Kickstarter

Hello, loyal Spokebug backers! 

There's lotsa things to report. It's been quite a roller-coaster ride (those things always make me queasy!), but it's also been a truly amazing experience. So, to the announcements!

REWARD FULFILLMENT: Most backers should have their rewards by now. All of the original stainless Spokebug pledges have been shipped, along with all of the magnets and Tuning Forks. Not all Selectors have been sent, but will within a week.

THE PLASTIC RECALL: Not all of you may be aware of this, but over a month ago, I made the costly decision to recall all plastic model Spokebugs. They turned out to have a material flaw, and were breaking far too easily. I had already shipped out many plastic Spokebugs, and I contacted everyone who had requested a plastic model and asked them to ship theirs back, and I would upgrade them to a stainless steel model free of charge.
Then I had to order fabrication of new stainless steel models using my own money. It was the only way to be sure all backers got a quality product. I have begun shipping out the stainless replacements as they are returned. A handful of backers have nothing to ship back, and I will be sending you stainless models in the next couple weeks.

Some backers have even been thoughtful enough to donate money to pay for the upgrade (THANKS SO MUCH!).

SALES NOW LIVE: All the delays involved with fabrication issues, and then the recall, pushed back the opening of sales of Toynbee products online by two months. But we can't wait any longer. The Spokebug is now on sale on the site, with transactions handled by PayPal.
http://www.toynbee.co/spokebug.html
The Tuning Fork will also go on sale this week.

As we mentioned on the Kickstarter, the retail price of our products would be higher than on the campaign, so the stainless Spokebug is going up from $31 to $42. There will be no plastic models offered. This is still a good price for such a useful bike accessory.
The Tuning Fork will be going up from $15 to $22. Also a great price for all that combined awesomeness.

Thanks yet again for backing Toynbee, and for your continued patience, as we wait for this roller coaster to come to a complete stop ;)

---Carl

Hello, Backers!

I know you're eager to get your rewards, and some folks have been eager to see Spokebugs hit the market, but we're still scrambling to get the Kickstarter rewards assembled, packed and mailed to our initial backers.

We've been dropping off packages at the post office daily, and by the end of this week, 1/2 of the Spokebug rewards will have been put in the mail, and some of you should have already received yours.

I will jump on getting the retail function of the website working once the rewards have been fulfilled, so very soon the rest of the world can order a Spokebug or other products from us.

Thanks so much for your support and patience. It's greatly appreciated =)

---Carl

Spokebugs are shipping!  I'm in an assembling, packing, and mailing frenzy!

I just sent a handful of spokebugs before the weekend, and will be shipping more through this week.

As I mentioned, I was aiming for Mid-august to get them in your hands, and so I apologize that circumstances of production held us up a bit on that target. But I hope that you share my relief to finally be slipping them into padded envelopes and mailing them!

Ironically, one of the other rewards - the Tuning Fork - is still stuck in the last stages of production, and we will be shipping any reward packs that include a Fork as soon as they are ready. I will keep you updated on that.

Thanks in advance for your patience in this matter. =)

Cheers,
---Carl

Hey Backers!

Just wanted to let you know that your rewards are in production! We're still aiming for delivery in mid-August. 

We built this wire-bender, to make the clips that go in the spoke bugs:

Which has been super-handy at making lots of clips for the Spokebug bodies that are in production:

And Elliot Patterson whipped up these instructions for installing and using Spokebug:

And Mike Anthony developed the 3D printed magnets for us. (with a few tweaks yet to be ironed out):

And we just cut this Tuning Fork prototype, and hope to get the finals cut in the next few days:

Hope you're enjoying your Summer, and we can't wait to get these shipped out to you!

---Carl

So, we're EVER so close to being done with manufacturing and packaging details, but I've come to the realization that it was perhaps a tad too ambitious to expect to fund a product Kickstarter in June, and then be ready to ship in July. So, we're pushing the delivery date, but we're only expecting to have to nudge the date a few weeks. So we're hoping for you, our backers, to have your rewards in hand by mid-August. 

In other news, I've just ordered production of the first batch of stainless steel Spokebugs. The flip and lock actions work great, and it's a very robust part.

You'll notice that the main body has a brassy color. The laser-sintering process we're using to make that part requires a special formulation of stainless steel, which results in the brass-toned color. The result is a very solid part with a shiny, jewelry-like appearance. You're probably also thinking, "hey, the 'bottom lip' is missing!" On the plastic Spokebugs, that lip serves a structural purpose, but on the steel, it's simply not necessary, so the lip was clipped, to save material and shipping weight.

You can also see the releasable zip-tie that will be shipping with it (in white and black). We had tried a slew of different ties, and I was really hoping a different model would work because it had a cool release button, but that one just wasn't tough enough. This design is just the best and most simple. It holds very well, is UV-resistant, and releases with the little tab you can see on the left.

We can't wait to get these into your hands to try!

Cheers!
---Carl