Flying Friends: A Batpack Companion Project

hi guys! just wanted to pop in to share a tiny pre-launch update:

first, a few people mentioned that my sketches in the pin unlock poll were a little unclear, so i've cleaned up the brown bat design to give you guys a better idea of what i had in mind. i hope this helps!



next, we launch bright and early tomorrow morning at 10am PST! as a reminder, here's the important information to know ahead of launch:

i hope you're all as stoked as i am & i'll see you tomorrow morning!! 🎉🎉

with just two days till project launch, i wanted to get a head start on seeing what pins you guys might want unlocked if we reach our project stretch goals!

of the designs i had sketched out, ive picked my four favorites to start with.



we have pins for vampire bat, tangerine bat, the honduran white bat, and the brown bat! a few of these are actually inspired by a VERY old pin set of mine that I did back in i thiiiink 2017? that ive wanted to revisit for a while!

this means that the only bats from the og batpack campaign that i HAVENT drawn new pin designs for yet are cupid bat and flying fox. if you guys would prefer designs for them over any of these ones, let me know in the comments!

ive attached the poll to this update, but please do let me know too what you think of these options! we've got three potential spots for unlockable pins (if we meet our stretch goals) so thats something to keep in mind!

happy wednesday, everyone! 🦇🖤

if you're in the US, i'm sure you've been keeping up with the issues surrounding tariffs at the moment. starting last year, the de minimus exception for small packages was removed, which means that all packages, no matter what declared value, are subject to tariff & duty fees on import. not only that, but the US has imposed retaliatory tariffs on other countries, including canada, where i'm based, and china, where many of my goods are manufactured.

for example, some items being shipped into the US that were made in china are subject to a whopping 33.3% tariff fee -- which means an extra $6 per pin, or an extra $3 for memo pads, etc etc... and that doesn't include things like base shipping rates and brokerage fees!

so, i wanted to offer an option for US backers who want to support the project but are worried about the potential tariff fees! in the sticker lovers tier, aka the tariff free tier, all items in your pledge are duty-free under the CUSMA trade agreement, which establishes that certain items manufactured in north america (canada, the US, and mexico) can enter the US duty free. that means that all you'll need to pay other than your pledge level is your shipping fee!

plus, this tier still includes access to any of the freebies we're offering this year that you qualify for, since all the freebies this year are sticker designs! (except for the bonus pin for backing both my previous campaigns, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.) it also means that your pledge will likely ship a bit sooner, since i already have most of these stickers on hand from previous campaigns!

‼️NOTE: this tier will ONLY stay tariff free if you do NOT add any add-on items EXCEPT for stickers & prints to your pledge. if you add things like pins or memo pads as add ons, you WILL end up needing to pay tariff fees when you pay for your shipping. ‼️

we're just a few days away from launch -- if you haven't signed up for alerts yet via our launch party page, it's how you'll be notified as soon as the project launches on thursday! stay tuned for more pre-launch updates & more 🦇

as part of this year's pintopia campaign, we're incredibly happy to share that we'll be participating in pin safari, a huge cross-collab banner within pintopia! 🦁🦇



by backing 3+ projects within our banner, you'll receive a FREE polaroid-style sticker with your pledge to the creators you back! (NOTE that you will ONLY receive stickers from the projects you back -- so if you want our flying friends flying fox sticker, you'll have to back flying friends specifically, in addition to at least 2 other projects within the banner.)

pintopia launches in just a handful of days, now -- I hope everyone's getting excited! 🦇🖤 we'll keep posting updates and teasers up until the project launch date!

hi guys! just wanted to pop in real fast and give you guys a quick pricing update.

initially, i'd mentioned that the base pledge tier in order to receive a single pin reward was going to be $15 USD. after reviewing my cost spreadsheet, and considering how my previous 1.5in pins cost $15 & these new pins will be 2in, i've decided to raise the base pledge tier price to $17 USD.

this takes into account the larger size + the new special effects that will be going into the rainbow enamel & hanging chain pin designs! those two pins will actually later cost $20 USD outside of the campaign, so those two will actually still be cheaper if you get them with your pledge!

i do feel bad about this price difference, though, so there will be a small amount of early bird tiers available for $15 instead of $17, as well as a new early bird free incentive (a sticker design) that you can get if you back within the first 48 hours. i really hope you guys like it!!! <3

and of course, as always, please let me know if you have any questions! have a great week, everyone!