Hey, yep met you at the Hut!
Preorders aren't going so well..
Thanks for the suggestions ill check them out!

You're in good company then. Mattel couldn't hit it's goal for a DC action figure line, and current Pre-orders on a new Venture Brothers line are less then ideal.

Kickstarter?

^ Kickstarter would be good. Plus you could set up 3-4 different levels of support/donations this way.

Does anyone remember how Rich did it for Ollie, his set up worked really well with multiple levels of donations. The ultimate being a 1 off Ollie, which had several supporters.

I mean, unfortunately, the other option to consider is that people just aren't going to buy it the way you hoped. $75 is a lot for people to throw down on a new concept/mold/artist/whatever, especially one that sort of comes out of nowhere and doesn't have a driving force behind it like name recognition or an established character. The design is fun, and nicely rendered, but who are you specifically trying to sell it to? It seems like it'd look neat next to some of the old Marusan dinos, but you can probably count on one hand the number of people that really collect those, and then even less of them are also aware of the 'designer' stuff.

Kickstarter's nice because it puts a visible goal out there for everyone to decide if they want to contribute to or not, and then at the end of the period the market will have voted and you will continue or not. Don't get discouraged because your first guy out of the gate doesn't generate the buzz you were hoping. At the same time, the market is so saturated right now with up and coming American artists plugging some vinyl figure that you really have to work to differentiate yourself and your figure to succeed.

I'm sure there are probably others in my camp as well. I really like the sculpt/design and would buy one but keep having my money spirited away by an existing line or toy I collect. Something like a kickstarter might help get people off the fence. Both from having several buy in levels and also by setting a cut off date. It's sad to admit but sometimes knowing that I have a limited time to decide pushes me to buy. It's a cool toy though so I hope something can become of it.

I really dig the toy and hope to own one some day. But I think for me it usually takes that gleam of the vinyl to make me really want a toy.

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone.
Ill consider the kickstarter thing a bit more and keep y'all updated.

Before you get too demoralized, keep in mind there may be more people like me who just keep putting off preordering because the deadline seems so far away. In the meantime, there's bills to pay and other toys to buy, so I'm grateful for that extra time. It's on my personal "toy calendar," and hopefully will become a higher priority for other people in the next month, too. Just keep reminding us . . .

good call on that. still have my fingers and toes crossed.

So I decided to not go with kickstarter. Whether or not I hit my goal through preorders I still want to get this made, so I'd like to use the money I get through preorders (however limited that may be) to help out.

I did however add an option on my website to by a 1 of handpainted edition.
http://www.ghostandflower.com/stegoforest/

That's what it's all about, make a toy you love and are proud of, if others are into it too, great. But you'll always have something you cherish above everything else in your collection.

Word. Glad you didn't go w/ KS.
And what Joe said is the truth.
Believe in yourself and it'll show.
The Stegoforest definitely gets a KC stamp of approval.

Thanks dude
KCxG&F discussions soon.

And btw, I think the figure is awesome, and beautifully sculpted. I think you'll see pre-orders spike as the deadline is approaching. Like ZPlanner said, why pay so soon when you've got another month.

If anyone was curious when these would start shipping after the preorder is over...
Im told late january, possibly february.

^ thanks for the update jesse. can't wait to see how you paint these up!

Preorders end October 31st!
Get those orders in if you want to see these guys made in vinyl.
It won't happen if not enough people order these, hopefully more orders will be put in before October 31st.

I ordered mine, now how about you?

*sorry for this post, but I REALLY want to see this guy made. Hopefully enough people will put their orders in. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed*

haha thanks for posting that for me, V.

Here's an update for everyone...

I was intending to take all the preorder money and pool it with my own to get stegoforest made in vinyl, but that decision was made under the assumption that id get more than a few preorders.

I wasn't able to cover the huge difference myself so the vinyl idea has been scrapped.

Im not going to try another preorder, and im also not going to try kickstarter.

Im going back to the original idea of resin, and paying for it myself (and with the preorder money that was graciously donated.)

Expect to see these in late december/ early january.

resin mold...


Stegoforest Mold! by Ghost&Flower, on Flickr

seeing this in 2011 makes me extremely happy for you jesse. nice work!

^^ That is wickedly awesome Jesse!
I am soooo very glad that you are still going through with making these guys! I can't wait to hold this guy in my hands, he looks like a really fun toy to play with and take photos of in nature!

...and here are the first three!

these will be on display at Brass Tacks Sandwiches here in Portland for a little art show I am having there during the month of January.


first 3 stegoforests! by Ghost&Flower, on Flickr

Congrats man. The vinyl road might not have panned out but that is some good looking resin.