Fri May 18 '18 Announcement
almost 6 years ago
– Fri, May 18, 2018 at 12:17:05 PM
Dear Backers,
It’s time for your monthly update about the goings-on here at the Armchair Detective Company!
The Kidnapped Crossworder:
We have been reorganizing our stock room and getting ready to receive the next round of shipments from our box manufactures and suppliers. A large shipment of our custom boxes and other components is on a boat right now, and is expected to arrive at our location in the second week of June.
We’re also now coordinating with the various printers we are using, in order to have all the printed materials ready and waiting when the rest of the components arrive. We want to make sure all of our ducks are in a row to get the next batch of Cases assembled as quickly as possible!
We’ll let you know when we have everything at our warehouse and can provide you with more accurate shipping dates.
The Druids’ Catacomb:
Sourcing + manufacturing for this Mysterious Case been an interesting journey. The construction for a few of its boxes is a little more complex than any of our other Cases: in fact, our main manufacturer, who did such a great job with The Kidnapped Crossworder’s boxes, was not able to take some of them on.
(these are some of the boxes they ARE doing for us!)
We’ve been searching for other manufacturers to fulfill those remaining boxes. For a couple of the designs, we’ve had several manufacturers promise they could help us out, only to back out on us weeks later - wasting our time (and yours)!
It has been a frustrating process, but we now have some new leads and are hopeful that we’re finally getting close. We’ll keep you up to date - we are as anxious to receive them as you are!
Besides the boxes themselves, the components that go inside the Case have been arriving and we’ve had to rearrange our stock room to make space. Color coding is coming in handy now!
Star-crossed Scientists:
We’ve been prioritizing the Druids’ Catacomb and Kidnapped Crossworder for now, but The Star-Crossed Scientists has not left our minds!
We have been finding that each case has had a production rhythm that is similar to the book production process. In our experience, it takes about six months from one release to the next.
However, we know you’re all impatient to receive your Mysterious Cases and we are extremely sorry that things are taking so long! In the meantime, we are working on some new digital components - whose production won’t be quite so bound by the constraints of time and space - for you to keep your detective minds sharp while you are waiting your cases to arrive. More announcements about this to come soon!
Wed Apr 11 '18 Announcement
about 6 years ago
– Wed, Apr 11, 2018 at 03:38:22 PM
Dear Backers,
We're back with your monthly update!
Druids' Catacomb
Objects have started arriving from around the world for Mysterious Case #238: The Druids' Catacomb!
(some of the many items you will encounter…)
(a glimpse into an ancient world)
We were hoping to have images of box samples to show you for this update, but there was a delay at the manufacturer. You may know that businesses in China close for a month during the Chinese New Year, so that everyone can travel to be with their families.
Our next update should have more sample photos for you...but not TOO many - we don't want to give too much away!
Druids' Catacomb Release Date:
We are expecting the Druids’ Catacomb to release this summer. We have to gather all of the objects before we can set an exact shipping date – if one of our manufacturers falls through, we have to find a new source for that object before we can finish assembling all of the cases. For this reason, we can’t give an exact date for shipping until we have all of the items gathered together. But we’re working hard to get it out to all of you ASAP!
Second Run of the Kidnapped Crossworder
The components for the second run of the Kidnapped Crossworder are ON THEIR WAY to our studio from overseas. Once we get all of the items together we will be able to assemble the next run of Cases and send them your way. More specific dates coming soon!
Star-Crossed Scientists
We are working with our vendors, fine-tuning the custom mechanical components for the innermost box of the case. As we get more and more of these unusual and delicate pieces together, we will be able to get you a closer time frame for when we will be sending it to you.
New things to come…
Much of our time is spent in talking to manufacturers for the custom components of the first three cases, but there is sometimes a small amount of extra room in our schedule while we wait for items to be made. Our years in publishing have taught us to parallel track our production phases - that is, while one project is in production, development for the next project begins! We have been sketching out plans for some new content that we are excited about. More on this soon!
Until next time…
-The Armchair Detective Company
Fri Mar 9 '18 Announcement
about 6 years ago
– Fri, Mar 09, 2018 at 03:00:16 PM
Dear Backers:
Kidnapped Crossworder’s Xtra Content is here!
We are so excited to announce that the extra online content for the Kidnapped Crossworder is now live.
This interactive Mysterious File follows a few of your favorite characters from the Kidnapped Crossworder’s original gang, as they embark on a journey and stumble across a whole new mystery.
Shelby has been working tirelessly to build the new online content experience from scratch, and we are excited to finally give you the opportunity to put your sleuthing caps back on and crack another case!
If you've solved the extra content puzzle that came inside your Mysterious Case, then you know where to go!
Druid's Catacomb + Star-Crossed Scientists: All the clues that are fit to print
Just this morning we received newspaper samples from our new printer (here in the US!) and they look great!
The tactile quality of every item is a very important consideration in our design process. Newspapers make great clues for our Mysterious Cases, especially as newsprint has a very specific look and texture.
Unfortunately, newsprint (particularly the weight + texture we need) is a delicate paper and requires a special type of printing. We have had a lot of trouble finding a newspaper printer who can work in the specific quantities we need. In fact, for the first edition of the Kidnapped Crossworder, we ended up having to print the newspapers ourselves! Needless to say, this was not a sustainable solution. With these new proofs looking so good, we are super excited about working with a new printer!
Social Media
Our main focus for the last year has been on sourcing and production of the three Mysterious Cases, because our main priority is to get them out to you.
However, many of you have also mentioned to us that you would like to see more of an online presence from us. With that in mind, we’ve recently begun working on building our social media outreach. Our hope is to cultivate a strong Armchair Detective community: somewhere people can share their triumphs while solving the Cases, or ask questions if they are stuck on a specific clue. Even so, please bear with us if it takes a little time to respond - our main focus is still on production!
Purchasing the Star-Crossed Scientists
We’ve had questions about whether we will still be selling a second edition of The Star-Crossed Scientists, now that the first edition is sold out.
Yes, we will be setting up pre-orders for the second edition. However, we want to focus on getting out the current orders for the Druid's Catacomb, Star-Crossed Scientists, & the second edition of The Kidnapped Crossworder out to you as soon as possible. For this reason we've limited the first run of the Star-Crossed Scientists. We will have a pre-order avaliable once we have a better scope of when the second edition will be ready.
Kidnapped Crossworder, BINGO Card Hint
A few folks have mentioned having some difficulties in solving the BINGO card puzzles in Mysterious Case #117: The Kidnapped Crossworder. We have added a little extra guidance to the hints page so you don't get discouraged. A man's life is on the line after all! You'll need all your wits to solve the case.
Good Luck!
The Armchair Detective Company
Thu Feb 1 '18 Announcement
over 6 years ago
– Thu, Feb 01, 2018 at 11:36:25 AM
Dear Backers,
We hope your 2018 is off to a great and inquisitive start!
The Kidnapped Crossworder
We are sending out international cases for The Kidnapped Crossworder this week. Working with the helpful staff at our local post office, we have set up a great system to send out cases all across the world. Countries as far away as Australia, as close as Canada, and 20 others in between will be receiving their copies of The Kidnapped Crossworder in the next few weeks.
For our more recent domestic orders, we have been purchasing and compiling components for the second run of The Kidnapped Crossworder every day. As we aggregate them, we will keep you up to date as a more focused timeline for delivery emerges. More to come soon!
The Druids’ Catacomb and The Star-Crossed Scientists
We are working with our box sourcers now to create and manufacture the subtle dials and laser cut etching required for The Druids’ Catacomb and The Star-Crossed Scientists cases. Each of these nesting boxes has its own set of tight parameters, which need to function properly for the cases to work. Our sourcers are taking great care to make sure each one is correct. While that is going on, we are working with our printer to get all the paper components ready for mass production.
First edition of The Star-Crossed Scientists will be sold out soon!
In order for us to focus on creating the best, most amazing experience for this Mysterious Case, we will be capping the first run of The Star-Crossed Scientists at 500 orders. Once we finish sending out the first edition to those who have already purchased it, we’ll set up a second production run.
Both The Kidnapped Crossworder and The Druids’ Catacomb will remain available for preorder for their second editions.
Once again, thank you for your support and understanding as we work hard to make this product a reality!
-The Armchair Detective Company
Sat Dec 23 '17 Announcement
over 6 years ago
– Sat, Dec 23, 2017 at 06:45:39 PM
Dear Backers,
We’ve shipped out the first 300 Mysterious Cases! We have been shipping them by date that orders were received, so that those who ordered earlier will receive their Mysterious Cases first. We believe this is the fairest way to send orders out.
For the last several weeks, we have been assembling and shipping seven days a week to make sure to get you your cases in time for the holiday season!
International backers:
We have been running into some issues shipping international orders in bulk. We are working with our local post office to get all the customs forms in perfect order so that we can send you your packages in the coming weeks with as little headache as possible on everyone’s part. International shipping is very new to us, and we want to make sure we get it right so you get your package with nothing lost in the mail!
For orders in the New Year:
We are just about out of stock of our first run of The Kidnapped Crossworder, and we’ve already begun the process of scheduling a second run. There may be a delay as we wait for new sets of all of the components to come in, especially because in the first run we learned that a few aspects of our production process will need some adjustment. For example, our printer needed a longer lead time for printing than we were originally expecting. We’ll be sure to keep you posted about the progress of this second run!
Future Dates:
We have received many inquiries about release dates for the Druids’ Catacomb and the Star-Crossed Scientists. Since each Case has over 100+ items in it, we’ve discovered that putting together each Case is more like creating a full book than anything else, and writing + producing books is a time consuming process! We’re getting everything in order and aiming for a release in the Summer of 2018, and will keep you posted about our progress as time goes by.
Thank you all so much for being a part of this project, and for your patience as we navigate this new terrain of manufacturing high-quality products in large numbers!
Happy Holidays!
The Armchair Detective Company
