April Update
about 1 year ago – Thu, Apr 13, 2023 at 03:21:05 PM

Hi everyone,

Firstly, apologies for the slow update cadence lately. I've got two young kids and our house has been a never-ending case of cold/flu/rsv/norovirus for the last month--everyone's finally healthy and regaining some sanity.

Schedule

Happy to say that we finally locked down all our previously outstanding production/quality issues and products are coming down the lines. We had to secure some computer-controlled hot gluing machines to ensure every magnet was perfectly bonded. We also had to tweak the assembly order of operations of the ETB Playmat and offset in the EVA foam slightly from the edge (don't worry the play area is all still cushioned) to ensure that edge bond was fool proof even in the hottest, most humid environments. Pre-COVID it was easier and faster just to fly to the factory and work through these details, but nowadays it takes a bit more back and forth (and is sadly slower).

Just to give you a sense of scale though, we're making tens of thousands of units (and have to make sure everything is right). In total across all the different products and colorways, we're making almost 70k units. We're pushing the factory hard to see if we can wrap it all up before the end of the April or at least that first week of May. Then we're looking at a month on the water for it to get freighted into the US. Our 3PL should be able to process all the Kickstarter orders within the first 1-3 days all that inventory arrives at their docks. Short answer: expect to get your products in the early June.

Shows/Events

I'll be out at GAMA Expo in Reno, NV in a few weeks on 4/25 and 4/26. Meetings are lined up with some media and distribution partners so we can all work together on supporting the brand's launch and growth. If you happen to be out there at the show those days, let me know and I'll be happy to meet up (and hook you up with some CURV Sleeves).

In terms of exhibiting at shows, we're working on securing booths for shows later this Fall & Winter. I'll share an official list of shows and dates once they get locked!

Media

Look out for us in GTM (Game Trade Magazine), starting with the June issue (#280). We're super excited to partner with them for our launch. Here's a preview of the ad we're running:

CURV Sleeves Colors
about 1 year ago – Wed, Mar 15, 2023 at 01:24:38 PM

The remaining 4 colors (Wizard Blue, Shaman Red, Druid Green, and Artificer Grey) finished production. Thought you'd all like to see some pics of the final product! Plus a sneak peak at some future colors for late 2023. :D

March Update
about 1 year ago – Wed, Mar 01, 2023 at 03:20:01 PM

Surveys Locking

Thank you to everyone who got their survey completed in February. There are only a handful of you that I'm still waiting to hear back from. For those that have completed their surveys, you should be receiving an email giving you 48 hrs to make any adjustments before we lock these orders in. After this point, if you need to make any adjustments, don't be afraid to message me and I'll do my best to manually adjust anything for you. Going ahead and locking it now just helps us with forecasting.

Card Charging

We won't charge your card for the shipping cost or add-on's until we're ready to ship. I'll send you all an update as a heads up in the coming months when this happens.

Production Update

We just finished our first production run of the CURV Sleeves in all colors. Based on demand though, I may be running a second batch before we ship.

The RFG Deckbox MAX and RNG Dicebox MAX have finalized all their PVT trials and are locked and about to begin production. A lot of work has gone into all the fixtures and jigs to ensure every unit is assembled perfectly.

The RFG Deckbox, RNG Dicebox, and ETB Playmat are all going through one more trial to verify our adhesives hold over an accelerated lifecycle of extreme heat and humidity. These products are about 1-2 weeks behind the MAX products. We just want to be 100% sure we're getting the right build quality and durability we all expect. Thanks for being patient.

Sales/Retail

Wanted to share that we've been picked up by two of the major distributors in the US. We should be available at most LGS's in the US come this Summer & Fall. Please tell your stores about us and tell them to look out for Heavy Play in their ordering systems. Just wanted to share the good news.

CURV Sleeves & MagicCon Philadelphia
about 1 year ago – Thu, Feb 16, 2023 at 10:54:15 PM

Hi everyone!

Firstly, thank you to everyone who has completed the BackerKit reward survey. For the few of you that haven't yet, I'll keep pinging bugging you over the next two weeks.

I received the first carton of production CURV Sleeves in Warlock Black and Cleric White, plus some CURV Sleeves INNERS. The other colors are running production now and I should see those parts soon.  I'm really happy with how the product turned out and I can't wait to get it into your hands!

In terms of packaging, I do have to share that the lids aren't as "clicky" as they should be. They were far more secure during the sampling & approval stage, but the deboss that creates the lock drifted slightly in production. All of the initial production units (all colorways) have looser lid closures than I'd personally like, but our packaging vendor is correcting this for future production runs. If you toss all your sleeve boxes and never reuse them, you won't really care, but I wanted everyone to be aware. We also had to add an inner polybag to help with assembly. Eventually, the hope is to remove it so we can be plastic-free with our packaging.

If you're still reading this far down the update and happen to be attending MagicCon Philadelphia this weekend, I hope to run into you. I'll be around the floor all Saturday and early on Sunday (I'll be wearing a Heavy Play hat and t-shirt). I'll be hauling around samples of all the products if you want to check them out. I'll also have some extra CURV Sleeves I can give out to you early if you mention that you backed the Kickstarter. Thanks so much for all the support. Hope to see some of you there!

Survey Update
over 1 year ago – Fri, Jan 27, 2023 at 11:52:40 AM

Happy Friday, Heavy Players.

BackerKit Survey

The BackerKit Survey "smoke test" has just gone out to 5% of you. For those of you that receive it, please let me know if you run into any issues. Just a few reminders (for everyone).

• You will be able to switch reward levels between the bundled options.
• You'll be able to pick the colors of every single item, even at the lower bundled tiers. (thanks to our awesome fulfillment partner!)
• All your Kickstarter add-ons should automatically get imported in addition to your original reward package.
• You can add extra add-on products via BackerKit.
• Shipping will be charged based on your total package weight.
• VAT will be charged for the UK & EU.
• The remaining 95% of you will get the survey on Monday, 1/30.

Future Product Survey

If you can spare 15-30 minutes, we've put together a separate survey with the hopes of getting to know you better as players. This will help inform how this first wave of products are marketed as well as what future products come down the pipeline. Please click the link here and take the survey. Thank you in advance.

-Randy