhenyuanlong pics and more!
over 9 years ago – Fri, Aug 05, 2016 at 08:22:19 PM

Finished Adasaurus prototype

As many of you have already seen on social media, the Adasaurus is finished! Big thank you once again to Matt Holt for the great paint work! Included are some photos that I haven't shown previously.

Finished Zhenyuanlong prototype

And here's a look at the latest raptor- the highly anticipated Zhenyuanlong! I'm very pleased with how this one turned out- it really stands out from the other designs yet remains grounded in natural history. As with the Adasaurus, it takes much of it's inspiration from Jonathan Kuo's fantastic package art.

 Dromaeosaurus head shots

Just wanted to include some follow-up head shots for those interested in seeing more of the Dromaeosaurus head paint details. Hope this helps!

 Pyrorapotor and Linheraptor in resin

And rounding out this update- a look at the resin builds for Pyroraptor and Linheraptor. From these photos you can get an idea which parts will be included for these figures. Matt is currently painting Linheraptor and I will begin painting Pyroraptor this weekend. Really looking forward to these!

And a quick note on the remaining raptors- Acheroraptor is pretty much done, watch for that early next week on social, and the Fans Choice Dromaeosaurus and Zhenyuanlong are also very nearly finished as well. Fans Choice Saurornitholestes will begin soon. And sculpting and paintwork for the accessory packs and small raptors is being planned out right now. It's going to be a busy month!

Thank you all again for tremendous support. Please keep telling your friends about this project and be sure to direct those interested to the pre-order store here.

That's all for now- take care!