1 Color Relaunch of Meeples with Early Birds

[Lukeout]

Thanks to some great advice from Don here, we just announced our new "extra" cards. These are point scoring tracking cards that people can use when they play games. They are based on an older deck that Don posted up here, of course done in the style of the deck. We really like these as they are unique and feel right for this deck. I hope you like them too!

This campaign only has 6 days left, and we'd love it if you shared the link with any gaming friends you might have. It's going to be really really close and we could use the help...

Thanks!

[Don Boyer]

Thanks to some great advice from Don here, we just announced our new "extra" cards. These are point scoring tracking cards that people can use when they play games. They are based on an older deck that Don posted up here, of course done in the style of the deck. We really like these as they are unique and feel right for this deck. I hope you like them too!

This campaign only has 6 days left, and we'd love it if you shared the link with any gaming friends you might have. It's going to be really really close and we could use the help...

Thanks!

Thank you, thank you - no applause necessary, just throw money... 

You did a great job on the look of them.  Are you connecting them at the corner yourself or leaving that as a DIY project?

[Lukeout]

The campaign is down to the final 30 hours and we're at 80%. I think we've done just about everything we can do on this one - vinyl stickers, cool score-cards, card reveals, etc... This website has been super helpful and supportive of the effort and we really appreciate the help for a product that is a little askew from what most collectors look for.

One last ask. If you could share our link (http://kck.st/1dDIsxb) with any gamer or playing card oriented friends via email, Twitter (#Meepledeck) or Facebook, we'd really appreciate it. We don't want to leave a single stone unturned and with a good ending surge we might be able to make this happen...

Thanks everyone. Once again, we really appreciate all the help you've offered to date. This is an amazingly supportive and informative community.

Luke and Jordan

[Don Boyer]

The campaign is down to the final 30 hours and we're at 80%. I think we've done just about everything we can do on this one - vinyl stickers, cool score-cards, card reveals, etc... This website has been super helpful and supportive of the effort and we really appreciate the help for a product that is a little askew from what most collectors look for.

One last ask. If you could share our link (http://kck.st/1dDIsxb) with any gamer or playing card oriented friends via email, Twitter (#Meepledeck) or Facebook, we'd really appreciate it. We don't want to leave a single stone unturned and with a good ending surge we might be able to make this happen...

Thanks everyone. Once again, we really appreciate all the help you've offered to date. This is an amazingly supportive and informative community.

Luke and Jordan

You still have a fighting chance, especially now that the board's back in operation after a little hiccup with the URL change.  Best of luck!

[Lukeout]

Final Sprint today. Lots of interesting thoughts, but one thing makes me really happy - Jordan and I really did our best to take the concept and implement it at every step, using good ideas no matter where they came from (ego = 0 on this). Make it or not, I'm really proud of the work we did. Jordan even laid out the press sheet so the black cards make a vaguely Meeple shape (as much as you can with a 7x8 grid that is)!

Off to email all the folks who cancelled their pledges and see if I can woo them back...

thanks again everyone!
Luke

[Lukeout]

FREE DECKS. That's the last bullet in the gun, and that's what I just fired off. I added a free deck to the 6-deck package and the one that comes with a press sheet and THREE free decks to the brick level purchase.

In the end, I felt like I had to do everything possible, and while I've spent a lot of time and effort in getting the word out, I needed to do something to encourage backers to move up to a higher level. And while this will give me fewer decks to sell after the campaign and I'll soak a tiny amount of extra shipping, that's WAY better than having NO decks to sell after the campaign (and none to ship).

Initial response seems good, so hopefully I'll make the final $350 or so in the next 6 hours. And if I do, those backers are going to (rightly) get an awesome deal.

[vmagic]

So you're funding won't even cover expenses and now you are offering free decks? Seems a little bit like desperation to me. Then if you don't have enough money people will not be happy.

[Lukeout]

So you're funding won't even cover expenses and now you are offering free decks? Seems a little bit like desperation to me. Then if you don't have enough money people will not be happy.

I'll start with your comment that "it's complete desperation"... Yup, it totally is. I want it funded and I need a way to do it without putting substantially more money in. "Leave no bullet in the gun" is the motto today.

The decks I'm giving away are essentially "zero cost items" for me at this point. Because of deck printing minimums, I'm going to have lots of decks left over. Giving them away as marketing is really only going to cost me shipping as the printing costs are by definition sunk costs (I have to print them). The only thing I'm losing other than shipping is some future revenue from 30-50 decks that I won't have to sell - which wouldn't impact me until I've sold all the other extra decks.

I know it sounds weird to say this, but I'm still super confident that I'll be able to sell the decks I need to more than break even on this when it's all said and done. I'm already getting gaming stores contacting me for wholesale level purchases, and the convention season is right around the corner. My break even on the project will require me to sell 200-250 decks at retail, or 400-500 decks at wholesale. I expect to hit that number in less than a year, but if it takes 2-3, then fine.

[vmagic]

Well that's good to know, my apologies.

[Lukeout]

Well that's good to know, my apologies.

No apology required man! You hit the nail on the head (this was desperation). I know that my campaign is not normal and takes extra explaining - that job is on me, not other people. Honestly, I like when people post like you did - it gives me a chance to explain myself better and distance myself from less-than-honrable/prepared KS campaigns. I had a backer leave because they didn't think my minimum was high enough and it took a dozen emails to make him feel better about it, but I couldn't be mad as I know folks get burned on KS all the time.

So no apology required, I should be thanking you for the comment. (seriously, it's really helpful!)

Thanks!
Luke

[Lukeout]

FUNDED   

Thanks to everyone who helped make this deck better and those who backed it. We are already close to our first file send to USPCC (just need to secure a UPC code).

If any other creators out there want an inside look at the last few days of the campaign and what I did to spur things at the end, here's a link to my BHAG blog. The last two entries were very Meeple Deck focused.

http://thegeekdynasty.wordpress.com

We've got the Binary deck lined up next, but we want to deliver these before we launch to show folks we get the job done.

Thanks again,
Luke

[Lukeout]

Quick update. We've received our decks from USPC and they look great!

We are now doing shipping test where I'm sending out a small group of decks to random backers to make sure my shipping options work well (we're more than a month ahead of schedule). A few happy backers have already received their deck and have given them really good reviews. Once these are out, we'll move on to our Binary deck now that we'll have proven to everyone that we will deliver a high quality product in on time.

Thanks again for all your help everyone. These decks wouldn't be as nice without all the feedback we got here.

Luke and Jordan

 

[Don Boyer]

Looks like congratulations are in order!

Are there any remaining for you to sell or is the whole print run committed to yourself and your backers?

How did the counter turn out?

[Lukeout]

Looks like congratulations are in order!

Are there any remaining for you to sell or is the whole print run committed to yourself and your backers?

How did the counter turn out?

Thanks Don!

I've got a number of decks left for sure. The plan all along was to sell the remaining decks at trade shows and as add-ons in future Kickstarter campaigns. After I finish all the Kickstarter shipping, I'll put up a tiny on-line store where folks can order decks and the remaining signed/numbered uncut sheets if they want to.

The counter cards turned out really well. I almost wish I would have dropped the two jokers so I could have put in another pair, but decks need jokers too.

[Lukeout]

For those who missed the Kickstarter, here is the link to my small on-line store where I'm listing the remainder of my Limited Edition Meeple Decks. 2 or 3 other items on there as well (non-playing card Kickstarter projects I've done with various people).

Thanks again for all the help everyone! It has felt really great hearing all the positive comments and the overall surprise at us "first timers" delivering early.

https://www.shopstarter.com/p/1590934883/meeple-playing-cards-super-limited-edition/

Luke

[Rose]

Looks like a fun deck. This may be off topic a bit but why oh why has the cost of shipping gradually  gone up and up? This is starting to be off putting when shipping is almost as much as cards. Sorry, don't mean to take it out on you, I see it more and more now. Okay finished my rant. But seriously Congratulations on your design! Looks original, quirky and entertaining.   

[Lukeout]

Yea, the shipping stuff kills me. I've got one more deck I'm working on and it's going to have some odd ordering options so that I can minimize everyones shipping cost. Domestically, there is a big break between 3 and 4 decks. And NO change at all from 4 to 8 decks (flat rate shipping). Internationally, the breaks aren't as clear, but with some investigation, I bet I can find them....

BTW, if any of you out there have ordered the Meeple Deck, and not filled out your survey - you really should. There are like 20 backers who I've tried every way possible to communicate with and I still don't have the info needed to get the their your decks. I'm kind of at a lost for what to do.