Shipping is Underway!
about 1 year ago – Fri, Nov 10, 2023 at 11:54:29 AM

Radiants,

I'm thrilled to be writing today to let you know that shipping is officially underway. This project has been both an exciting and challenging one. Exciting because it was bringing to life our favorite world in ways that had never been done before. Challenging because of its scale and our determination to get the minis, figures, and statues perfect. Fulfillment has proven no less challenging, but it is moving forward. 

US Shipping has Begun

Easyship started the fulfillment process earlier this week, ironing out order processing issues and running the many quality assurance checks required for the sheer number of USA orders they are processing. Today orders are leaving the warehouse.  We expect the number of orders to ramp up each day and for all of US fulfillment in total to be complete in about 3 weeks. That means that some backers will receive tracking emails today, but you shouldn't panic if you're not seeing your tracking email right away. Be assured, your pledge IS coming. With so many packages shipping out, we expect some number of backers to experience minor delivery issues, but no matter what happens, we'll make sure that your order gets into your hands.

International Fulfillment Planning Begins

With the 15,000+ US orders underway, we now turn out attention to international orders. Here's what we know: product is still on the water for most locations, but is expected to arrive on the following dates...

•  Australia: November 19th
•  EU: November 29th
•  Canada: December 3rd
•  United Kingdom: December 3rd
•  Asia: Arriving any day now
• Latin America and Rest of the World: Arriving any day now

Because these zones have comparatively fewer orders, fulfillment there will take far less time than the US batch. The main issue is getting product through customs, which can be highly unpredictable. Assuming that goes well for each zone, our current best guess is that shipping begins before Christmas in each zone. We know how important that is for you, so we're doing our absolute best to push all parties to make that happen.

That's it for now. We're so excited for you to be getting these. In our next update, we'll follow up with a post dedicated to handling any customer service questions that arise as backers begin receiving miniatures. Stay tuned until then, and thank you!

Chris "Brother One" O'Neal

There's a highstorm comin'
about 1 year ago – Wed, Oct 25, 2023 at 02:41:03 PM

Hello, Radiants! We're excited to announce that today Easyship (our fulfillment partner) will begin the first steps of US fulfillment. This is not a quick or easy process, given the number of US backers and the complexity of the orders, but it is great to officially kick things off. In this update we want to lay out the current schedule as we understand it, but keep in mind it is possible for things to shift forward or backward by a couple of days depending on what goes perfectly versus what needs to be problem-solved.

As of today, the vast majority of units have arrived in the US fulfillment zone and Easyship can begin processing orders. It has taken almost 15 shipping containers to get everything from the factory to the fulfillment warehouse. Take a look at all these casepacks:

...And those photos show just a small fraction of what we'll be shipping!

Today, Thursday, and Friday, Easyship will be exporting the BackerKit data set into their own system. From this point forward, address changes become more challenging and have to be done manually. If you absolutely must change your address, please email us at [email protected] and we'll do so from within Easyship. **Address updates will not show in BackerKit from here on out!**

From Monday to Thursday of next week, Easyship will be printing labels, prepping shipments and doing quality assurance checks on the whole process. While we want shipping to begin ASAP, we also want it to be well-organized and problem-free. One small error could propagate through thousands of shipments and create headaches for everyone, so it's important to get this right.

Beginning Friday of next week, or Monday the 6th, US shipping will begin. This is about a week later than we'd expected, but it also sounds like the fulfillment process won't take as long as we originally projected. Easyship currently estimates that they'll only need a couple of weeks to send out all US shipments. We will provide more updates on the projected fulfillment timeline when we have them!

Now, with US fulfillment almost ready to begin, we are turning our attention to our other fulfillment zones. We don't yet have concrete updates for those zones, but please know that we are working hard to begin fulfillment around the world. We'll continue to send updates about those timelines, and we're grateful for the continued patience and support of our international backers. Thank you! 

Journey before Destination,

your friends at Brotherwise

The Total Package
about 1 year ago – Thu, Sep 21, 2023 at 01:26:02 PM

Hello, Radiants! Today we’re sharing sneak peek at the final in-package miniatures, along with a fulfillment update and a teaser for the future of Stormlight gaming. We’re pleased to report that everything is proceeding well.

An Impressive Collection

First up, here’s a video from Johnny O’Neal, co-founder of Brotherwise Games and Creative Director for all our Dragonsteel projects. We’ve reviewed product and package samples at various stages in the project, but this is the first time we’ve had a full lineup of items straight off the production line. It’s a pretty awesome sight!

As Johnny says, we’re truly grateful for the support and patience of everyone who backed this project. Between the expansion of this project's scope and our commitment to quality, we faced several delays during the early stages of production. But we’re thrilled with the final product and we’re excited to be moving from production to fulfillment.

Fulfillment Update

In August, we estimated that shipping to backers would begin in late October, and that’s still on track. We’ve been working with our fulfillment partner, Easyship, to come up with a plan that delivers everything in the most efficient way possible. Product is already beginning to move to the various fulfillment hubs in preparation for the big push. Once fulfillment begins, we’ll provide progress updates for each zone.

In the meantime, please let us know if you have any questions or address changes. While addresses are now locked in BackerKit, we can make individual changes if needed. Whatever your situation, we’re committed to making sure you get your pledge rewards as quickly (and securely) as possible!

Playtesting Opportunity

During the campaign, we announced that these miniatures are more than just collectibles: they’re perfect gameplay accessories for the upcoming Stormlight RPG! We’re now a year into our work for the tabletop role playing game. Our team of experienced RPG designers has drafted initial manuscripts for the Stormlight Handbook and World Guide books, incorporating feedback from Pre-Alpha testing is underway. The next step is Alpha testing.

We’d like to extend a special invitation for backers of this campaign to get involved as RPG playtesters. At this stage, we’re especially interested in experienced GMs with access to playgroups who can meet during the month of October. If that sounds fun to you, please follow this link to sign up.

Thank you and have a great day!

Address Lockdown Coming Next Week
over 1 year ago – Thu, Aug 31, 2023 at 04:09:16 PM

Greetings Radiants,

Fulfillment grows ever closer, and we think we're close enough now that it makes sense to lock addresses in Backerkit. Sometime next week you'll receive an email from Backerkit asking you to confirm your address. You'll have a couple days to do so. 

Since we are planning for shipping to begin in October/November, you should use an address that you expect to be good through the end of the year.

Note, if you have an emergency address change during this time, no worries! You can always reach out to us and we can change the address manually in our fulfillment system.

Thanks much!

Brotherwise Games.

Production Behind-the-Scenes and Shipping Update
over 1 year ago – Mon, Aug 21, 2023 at 06:39:42 PM

Greetings, Radiants! We're happy to be writing you today with some firm dates and milestones for fulfillment. We're also sharing a closer look at the production process, and a sneak peek at what's ahead for Stormlight fans.

Production and Shipping Dates

This project has been, and continues to be, a major production effort. Over the past several months, we've hit some delays by adding new stretch goal characters, collaborating closely with Brandon and Dragonsteel to incorporate additional feedback,  and constantly working sure to keep everything at the highest quality standards. We've just received word that all our pieces, from minis to statuary will be completely produced and packaged at the factory by the end of September.

Production and assembly of minis is incredibly labor intensive, and almost every step in the process is done by hand. Here's a video from our factory partners at Liya showing just one assembly step of the Alethi Spearman:

When you multiply that process by the tens of thousands of miniatures in the thousands of blue bins you see here, it adds up to months of work. From worker safety standards to product quality, Liya is one of the best factories in the business, and here you can see the care that's being put into every single miniature. 

From Production to Fulfillment

As we conclude production, we're working with our partners at Easyship to get those pieces moving out to the fulfillment zones. Some of that product will arrive at those zones 2-3 weeks ahead of the last products to be produced, and fulfillment won't begin until all the product is in each zone.

In the meantime, we won't be sitting around twiddling our thumbs waiting for that final product to arrive. In each zone we're already working to optimize packing for shipping and product protection. We're coordinating with local partners to make sure "last mile" shipping goes smoothly. And we're setting up shipping lists and labels so that we'll be ready to go the moment that final product arrives.

All of this means that we expect shipping to begin in late October, with your exact shipping window depending on your zone. Zones closer to China are likely to start shipping earlier; zones farther away are likely to ship a little later. Fulfillment in the larger zones (US and the UK/EU) is likely to take a week or two, meaning someone else in your zone may get their products before you. But please rest assured, the goal of everyone involved is to get every backer your Stormlight minis as quickly as we can!

Locking Your Address

Our goal is to give you as much time as possible before locking your address, so last-minute address changes don't disrupt your fulfillment. When Easyship gives us notice to lock addresses, we'll give you a few days warning on that AND we'll lock addresses in Backerkit with another few days of buffer built in. Even then, if you have an emergency address change, we'll be able to change it manually in Easyship's orders system. So don't sweat it. We'll find you one way or the other!

A Hit at Gen Con

Every August, Gen Con brings 80,000 tabletop gaming fans to the Indianapolis Convention Center. This year, the Brotherwise Games booth included one glass case featuring sneak peeks at Stormlight Premium Miniatures and the Stormlight RPG. All week long, Cosmere fans surrounded by the display.

For a closer look at the display case, including miniatures hand-painted by Elle Firespray, here's a video link. The statue and miniatures got rave reviews from the many onlookers, but people seemed especially intrigued by a couple of partially-visible character sheets for the Stormlight RPG. Gen Con even brought news of a new game being developed by Brotherwise and Dragonsteel... look for an update later this year, possibly at Dragonsteel.

Thanks for sharing in the product development journey of Stormlight Premium Miniatures. This project is awesome on its own merits, but it's also the catalyst for years of Cosmere tabletop games and collectibles. We're excited to be concluding production and can't wait to get these pieces into your hands. We've appreciated your patience, encouragement, and continued excitement at every step of this project... and we promise that the destination for this journey is on its way!