Canopy: Evergreen

Canopy Evergreen Shipping Update #1
2 days ago – Thu, Sep 05, 2024 at 09:34:49 AM

Hello Canopy Backer!

We’re happy to report that all games are on ships and and headed to a fulfillment center near you! We are hoping to start fulfillment later this month for most regions, though that will depend on how quickly the games clear customs. Current estimated delivery timelines for all regions are below.

USA and Canada: The boat was delayed somewhere so the arrival in port is now scheduled for 9/11. It usually takes about one week to get through customs and then will take our fulfillment center about a week to start sending games out. So if everything goes smoothly backers should start seeing games by the end of September or early October. 

UK: Estimated arrival for the boat in port is 9/24. With customs and transit to Spiral Galaxy we expect games to start shipping in early October. 

EU: Estimated arrival for the boat is 9/16 in Rotterdam and then the games will be trucked to our fulfillment center in Germany. With customs and transit to Fulfillment Europe we’re hopeful that games will start shipping out by the end of September or early October. 

Asia and Rest of the World: Our fulfillment partner VFI uses a consolidated fulfillment system where they wait until they have a full pallet of games to ship to each regional distribution center. They are inputting the Canopy Evergreen data into their website and once that is uploaded you will be able to get more specific estimates on when the games will arrive in each country. VFI’s tracking website is here: https://vfi.asia/hubs/

We will update again later this month before US, UK or EU fulfillment starts to let you know to keep an eye out.

We’re so excited to be shipping these games out to you soon! The wait is almost over! Thank you for all of your enthusiasm, support and patience!

Tim and the Weird City Crew!
 

Reminder: Update Your Shipping Address Before August 18th
25 days ago – Tue, Aug 13, 2024 at 10:51:43 AM

Hello Canopy Evergreen Backer!

We’re getting ready to lock addresses for shipping, so please take a moment to update your address before this Saturday, August 18th 2024. Follow these simple steps to ensure your items are sent to the correct location.

In Your BackerKit Account

You can update it by following these steps:

1. Login to Your BackerKit Account: Login Here.
2. Go to Settings: Click on the Settings icon in the top-right corner.
3. Update Address: Select "Update Address" to update your address across all unlocked projects.

In Your Survey

To update your shipping information, click on the BackerKit survey confirmation link that was sent to your email. If you need the link resent, please go to our survey recovery page.

• Edit Shipping Info: If your address is open, you will be able to click 'Edit Shipping Info' to update your shipping details.
• Updating Country or State: To change your country or state, please contact the BackerKit support team. Sometimes, you can change these by updating your Zip Code.

To contact the BackerKit support team:
In your survey, click 'Need help?' on the top right corner, and then select 'Contact Us' from the left sidebar to reach out for assistance.

Games en Route

All copies of Canopy Evergreen have left the factory and are headed to our fulfillment centers in North America, Europe, the UK, and China. The cargo bound for the US is already at sea, and cargo headed to the EU and UK is scheduled to depart this week. The estimated arrival date of the boats below. 

Estimated Arrival at Port for Ocean Freight

• North America:  September 4th 
• EU Shipment: September 17th
• UK Shipment: September 20th

Once they arrive at port, it generally takes 2-3 weeks to get to the fulfillment center (customs and ground freight) and 1 week for the fulfillment center to prep the games for shipping to you. So if we add a month to the arrival date of the sea freight that is a good estimate of when the games will start shipping out to backers in each region. 

Shipments from Asia (via our fulfillment partner VFI) can take a bit longer as they ship to different hubs in countries once they have enough cargo. But the games have already arrived at VFI's warehouse and once the addresses are locked they will prep them for shipping. We'll have more info on estimated VFI timelines in the next update in early September.

Thank you from the Weird City Team!

Canopy Evergreen Is On The Move!
about 1 month ago – Mon, Jul 29, 2024 at 02:00:33 PM

Hello Wonderful Backer!

We're writing a quick update today to share two very exciting pieces of news: 

1. The final sample of the trees came in and the fit is excellent and the bases are level and no longer wobble! 

2. The games are all packed up and have started leaving the factory!

True Trees

It was a long and bumpy road, but with the help of Pandas engineers we finally got the 3d punchboard trees to a place that we are very happy with. They fit together easily, but still are a tight enough fit to keep the trees solid as they grow. And the bases now fit together smoothly so the trees sit flat on the table and have a strong foundation. We're really excited for you all to get your games so you can start growing trees!

Shipping

We got info from our factory this morning that the first shipment (bound for North America) has been picked up and is headed to port. We're still waiting for all the shipment info, and to get notified that it is on a boat, and that the boat has left port, but this is still very exciting news. If all the games get moving this week we're hoping they'll arrive in North American and European fulfillment centers mid to late September and start shipping out to backers soon after. 

Backers in Asia, Oceania and the rest of the world will have there orders shipped from VFI and those will likely be shipped out between late August and early October (it is very regionally dependent). 

Once all the games are on boats, and the boats are moving, we'll be able to give a more concrete estimated timeline for when your games will be arriving at fulfillment centers and shipping to you. We've got another update planned for mid-August and should have all the details by then. 

Thanks so much for your support, trust and patience! We're so excited to see these trees grow around the world!

Tim and the Weird City Team

MPC Received! Pledge Manager Closing!
2 months ago – Wed, Jul 03, 2024 at 03:37:30 PM

Hello Fabulous Canopy Evergreen Backer!

We have two very important things to discuss in todays update. First, on Friday, July 5th, we will be closing the pledge manager and charging for any extra items you have added and shipping costs. Secondly, we've received the MPC (manufacturing production copy) which is the final proof before all the games are assembled. We'll cover both in more detail below. 

Backerkit Closing

We wanted to let you know that we will be closing pledges and charging cards this Friday, July 5th. This means that if you’ve been considering any last-minute adjustments to your pledge, now is the time to do it! We will be finalizing shipping addresses at a later date, so stay tuned for another update with details on how to confirm or update your address. This will ensure that your rewards are sent to the correct location.

The other important thing to note about the pledge manager closing is that all cards will be charged for shipping costs (unless you paid those in Kickstarter). This sometimes causes confusion for backers because the pledge manager takes your card info when you complete the survey, but the cards are not run until the pledge manager actually closes. So if you see a charge that references Weird City Games or Canopy Evergreen it is likely this. 

MPC!

The MPC is the moment of truth. It is the first glimpse at the final version of the game that will ship out to backers and go into game stores. It is both very exciting and nerve wracking to see the fruition of years of work. So with great anticipation we opened the games on Monday to review the MPCs. 

Luckily, the majority of the game looks perfect and we are thrilled with the production quality that Panda has pulled off. The colors are vibrant and vividly showcase Vincent Dutrait's amazing artwork. We'll show off pictures and then cover the few issues we did find (that Panda is already working on addressing) at the end. 

Punchboard Trees

Punchboard Trees: If you've been following along at home you know the 3D trees were a trickier component than anticipated. Thankfully, Panda already let us know that the punchboard trees included in the MPC were not working as well as they want, and that they were already making adjustments. They sent along the MPC as it was so that we could approve the rest of the components and keep the project on schedule.

The punchboard trees they did send were very close to working, but the connection was still a little too tight on some of the tree sections. They have already adjusted these and the factory team says the new fit is now very good. New samples are already in the mail to us and we should have those later this week and hopefully they will finally be just right. 

Plastic Bags

All of the wooden components came packaged in plastic ziplocs. One of our goals as a company is to remove all single use plastic from inside our games. This is the reason we include the storage tuckboxes. Unfortunately, manufacturers are accostumed to packing everything in plastic so it is their default. We've asked our rep to make sure that all the wood pieces are packed inside the tuckboxes with no plastic bags, and hopefully this is how the games will ship. 

Player Aids Rounded Corners

The player aid cards still have sharp corners. We asked them to round them after seeing the PPC, but this change must have been overlooked. Fortunately, our rep said that the issue is still fixable and they will make that change. 

Tuckbox Alignment

The storage tuckboxes were packed incorrectly, with some of the icons facing the wrong way. This is a very small issue, but we really want the game to look its best when you first open it. We've asked the factory team to make this adjustment and it should not be an issue. 

Next Steps

Aside from those issues, the MPCs looks fantastic. Later this week we should receive the final punchboard samples and if those look good, we'll be ready to approve full assembly of the games. If there are no other unforeseen hurdles, we should be able to keep our freight pickup date of July 26th. It usually takes 3-7 days for freight to get loaded onto ships and depart so we hope that the games will be on the water by early August. Once, we have firm shipping dates we'll update you with estimated fulfillment dates, but currently we're looking at late September/early October for most regions. 

After seeing the Canopy Evergreen MPC we are even more excited to get these games shipped to you! Canopy Evergreen has a magical feeling on the table and we are so thankful to you for helping us create it!

Tim and the Weird City Team

Production is Underway!
3 months ago – Tue, Jun 11, 2024 at 12:40:38 PM

Hello Fantastic Canopy Evergreen Backer!

I just got off a call with our rep from Panda and have all the most recent details on Canopy Evergreen Production and timeline which I'll share below. Our pledge manager will be closing July 1st, so I'll share all the info you need for that as well. 

The Trees

The punchboard dielines for the trees have been way more challenging than anticipated, but luckily Panda is working very hard to make sure they fit together as smoothly as possible and stand up nice and tall. We've reviewed two additional samples over the last month and each new sample is getting closer to the final version. 

Panda just told us that they will be making the final die with a metal base (as opposed to the more common wood base). The metal base is easier to calibrate so all tokens are the same size and the shapes won't warp or change after extended use. We're excited that they are working to make this project as high quality as possible!

Current Schedule

The MPC (Manufacturer Production Copy) will be complete on June 25th and shipped to me. This is the final version of the game that the factory assembles and ships to us before assembling all of the games. As long as everything is looking good with the MPC, Panda will be able to start assembling the games as soon as we approve the MPC. 

Assembly of all games should be complete by mid-July, and the games should be ready to pick up by our freight forwarder on July 25th. They will then get loaded on boats headed to our fulfillment partners (US, EU, and UK) and sent overland to our Asia and Oceania Fulfillment partner VFI. This will take 1-2 months depending on the destination and how long it takes to clear customs. 

As soon as the games arrive at the fulfillment centers, we'll start shipping them out to you. We're expecting fulfillment in most countries to begin in late September and hopefully everyone should have a table full of beautiful trees by the end of October. This is a month or two behind our estimated delivery date and we apologize for the delay. 

We'll keep you informed throughout the rest of the process and we appreciate your patience and understanding. We'll have updated delivery timelines for each region once we get the games on boats. 

Pledge Manager Closing July 1st

As a reminder, the pledge manager will be closing on July 1st. If you haven’t already, please take a moment to review and finalize your orders. Once the pledge manager closes, we will lock in all orders and charge cards for any remaining shipping costs and add-ons. If you're experiencing any issues with the pledge manager, no worries! We're here to help. Please reach out to us at [email protected], and we’ll assist you as soon as possible.

We are so thankful for your support of our company and this game. We'll have another update for you in early July once we have received and reviewed the MPC!

Tim and the Weird City Team