Post campaign FAQ, Kickstarter shipping error, game plan and more
almost 8 years ago – Mon, May 30, 2016 at 12:11:39 AM

Just wanted to follow up with everyone and address a few things before we get rolling with the actual in-progress updates.

Kickstarter shipping charge error

I received a response from Kickstarter about this after the campaign ended on Friday.

'Hi David,

Thanks for writing in about this, and apologies for the delayed reply. I realize it was probably a little strange for you to be getting these questions from backers! There was an issue involving the shipping cost getting added to a pledge again when a backer adjusted their reward. However, we’re happy to let you know that the situation backers were experiencing has been resolved. Backers should find that they were charged the correct amounts, but please let me know if you are hearing anything different.

We apologize for any inconvenience, and we’ll do our best to prevent problems like this in the future. If you continue to see any issues, please let us know.

Best, Noah'

So hopefully this issue will be or has been cleared up. If there are any more issues, please message me and I will contact them again.

Post-campaign FAQs

While I can no longer add to the campaign FAQ's, I wanted to post a few here to help with the post campaign process:

How will I be able to select my add-ons and can I still change my pledge level?

You will be able to add on to or change your pledge level with the BackerKit survey.

When and how will I receive the BackerKit survey?

The BackerKit survey will be emailed to you in about a month

I missed the campaign! Will I be able to purchase these items another way later?

If you missed out on the Kickstarter campaign, there will be limited product available after the KS orders are fulfilled. This product should be available on my website- creative-beast.com by next summer.

Will everything be available later or only certain items?

The only item exclusive to the Kickstarter campaign is the blue velociraptor osmolskae. All others will be eligible to be sold on my website later.

I may be moving before the items ship. Will I be able to change my address?

Yes. you will be able to update your address with BackerKit anytime before your items ship which won't be until next spring.

The game plan from here

Now that the campaign is over, here are how you can expect to see things take shape.

• I will continue sculpting and making prototypes for next two months or so (expect updates here)

• In the following weeks I will also be building the BackerKit survey based on the final items listed and unlocked from the campaign.

• You all will be emailed the BackerKit survey in about a month where you will be able to select your add-ons, change your pledge level, and add to your pledge amount.

• The BackerKits won't be locked until I finish all of the prototypes which I expect to take around two months from now, possibly longer. I estimate they will be locked in the early part of August. During this time you can either submit your BackerKit or wait until you see the product you're interested in. You will also be able to make adjustments during this time. The sooner you can submit the survey the better, but for those who are interested in product that has not been shown, you may  hold off to see the prototypes before making your final decisions.

• The printed rewards will be made during this time, but can only be sent to those who have turned in their BackerKit survey.

• With all of the sculpted parts finished by this point, the final tooling will be sent to China to begin production.

• Once the BackerKits are in, the per unit amounts will be tallied and I will be able to place an order with the factory for each SKU (stock keeping unit)

• After a few months, I should begin to receive unpainted samples from the factory to check for flaws or ways to improve the product. Painted samples will follow.

• During this time I will be setting up with a Fulfillment center to handle storage and shipping out product to you all. I have a place in mind here in New Jersey who I've been in touch with, but I will also be checking with a few others to make sure I find one that best suits my needs.

• From there it's just a matter of receiving the final product from China and having fulfillment take care of the rest. I will be in touch with them personally to make sure everything runs smoothly.

• Once all the Kickstarter orders are sent out, the remaining stock will be available on creative-beast.com

So that should give you all an idea of how things are planned to play out. As you can see, the campaign was just the beginning.

Updated package art

Jonathan Kuo recently sent me some revised versions of the Adasaurus and Dromaeosaurus art work with the primary wings much more apparent. I actually did not ask for this change, but he wanted to to do it and I'm very happy with the results. Expect these to replace the original versions on the packages and other printed materials.

Well that'll do it for now. I know it's a long update, but I wanted to get all of that out there so we can move forward. I'm currently working on deign charts detailing all of the shared parts between each raptor figure as well as a layouts for the 'build-your-own' raptor sets. I'll be showing those next time. Until then, enjoy the holiday weekend!

We Did it!! Beasts of the Mesozoic is funded and bigger than expected!
almost 8 years ago – Fri, May 27, 2016 at 10:07:27 PM

Wow.

It's hard to find the words to express how grateful I am for the tremendous support you all have shown for this project. It has been a long journey for me getting to this point, but the pasts month have just flown right by. Seems like just a few days ago I was fumbling in my sculpting studio around trying my best to make decent video for the campaign. I had to learn a lot for this Kickstarter that I was previously unfamiliar with. Much of it relating to things I would normally have no interest in- making videos, officially setting up my company, marketing, doing interviews etc. ( I just want to sculpt and draw to be honest). But I knew I had to try and I really needed to know, no matter what the response was, if I was right. I needed to ask the question: Do people want realistic dinosaur action figures? I was sure that they would, I sure did. Seems silly to even ask, but I couldn't help but to feel like it was time to really know for sure. Had this project failed, I would have accepted that and continued on my previous course of limiting myself to only making dinosaurs as model kits. But I decided to put this question out there to be seen and judged and you all answered with a resounding - 'yes'.

Those final numbers of 2,661 backers and $351,753 is our voice now. There isn't a toy company out there currently producing dinosaur or animal toys that won't know about this. How will they respond now that they are seeing indisputable evidence that the market is ready to receive accurate, high quality figures of these beloved creatures? This isn't about really Creative Beast Studio, it's you, about us, the fans. While I do plan to continue forward creating more of these figures, I am essentially only one person (with a day job) and am very limited because if this. But if the other companies out there see this and are inspired to innovate and improve their existing product lines, that will be the true victory. That was the point all along. My friends, we have just taken the first critical step in that direction. I could only provide the means, but you all made it a reality. I sincerely thank you each one of you for supporting this project and being a part of the Dinosaur Toy Revolution.

I will continue to keep you all up to date on the progress of each prototype as I go these next few months and look forward to continuing our discussions and getting to know you all a little better.

Thank you all again and take care.:)

Linheraptor package art update!
almost 8 years ago – Fri, May 27, 2016 at 06:27:19 PM

As we round the last turn, I wanted to post a look at the final package art for the Linheraptor exquisitus!

 So there you have it- the package and concept for all 12 main line raptors. I will be adding these to the page right away and answering your questions very soon as well.

Getting so close now to unlocking the final stretch goal! Now is the time to start letting everyone know that the Beasts of the Mesozoic Kickstarter is about to end. Here's a graphic you all can use to help do that:

 In the meantime I will try to get together one more update about the 'build-your-own' raptor sets.

Now onward to final hours!

Balaur bondoc assembled sculpt images and first look at the Raptor Nestling Stretch Goal sets
almost 8 years ago – Thu, May 26, 2016 at 10:51:46 PM

Almost at the 24hour mark and heading towards unlocking another stretch goal! Time to start making your final selections.

Baluar bondoc assembly photos

Now early on in the campaign I had said I would show you all the finished prototypes for both Saurornitholestes and Balaur, however that was contingent on me not adding more stretch goals. Well, we ended up blowing right through the initial stretch goals with about two weeks to go so the plan had to be modified. More stretch goals were developed and that inevitably took time away from the development the Balaur prototype, but that's okay. I still managed to sculpt the new parts and plan to have it completed and painted within the next week or so. But for now, here is a look at the final unpainted Baluar bondoc figure (and yes, this one has two pairs of poseable toe claws):

The newly sculpted parts still need some minor refining, but this is pretty much finished. I'm really looking forward to painting this one. (sorry Matt, I'm calling it!)

Raptor Nestling 3-Packs

And now here's your first look at the Raptor babies (Nestlings) I had announced yesterday as the final stretch goal at $335,000.

Once unlocked (not 'if') these will be $20US or $25 INT per pack add-on with a total of 3 different packs as noted in the graphic above.

New 'All-In' tiers

Also of note, I will be adding more all-in tiers as more items become unlocked so keep an eye out for those as well. As of now I have added one more all-in tier- look for the 'Nothing but Raptors' all-in which will get you all 16 available raptor figures and includes the four Fans choice raptors. This tier is $540 for US backers and $598 for International amounting to a $15 discount for either option.

Okay, that's all for now. Tomorrow morning for my final update during the campaign, I'll be showing off the Linheraptor packaging as well as a detailed look at the 'build-your-own' raptor sets and what they will include.

This is the final push everyone- the final 24 hours are upon us. tick tock...

Pyroraptor package art plus final post card and stretch goal details!
almost 8 years ago – Thu, May 26, 2016 at 12:24:28 AM

A lot to update today as we go into the final stretch now.

Pyroraptor art

First, here is the package art and layout for the Pyroraptor olympius action figure, painted by Jonathan Kuo!

Wow, that's one intimidating dino!

Post card add-ons

And as for add-ons- the campaign page will be updated soon with these three post card items:

Post card pack 1 will now include the Velociraptor o. art for no additional cost:

 And here's post card pack 2 which will also be $10:

 (Oops, is that the Linheraptor?) More on that soon.

And although there is only one art piece currently, there will be an add-on for the Fans Choice raptor art (set of 4) by Sara Richard for $8:

Final stretch goal items

And as for the final stretch goals- I have decided to only do one more stretch goal but I think you all will like it. There will be baby raptors! I'm currently working on the concept images but I can tell you these details:

• There will be 3 packs of three figures (standing, running, and sitting).
• Each pack will feature a different color scheme- dark grey, light grey, and amber yellow
• The static figures will stand about 2" tall and have interchangeable head/neck parts (open mouth, closed mouth, turning head w/ partially open mouth)
• All three packs will be unlocked at once if we reach $335,000 (this is because of all of the new tooling involved)
• price per pack add-on will be $20US or $25 INT

As for the art book- I gave it a lot of thought and have decided not to do an art book at this time. I simply don't have a solid enough plan in place for that and if I do a book, I would want it to be done right with a high level of quality. I don't feel I can provide that right now and I also need to focus on making the raptor figures as good as they can be. But I do have interest and hope to get to it at some point later on.

And the mini-raptor pack may be something for later as well, but I just felt like it would take away too much from the appeal of the environment packs and might also seem redundant. Again, I may find a way to work this in later on when it seems more appropriate.

Saurian Kickstarter is now live

fro all of you dinosaur fans out there backing this project, I wanted to take this time to let you know (as if you didn't already) that the amazing Saurian video game Kickstarter campaign is live now as of yesterday afternoon! You can check it out here. I've been following progress on this for some time now and it looks very impressive and well thought out. Give it a look if you haven't already!

And one more thing that has com up recently is an apparent glitch with adjusting your pledge where people are being charged additional for shipping. I have addressed this in the comments section, but I wanted to let you all know that I have contacted Kickstarter about this and am waiting to hear back. I double checked everything on my end and as far as I can tell it's all correct. So please don't panic if you're having issues, I am confident that it will get sorted out.

Alright, not much time left now so let's have another great funding day and unlock some more stretch goals! Campaign page update will be tonight with these new items and tomorrow I'll show the baby raptor concept art and something else you all have been waiting for. Stay tuned!