Hey Caretakers!
I apologize for the bit of delay on an update, i started the last chunk of my paternity leave right before GenCon and it ended last week, so now we're returning to a normal-ish schedule (where the toddler is consistently at school again).
Nevertheless, a LOT has happened since, so this is going to be a bit of a story time, and sitting down to write it all down is going to take me a little bit.

TLDR. Essentially the manufacturer hadent started work on the accessories until last month. They did send pictures, but i wont approve anything until they're in-hand becuase of the series of issues we had with the other items. At this point still figuring out delivery schedule, since it sounded like they wanted to delay things, but i'm still pushing to have product before the new year. (hoepfully will see a purple swatch soon).

Ok...so lets get into what happened,
So, as we were getting closer to GenCon, the manufacturer sent me what was supposed to be the final production copies of the product. This was hopefully going to solidify a bunch of feedback that I had given, and everything would be good. That...wasnt the case...
Instead, I had to send a angry  very concerned' email, since there was pretty much something wrong with every design (keychain and plush alike)...for instance: Owlbear plush shaping was off and feet werent level. Dragon turtle plush had issues with head shaping and spines looked squashed. Phoenix plush beak was waay too long. Owlbear keychain fluff was pretty long, and the beak was near non-existent. Dragon Turtle Keychain used had soft back spikes but looked like lumps. And pheonix keychain neckfluff literally looked like a garden-gnome beard.
What was worse was that I was expecting to get airshipped phoneixes for GenCon, and if manufacturing had already begun, how much work had already been done on faulty product.....these were changes i did not approve of.
(left, last best prototype - right was proposed production sample, see head shape and spines)


The concerned email was received and it seeemd like feedback was being taken seriously. I had some minor back and forth with them, and things were moving again (though phoenix keychain beard will come back).
While at GenCon I was able to meet with numerous members of their team, (not the person who i was directly working with), but enough people who i could air my frustration and annoyance with them, so they got the message that things gotta get fixed. There, I had learned that the person who was managing my product initially was no longer there anymore (and guessing with how things are being picked up), it wasnt a transition.

At the end of GenCon i had a video call with the person managing my project, and they had some plush updates...overall things were good...but it felt like they kept pushing for approvals on fixes, without giving me time to really evaulate the changes. One thing I didnt budge on was the pheonix beards...they said they tried to fix it, and it didnt really solve the probem.
Essentially (left was what i was expecting, and right was what i was being offered).


And they mentioned that since the materials for the phoenix keychain had been ordered, that it would be an additional cost for me for them to get new material and remake the phoenix keychains....I was non-commital on the pheonxies, and that left me writing ANOTHER angry concerned email, becuase...
Not only had I paid for most the project, they were essentially manufacturing product that was outside of my approval, and not reflective of the approved product. 
And not only that, but they hadn't even started doing their evaluation of the accessories nor the owlbear colors (outside of brown), despite having my samples for the past 8 months! IN addition, their timeline was looking to try and split the accessories and purple owlbear later from the keychains...which kinda defeated the point of manufacturing everything together....

I had to aslo send in the pheonix keychain sample that I had, so that they could replicate it (despite sharing many pictures),. but whatever it takes at this point to make sure things come out right. 
................

Friday, i get an email with the accessories they've produced, everyhting looks good (though at this point i cant hold my breath until i have the manufacture samples and see them for myself).

 
In addition, they reaffirm that new material needs to be ordered for the pheonix keychains, and that the ones they made are to be scrapped (though I did inquire if it was possible to save those, maybe i can hand cut the beards myself or something idk, or have beardy pheonixes with christmas hats or something).
But I dont have numbers yet at what they're going to cost it out as...

at this point im going at their pace and responding as soon as i get information..

Not the way I would have liked things to go...but at this point, I think Pheonix Plushes have been manufactured...and nothing else? Still figuring that out, as things are getting finalized and made..


but yeah..main frustration has been every time they make a change a new issue appeared..and I hope that is not consistent here on out...I had even offered to take plush production away from them just because of the timeline...but at this point, its very difficult to do anything re:financial stuff since I've already paid vast majority of the project and they don't have a US company operation for me to legally pursue. So I'm stuck with working with them and doing everything I can to make things right.


Also: I know there are some support emails about being charged/ or those who backed both..when i locked out a backerkit pledge the screen annoyingly hides information, which i was hoping to utilize to QC information when people asked for help, so Ill be getting back to people in the coming days about those inquiries.

I think thats all for now...
Hope everyone is having a great weekend,
Caretaker Andreas


oh yeah! and on Tuesday we'll be launching the crowdfunding for the 2026 calendar...(produced in the US, and nearly done with all illustrations). Its a playful nod to video game nostalgia reflavored to fantasy and our favorite creatures.
Follow the Campaign Page Here: 2026 Calendar



 

Hey all,
I just pushed the button to lockdown orders (it does a 48 hr notice before locking), so that we can move to charge cards and finalize the counts and volumes. This is especially important as I look to our international inventory counts.
If you havent gotten to it, here is the link to your survey/pre-order
https://owlbear-accessories.backerkit.com/

Production on keychains and plushes has started, I should be getting final production versions of the accessories and the purple owlbear pretty soon now, as things are rolling (and have been fully paid for). Ill update when I get that news in. Same with an update on timing. 

We're going to be at GenCon! If you're there, please stop by our booth at #2238 and say hi! As much as I was hoping to have fulfillment done and everything ready for GenCon, timing just wasnt on our side. We will be shipping in a few Pheonix plushes (not the keychains) to have for gencon , and we'll also have the pins for you to see as well.
If you want to pick up some of your rewards/pre-order, let me know by filling out this survey. We'll only have owlbear plushes (all but purple), phoenix plush and pins]. 


Ill post more updates as things become available.
Andreas

Hey Caretakers,
Thank you for your patience. I seem to have bad luck when it comes to manufacturers becuase its always just another thing....
Anyways as you know, we've moved to a new manufacturer (the ones doing our keychain plushes), in an effort to save costs (even before tariffs but even more importantly so now).
That was going alright, and I thought things were shaping up to the point where payment for production was submitted and was switching teams to coordinating with production staff. Turns out, person I was coordinating with, is no longer with them, and there were a few things that we've gone back and forth on emails that just never made it to the production staff — like confusion on the dragon turtles green, and the need to produce purple owlbears -_-.
Ideally, I was hoping to have all this product fulfilled and by or before GenCon, but it's likely it'll only begin its freight journey in July/August.
Im currently working the missing/issue items with my new rep, esp since ive already put down payment for production, and manufacturing has begun on our other items (which are all shipping together).
----------
New Items in Backerkit,
I've added everything that is being produced in this project's backerkit (which was a little bit of a pain, since i changed my pin numbering since, and so i had to check every single item to make sure they were updated and correct and didnt accidentally delete anything). 
But now we have the Keychain Plushes, new Dragon Turtle and Phoenix plushes, and all of the pins that were shown off.
(for those who just backed for a non-purple owlbear and/or just pins, after we collect shipping we'll start fulfilling these ASAP, since the product is on-hand and you're not waiting for anything.

Shipping added
When we first invited you to backerkit, we turned off shipping, as at the time we had no idea what costs might have evolved into at the time. It has now since been added.

SURVEY /ADDON LOCK will happen June 30th
And CARDS WILL BE CHARGED JULY 12th!

You can get to your survey/addons using this link
https://owlbear-accessories.backerkit.com/backer/survey

If you have any questions id be happy to answer, and also I apologize for not getting to your comments. I wish backerkit would send me an email right as they happen so I can see them more visibly, but for some reason (as compared to Kickstarter) they are just harder to find/have visibility on and i apologize for now responding to any remarks as soon as possible.

I really did not expect this project to run as long as it currently has, but at least the finish line is in sight (assuming the Trump administration doesn't do anything else stupid).
Thanks for bearing with me,

Andreas


Also, since I have you, we have begun work on the 2026 calendar (illustrated by Koit Paales, who did soo many of our pin artwork), which will be themed on video game nostalgia (each year we feature a new artist and explore a fun theme. We will probably be launching this campaign in August, so production can begin in October and allow early fulfillment in November.
You can follow the campaign here!

Hey all,
Sorry for the delay, its been quite the crazy month, especially with the whole tariff situation.

Accessories Status
I've recieved updated quotes from our new manufacturer (which provided costs at 3-4x below our prior manufacturer, for instance old manufacturer estimated ~$10/set, while our new one ~$3/set.), Which makes a ton of difference when we're ordering for inventory and trying to maintain sustainability.
Ive also gone ahead and given the green light to start production.

Purple Owlbear
As they're new, they are also included with the accessory production order. In addition, we are getting additional colors of the other types as well.

Pins
Using the counts from the your surveys, we found we needed to order quite a few more pins. This order includes some new designs that we have.
They are already en-route to the US (and have fortunately avoided tariffs).




Next Steps
I am hoping to get a timeline of the production now that things are approved and starting to move with this new manufacturer. (i expect things will arrive in about August/September 2025)

That leaves the whole tariff situation. As of this point, things are crazy and we're monitoring to see how and where things are going...

As for the pledge manager, what I will be doing in the coming weeks, is adding our newly produced items to the pledge manager, so that you can get everything in one package. (and will update you on that as well).
I dont expect to be charging for shipping and locking down addons until June (I will post more updates as we go).

Thanks for your patience, I didn't expect to be changing manufacturer as part of this project, but as much disruption it as caused, its for the better for our long term sustainability.
All the best, 
Andreas

Hey All, wanted to provide a brief update thats also a bit behind the hood on the business end of things (as i do like to share about this stuff to anybody whos interested)

Essentially we got quantity quotes for the accessory packs and they're way more expensive than i was expecting (still doable, they're about $10 per pack), but that puts it about the same cost as producing an owlbear from this manufacturer.

Ive mentioned this in a few other places, but as we've been selling more owlbears over the years, we've come to notice that our owlbear plush costs are quite high.  We picked a reputable (pass-through) manufacturer and got good service...problem is, it comes at the cost of them having to make money as well. Which essentially double to tripled our manufacturing costs.

Over the past months Ive been shopping around our owlbear to see what direct manufacturing would charge us to produce the plush and ultimately, it comes at around $2-3/plush (as opposed to the $10 i was paying).
This is something that we're increasingly sensitive to as a large volume of our orders are increasingly retail (and so selling a $35 plush for 17.5 into retail, after freight, shipping and manufacturing, we're only getting about $5/plush.), which is a positive number yes, but we're also trying to recover from $85k that was stolen from us back in 2021.)

I am getting the accessories cost estimated as we speak with the current keychain plush manufacturer. I am hoping to get a better sense of our way forward this month.

Also I put in a bulk order for our pins! so we'll be showcasing them as they're being produced 

All the best, 
Andreas