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I know that we have had our share of difficulties int eh recent past but I am weathering the storm and powering my way through! We are nearly done with the fulfillment on both of the previous red box games kickstarters and now we are launching a new campaign to fund the production of a small set of Njorn Adventurers. We have 6 in all; Woldvagner vII, Bolverk vII, Ulfgar vII, Weglaf vII, Rollo, and Ragnar. These figures are already sculpted and mastered and ready fro production. All that is left is to fund the actual production of the production molds and the casting.




This is where your help is invaluable. The industry has changed dramatically. I can no longer afford the risk to produce these figures without knowing that the production is fully funded. In order to get these figures into production and available to my valued customers I have to make this funding goal. I know that my first kickstarter has severely stretched people's patience and confidence in my ability but I assure you that I will nto fail a second time and I will not let you down.
Your continued confidence and support is GREATLY appreciated and dearly needed. As always I thank you all for your support, your confidence and your enthusiasm. I do not take any of these things lightly.
So if you would like to see these figures funded please take a moment to visit the Kickstarter page and offer a pledge for one or more of these figures. The Production should be complete within a month and delviery will commence immediately upon delivery to me.
You can visit the project page at;http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1103158358/red-box-games-norse-warrior-miniatures" target="_new" rel="nofollow"> http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1103158358/red-box-games-norse-warrior-miniatures
Cheers,

The sculpts look great, although I confess they're not really relevant to anything I have in the pipeline.

I actually just wanted to post and say kudos for holding up your hands and admitting things weren't perfect, I always find people far more understanding if you admit a mistake and show your desire to correct it than if you handwave everything away and pretend everything is fine.

Best of luck

Thanks! hah denying troubles does not fix them!

Hey Tre,

These figures look great, fantastic sculpting!

Do you think you could make an update on the original campaign, as on the last update from Dec 30th you said

In the next 4 days I expect to be able to give one final update as to the progress of production and the projected time of delivery for final fulfillment.

At this point, anything to finish that campaign (for example, asking backers to swap out a single item that you are out of stock on that is delaying their order shipping, for an item that you do have in stock) would be really good.

But mostly just seeing that update would be helpful, since it's about a week overdue. Since things really are supposed to be in the final stretch it should be easy to list out exactly what models and quantities you need to finish, and perhaps allow folks to swap out from those if they just want their box sent now.

It would really, really be good for everybody involved to tie a bow on that campaign and have it done. Simply saying you don't have the quantities isn't enough at this point... people need specifics and you should be able to provide them exactly what you have not been able to pack into the boxes.

I don't mean this negative at all and love the sculpts I got from buying out someone's pledge from that campaign. I wish this one all the best, and may even pledge... but there does need to be an update on that original campaign, and a clear list of what is left to finish it, along with the expected finish date. Specifically listing what packages are left to ship and what small items are missing from each would be even better.

Finally, if you are short a few of the dire wolves I am actually willing to send some of those to you from the pledge I received... just knowing exactly how many of each model you are short on to call that campaign DONE would help everybody, I think.

I actually just got off the phone with Ed who informs me he is on the way to the PO with the last box for me right now. This means that at logn last i can finish out the fulfillment of the first KS campaign and be done with it. I am working on the KS update right now.

I really like the upper right barbarian and would pick him up at retail even though I have no actual use for him (much like the other nice figs I've ordered at my FLGS from you). Lack of use plus delay history plus nebulous future shipping cost not included means that I'll get him at retail as well. The sculpting as always looks top notch!

While I do like the sculpts individually, seeing them like this lined up don't make 'em as exciting. It slightly bothers me that the poses are very similar to each other, making it feel like you've taken a very easy shortcut of making 'em.

However, individually, they look great!

My god.

STOP STARTING NEW CAMPAIGNS UNTIL THE PREVIOUS ONES ARE COMPLETE. PLEASE.

Don't keep splitting your time and energy. Finish what you started before going back to the well. You're just damaging your reputation even further by starting this before the other two are complete. The second, much simpler campaign is already 5 months late on fulfilment.

/facepalm

Sorry, I'm not involved, so might have this wrong, but ITT hasn't he confirmed that the previous campaign is complete, and not started this one yet?

EDIT
Nope, got it wrong!

I'm out of town for a couple days, but will back this project once I get back home. True there were delays and setbacks with the original KS, but Tre always kept coming back and taking it on the chin. Other, much larger players have had some crazy delays and we keep coming back for more abuse even when they fall off the radar for months at a time. I don't have a great deal of use for any of the figures right now, but I know these will be awesome sculpts that paint up well on one of those days where I want to do something different, just because.

 tre manor wrote:
I actually just got off the phone with Ed who informs me he is on the way to the PO with the last box for me right now. This means that at logn last i can finish out the fulfillment of the first KS campaign and be done with it. I am working on the KS update right now.

That is fantastic, Tre!! Thanks for the update

While obviously it would be better for KS1 to be fulfilled before anything else was done, that campaign was a disaster and a major learning curve for all involved.

While waiting for that disaster to resolve itself, the creators involved still need to eat, and as they make their living as creators, that means creating new stuff. I don't begrudge Tre a new project at all, though I am happy to see that this one is modest in scope, and I think that is much more reasonable for a one man show like Tre.

It's not like he can make the other campaign go any faster if he doesn't create anything new, you know what I mean? It's all sculpted, it's just waiting for it to get cast that is the problem. Unfortunately, Tre's fine sculpts were not suitable for the Trollcast material, it seems, or at least, they tested that material to it's limit.

This seems like the right way to go Tre. I've backed all your previous KS and I'm happy to back this one. I think despite the difficulty you've shown some integrity, and that you've learned from your past mistakes.

It's also worth pointing out that for KS2 the stuff Tre can do (sculpting etc) is done and the stuff that's still outstanding is at the casters

(for metal which seems to suit Tre's sculpting style better than Trollcast)

so folk like me waiting for the wolf riders should be happy relatively soon so I've no problem with him running another KS now

Tre I just read that you'll be sculpting for Mierce and that makes me very happy - onen of my favorite sculptors with one of my favorite miniature companies!

Thanks everyone!

Yes I did REALLy want to wait to resolve both of the previous Kickstarters but the bills just won;t wait so I had to launch now.

On the upside KS1 shoudl be resolved before the end of this campaign, and KS2 shoudl also be delivered by then as well, or shortly there after anyway.

the Mierce Commission. Yep I am pretty excited about it. I love the concept they gave me. It is a nice break from what I have been doign thus far.

Awesome to hear that you're sculpting a commission for Mierce... I can't wait to see it!

Also, really love the update on KS1 that you posted. That definitely seems like the right way to go about it, and shipping everything but the horses ASAP now that the final box has been shipped to you sounds great.

The project was a mans piece of work, Tre.

Congratz on the excellent figures. You had a few issues on the project, but just know that some of us out here are 110% happy with the result, and really, you out-did yourself in the communication and quality talent department throughout the campaign.

I myself would like to thank you for the hard work and dedication on the whole thing.


For what its worth, Thanks for the efforts, across the board.

I'm one of the guys who are still waiting the stuff from KS1, and I'm okay with Tre doing other campaigns, working for other companies or whatever. His sculpts for KS1 are done, he's not going to get the castings done faster by like staring at the greens or anything. He has to keep working. The first KS backfired, all right. But it will eventually get to a happy ending. At the end it's just been a matter of time.

Trust me, the KS1 figs are worth the wait. I wish I had pledged for more. I hope there are extras of the Gynnade Krigare plastics as I want to get at least 8-10 more.

It sounds like there might be, from the latest update, judgedoug (maybe that's what you were referring to). I'm just glad the boxes are going to be shipped, and just the store credit or horses will remain outstanding. That will be a good resolution after this amount of time, I think, to have all but that done.

And I agree about Tre doing new work, as long as the above is the highest priority (i.e. getting those boxes shipped now that the final minis are in the mail to him). I'm really stoked about his sculpt for Mierce, and the only thing keeping me out of this campaign so far is I don't have any "non evil" human armies that I could use the Norse in. But I love the sculpts!

 judgedoug wrote:
Trust me, the KS1 figs are worth the wait. I wish I had pledged for more. I hope there are extras of the Gynnade Krigare plastics as I want to get at least 8-10 more.

They look very nice ranked up too. I put them on circular bases with magnets to use in skirmish games and to use on metal movement trays for unit-based games, and they look great all together, which is an accomplishment in my book. Sometimes models that look good singly don't rank up well and models designed to rank up well don't look very expressive on their own. Tre managed to do both.

I'm glad someone made the point about the bulk of Tre's work on the previous KS campaigns being done. It is absolutely true that staring at the greens doesn't make fulfillment happen faster. I for one would prefer to see Tre sculpting. The world needs more Tre Manor miniatures!

I am in. Loved all the figures I got from KS1.

And the news that you are sculpting a figure for Mierce (and one I have already ordered to boot!) is fantastic news too!

I'm in on your new KS and I'm very excited about your doing Erebius for Mierce, especially since I've already paid for him.

So, what is the deal with the KS 1 minis? Will they ever be available in Trollcast outside that KS or are they available in metal now? I know the relationship didn't work out too well, but I wasn't sure what the status of the KS 1 minis was overall.

Tre has told us on his forum that he has decided to go back to metal. This decision has made me very happy. I thought the troll cast stuff was good but I like his metal much better.

bbb- Likely, those minis simply won't be available, at least for the near future. It would cost money to have them cast again for metal production, and a lot of folks already have them now. As judgedoug said above, though, there may be some spares of a few of the models in Trollcast that are put up for sale on the webstore.

But mostly, the push has been to just meet the obligation to the Kickstarter backers- and that has been hard enough! The latest update shows that Tre should have enough, starting next week, to ship all remaining orders, except needing folks to request store credit / swaps for the horses if possible. Regardless, his update said all orders would be going out now, and if folks choose to wait for the horses rather than swap, that will have to be resolved separately.

I think it's smart to knock out everything else in one fell swoop, so I am very excited about that update, and to see the final boxes go out.

 bbb wrote:
So, what is the deal with the KS 1 minis? Will they ever be available in Trollcast outside that KS or are they available in metal now? I know the relationship didn't work out too well, but I wasn't sure what the status of the KS 1 minis was overall.

Its a production issue, or so it seems to me. The models are great and the material is capable of producing good casts, but it comes down to the manufacturer. If it has taken Tre this long to get his KS1 pledges out, do you think he could keep reliable restocks? If the molds have already been used a great deal between casts and miscasts, are they still usable?

Ultimately it is a shame, as the models are amazing and they may never see new life. If the masters are still available and there was enough demand, maybe Tre could get new molds made for casting in metal. Even so, what we already know is that Tre has sold a ton of them. How much of a market is there? And if the pieces were redone, they'd be more expensive for sure, maybe more expensive than folks are willing to pay, who knows?

The problem seems to be looking at it from the outside

(with a box of the trollcast minis from Tre's KS, but also from the Impact Chibi one)

that the issue is down in large part to the fineness of the sculpting Tre does (and lots of pointy spikes), which leads to bits that are just too fragile in Trollcast (which does have decent strength when it's thicker)

this means lots of miss-casts which have to be binned (unlike metal which could be re-cycled)

so while he has moulds that are usable for trollcast they won't be economical to use,

and making a mould suitable for metal will cost a bunch of money he doesn't feel he'll make back as most of his regular customers will already have the figures from the KS

Oh well, seems like a shame to have all those molds created and not used anymore, but Tre's just gotta keep moving forward if it didn't work out well.

Well I was really pleased with the decent sized box I received from KS2 the other week, and I'm definitely in for the six Njorn badasses.