Kickstarter

Firstly, let me apologize for any messages you've sent and didn't receive a response. This is a part-time endeavor for me (now it's really more of a second full time job!) and I've had to choose between taking an hour to answer 20 emails or taking that same hour and making 20 Magnet Comics. So as you may have guessed, production has been more of a priority over communication.

To that end, I am enlisting administrative help starting next week, so communication will be handled in a more timely manner. I still ask that you actively take note of and trust in the systems and instructions set up for sending me information. If you follow the instructions for sending me artwork or an address change, then it should be assumed I received it. The person helping with admin will be sending confirmation messages, but I would rather the inbox not be swamped with confirmation demands if they do not require it.

What has been challenging for me and you, the backers, is Kickstarter's lack of a good way to handle address changes and shipping. This void in shipping support opens up a host of problems since backers send info through various communication channels at different times making project management much more difficult. If there was an address change option through Kickstarter, it would help those of us with projects to manage the shipping and it would provide assurance to you, the backers, that your new address has been received. Once this project is complete, I plan on getting in touch with Kickstarter to provide whatever feedback I can in the hopes of helping them develop a better system.

Overall, I am very happy with Kickstarter and this project, but along with the astonishing success of the campaign comes a very sizable administrative and production commitment that I am slowly, but surely turning into a well-oiled machine. I thank you all for your patience, and please know that I'm working as hard as possible on getting everything out the door as soon as I can without compromising on quality which is extremely important to me.

Here are some notes about shipping as well as the updated shipping schedule:

Shipping Costs

As a result of the added extras included with the Kickstarter from reaching the Stretch Goals, the Magnet Comic boxes weigh more than originally calculated and no longer qualify for the cheapest shipping rates. This has added an unexpected $5 to $7 to each order for shipping. That being said, each reward will still be shipped out as promised. In the meantime, I am in negotiations with FedEx to get a lower rate.

Currently, I am using USPS for shipping most domestic orders and I'm waiting to hear back from FedEx before I start shipping international orders.

International Shipments

As stated above, new discounted FedEx rates will be finalized in a few business days and international shipments will head out the door. I will notify all international backers once shipping begins.

Custom Artwork ($50 and $55 reward levels)

In the interest of preventing further delays, I'm grouping these together and restructuring as follows:

-Custom art from you: those who originally pledged for the months of March, May and June will all be shipped at the same time once all the art is processed, printed, cut and packaged up.

-Custom art drawn by me: those who originally pledged for the months of March, May and June will all be shipped at the same time once all the art is drawn, printed, cut and packaged up.

I have a block of time scheduled in early June to focus on these special, customized rewards and I hope to have them out the door by the end of June.

Extra Blank Characters ($35 reward level)

These orders are also easier to manage in one big bundle regardless of the original pledged month of delivery. These are mostly complete and start shipping this week.

ORIGINAL PLEDGE/REWARD MONTHS:

January

• $10 Backers - Most, if not all, of you should have your drawings. There were a couple images emailed after the first batch and those will be taken care of shortly.

If you have not filled out the survey or sent in your images yet, please do as soon as you can so I can get you your reward.

February

• $25 Magnet Comic Kit -All of the US deliveries have shipped. 

• $35 Magnet Comic Kit + blank characters -US deliveries begin shipping this week. 
• $60 Limited Edition 
• #1 Wenge I've discovered that Wenge can pose a health hazarad and I have to take a couple extra steps, including sealing them with a clear coat before I ship these out.
• #2 African Rosewood I've had trouble getting this type of wood that does not warp once I cut it. I just ordered a new round of this wood and hopefully that will be the last of it that I need. I'll be shipping half of this reward early next week with the other half to follow shortly thereafter once the new lumber is delivered.
• $300 Oversized Magnet Comic I've also had some warping issues with this reward. I'm working on some alternate production methods and I've tapped a couple carpenters to help out. The boards are relatively thin, but still have a lot of surface area so they tend to warp once the pockets are cut for the dry-erase panels.

March

• $25 Magnet Comic Kit -The last of these US deliveries are shipping today.

• $35 Magnet Comic Kit + blank characters -US deliveries start shipping this week and should be completed within the next two weeks.
• $70 Magnet Comic Kit + (x5) character packs -These will ship in mid-June. (not including the five extra character packs - those are to be released in the future)
• $200 (x10) Magnet Comic Kits -These will ship late-June.

April

• $35 Magnet Comic Kit + blank characters -US deliveries start shipping this week and should be completed within the next two weeks.

• $100 Magnet Comic Kit + (x10) character packs -These will ship in mid-June. (not including the ten extra character packs - those are to be released in the future)

May

• $25 Magnet Comic Kit -These will ship starting in mid to late-June and run into early July. 

• $50 (x2) Magnet Comic Kits -These will ship starting in mid to late-June and run into early July.

June

• $25 Magnet Comic Kit -These will ship in early to mid-July. 

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The production line is running smoothly and if all goes according to plan, I'll hit these deadlines. The variable that can affect these deliveries is if the equipment in the workshop I'm using becomes unavailable due to maintenance. Again, your continued patience is appreciated.

I'll continue to keep you posted on the status of shipment and any other news as I work to get these all out the door and delivered to you so you can start making Magnet Comics!

Again, thank you all so much for supporting this project.

Erik Heumiller

So there are a couple new developments in the production arena. First, here's a video that gives a brief overview of how I work with the lumber.

I have to travel for work in early June so I'll work on putting together a more in-depth video with the footage I have while I'm on the road. For those that don't know, yes, I do still have a day job. That's one of the factors that impacts production the most. I have nights and weekends at my disposal to produce all these orders and though I wish this were my full time gig, it isn't quite feasible yet.

So the first new production element was having to construct a soundproof box over the ShopBot. As you can see in the video it gets quite noisy and due to a couple complaints and the fact that there are always classes running in my studio space I took a couple days to insulate it.

Also in an attempt to speed up the assembly process I drew up plans for a glue nozzle and had a friend at my workshop do the modeling so I could 3D print it. The nozzle is meant to help distribute the glue into the slots for the panels so I can do it in one quick pass.

However, in testing it I realized it does help speed things up, but that presented a new problem. The quicker I cranked them out, the less time the previous batch spent in the press (where the panels/magnets get put under pressure to help them set).

To combat this I cut new press boards (out of cutting boards) that let me double the amount of boards in the press, so I can let them sit longer without having it slow down my hourly output.

The old press boards were undoubtedly not the best solution and were cooked up really quickly using scrap material.

The new press boards let me double the amount of boards in the press and they are also a lot cleaner and nicer looking. Now I can press 8 boards at once for the 15 minutes I leave them under pressure. Bumping the press output to 32/hour.

That's all for now. I'll have a shipping update posted in the next day or two with some notes about my production time and numbers so you can see where I'm at with the orders and try to gauge when yours will hit the mail. Thanks again for your patience.

Erik