International shipping status + Mathieu's next book: ADRASTEA!
about 2 years ago – Tue, Mar 01, 2022 at 05:26:53 PM

Hi everyone!

A quick status report on international orders:

• UK/EU stock is well on its way to Spiral Galaxy and is expected to arrive there within the next two weeks (ETA March 13th). Assuming there are no unexpected events, they should be able to have all packages out by the end of the month. (Hopefully the current political situation doesn't cause any further delays, but some countries might be more affected than others...)
• AU/NZ stock was picked by Aetherworks last week, which should put those orders on roughly the same timeline.
• ASIA order inventory was received by VFI last week, so those orders should be going out very shortly!

We know this is taking longer than expected, and we're all doing what we can to navigate the ongoing (and increasingly complicated) international shipping situation, but there's not much we can do beyond patiently going through the available steps. With all that is happening in the world, our little comic books feels pretty insignificant, but we hope that when it does arrive (and it will soon), it'll provide a little respite and an enjoyable escape to make it worth the wait. 😊

In the meantime:

Mathieu's next book LAUNCHES TOMORROW!

ADRASTEA by Mathieu Bablet

For those of you who have by now read SHANGRI-LA and CARBON & SILICON, you know how amazing Mathieu's work is. (International backers, you will soon... they're on their way to you as we speak...!) Set in Greek mythology, this new book is equally beautiful, poetic, action-packed, quirky, and epic. It tells the story of a man who cannot die, so after 1000 years of watching loved ones die and his empire crumble, he sets out on a quest to demand answers from the gods of Olympus...

We'll be offering a limited edition, campaign-exclusive "Immortal" Bundle with a bunch of nice extras, as well as the usual array of stretch goals and bonus prints for pre-registering and pledging on Day 1.
Plus:

*** FREE SHIPPING for backers of OGRE GODS or ARSENE LUPIN! ***

Much like we did with SHANGRI-LA + FALSE GUARD + THE WALL, if you backed either of our previous two campaigns for THE OGRE GODS SAGA or ARSENE LUPIN, GENTLEMAN THIEF, or pre-order either from their Backerkit stores before closing at the end of March, we can add your physical pledge items from this campaign to your previous order so that they ship together at no extra cost! Free shipping will be applied to all qualifying pledges during pledge management in Backerkit.

This is going to be another beautiful book, a perfect companion to SHANGRI-LA or CARBON & SILICON, and we're excited to give ADRASTEA the spotlight treatment it deserves!

Hope to see you there tomorrow!

ARSENE LUPIN, GENTLEMAN THIEF ends in TWO DAYS!
about 2 years ago – Fri, Feb 11, 2022 at 06:46:17 AM

Hi everyone!

We're hoping to have some updated shipping news from Quartermaster and the international hubs soon, but in the meantime...

There are only TWO DAYS LEFT to join the ARSENE LUPIN, GENTLEMAN THIEF Kickstarter campaign before it ends!

You don't want to miss out on the fabulous package of exclusive, limited-edition bonus items that have been unlocked to be included with all physical pledges for FREE! Right now, that's about $40 worth of exclusive collectibles that will not be available anywhere else once this campaign is complete. And you can get this whole beautiful art package for simply pre-ordering the $30 base tier or $40 Limited Edition Cipher Edition tier!

Like we did with FALSE GUARD and THE WALL, if you also backed our OGRE GODS campaign or pre-order from the Backerkit, you can get FREE SHIPPING by bundling both packages into one! Both campaigns will ship in May, so it's the perfect way to save on the skyrocketing cost of shipping these days.

We're hopeful that we'll unlock the numbered bookplates at $90k, but if even a portion of you non-backers watching this campaign come on board in the next 48 hours, everyone will benefit from having a matching "Holmes" lapel pin added to the set. It really is a bargain worth taking advantage of! (Can we hit that last stretch goal to make it $50 worth...? The lapel pins are sweet...)

Oh, and of course, there's THE FABULOUS BOOK ITSELF! 😊

Please check it out and help spread the word!

Shipping Update - Jan 24
over 2 years ago – Mon, Jan 24, 2022 at 07:01:54 PM

Hi everyone!

Hope you are doing well, and hope that most of you (in the US and Canada) have received your packages by now. We just got an update from Quartermaster on the international order status, as follows:

- UK/EU orders are departing for Spiral Galaxy in the UK this week. Figure 2-4 weeks for them to receive the inventory, pack up the individual orders, and send them on their way. So you should have your items in late February (early March at the latest, in case of unexpected delays).

- AUS/NZ orders are being picked up by Aetherworks Freight Forwarding Partner shortly. Still waiting on a pickup date from them. I know that "shortly" isn't helpful, and we're sorry for the delay in having more specific dates; getting goods down under (for a cost anywhere close to reasonable) has been one of the biggest challenges in all this global shipping fiasco. Aetherworks is doing what they can to prioritize container space by grouping multiple campaigns and products together, so that will have some impact on when the combined goods leave the states. I don't know if they're waiting for something more or if they're ready to fly with what they have now. As soon as Quartermaster can confirm with them, we will let you know. Suffice it to say that once they have the inventory, they should be able to turn the orders around in less than 2 weeks.

- Asia orders are on their way to VFI now and are expected to arrive there around Feb 16th. Those orders should then be turned around quickly and in backer hands 2-3 weeks following (depending on the speed of local regional carriers).

Once again, thanks for your patience, everyone. As challenging as this particular fulfillment has been, it would have been three times as challenging (and expensive, for all of us) if we hadn't combined these three campaigns into one shipping project. We've certainly learned some tricks this time around which we will put into practice with this next round of "Free Shipping" campaign bundling that started with OGRE GODS and continues with tomorrow's launch of ARSENE LUPIN, GENTLEMAN THIEF. There will be a third campaign available to piggyback for free later on in the Spring, before the target May fulfillment window, so if you're looking to get some great books and collectibles while saving on shipping, we encourage you to back 'em all! 😊

Shipping update
over 2 years ago – Wed, Dec 29, 2021 at 12:42:30 PM

Hi everyone!

Hope you had a great Christmas/Holiday weekend!

Sorry for the late update -- the holidays certainly knock out a chunk of mindshare which becomes even more precious as end-of-year business and deadlines pile up to complicate things even further... 

That said, here's where things stand:

Quartermaster had to wrap up a larger project just ahead of ours, which they were able to do last week just before closing for Christmas. They were able to get items pre-packed and ready to start rolling out the door this week.

I was hoping for concrete confirmation that shipping had actually started, but as of this morning, I only have their confident promise that orders will be going out, starting today and through Thursday. As they've been a stupendous and immensely helpful partner all year (8 campaigns already!), we trust their word. So while we don't have tracking or confirmation just yet, we are confident they'll come through.

(Full disclosure: In order for Magnetic Press to recognize the revenue from these campaigns in this calendar year, those orders must ship this year. Something about how cashflow is different from revenue earnings, I dunno... it's accounting stuff I don't fully understand, but with that imperative in mind, QML knows they are in the hot seat to make sure things are indeed out this week...)

As soon as I can get ACTUAL confirmation, I'll post accordingly. I will be traveling again this weekend for New Year's with the other side of the family but will do my best to report in here more faithfully. 😊 2022 is going to be another big year, and I hope we can keep your confidence and support through it all! 😁

Packing pix! Packages getting ready to roll out!
over 2 years ago – Tue, Dec 14, 2021 at 08:04:49 PM

Hi everyone!

Just a quick status update on shipping: Quartermaster has everything and they have completed assembly of the various bundles and such that go into each box. Here's a pic of what a loaded, basic package might look like:

Note: I have asked that they place the lapel pins face down so that the backing is pointing up, away from the other items in the kit.

Currently, they believe packages should start leaving their warehouse next week (just ahead of their holiday closure). That is a few days later than they originally planned, but apparently, they are wrapping up another big campaign that took a bit longer than expected. They are still deadset on getting these out before the holiday though. 😊

That includes the international freight shipments to the UK/EU, AUSTRALIA, and ASIA hubs. We'll provide more details once they are able to secure specifics.

In the meantime, you might be interested in what's currently on our drawing boards... Just a tease (although some of you might already recognize it)...  you'll definitely hear more about it in the new year... 😉