Beasts of the Mesozoic: Raptor Series Action Figures
Created by David Silva
Beasts of the Mesozoic is a line of 1/6th scale scientifically accurate dinosaur action figures, with great detail and articulation.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Wave 1 Raptors Shipping has Begun- PLEASE READ!
about 6 years ago
– Thu, Mar 15, 2018 at 11:55:23 PM
Wave 1 Raptors have Arrived and Fulfillment has commenced!
I just wanted to let everyone know that the Wave 1 raptors have indeed arrived at the New Jersey Fulfillrite warehouse and the first shipments went out yesterday to the tune of over 1200 packages! But there are still many more to go out...
Please Check Your Address on BackerKit
After shipping began yesterday, I heard from a few backers who'd missed the previous update and unfortunately had their reward shipped to their old address. I know mentioning this now may seem too little too late for some, but I was under the impression that BackerKit emails Kickstarter update alerts to everyone who's placed an order, so I apologize to those who may not have received that email. I've tested the system myself and it seems to work, but I see now that this may not work for everyone so moving forward I will also send a private group message as well. My sincere apologies to those that I was not able to reach in time and I will do all I can to assist in correcting the issue.
How do I know if my order has shipped?
For those who's rewards shipped yesterday, you would have received an email confirmation with a tracking number.
If you would like to change your address for this wave or for the one in May, please message me as soon as possible. To allow people time to check and edit their addresses, I am holding off on the remainder of fulfillment until Monday, March 19th.
Split Shipping Error
Some of the people who ordered the Accessory Packs, Nestlings, and/or Build-a-Raptors have accidentally had their orders split for the Wave 1 raptors. I just want those people to know that this was unexpected and it happened automatically as a result of having your address already confirmed in BackerKit for the previous shipment. For those who also ordered Wave 2 items, those will still ship in May as planned.
That's all for this brief update. Please allow a little extra time for me to respond to your messages as I have been receiving a lot lately, but I will get back to each and everyone of you as soon as I can. Thanks everyone!!
Wave 1 Raptors Shipping Soon- Plus Backer Pics and Paint Tutorial!
about 6 years ago
– Mon, Mar 12, 2018 at 08:41:00 PM
Wave 1 Raptors Shipping Soon!
The wait for the Beasts of the Mesozoic Deluxe Raptor action figures to begin shipping out into the world is nearly over! I have received confirmation of the China cargo shipment reaching the US safely last week and the goods are expected to be at the Fulfillrite warehouse in time to ship by this Friday. As we prepare for their imminent arrival, there are a few points I'd like to go over here.
Wave 1 Raptors will remain available on Backerkit until Wave 2 arrives
Instead of moving the Wave 1 deluxe raptors off of BackerKit to creative-beast.com as was done for the Nestlings, Accessory Packs, and Build-a-Raptors after they arrived, I've decided to keep the Wave 1 raptors available on BackerKit with their Wave 2 cousins until all of them are stateside in May. Since the plan to ship them all together from the factory had to be altered, I can at least keep them together on BackerKit a little longer at the pre-order price which also allows those with existing Wave 2 orders the option to add them if they want. In addition, they will also be available on creative-beast.com.
As mentioned in theprevious update, the split shipping option is still available for those with orders containing raptors from both Wave 1 and Wave 2. You may choose to split your order at any time before Wave 2 becomes available. To ship the additional package, the cost is $11 for US and $22 for international (base shipping rates) and this will cover the postage for shipping your Wave 1 raptors ahead of your Wave 2 raptors.
Also, please be sure that your addresses are correct. Many people have moved since ordering so if you have any doubts or would like to change your address, please contact me. I can only ship to the address on file with BackerKit.
If assistance is needed in either case, please message me here on Kickstarter or email me at [email protected].
Backer Product Photos- Accessory Packs, Nestlings, and Build-a-Raptors
While we anxiously await the arrival of the big boys, the Accessory Packs, Nestlings, and Build-a-Raptors have been making the rounds on social media as project backers have taken some impressive shots of their new acquisitions. Below is just a sampling of the photos posted on the Creative Beast Studio Facebook page. To see more, click here.
Photo by Michael Wilkins
Photo by Katie Boss
Photo by Breann Sledge
Photo by Ed Lydon
Photo by Stormy Lightning Strike
Photo by Shawn Warren
Photo by Michael Wilkins
Photo by RiAl Sant
Photo by Daniel Lipkowitz
There's also been some outstanding custom paintwork for the Build-a-Raptors, here are just a few:
Custom raptor by Quail Engstrom
Custom raptor by Jennifer Mellor
Custom raptor by Tony Califa
Custom raptor by RiAl Sant
In addition to Facebook, I also recommend checking out some of the recent pics posted on Instagram.
In the spirit of people painting up their Build-a-Raptors, I was inspired to paint one of my own and then thought, 'why not document it too?', so that's what I did. The entire process can be viewed at this gallery. There are too many steps to include here, but below are a few highlights.
beep beep!
Community Hub- the Beasts of the Mesozoic forum is up now!
For those interested in a place to discuss Beasts of the Mesozoic and other dinosaur/ toy-related topics, there's a new forum up now for all of your needs. Project supporter Tayler VanWeeteringen was kind enough to create this brand new Beasts of the Mesozoic community hub! Be one of the first to join in on the discussions here! And in addition, you can also check in with other community members on Discord here.
Nestlings Preview Video
Adding to the Accessory Pack preview videos, I recently posted a preview video for the Nestlings figures as well. In it I go over the figures, the features, and posing options- take a look!
And in case you missed the Accessory Pack Preview videos, just click the links below:
That's all for now. Watch for a follow-up this week on my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts regarding the Wave 1 Raptors shipping status. I'm also expecting new production samples for the Wave 2 raptors very soon as well so stay tuned for that and until next time!
ZOOM ZOOM- later!
Deluxe Raptors Shipping Soon From China! But a few aren't ready to leave just yet...
about 6 years ago
– Wed, Jan 31, 2018 at 12:33:58 AM
As many of you know, there has been no shortage of challenges throughout this journey to make the best dinosaur action figures on the market. And now as the end of production finally begins to take shape for the inaugural run of the Beasts of the Mesozoic: Raptor Series, a new development has recently been brought to my attention that will unfortunately cause the fulfillment period to once again be extended a little longer. To the point- 11 of the deluxe raptors will be available in March, while 6 will have to be delayed until May. Please read on for all of the details.
Deluxe Raptors- Now in Two Waves
'We wait... for now.'
The Chinese New Year will be upon us soon officially beginning on Feb. 16th and at that time the factories will close for about three weeks in observance of the holiday. The plan all along was to have the entire Beasts of the Mesozoic line finished before this observance period, but due to the amount of time required for the deco revisions that I have requested throughout production, only 11 of the 17 Deluxe Raptor SKU's will be ready to ship before the factory closes for the break.
I apologize for my part in this delay, but I felt it best to wait a little longer and allow the factory to give us their best effort instead of putting undue pressure on them and receiving just 'acceptable' figures that were likely rushed. In this case, as throughout this project, quality has priority over time.That being said, here's how the remaining fulfillment breaks down.
Deluxe Raptors- Wave 1 (March)
These raptors are scheduled to ship from the factory on Feb. 2nd and are expected to arrive to the US in early March. Included are:
These raptors are expected to ship from the factory no later than the end of March and arriving to the states in late April or early May. In the end, these figures will be about 6-8 weeks behind wave 1.
Now, I know what you're thinking...
'By the time all of these items ship, it will have been two years since the Kickstarter campaign happened! Geeze!'
This reaction is totally understandable and I'm probably having this thought more than anyone these days. It's a long time to wait, but I try to remind myself of these three things to help keep perspective:
- production actually began in late Nov. of 2016. Because of the many unlocked stretch goals during the Kickstarter, an additional six months was needed to finish all of the new sculpting. That outcome was completely unexpected, but of course I'm grateful for the opportunity.
- this concept hasn't been attempted before. This is likely the main reason for the success of the Kickstarter campaign. Action figure production is tricky enough, but creating a new type of action figure line brings additional obstacles to overcome, making set backs harder to predict than usual.
- diverse product range and total figures. Beginning the Kickstarter with only three figures, the original estimated ship date of May 2017 was very much within reach. However by the time the campaign ended, there was a total of 25 different items spanning 4 different product types which of course changed the production schedule completely. The upside though is that we'll end up with a complete collection of figures as opposed to a small sampling. What better way to impact the dinosaur toy market right out of the gate?
Keeping all of that in mind, I want everyone to know that I'm waiting along with you and I am confident that this will be worth it.
Updated Shipping Plan
Despite the deluxe raptor delay, I am happy to report that the Accessory Packs, Nestlings, and Build-a-Raptors have been shipping for the past several weeks and the feedback has been very positive! I will be posting a separate update soon with more on that, but for now here is the updated shipping schedule.
(As always, if anyone needs to change their shipping address, please contact me.)
Split Shipping
For those with orders containing any of the Wave 2 deluxe raptors, your orders will be shipped once all items are in-stock. However these orders can be split by request so that the in-stock portion of the order ships sooner. To help cover the extra shipping expense involved in this case, I am asking for an additional payment of the base shipping charge, $11 for US, $22 for international, to split an order. ( Note: in regards to the split shipping for the Accessory Packs, Nestlings, and Build-a-Raptors to US backers, this was done as a courtesy since the additional expense was still within the project budget.)
If you would like to have your order split, please message me here on Kickstarter or email me at [email protected].
And now that the serious business is out of the way, lets have some fun...
Deluxe Raptors Spotted in China
Recently, my good friend and contact in China, Stefan Folkins, did a random inspection of the deluxe raptor figures being prepped to ship soon. He took pics of what he considered to be the 'worst' of each case he looked at. Take a look!
And this was the last photo Stefan took- I haven't heard from him since...
Deluxe Raptor Wave 2 Production
Stefan was also able to send these photos recently showing progress on the wave 2 Deluxe Raptors. Glad to see that they're already well underway!
Accessory Packs, Nestlings, and Build-a-Raptors Leaving BackerKit
Now that the Accessory Packs, Nestlings, and Build-a-Raptors are in-stock and making their way into the world, it's almost time to take them from the BackerKit and move them to their permanent home on my newly designed creative-beast.com website, set to launch the week of Feb. 5th. Until then, they will remain available at the BackerKit pre-order store.
creative-beast.com shop preview
The main difference is that the prices will reflect the regular MSRP pricing as opposed to the special BackerKit pre-order prices.The MSRP prices are already being used at bigbadtoystore as well as Dan's Dinosaurs and are expected to be the same on Everything Dinosaur. The chart below shows a comparison of the prices for both BackerKit pre-order and MSRP.
As each wave becomes available, the items will be moved off of BackerKit to my website at the normal MSRP pricing.
Well that'll be all for now. As always thank you all for your support and please keep an eye on my Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for all of the latest project developments.
Take care everyone!
Later!
Build-a-Raptors, Accessory Packs, and Nestlings are shipping soon!
over 6 years ago
– Thu, Jan 11, 2018 at 10:45:07 PM
Fulfillment for Build-a-Raptors, Accessory Packs, and Nestlings begins on Monday, January 15th!
As of yesterday all of the Accessory Packs, Nestlings, and Build-a-Raptor products have arrived at the Fulfillrite warehouse in New Jersey and we are ready to begin shipping! As they will be integrated with the BackerKit order information, I wanted to give you all the opportunity to please double check your shipping addresses, as shipping will begin on Monday morning, January 15th! If you have moved since placing your order and have not updated your shipping info- now is the time. If you need help finding your order, you can always contact the helpful folks at BackerKit (direct email: [email protected] ), or message me here on Kickstarter and we'll get it sorted out for you!
In case you missed the last update, below is a chart showing which items will be going out and to whom. Keep in mind that Kickstarter rewards will have priority.
(Note: deluxe raptors are currently estimated to begin shipping near the end of February, but mostly in March.)
Here are few images of the product at the Fulfillrite warehouse:
I know I've said it before, but I really appreciate all of the support and patience of everyone thus far. It's so satisfying to know that we are finally beginning fulfillment! I can't help but to wish that all of the raptor product was shipping now, but this is a great start. Thank you all for helping to make this happen!
New Video Reviews!
I also wanted to mention here some new videos uploaded recently for Build-A-Raptor sets!
First we have a great new video review of the Velcoiraptor-type Build-a-Raptor set from 'Pixel Dan' Danny Eardly!
And here's an unboxing video from David Brooks over at Jurassic Collectibles for the Atrociraptor Build-a-Raptor set! He also gives a nice look at the BotM catalog I made last year as well.
In February I plan to move the Build-a-Raptors, Accessory Packs, and Nestlings to the new and improved creative-beast.com (teased in a previous update) set to launch early next month. The deluxe raptor figures, however, will remain available on the BackerKit store at the pre-order prices until they are ready to ship and then they too will transfer over to my website.
That's all for now. I will have another update in a few weeks focusing on the progress of the deluxe raptor product with all of the most up-to-date news and photos.
In the meantime, be sure to follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for all of the latest project news.
Talk to you soon!
Shipping status, Production Photos, Preview Videos and more!
over 6 years ago
– Tue, Dec 19, 2017 at 09:13:24 PM
Happy holidays everyone! How is it nearly Christmas already?
As many of you may remember in last month's Kickstarter update, I showed the first part of the package design process with the intention of a 'Part 2' follow up. However, a lot has been happening since then, so I'll be postponing that segment for now to focus on more current news. First up...
Current Production and Shipping status
'my precious...'
Deluxe Raptors
Let's get right to it.
When will the raptors ship to backers?
Short answer- the deluxe raptor figures, including Fans Choice raptors, are now estimated to begin shipping to backers in mid to late February and fulfillment will continue through March.
Long answer- When I wrote the previous KS production update, I'd been told that production would be completed by the end of this year meaning that the raptors would begin to ship to backers sometime in the latter part of January. Unfortunately based on the time required for the first several batches of raptors, the schedule had to be adjusted to allow for a few more weeks. They are now expecting production on the raptors to be completed in mid-January which means fulfillment will begin about 4-6 weeks after that in February.
The factory is right in the thick of raptor production now producing thousands of figures each week. My contacts in China have been keeping me informed with regular photo updates and any other relevant news. Here are some recent production highlights for the raptor figures over the past several weeks.
For more production photos, check out the full galleries here, here, and here.
The first batch of production samples are in as well, with more on the way- click the names below for additional images:
All Accessory Packs, Nestlings, and Build-a-Raptors have been completed and are currently en route to the US from China as of this writing. That's right, the Build-a-Raptor sets will be shipping earlier than expected! Production and safety testing were finished in time to include them with the recent boat shipment and they will be fulfilled along with Accessory Pack and Nestling orders. The cargo is set to land in California by the end of this month and will then be trucked to New Jersey to the Fulfillrite warehouse in Lakewood. Estimated New Jersey arrival is Jan. 2nd, which puts us about a week or so behind recent projections. I've been in touch with Fulfillrite and have the account set up to begin the fulfillment process as soon as possible once the product is received. I expect to begin fulfillment of these items within the first half of January.
Before the product was shipped from the factory, the items were randomly inspected and photographed. From what I can tell, these final versions look consistent with the samples I was sent previously.
Now that we know more about what to expect in terms of production and shipping, here is a breakdown of the current fulfillment shipping plan according to location and items. As noted in the previous KS update, the international orders will not be separated in order to minimize customs fees to backers.
(note: these dates are only meant to represent the beginning of fulfillment which will likely last into the following month due to the large number of orders. Kickstarter rewards will have priority. )
So that'll about do it for production and shipping news.
On to other business then...
Accessory Pack Preview Videos
In an effort to give you all an early look at some of the product, here are a couple of video previews I made recently showing the contents and features of the Accessory Pack sets.
Be sure to keep an eye on my social media for more preview videos coming soon!
Beasts of the Mesozoic in Newsweek article
Hey, Beasts of the Mesozoic made the News(week)! Click on the image below to see a recent Newsweek article highlighting scientifically accurate dinosaur gifts, and be sure to read through for brief interview I did at the end.
In case anyone missed this on my social media, the Test Shot Giveaway has begun and if you have backed or pre-ordered at least one of the seventeen main raptor figures or a Build-a-Raptor set, your name is automatically entered into the giveaway. Not on social? No problem as I will be contacting each winner directly via email to confirm their mailing address before shipping.
Congrats so far go to: Jeffrey Curtis Cecil, Tommy Neace, Yuhe Zou, Benjamin Yu, Wayne Barlowe, Sarah Stotler, Daniel Bilodeau, and Joel Goggin!
Stay tuned to my Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more winner announcements and best of luck to all the participants!
Farewell 2017...
In closing, I would like to thank you all so much for you encouragement and patience this year as this was the most exciting and challenging twelve months I've ever experienced. The only way 2017 could have been better is if I were able to ship all of your raptor figures to you in time for Christmas, but alas, these raptors ended up needing a little more time to make them what they were meant to be- amazing.
It's been a crazy ride so far, but we're almost there now. And once we get 'there', we'll do it all again. Bigger and better than before.
Happy Holidays Everyone!
I wish you all the happiest of holidays and a fantastic year in 2018.
