Money.
It's cruel, but everything revolves around money: the abundance of lack of it.
With enough money, you can achieve your dreams and goals: for example, I would be able to design more and more miniature, I might afford to hire amazing artists to illustrate the world of Inneath, I would be able to buy a loft in Harajuku and eat every day those spectacular teriyaki burgers that I found there in a little restaurant (sorry, I can't remember the name, but it's near the GW store!).
But before dreaming about how I would spend my hypothetic money, it's better to start to think about how to earn them, and today's post is about the cross and delight of our upcoming KS campaign: prices!
I always fear the moment when I have to talk about prices, because people (logically) tend to develop a Ligurian attitude, concerning prices: we want cool stuff, at discount prices.
Oh, don't misunderstand me: I'm precisely like you. I'm a true Ligurian, after all.
But now, that I am on the other side of the barricade, I confess that the Ligurian way is kinda intimidating.
So, without further ado, let's see how much my Elves will cost, and how to save money without compromising on quality.
BUNDLES
Despite I saw that people love to have the chance to buy single miniatures (a living hell for a KS creator), I think we all agree that the vast majority of backers wants a lot of miniatures, at a fair price.
I've planned a classic ascending line of Bundles, in specific (names are still to decide, of course I will go for weird and kitsch names because, well, it's how I am...):
•The Entry Level bundle (approx. 45-50€): the less expensive bundle, made for those that only want to taste the water with a limited expense, or for those that want to grab a few things while waiting for the post-campaign Pledge Manager. It will consist of 5 miniatures and maybe a little extra bits (like an animal or a scenic accessory), a selection of the basic archetypes of this range (think about the Archer and Warrior characters) and a middle-level boss (a hero character).
Generally, with the entry-level bundle, we do not earn a lot of money but it's crucial to engage new backers, so it is strategically important in a KS campaign.
•The Wise Bundle (approx. 65€): this is the bundle that usually is picked by judicious backers. It is a kind of upgraded version of the entry-level bundle: a selection of base characters, a hero and one of the three big guys that we have designed (99,99%: the Forest Troll). It's probably the wisest bundle of all: a fair amount of mini (6-7), an interesting value for money (consider that the three big guys individually would cost around 30€ each -they are really big and expensive to produce-) and a reasonable chance to buy minis that you might have time to paint. But we all know that KS is not the place for logic and reasonable thoughts, for this reason we will made...
•....The Almost all-in Bundle (approx. 90€): this is the bundle for those that want to go big, without exceeding the psychological barrier of 100€. 9-10 miniatures, including the fanciest characters of the range and some unique stretch goals. Tasty, indeed, but we all know that the bundle that really matters is one, and only one (wait for it).
• The Mighty Mega Box (approx. 160€): the Mighty Mega Box contains everything designed for this Elf range, and all the stretch goals unlocked, including the KS exclusive miniature, the third volume of Peoples of Inneath and extra goodies that will make this luxury box a bundle worthy of its name.
Useless to say, the Mighty Mega Box is the bundle that offers the best value for money deal, usually it's like to buy our minis with a 40-50% discount, and this without considering the unlocked stretch goals value! I deeply thought, and still I have to take the final decision, about the price of the Elf MMB: for sure it will be higher than the Second Government one, simply because it will be richer in contents (and so more expensive to produce...), but I would like to keep its price under the 185€ of the Kazhuk Izril version.
It's true: without considering an hypothetical scenario where the campaign funds so well that we are able to design new, unprevented miniatures (it's always better to keep the feet on the ground, you know), the Elf range has less characters than the Kazhul Izril one (about 17 Elves, against the 24 dwarves), but the three big characters (Forest Troll, Elf Guardian and Green Knight) are so enormous that their production cost will easily overcome that of 7-8 Dwarf characters. I know, Gimly would say "that still only counts as one", but unfortunately our resin caster and 3d printer don't think the same.
So, yes: less characters, but bigger. Way bigger.
stretch goals
We spoiled our backers, during the first KS campaign, offering an enormous (and expensive!) line of SG for all those that pledged 35€ or more, without distinction. It costed us a fortune (really, we spent about 16 euros for each complete range of SG, and you can easily understand that it's not economically sustainable, especially for those backers that pledged 50€ or less).
With the Second Government campaign, we decided to organize the SG line in a more efficient way, dividing them into thematic mini-ranges: people did not react happily, let's say so, and I can't blame them.
Kickstarter means freebies, and despite we put the same care and attention to detail on freebies (and that means high production costs), people expect to see some extra cuddle to reward them for risking their money to fund a range not produced yet.
For this reason, with the Elf campaign I decided to go for a kind of mix between the painful generosity of the first campaign and the Ligurian austerity of the second one: the pledges below 65€ will get only a part of the unlocked SG line. The pledges equal or above 65€ will get everything that will be unlocked.
What about the previous ranges?
Both the Dwarf range and the Second Government range will be available in this upcoming campaign. Did you miss the Kazhuk Izril or Second Government Mighty Mega Boxes? There will be, including their unique stretch goals.
the mightiest hyper box of doom
Do you remember when I talked about that everything revolves around money? I didn't lie.
I have enough of big companies that tempt you with an incredibly exclusive edition of their brand new product.
So, this time I want to burn my cosmo over the limits of my constellation (Virgo. You know, the most powerful of gold saints) and offer a single deal that will really incarnate the concept of "exclusive": The Mightiest Hyper Box of Doom.
The whole Kazhuk Izril range, the whole Second Government range, the whole Elves of Inneath range, basically everything we have produced during our KS campaign, all inside a special item of high Italian craftsmanship: the replica of the Sentinel C backpack!
made by my friend Bob Moro, a talented artist of leather who's career includes years of specialized work at Fendi's laboratory in Florence, this perfectly functioning backpack is made with pure leather.
Of course, the MHBD will be expensive, but if you want something unique in this world, and you can afford it, this is the best I can offer you.
stl files
I will talk about .stl files tomorrow, in a proper post because it's a tricky topic and I need a deep confrontation with all of you. But yes, I think that the Elves campaign will see the first step of DPF into the domestic 3d printing.