First edition anime and fantasy 1000 piece jigsaw puzzles. Check out our two newest releases for 2020, Lamb of God, "Red Dragonfly in Otaki" and "World Tree".
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Hello Everyone,
Before I begin with this post-Christmas message, I hope you all had a pleasant Christmas holiday being with those you love.
I'd like to be the bearer of glad tidings, but this is going to be a bittersweet announcement. Many of you living outside the US have already received your puzzles.
To our US backers, we received the shipment of puzzles on the 23rd. 13 pallets of puzzles!! And we plan to begin fulfilling orders this coming week. So that is the bit of good news for those of you who have been anxiously waiting for them to arrive.
Now, here comes the not so good news. To begin, let me say that we worked and did everything possible to make these puzzles simply spectacular. Over our 6 years in this puzzle game we have received comments from some who were kind of miffed about portions of the puzzle image being cut off. So this time around we decided to work at getting the exact measurements before the bleed (i.e. the area of the puzzle that gets cut off) to keep as much of the image integrity as possible, and we did it! But….
Crucial that you read this section
Now here is the big BUT. But!! Because of COVID, (blah, blah) our project manager, who I’ve dealt with for 6 years, had to work from home as do many people these days. Through our back and forth we hashed out all the details necessary before production which wasn't supposed to be until next year, and I was fine with that. Then she tells me that she is going on maternity leave for 6 months, and I would be dealing with someone else who would handle our project.
So then, this new contact tells me they want to produce the puzzles in mid-November. I asked for proofs of the final designs and was told the PDF confirmation would be what they used, and that they could not send me printed proofs because of COVID!! Long story short, they used the wrong files which were one of my draft uploads to get the measurements correct for the final design. And this resulted in the puzzles being printed with a white border, which is uneven because of the way it is cut. Mind you, we had no idea this is what they did!
As a company Lara and I worked tirelessly to produce first-rate puzzles, this is a nightmare and all because PEOPLE DON’T READ!!! I was very specific with my original contact, that I wanted no borders on my puzzles, but this new contact didn't read and didn't follow through and didn't send me final proofs before they went into production.
I only became aware of this on the night of the 23rd after we got the shipment, which was held by customs for 2 weeks. I was expecting the worst, damaged puzzles, ripped up boxes, etc... But for the most part, everything looked okay. That night I decided to start working on World Tree, and that is when I realized what had happened.
Since we can't call them and let them know their error for about another week or two since they will be on an extended holiday, we am left to brood, shake and sweat with little sleep. And even after we do get a hold of them and tell them that they have possibly crushed our puzzle business indefinitely - since we are left with about 1300 puzzles that I’m sure will receive scathing reviews in the post retail market - we can only assume that they won’t do anything to fix it.
Without naming names, this company which has been producing puzzles for well over 100 years should have know better. So now, after 6 years of building this little company we are possibly finished.
Having said all this, we are shipping these puzzles to you because we have no choice; it was part of the deal, borders or no borders.
Lara and I do sincerely apologize to you for this unfortunate and preventable error. However, before anyone asks, I will not issue refunds and possibly ruin my personal financial family security. If you never want to deal with us again, I completely understand. But know this, if I do get satisfaction from my manufacturer, and they honor and owe up to this, we will do something to make this right for you. It’s not likely I can take them to international court, which would more than likely result in defeat since they are a huge corporation and we are nobody! I sincerely hope and pray we can stay in this business, but I have already come to the realization that this is the end, and we will have to liquidate our entire puzzle inventory at a probable loss.
This is a fitting end to all this otherwise ridiculously COVID crazy creepiness that has taken control of our logic and senses, not to mention that we are not guaranteed to be here forever, and we might as well live our lives rather than cower from it. Sorry, that is my "live free or die trying” rant. I hope you all enjoy the art of these puzzles in the spirit in which it was intended, and that you’re able to look past the borders - which seem almost ironic to our real life situation - to appreciate the big picture.
Thank you to all of you for your understanding in advance. If for some reason you are upset and wish to comment, that is your choice. I've done all I can do at this point and have said all that I can say, but know that we will pay the bigger price at the end of this mess.
Eric and Lara
Hello again,
I contacted Happyshops and was told that it was a glitch with the upload of the backer list. The good news is none of the orders have actually been shipped, so we caught the problem in the nick of time, thanks to Your quick observations and letting us know. You should be receiving updated confirmations at some point in the near future.
To reiterate, you will receive your rewards with the correct items. So no worries.
Best,
Eric