Soltera: Convergence of Dragons Collectable Playing Cards

Deck & Dice Production Update
over 1 year ago – Fri, Oct 25, 2024 at 01:44:42 PM

Soltera Deck Production

Hello Friends!

We've officially approved all changes and edits for the Physical Proof Decks, and the printers have already begun producing the physical proof copies. These are expected to be ready by mid-November. However, given the timelines, it's looking more likely that fulfillment will be pushed back to at least January. The production decks will be shipped by sea, which takes longer than air freight. We’ll have a clearer picture once production of the decks begins and we will provide a better timeline once we have more information.

Uncut Sheets

For those who ordered Uncut Sheets, we wanted to share an update on the layouts! Each deck’s design will look fantastic on your wall, and the Uncut Sheets will also include the foil card backs printed on the reverse side.

There’s still time to order if you’re interested! If you'd like to add Uncut Sheets or anything else to your order, please contact us directly through Kickstarter, and we’ll unlock your order so you can make adjustments before production starts. Time is running out, so act now!

Soltera Handmade Dice Production

Leah has let us know that the handmade dice will be finished this weekend and shipped out to us on Monday. Since they’re coming from Canada, we expect to receive them by late next week or early the following week. We’ll share photos once they arrive, but Leah has already provided a few in-progress shots to enjoy in the meantime!

That’s all for now. We hope everyone has a great weekend! Our hearts and prayers go out to our friends and family affected by the recent hurricanes. Wishing you all the best, and hoping you’re safe and well.

Cheers,
Michael & Kim

Production Update!
over 1 year ago – Tue, Oct 15, 2024 at 10:32:30 AM

Production Update: Decks

Hello Friends!

We’re excited to finally have some new updates for you! It took a little longer than anticipated for the printer's design team to review our files—several weeks, actually—but we’re happy to say things are moving forward. The good news is that both the Tuck Boxes and the Cards have been fully reviewed by the printer (and by us), and we’ve officially given the green light to begin production on the physical proof decks!

Thank you all for your patience and support. We’re getting closer!

Great news for us as well! We were able to successfully negotiate a better price for the physical production proofs. Initially, we were looking at nearly $8,000, but now the cost will only be $1,500. This is a huge relief! While the project was very successful in its funding, once you factor in the costs for the amazing artwork, layout, advertising, financing, and other miscellaneous expenses, we basically broke even. So, this savings really helps us out!

While we don’t have exact production dates for when the physical proofs will be completed just yet, we’ll be sure to pass on that information as soon as we have it. We’re keeping a close eye on things and will keep you updated every step of the way!
 

Production Update: Coins

We’re excited to share that the minting of all the coins has been completed! To save on shipping, they will be sent out together with the decks and other printed goods. We’ve also requested some photos of the coins, and as soon as we receive them, we’ll be sure to pass them along for you all to see!
 

Production Update: Handmade Dice

Great news—Leah has finished casting all of the dice! Yay! 🎉 The next steps are to sand, polish, and ink them, and she hopes to have that wrapped up in the coming weeks. Nearly 400 handmade dice were crafted in total! Once they’re completed and shipped to us, we’ll be sure to snap some photos of the final product and share them with you.

Production Status Tracker

Here's where we stand with everything as of today:

Thank you again for your support, and we're excited to keep pushing forward!

Cheers,

Michel & Kim

Production Update!
over 1 year ago – Wed, Aug 28, 2024 at 08:51:26 AM

Thank You!

First and foremost, Kim and I want to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone for your well wishes and kind words after I shared the details of my recent health scare. Your thoughtfulness and kindness have truly touched us, and it means the world to us. This is one of the many reasons we cherish this community so deeply.

Now on to the fun stuff!

Deck Artwork Submitted

We’re happy to report that all of the deck artwork has been submitted to the printers for review this week! The only thing left for us to submit is the artwork for the Soltera Brick boxes. Since our decks will contain 58 cards, rather than the standard 56, the tuck boxes will need to be slightly thicker (about +2mm). Because of this, the Brick Boxes also need to be customized to accommodate the 12 larger decks. We’re just waiting for the printers to send us a modified Brick Box layout so we can apply our graphics and finalize everything. But that won't delay printing. 

Next steps: Assuming our files are set up correctly and don't need significant adjustments, we’ll receive digital proofs for review. Once we’ve approved those, we’ll request physical proofs to review in person. Given the complexity of the printing process (foils, metallic inks, embossing, etc.), it’s critical that we ensure all elements come together as planned and verify the printer’s quality. Based on our past experience with them, we don’t anticipate issues, but this step does add costs (~$900 per deck) and production time, which will be clearer as we proceed.

With 8 different decks (4 Silver, 4 Gold), the cost for physical proofs alone will exceed $7,000. Ouch! We’re currently negotiating with the printer to reduce or waive these fees, given that they’ll be printing 8,000 decks for us, but we’ll see how that goes.

Once we have the physical proofs and assuming no major changes are needed, we’ll move into the production queue, which should be around 30-45 days, based on our last check.

Coins Ordered

With the pre-production work on the decks completed, we've placed the order for the two coin designs (Silver, Gold), which exceeded 4000 total coins! We'll give an update on this front when we anything significant to report.

Current Status Of Things

With the coins ordered, the deck print files submitted, and the handmade dice nearing the end of production, everything is coming along great! We’re starting the final turn towards the finish line. Exciting times ahead!

Note: Uncut sheets follows the same production schedule as the decks.

That’s all we have for now.
To our American friends and family, have a fun and safe Labor Day Weekend! We hope you have something special planned to cap off the end of summer. To everyone else across the world, have a great weekend!

Cheers,
Michel & Kim 

Card Production Update!
over 1 year ago – Thu, Aug 08, 2024 at 10:56:39 AM

Hello friends!

First, I want to apologize for my slow response over the last few weeks. Last month, Kim and I both got COVID at the same time. Although my symptoms were mild, I was left feeling short of breath most days. I thought I just needed more time to recover, but a few weeks later, I woke up one morning and could barely walk more than 20 feet without feeling like I'd run a marathon. After some convincing by Kim, we went to the ER. A CT scan of my chest revealed something serious, and I was immediately admitted to the hospital.

It turns out that post-COVID complications left me with blood clots in my lungs (pulmonary embolisms). These clots had grown so large that they were restricting oxygenated blood flow to both lungs. In addition to the embolisms, parts of my lungs developed necrosis from the lack of blood flow, and my heart suffered damage due to the strain of trying to pump blood through my blocked lungs. Yikes!

After a stint in the hospital and weeks of recovery, I'm happy to report that I am no longer on oxygen and am on the road to a full recovery. I'll be on blood thinners for several months, but the doctors are hopeful that most, if not all, of the lung and heart damage will heal over time.

Let this serve as a PSA for all of you. If you've had COVID (or know someone who has) and are experiencing shortness of breath, please see a doctor ASAP! Don't be a dumb dumb and ignore it like I did. Shockingly, 1 in 3 people die annually from undiagnosed pulmonary embolisms. Prior to this, I had no history or family history of lung or heart issues, so this could happen to anyone. The doctors told me they are seeing a notable increase in pulmonary embolisms in patients who have had the most recent variants of COVID. Please take care of yourselves and spread the word!

Now, on to the fun part!

Deck Production

I'm happy to report that all of the print files are finally completed and are in the process of review. I will start submitting them to the printers this week and continue into next week. This took quite a bit longer (my health issue notwithstanding) than we anticipated due to all of the special processing required for four deck designs, two styles, and over 200 cards (metallic inking, foiling, embossing, etc.). This is why we gave ourselves plenty of time for fulfillment, and despite the setbacks, we are still on schedule to deliver early.

What's Next?

The next steps, after review and submission to the printers, involve their review of the files on their end. Assuming everything is in order, they will provide us with a digital print proof of each file. If everything looks good on our end, we will then order a few physical print proof copies to ensure everything meets our quality standards before we hit the 'go' button on production. We're taking these extra steps and time to make sure everything is top-notch before proceeding, as this is very important to us, and we know it is very important to you.

Coin Production

Minting the coins doesn't take as much time as producing the decks, so we will initiate the minting process once the decks are in production. This approach will help us reduce shipping costs and storage fees.

Handmade Dice Production

Leah is hard at work making the handmade D6s, and she expects to have them all completed and shipped to us by the end of this month.

Project Check List

Here's where we stand on all of the physical rewards:

Note: The uncut deck sheets will follow the same timeline as the decks

60+ Backers Surveys Incomplete 

We have about a 92% completion rate on the Backerkit surveys, which is great. However, a handful of you ordered handmade dice and book deck boxes. Since these are handmade goods made to order, we need the final numbers for production. Additionally, knowing if we need to order more Treasure Chests and coins would be helpful too.

If you need help locating your Backerkit survey, please send us a direct message through Kickstarter, and we can provide you with a direct link to your survey.

That's all we have for now. We'll continue to keep you posted as things continue to progress. We hope you are having a great summer!

Cheers,

Michael & Kim

 

Book Deck Boxes & Free Dice Subscriptions
over 1 year ago – Mon, Jul 08, 2024 at 02:22:41 PM

Elderwood Book Deck Boxes Have Arrived!

Hello Friends!

Another quick post to update you on a few things. The first being that we received the first shipment of Book Deck boxes from Elderwood Academy last week and they look stunning! Those of you who ordered these are going to LOVE them! 

Libris Arcana Free Dice Subscription Codes Sent

Exciting news for those of you who pledged $89 or more during the Soltera Kickstarter campaign, as we just sent out the 1-Month FREE dice subscription codes today via Backerkit. You should be receiving an email via Backerkit with the code and directions on how to take advantage of this gift. Some email servers are slower than others, so give it at least 24hrs to arrive, and also check your spam folders as well.
 

Decks

We are still working through the cards files getting all of the metallic ink layers set up properly and getting them laid out for the printers. This process was definitely more laborious than we previously expected, but we are making good progress. Even so, we are still on track to deliver this product a few months ahead of schedule. 

Outstanding Backerkit Surveys

We are slowly making progress on collecting the surveys from everyone, but there are still roughly 11% (90+) backers that still need to complete their survey. If you haven't already, please take a few minutes to complete your Backerkit survey. We need this information for final production numbers for the handmade dice, book deck boxes, and coins. Additionally, we will not be able to ship you your goodies once fulfillment starts until your survey is completed.

If you need help locating your survey please send us a direct message here through Kickstarter and we can send you a direct link to your survey. Thank you!

For our US friends and family, we hope you all had a fun and safe 4th of July weekend! We worked most of it but did manage to take some time to enjoy some fireworks from our back porch and have some dinner to celebrate. 

Cheers,
Michael & Kim