As noted on 11/3, we're back with a quick update on production!
There are a lot of details here, so let's walk through where we are on all the major components:
Companion Guides - In Production. Per the last update, the text and layout are complete, and the book is with the printer for review. It still takes time to print, bind, and ship the books, but if all goes well, the books should still arrive in early December.
MM5 Small - Complete. The entire run is complete and in the warehouse, and they will be ready to ship when the Companion Guides arrive.
MM5 Touch - Complete. The entire run is complete and will be delivered to the warehouse after Cyber Monday. Like the Small, they will be ready to ship once the Companion Guides arrive.
MM5 Educational Edition - Complete. The entire run is complete and due in the warehouse within the next week. They will be ready to ship when the Companion Guides arrive.
MM5 Large - In Production. Based on the current casting schedule, we expect to receive 800 units by mid-December. This can and probably will change as each museum is assembled, cast, and polished by hand.
Display Boxes and Pouches - Partial Receipt. Since our last update, we've had a little adventure with the packaging. The delivery destined for our warehouse actually ended up getting switched with another company's shipment. The good news is that our shipment was safe and sound, and it is back on track. The first part of the shipment arrived with boxes and pouches at the warehouse this Monday, and we're expecting the next shipment in a few days. Inspections show the items look great and should be all good to go once the rest of the components arrive.
Given all of these factors, if you are planning to give a Fifth Edition Mini Museum as a gift for the holidays we advise you to make backup plans. MM5 Small, Touch, and some early Large backers have a shot at being shipped in December, but there are still a few components that need to be completed before we can say anything for certain. Hopefully, these behind-the-scenes details of crowdfunding are informative and perhaps a little exciting. We're always happy to share the steps of production as this is what crowdfunding is really all about!
To close out this quick update, we've got a photo of one of the newly arrived MM5 Smalls as well as some brief questions and answers!
Q: Will the Fifth Edition be shipped before the end of December?
A: Smalls, Touches, and some early Larges may be shipped out in the middle of December, though this will depend on the arrival of the Companion Guides and the assembly of the packages.
Q: Will you make a print-and-fold gift card like you did with past Editions?
A: Absolutely! As with previous editions, we will have a downloadable print-and-fold gift card. These cards will contain art of the MM5 specimens, which you can share to let your recipient know about the awesome new collection headed their way.
Q: What about the Illuminated LED Stands?
A: QA checks on the stands are complete, and they are beautiful. We noticed that the factory fitment of the top and the cradle is pretty snug on this batch. The first time opening these stands can be a little tricky, and there is a specific way to separate the top and cradle pieces, so we're going to make a little demonstration video and include extra instructions in the box. That will be ready before the Companion Guides arrive in the warehouse, so expect to see an update on that very soon.
Q: What about other Add-ons?
A: Pins have arrived at HQ and look phenomenal (check out our previous update for pics!) The Coelacanth cutting board production samples are on their way to us right now, and they look fantastic. Carly K of Mythic Mgmt has helped this part of the project come to life, and we couldn't be happier. You'll be seeing some photos as soon as they arrive.
Q: When will the Pledge Manager open?
A: Keep an eye out in the coming weeks for the pledge manager! We'll begin collecting shipping addresses and revealing some special new add-ons a little after Cyber Monday, so we can start the first wave of shipping as soon as the museums are ready!
That's all for now. See you soon in the next update!
We're incredibly close to hitting $20k, which means every backer gets to select free coffee or tea! All we need is around 10 people to pledge before 9pm CT Wednesday—is there anyone you know that can help us?
I also wanted to invite any Chicago backers to an open studio I'm hosting this weekend:
🏓 OPEN STUDIO - Sun Nov 12th, 11-3
Come see the new Slow System Pitcher prototypes in action, pick up some new grey glassware, and play a round of ping pong in the Manual studio. We’ll be featuring our new friends @ceramiccoffeeroasters (a fresh new Chicago micro-roaster) and @delsur.bakery (a small batch Filipino-inspired bakery, as seen at @sidepractice.coffee) as well. Hope to see you—swing through and check out the rarely open space!
And with that, this crowdfunding campaign is now over.
Thank you!
In the end we hit $21,218—double our goal. More importantly we have 258 people who believed in this project, and wanted to have the Pitcher in their life. I genuinely appreciate you.
You unlocked two stretch goals; everyone will be receiving a sticker pack and their choice of coffee or tea. You'll get to select your coffee/tea in a few months when I send the shipping survey.
To celebrate, I'm having an open studio this Sunday.
Come see the new Slow System Pitcher prototypes in action brewing Ceramic Coffee (a fresh new Chicago micro-roaster), munch on some amazing baked goodies from Del Sur Bakery (a small batch Filipino-inspired bakery, as seen at local fave Side Practice Coffee), and play a round of ping pong in the Manual studio. If you're in Chicago, I'd love to see you!
For those of you that have backed a crowdfunding campaign before, you know the basics:
Your credit card will be charged in the next 48 hours (If it fails, you'll have a week or so to fix it)
I'll submit my purchase order with my manufacturer
They will produce a final "production sample" for me to approve
If all goes to plan, December to January is when manufacturing of the pitchers will happen
If we can get manufacturing done before Chinese New Year (when all factories close for 4-6 weeks) then the products will be in transit roughly from February-March.
Somewhere in March I'll likely send the Backerkit survey—this is how I will get your shipping address, you'll pay for shipping (or select local Chicago pick up at my storefront studio) and you'll be able to add on any other things you'd like to purchase.
If all the previous phases go to plan then shipping and local pick up will happen in April/May 2024.
If you have any questions, please comment below or send me an email. I hope you're as excited as I am!
Hello,
I am backer for Educational copy and I am still waiting on message including some info on how to apply for it (no invitation for pledge manager came nor an email asking for verifying info). During the time I pledge I ensured, that I should be included in the list of educators that can get the MiniMuseum. So my question is - what about educational copies? Will they be also included on pledgemanager or is there some other way to apply for it? Thanks for answer in forward.
We hope this message finds you well! We have a lot of updates to share with you!
Before we jump in, we should note that we’ve heard from a few backers who are planning to give MM5 as a gift for the holidays. Please know that we are doing all we can to make this happen, but frankly, it’s going to be very close.
At the moment, the earliest we might begin shipping is the week of December 4th. However, this estimate relies on a number of components arriving in time for us to finish the final QA and assembly. We’re doing all we can to speed these things along, but this is a complex project. We want to make sure everything meets our standards of quality, so let's walk through everything! 👀
MINI MUSEUM PRODUCTION UPDATE
First off, we're happy to report that many of the key components, including a number of Mini Museums are already complete. Our casting partner has completed the entire run of Small and Educational acrylic Mini Museums versions, and the team at MMHQ has assembled the entire run of Touch Mini Museums as well. These items will head to the warehouse very soon.
Fully Assembled Fifth Edition Touches, the entire Touch run is complete!
Speaking of the warehouse, the custom display boxes and microfiber pouches for the acrylic Mini Museums are expected to arrive next week. As you may recall, production on these components finished at the end of September, but we were concerned they might not arrive in time if we shipped everything ocean freight. So, we reworked the shipment and air freighted everything we would need for backers and sent the remaining boxes by sea. It was a fairly hefty expense, but better to avoid waiting for customs at this time of year.
Our main focus right now is the Companion Guide and the Large Acrylic Mini Museums. The Large is in production with our casting partner now, and with the Educational version experience (which has the same specimens) we expect they'll move along at a good pace.
The Companion Guide is getting a final pass-through and will head to the printer next week.
A look inside the MM5 Companion Guide
Producing the Companion Guide book has taken us a little longer than expected due to the number of specimens in this Edition. However, we print domestically here in the USA so there should be no transportation/customs issues, but it does take time to print and bind the books.
So all in all, we are very close to the finish, but there's still a lot to do. To make sure we're keeping everyone in the loop we’ll update on progress in two weeks regardless of status. This will enable backers planning on gifting MM5 to make backup plans (if needed.)
Illuminated LED Stands
In addition to the primary Mini Museum production, the new run of Mini Museum stands arrived at our warehouse yesterday! That's another box checked!
Please Note: We made a fair amount of extra stands so you may see them for sale in the public shop. Not to worry, we've set aside all of the stands for pledges and plenty more for backers who may have missed this item during the campaign. Extra stands will also be available in the Pledge Manager at the campaign discount price, so we recommend purchasing there once they are available!
The Illuminated LED Stand with an early MM5 production sample!
MM5 Pins
Pin production is complete and received! All 6 MM5 Specimen Pins arrived in the office last week and we are so excited to share the first look with you!
Top to bottom, left to right: Amelia Earhart - Snarky Pin Company, Oviraptor - Corviforms, Coelacanth - Aspenhearted, Deep Sea Hydrothermal Vents - Jason Furie, Cooksonia - Ellis Nolan, Dunkleosteus - Christian Baldo & Ellis Nolan.
We want to thank all of our pin artists for helping us with this project. It has been fantastic to work with each of you!
Why yes, the Vega 5B's propeller does spin!
Extra Add-Ons
We are still working to finish a few MM5-specific add-ons. The main gating factor here is the glass-topped rikers that we use to house many of our single specimens. We manufacture these domestically and material shortages have been an ongoing issue since the pandemic.
Depending on the timing of the Companion Guides, we may launch the Pledge Manager without these items and then bring them to backers first once they are ready. It's not ideal, but rest assured we won’t let this stop us from shipping pledges once all components arrive.
Operations Staffing
As you may imagine, shipping (let alone assembly and QA) in early to mid-December is going to be hectic. This is the busiest time of year for shipping, so we’ve already made plans to stage more people in the warehouse. This will allow us to run two fulfillment lines, and our carriers also know to expect higher volume as well.
Last Call for the Companion Guide Collage
Want to be in the MM5 Companion Guide? We still have space for you! Email us a photo at [email protected] of you and your Mini Museum before the end of the day on Monday, November 6th. After that, we'll be finalizing the MM5 Backer Collage. Don't miss out!
Relax Below the Sea with a Monkfish
With so much to do, it's hard sometimes to remember to pause and breathe. So it was really pleasant to see this deep dive video from the Nautilus Exploration Program cross our feeds.
From Monkfish Sits on Geometric Columnar Basalt | Nautilus Live https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ltmw5Md5aug
This dive captures the casual exploration of a dramatic basaltic column formation 1,700 meters below the surface of the ocean near the Hawaiian island of Molokai. There's even a special Monkfish visitor, taking a rest on these geologic wonders.
This fascinating and fun look at the world underneath the waves is also part of a serious scientific mission to map the hidden world of the ocean floor.
From: How We Use Seafloor Mapping Data to Guide ROV Exploration! | Nautilus Live https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOSmro6lXEI
Voyages like this inform our understanding of the world, and they are also the kind of hands-on adventure that makes the exploration worthwhile.
That's all for now. See you soon in the next update!
Has the pledge manager ever launched? I had to back at the $1 level at the time the campaign was closing and thought I could upgrade to a full museum after the fact but I haven't seen a pledge manager to upgrade. Did I miss something or is it still coming?
