Online Store is OPEN, Promo Codes are VALID!
about 6 years ago – Fri, Apr 06, 2018 at 08:46:18 PM

Hi All!

Just a reminder that today is the day RecklessDeck.com goes LIVE for taking new orders! And that means the 20% off promo code so many of you have asked about is GOOD TO GO. If you've lost (or for some reason did not receive) the Thank You card enclosed in your order, it's "RDHOLIDAY". This 20% off code will remain valid through April 30th. So, if you found yourself wishing you went in for a few more expansions, the 5 Deck Collector's Box, or an additional Good & Evil Coin, now is your moment! And, we're doing free shipping within the US for all orders $75 and up!

A quick note about our inventory: The GAMING MINIS are temporarily backordered. I know, BOOO. We ran out of them at the very end of fulfillment. Turns out they are extremely popular. We are doing some small revisions to the 3D sculpts to simplify a few things, and then we will be putting them back into production. We should have them back by mid to late spring. If you'd like to be placed on a list of people to be alerted as soon as they're back in stock, email me at [email protected] and I'll see to it you get that notification.

We're good to start filling new orders on everything else from the Kickstarter, though! So if that promo code has been burning a hole in your pocket for literally months now, it's finally time to put it into action. Good luck, and have fun exploring our updated site!

Fulfillment Wraps Up, & Website Store Opens!
about 6 years ago – Wed, Apr 04, 2018 at 06:12:17 PM

Hi All!

I'm here to tell you that fulfillment is about done! All orders have been sent, except for the small number of them that gave me some kind of problem or another.  I'll be in touch with those backers directly to talk about the status of their package, and when they can expect their rewards.

WRONG EXPANSION CARDS

I'm moving on this week to replacing the expansions some of you received with incorrect cards in them. As I've said, this is 100% an issue with the job the manufacturer did. Rest assured it irks me to no end, and I will for sure be taking it up with them. I have a spreadsheet of all of you who emailed me and said this was an issue for you. If you didn't hear back from me personally, don't fret - I've been adding your names to my list, and you'll get an email notification when your replacement goes out. (Also, I will be opening each of these replacement expansions before sending them out, to make sure that they were packed correctly by the manufacturer, and that this problem doesn't recur a second time.)

PROMO CODE

Which brings me to my next point - announcing that our website will be going live for accepting new orders at the end of the week, on Friday, April 6th! The promo code for 20% off new purchases each of you received  (RDHOLIDAY, back when I thought we'd be able to get these to you in time for Christmas) will work, and it will will remain valid through April 30th. If your cards said it expired on March 10th or March 31st, ignore this. A lot of you emailed me to ask what was up with the promo code and how can you use it, and I'm psyched to see so many of you enjoying the decks enough to want to come back for more. So, if you're one of those wishing you had picked up an extra deck box, expansion, or deck for a friend, Friday will be your chance to start grabbing them!

MIGRATING TO THE FORUMS

There's been some great discussions in the past weeks happening in the comments section. We've talked about how people are sorting and storing their decks, And who's using what combinations of decks and expansions to make what. We've had people mention that they're using the SUPERHERO expansion to invent super-teams while on train rides, and using the regular decks to make up bedtime stories with their kids. But,  we're now officially transitioning out of being a Kickstarter, and into launching a totally legit brand. It seems people are feeling this transition, and are very organically starting to shed their Kickstarter caterpillar cocoons, and spreading their pretty butterfly wings over in the forums on RecklessDeck.com. I wholeheartedly support this, and look forward to sharing lots of process shots,  raw ideas, and new deck and card combinations with you guys in that space. I'll personally be more active with adding creative content as soon as I can wrap up this Kickstarter & website store launch business-y stuff. Until then, talk amongst yourselves, and I'll chime in where I can. We have a very supportive, creative, and chatty little gang here, and it's a great beginning for a very vibrant online community. If you haven't created a profile for the forums yet and would like to, here's the link.

To that end, this is likely one of the last few Project Updates you'll all be getting from me. I'll be transitioning to the newsletter format offered through WIX, my RecklessDeck.com web platform. When you see those start to show up in your inbox, don't panic! It's just part of the larger transition away from Kickstarter.

Meanwhile, if you've had any issues with your rewards, or have any other questions, just message me.  

Cheers,

Clark

Fulfillment Progress Report
about 6 years ago – Fri, Mar 02, 2018 at 11:02:20 PM

 Hi All,

I wanted to give you the post-Toy Fair update that I'd promised you. I can tell from both the comments section and the messages people have been sending me privately that you all could use a check in, and some more solid info about what's up with fulfillment.

First thing: FULFILLMENT IS STILL IN PROGRESS. AND NO, YOUR ORDER IS NOT LOST, SKIPPED OVER, OR LOST DOWN A DARK WELL. We have 1,436 backers and post campaign pre orders to get through, and we have sent out just shy of 1,000 of these. Yes, the comments section here on Kickstarter give you the sense that "some" people have gotten their rewards, but in reality its going less slowly than you think. I encourage you to check out Instagram #RecklessDeck, to get a better sense of the amount of people from various tiers who are getting their stuff successfully, & posting about it. (please feel free to follow us in Instagram while your  at it!) I hope to be 100% done with fulfillment by next weekend.

PASSPORT TIER

Yes, we are right in the middle of fulfilling both the US and International Passport Tier orders. Backer Ryan Neely has proved in his latest post on the comment thread that he is either a veritable Nostradamus of scrying, or has some deep "Big Brother" level surveillance tech installed in my house, as his guesses about what's going on and what my decision making has been are nearly perfectly accurate. The Passport Tier is the most complicated reward to pack and ship, and requires a LOT of special handling to pack a single one. And if it's International, then there's the added matter of the customs forms. So yes, I did try to rock out a lot of the smaller orders first. (This also gave our minis caster Kevin Kennedy a chance to furiously hand cast close to 20,000 individual minis parts, which then have to individually sorted and bagged.) But even still, over 200 of the  500 Passport Tier orders have already gone out the door, with many more to follow this weekend and in the coming days. 

I did have a bit of a hiccup with the international shipping, as I moved a bunch of money over into a different fulfillment method that I thought would save me a lot of time. It may well have, but it also was eating up a ton of money unnecessarily, so I had to move the funds back over to my standard shipping service. International Passport Tier backers should start to see a lot more progress going forward. 

I know most of you who are commenting and sending worried emails are among the Passport Tier. I want you guys to know that I fully get that you've been from the beginning the most passionate backers, and showed that by throwing in for the highest price-point rewards tier - a lot of you, before you were even sure whether that would work out to be a good deal for you or not. I appreciate you guys immensely, and absolutely believe that this Kickstarter would not have been possible without you. That said, I do have to ask for just bit more of your patience as I conquer this monster rewards tier. 

Please know that your order has very likely not blinked out of existence - its just among the remaining 500 or so left to go. And, since, as Ryan Neely pointed out, it's much more effective to spend time filling orders than it is to answer individual emails about where your package is, going forward, I won't be answering individual emails about the status of orders. Sorry, but there just isn't time. Every email I send and Update I write at this point is time not spent filling orders. (And again, as Ryan pointed out, I do still have to actually work.) And there are people who are emailing with issues that actually require action, like changes of address - or this infuriating, recurring problem:

SO, THAT'S AGGRAVATING...

It seems that there's a somewhat common issue surfacing - that incorrect cards have been packed in this or that Expansion packaging. Dungeoncrawler cards in Interstellar Marines packaging, or Civilizations cards in the Lovecraftian package seem to be the most common. This is 100% a manufacturing error.  Believe me when I say it irks me to no end, and I'll definitely be taking the issue up with the printer. If this happens to you, though, sorry and congratulations. "Sorry" because that's really effing annoying. "Congratulations" because you got yourself a free expansion. Definitely email me and let me know it happened, and what expansion you need. You do not need to return the incorrect cards to me (though that's kind of you to offer.) I'll get a replacement out for you ASAP. I've sent out several already, and have a running list of replacements yet to go out. 

THE PROMO CODE

A lot of you are wanting to take advantage of the 20% off backer promo code, but are not finding a way to make it work. As I mentioned in the last update, this is a code for RecklessDeck.com, not the Backerkit pre-order store. I'll be flipping the switch on our website for taking live orders again as soon as the fulfillment is done. (Like I said above, hopefully by net weekend.) I'm psyched you all are liking your products and are wanting to come back for more - just hang in there, and you'll get your chance to use the code as soon as I'm done fulfilling. Some of you may have gotten a card that says "Valid through March 10th" on it. Not to worry, I've extended the code through March 31st, so you'll have plenty of time to get a chance to use it. 

I definitely have more to say about Toy Fair and all the great things that have come out of it in the past week, but we'll save that for another update. I hope this has been helpful, and reassures any of you who have been concerned that things are steadily moving forward.

OK, gotta go. These orders aren't gonna fill themselves.

Clark

Notes From the FULFILLMENT Front Lines
about 6 years ago – Thu, Feb 01, 2018 at 10:33:41 PM

 Hi All!

Fulfillment is ALL SYSTEMS GO!

 We've been at this a little over a week now, & we have packages leaving the house every day. Over the course of the process, there have been some decisions & discoveries - and questions from you, and I wanted to try to address a few of these here. The most common question is:

Where's my stuff?

Totally get that you're feeling antsy, and you're jealous of all those lucky jerks on social media who are showing off their shiny new Reckless Deck deliveries. It's coming, I swear! There's a lot of customization to this, as most of you added on items in the survey. Each order takes a certain amount of special handling to get it right. Yes, you will get an email notification with a tracking number once we pack and process your order. But keep in mind, that alert comes from Stamps.com when we print your postage, and not the post office. Which means depending on what time we print your label, it may not go out until the next day. Also, we expect the fulfillment process to take another 2 weeks to get through all 1400+ orders. That will bring us right up to Toy Fair, and trust me when I say I want this done before heading into that show.

What about local pick up?

Contrary to what I've said numerous times before, I've decided not to do a local pick up. Having to work in scheduling pickup times with individual backers while managing everything else about this process just isn't doable. There are a lot of variables play, including, but not limited to: whether I'm fulfilling from home or our warehouse space on a given day, the added responsibility of having to keep a bank on me to return peoples' shipping money, my regular illustration day job deadlines, and my sons's nap schedule. Basically, local pick up would mean to some degree running a storefront as well as a fulfillment center, and its one thing too many to manage. My SINCERE apologies to any of my fellow Rhode Islanders or neighboring Bay Staters who are disappointed or frustrated by this.

How do I use the discount code?

As those of you who already have their rewards already know, each order comes with a thank you card, with a 20% off promo code for backers and pre-orderers. If, once you get your stuff, you find you're wishing you'd ordered this or that box or expansion pack, or are just feeling a little ore flush than you were when the survey was open, here's a little "thanks for backing us" to speed you on your way. Thing is, it's for RecklessDeck.com, and not the Backerkit pre order store. Website ordering isn't open for business yet - I don't plan on opening up the website store until all (or very nearly all) the rewards and pre orders are sent out. I just don't think its fair to those of you who's till waiting for your packages to do otherwise. Just like with fulfillment, I'd like the website to be open for business for Toy Fair weekend. But, if that proves to be too tall an order, I will get the website functional for receiving orders as soon as the convention is done.

I live outside the US. Why did I get a notice from my post office saying I owe more money?

I'm 99% sure this is your Value Added Tax, or VAT. I'm not an economist, but my best attempt at explaining what this is is an import tax imposed by your government on goods consumed or purchased from outside your country. It's not specific to us, and it's not specific to Kickstarter - its an international shipping issue. People who are experienced Kickstarter backers know to look out for it and expect it. If this is a rude surprise to you as a backer, I sympathize, but there is unfortunately no way around it. Over this process, I've learned a lot more about EU Friendly shipping, which can help to alleviate the VAT somewhat on your end (thought you do still get charged additional for that in order to offset the cost). But, that has to be set up and instituted before a crowdfunding campaign even launches, because the costs associated with it have to be factored into the rewards tiers. 

More "thank you"s for you

To all of you who have received your rewards and have posted unboxing photos of your Reckless Deck stuff on social media - THANK YOU! Please keep it up! making an impact on social media is a huge deal as we transition from a Kickstarter project into being a fledgeling brand, and especially as we head into Toy Fair weekend, having your posts about RD lighting up Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter is a huge help. As you start to create with your new decks and expansions, I hope you'll keep posting your work and tagging us!

Okay, back to filling orders.

Cheers,

Clark

INVENTORY!
over 6 years ago – Mon, Jan 22, 2018 at 07:55:52 PM

 Hi All!

This is the Project Update you've all been waiting for - the inventory is IN! (and yes, we did have to stage a jailbreak to avoid further delivery delays.) We started fulfilling immediately, and some of you may have already received a confirmation email saying your pledge rewards are on the way! We'll be fulfilling every day until it's done. Please be patient as we work through the list of backers - I promise we'll go as quickly as we can.

• Here's a fun idea: We'd LOVE IT if you'd consider shooting your own little unboxing video with your phone when your decks arrive. It would be a huge boost for us if suddenly all these little unboxing videos started going off all over social media! Please post away, and tag both Reckless Deck (#recklessdeck, @recklessdeck) and, if you can swing it, Toy Fair (#TFNY, @ToyFairNY). It would be terrific for vendors and media attending Toy Fair to see people are excited about us.

And, a little quid pro quo for you: here's a little video I threw together with some highlights from the load in!

 Wish us luck with fulfillment!

Clark