Adult Triceratops update, Monoclonius surplus, and Fans' Choice variants!
about 4 years ago – Sun, Feb 06, 2022 at 09:01:17 PM

Hello again everyone! Despite this campaign coming to a close soon, there's still plenty of news regarding the adult Triceratops as well as several other Ceratopsian Series topics of interest. 

Adult Triceratops Delivery Status

 So here we are at the end of January and unfortunately the main shipment of adult Triceratops still has yet to reach our warehouse. But after multiple delays (before and after arriving in the US) the wait is nearly over- really. As of this writing, the shipment is now estimated to be 2-3 business days away from our warehouse which means final fulfillment is expected to begin next week. So for those who've been standing-by patiently for this one, the wait is nearly over. Judging by all of the delays that this shipment has encountered, it would seem that we were quite lucky to receive the rest of wave 3 last month in time for Christmas, as they were all shipped from the factory at the same time. I plan to follow up again with another Kickstarter update once the remaining adult Triceratops figures begin shipping. Fingers-crossed for no more delays.

Shipping suspensions to Australia and New Zealand still in place

As was the case with the previous update,  there is still a temporary service disruption for USPS and Asendia postal services from the US. to Australia and New Zealand. Again, we still have the option to use DHL or FedEx, but these methods are generally twice as expensive and would require an additional shipping charge. If you live in these regions and would like to request one of these alternative shipping options to expedite your shipment, please message me. Otherwise, these orders will ship out as soon as the suspensions are lifted. 

For a full, updated list of USPS international service disruptions, click here.

Triceratops QC issues and replacement legs

 As if the delays regarding this figure weren't enough, there have been a number of breakage reports from the initial shipments that went out to backers last month. I went into detail about this on my social media a few weeks ago, but I wanted to reiterate and update the information here as well.  The main issue has been with the ankle joint on the left side being broken upon arrival, and in some cases on the right leg as well. Based on my most current info, this has affected to just over 8% of the figures (32 of 380- this includes figures for the first US shipment, Everything Dinosaur, and my retail partners in Asia). It's also worth mentioning that this has also been seen on Torosaurus, but to a very small degree with only four reports of breakage thus far. In any case, I am having the factory double the width of the ankle pin for future production runs of this body, and we'll also have extra support for the legs in the packaging as well so we can prevent this problem moving forward.

Upon receiving feedback about this issue last month, I contacted the factory about replacement legs and they were quick to provide me with a large batch. Here's an example of the replacements- note that the ball joint for the hip is included. 

 For those who've experienced this problem, I thank you for your patience as you've all been so kind and understanding. As of now, all of the replacement legs for the US and Canada backers have been sent out. For our UK/ EU backers, I've shipped a supply of replacement parts to Everything Dinosaur and they will be sending those out to backers who've requested them as soon as possible. They will also have a limited supply on-hand for future issues.

Also included with the legs is an instruction sheet for removal and replacement, but even better, Dino Scream Reviews has been kind enough to make an instructional video showing the full replacement process. The only tool required is a hairdryer.

 So, because of this issue, the delay of the main shipment does have a silver lining. Now that we're aware of this problem, we can check for it before the remaining orders go out. I'll be working with my warehouse team, letting them know about the issue and to have them keep a lookout for feet rattling around in the packaging. Those that are affected will be set aside, thus we should be able to greatly reduce the number of future incidents. I do apologize for the inconvenience that this has caused anyone so far.

Extra stock of Monoclonius

Okay, time for some good news. I've been hearing buzz lately about the Kickstarter exclusive Monoclonius rising in value on the secondary market due to it's rarity and my advice to the Kickstarter backers here who still want one is... hold off on that purchase. 

Now that we're nearly done with fulfillment of this campaign, it looks as though there will be a small number of unclaimed Monoclonius figures due to incomplete surveys.

While I won't know the exact amount left over until all of the paid backer shipments go out, it looks like it could be between 10-15. Due to this being an exclusive, I am only offering these remaining figures to backers of this Kickstarter campaign. They will remain at the $50 price plus shipping, and will be on a first come first served basis, with a limit of 1 per backer. I will be taking waitlist requests as of this update, so if you're interested, please let me know as soon as possible. Once the item quantity is confirmed, I'll be contacting waitlist members directly for payment and shipping details. 

Fans' Choice Ceratopsians on the way

As we did with the Raptor Series, there will be Fans' Choice variants for the Ceratopsian Series as well!

This time the vote was done through my social media audiences with a tremendous turnout. You can find the full post with details about the results here. 

The unanimous winner of this vote was the 'Old Buck' inspired Styracosaurus, followed by the WWD-style Torosaurus, the WWD- movie 'Scowler' Pachyrhinosaurus, and the Medusaceratops with colors based on the iridescent White-Lipped Python! All of these are sure to yield some very appealing results and it's possible that they all could be released throughout this year, but preorder and release date details are still to be determined. That being said, the first release will likely be the Medusaceratops. I've already begun the color design for this one.

Collaboration with 'Old Buck' creator, David Armsby

While most of these Fans' Choice versions will feature a Beasts of the Mesozoic take on their respective source material, there is one that will be very faithful to the original inspiration and that is the 'Old Buck' Styracosaurus. There's obviously a lot of love for this design and I've been in touch with the creator of 'Old Buck', David Armsby, about making an accurate action figure recreation. We've agreed to make the this new figure as close to his vision as possible, including all new horns and use of his animation art for the packaging, collector card and background insert. It's sure to be a standout release! 

For more on 'Old Buck', check out the animated film here, or click below for a great 'making of' video about David's process.

That all I have for this update, but as always the most up-to-date Beasts of the Mesozoic news can be found on my social media at Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Or simply go to the 'News' section of my website, which is updated every Sunday.

Have a great day everyone- until next time!

-David

Wave 3 Arrives- Fulfillment Now in Progress!
over 4 years ago – Thu, Dec 16, 2021 at 08:32:32 PM

 It's time for wave 3!

With us now well into our holiday season for 2021, I hope you all are enjoying the excitement that this time of year usually brings. And for those who've been patiently waiting for the wave 3 Ceratopsians to arrive, it's about to get even better!

Arrival at US warehouse

As some of you may have heard, last week we finally received our big shipment of the wave 3 Ceratopsians at our New Jersey warehouse! Being such a busy time of year, it took several days to get everything organized and added to the existing inventory. But the impeccable team at Fulfillrite has done an incredible job, as always, with getting these new items sorted out and ready to ship to eager preorder backers. 

Despite all of the hectic activity right now, the Fulfillrite team was still kind enough to provide me with these photos of the new items just after their arrival.

I really can't praise the Fulfillrite team enough for their diligence in getting these sorted out and shipped. We're still getting caught up now, so if you haven't received a shipping confirmation yet, please give it a few more days. We expect to at least get the US preorders to all of the backers in time for Christmas, and we'll definitely do all we can to get our international backers their items in time for the big holiday as well.

If you're looking to track down any of these wave 3 figures, they have been added to our 'New Arrivals' section and are now in-stock and ready to ship!

Well, all except for one...

Adult Triceratops delay

While we have received the complete stock of Xenoceratops, Albertaceratops, Sinoceratops, Utahceratops, Pentaceratops, and Torosaurus, the stock for the adult Triceratops unfortunately had to be split into two separate shipments, and we are currently awaiting the majority of this order. We did however receive a small quantity of adult Triceratops, 212 to be exact, and they have been prioritized for early backers and orders containing multiple items. 

The remainder of the adult Triceratops shipment is estimated to arrive in the first half of January. This figure will remain in preorder status until we receive the rest of the shipment. My sincere apologies to anyone who we weren't able to send this out to yet, but will we send all of the remaining orders as soon as we can. 

Everything Dinosaur fulfillment (UK and EU regions)

In other news, I've also received confirmation from my UK retail/ fulfillment partner, Everything Dinosaur, that they have now received their wave 3 shipment as well and have begun preparing orders for the UK and EU regions! This is a great surprise as initially the arrival estimates were for early January. And luckily in this case, there is no shortage of adult Triceratops, so Everything Dinosaur will have all of the wave 3 items available. 

Shipping restrictions to Australia and New Zealand

For our backers in the Australia and New Zealand region, there is a temporary service disruption for USPS and Asendia postal services from the US, mostly due to COVID-19 precautions. While we can still send items via DHL or Fedex, these methods are generally twice as expensive and would require an additional shipping charge. If you live in these regions and would like to request that we expedite your shipment, please message me. Otherwise, we will ship these orders out as soon as the restrictions are lifted. For a full list of USPS international service disruptions and any associated updates, click here.

Split shipping charges for wave 3

For those backers who requested to have their order split into multiple shipments, the wave 3 charges have been applied to your BackerKit order. These shipping charges are based on the same shipping prices used for wave 2. Keep in mind that the wave 3 figures only include the body 4 and body 5 types.

In some cases it wasn't necessary to charge the entire amount as it will depend on shipping location and number/size of the items. I will follow up with those whos' charges have not been collected yet so that we can get your orders fulfilled as soon as possible.

New video reviews 

Thanks to several of our backers here who are also talented YouTube reviewers, I'm happy to present you all with a thorough look at each figure from this wave. A big 'Thank you' goes out to BionicleSaurus, Dino Scream Reviews, and Andy's Dinosaur Reviews for helping me share an early review for each of these figures! 

Sinoceratops

 Pentaceratops

 Albertaceratops

 Torosaurus

 Utahceratops

 Xenoceratops

 adult Triceratops

The end is in sight now for finalizing the Beasts of the Mesozoic: Ceratopsian Series, and by the next Kickstarter update, I expect that it will be concluded- but we can save our goodbyes for that time. And while we see this Ceratopsian Series come to close, you can expect to see more Beasts of the Mesozoic Ceratopsians in the future as the line evolves.

Well, that is all of the news for now, and I suppose this will be the last Ceratopsian Series update of 2021. But when I'm not creating Kickstarter updates, you can always find the most up-to-date Beasts of the Mesozoic news on my social media at Facebook, Instagram, and/or Twitter. Or just check out the 'News' section of my website, which is updated each week. 

I hope you all have plenty of great memories from this year and I wish you all the best during this holiday season.  

Happy holidays and here's to a great new year in 2022!

-David

Wave 3 Status- final production photos, fulfillment update and more!
over 4 years ago – Thu, Oct 28, 2021 at 07:55:40 PM

Hi All! I know with all of the attention lately on the Tyrannosaur Series Kickstarter, it'd be easy to assume that the Ceratopsians were taking a backseat in terms of priority. But rest assured that is not the case, as the final steps of production for wave 3 and the corresponding shipping arrangements have also had much of my attention this past month. 

Wave 3 Status Update

So where are things at with wave 3? Well, the good news is that production is finished and looks great from what I can tell. However, not surprisingly, there have been delays with securing shipping arrangements from China to the US and to the UK. We seem to have it sorted out, with the shipments only just now leaving the docks as of this update, but we've lost an additional three weeks due to these delays and thus it sets back fulfillment estimates to early December now instead of November. This change will be updated on the preorder store and on creative-beast.com listings.  As mentioned previously, these pre-orders will remain open at the discounted pricing until the items are in-stock.

Cargo shipping issues

We could also have additional challenges with truck freight shipping to the warehouse once the shipments arrive stateside, but for now we will remain optimistic and do all that we can of fulfill the rewards as soon as possible. Many of you have probably already heard about the problems affecting sea freight shipping from overseas as well as truck freight shipping domestically, but in case you're not aware of the current situation, I recommend checking out this video. And of course, there are plenty of other videos and articles on this topic as well. 

Factory fulfillment

There were a small number of shipments that were sent directly from the factory to backers who are local, in China and Taiwan, as well as to some of my retail partners in eastern Asia. So if you see any Wave 3 figures popping up on social media, that is why.

Now with that addressed, let's take a look at the final production for wave 3!

Ceratopsians Wave 3 unpacked 

Just before the final shipments are packed up for cargo loading, I like to have the factory open random cases and take photos of the contents. They do send me my own final samples, which I showed last time, but just to be sure that the quality is consistent and not 'hand-picked, I ask them to take photos of stock examples that they have there at the factory. So here's a look at the photos they sent and I must say- I'm not disappointed!

Xenoceratops

 Albertaceratops

 Sinoceratops

 Utahceratops

 Pentaceratops

 Triceratops

 Torosaurus

A closer look at the final products

And following up on those photos, they also opened some random figures for each one as examples of the final products. 

 Xenoceratops

 Albertoceratops

 Sinoceratops

 Utahceratops

 Pentaceratops

 Triceratops (adult)

 Torosaurus

 Between these photos and the few photos I've seen online from customers in Asia, everything is looking very good and I can't wait to get these out to everyone. We just have to deal with this pesky shipping situation first.

Tyrannosaur Series

And I know this is a Ceratopsian Series update, but in case anyone here backed the recent Tyrannosaur Series Kickstarter and missed my Thank You update- I just want to say here, a sincere 'Thank you' to everyone here who participated or at least let other people know about the campaign. It was successful well beyond my expectations and I'm very excited for the opportunity to be able to bring you all this new series of figures. There will be more details to come regarding the BackerKit pledge manager and the pre-order store in the weeks to come.

New Interviews

In case you missed them, I recently did a couple of new interviews discussing the Beasts of the Mesozoic line and other dinosaur toy-related topics. A big 'thank you' goes out to Jurassic Outpost and Paleo-Nerd for giving me this opportunity to chat about my figures!

Jurassic Outpost interview

Paleo-Nerd

Toy Con NJ/ Legions Con

For anyone in or near the New Jersey area, I will be attending the Toy Con NJ/ Legions Con event this November 13th and 14th! I'll have Beasts of the Mesozoic stock on-hand to sell, plus you'll be able to check out the final samples of the Ceratopsians wave 3 figures and most importantly, I'll have the Tyrannosaur Series prototypes on display for what will likely be the only time to see them in public. So if any of you can make it out to the show, I'd love to see you there!

Well, that's all the news for now. As always, you can find the latest Beasts of the Mesozoic and related news, on my social media at Facebook, Instagram, and/or Twitter. And also on the 'News' section of my website, which is updated each Sunday. I will be sure to keep you all posted on any further developments with the Wave 3 fulfillment, but hopefully we won't experience any more significant delays. 

Thank you again for your support and for your patience in receiving these figures- take care everyone!

-David

The Beasts of the Mesozoic: Tyrannosaur Series is now LIVE!!
over 4 years ago – Tue, Sep 28, 2021 at 09:17:05 AM

The Tyrannosaur Series is now LIVE on Kickstarter and we're off to a great start! Check out the campaign HERE.

Please back early if you're interested and be sure to spread to the word to anyone that you think would enjoy these figures! 

Thanks everyone!

-David

Tyrannosaur Series Kickstarter is FUNDED and 3 Stretch Goals are UNLOCKED!
over 4 years ago – Sun, Sep 26, 2021 at 09:47:28 AM

I just wanted to send out a quick update on the progress for the Beasts of the Mesozoic: Tyrannosaur Series. 

We were able to reach our funding goal of $185,000 in record time- just under 13 and half hours! 

If you've already backed this project, thank you so much!

And now we've kept things going with three stretch goal unlocks!

1/18 Tyrannosaurus rex (juvenile) 

The juvenile T.rex  figure measures 12"/ 30cm in length and features 20 points of articulation as well as three sets of alternate feet, base and bendable tail. Add-on price: $53(US)/ $55 (INT)

1/18 Gunalong wucaii 

One of the smaller figures being offered, Guanlong comes in at 8" / 20cm long, with 19 points of articulation including a bendable tail and base. Add-on price: $32 (US)/ $35 (INT)

1/18 Yutyrannus huali

The Yutyrannus figure measures 16"/ 41cm in length and features 22 points of articulation as well as three sets of alternate feet, base and bendable tail end section. Add-on price: $73(US)/ $76 (INT)

Click here to go to the Tyrannosaur Series Kickstarter campaign!

The colorful 1/6th scale Dilong is up next!

And there's plenty more to come...

Let's keep unlocking these new Tyrannosaur figures. 

See you soon!

-David