Animal Talismans - An Original Zodiac Pin Collection

Hey all,

Thank you for your quick action on getting surveys done! We’re at 84% completed already!

Just a bit of survey housekeeping:

1. Plushies: It looks like we are not going to be able to fund the plushie at this time, so I will remove it as an add-on option at this time.

Why remove it before surveys are done?
Right now there are 12 out of 30 ordered plushies and the projected final count is 14. I don’t get a large amount of pre orders so I’m confident we’re not going to meet the goal. And that’s okay! I do want to make the plushies, but I’ll do it later when things are a bit more stable. I’ll put them on my Etsy whenever they’re made, and share the link with you then!

2. Extra Stretch Goal Items: Glad you like the keychains and extra pins! I went ahead and unlocked all the keychains because we had plenty of orders on 3 of the variants and just shy of what we needed for the other two. The keychains are also already in production (I was excited, oops) so they’re being made regardless. 

For the pins, I’m confident they’ll be unlocked as well because counts are looking pretty good. I’m confident pre orders and remaining surveys will get counts to where they need to be.

3. Emotional Support Tier and Tip Jar Issues Solved
There was a known issue with people in the emotional support tier being charged for shipping that I believe is solved now! Please give the survey a try again and sound off in the comments here if your issue has been fixed or not.

4. Emotional Support Tier Clarification
There was some confusion on the $5 Emotional Support tier - it was meant as a tip jar tier with no access to physical add ons. Selecting it gave you access to backer updates so you can stay in the know. If you want to still get pins, the pre order shop is OPEN until fulfillment is ready! 

Why Can’t We Add Physical Add Ons To The Emotional Support Tier?
Folks have unfortunately used tip tiers in the past to get around shipping fees and import taxes. I’m a super small business and I can’t eat these costs, and in some cases orders will be rejected at customs and returned to me anyways, so please be respectful and go through the avenues I’ve provided to order pins. 

5. Pre Order Store Info!
Just some things about the pre order store:

6. Personal Stuff!
So I just found out I’m moving next month! I’m very excited but aaaaaaaaaa it’s a lot to juggle! I have an address I can send the pins to at least but please be understanding if I’m not as quick about answering or getting things done.

I have a LOT of cons coming up - Animazement, Fan Expo Denver, Anime Expo, and Otakon being the most imminent ones - but I’m going to try my best to keep my head above water! If you’re going to any of these conventions definitely come say hello!!!!

I’m also going to update my Etsy and do a moving sale soon so if you want to get some of my older pins, charms, posters, etc. it would greatly help me out! It will also help with the t-word, because boy howdy am I nervous about paying an extra 145% on top of everything I have to order.

7. Locking And Charging FOR REAL This Friday
As you probably noticed, I didn’t lock orders last Friday. It’s because I was trying to figure out the errors stated above. But for realsies, first order lock and card charge is this Friday May 9th at noon MDT! 

Hope this wordy and comprehensive update helps! I’m talking with my manufacturer right now about finalizing the pin quote so we should be set to make the big order next week. 

Thanks all, super appreciate you, and now I’m going to take a nap. XD

Cheers!
Lachlan

Hi All,

Thanks for your patience as I try to sort out logistics between the tariffs and everything. Smoke tests just got sent out and the rest will be sent out in 24 hours! 

I made some changes to some pins, namely the ones I mentioned in previous updates. I redid the patterns on the elk and caribou regular pins and edited the colours on the horse pin. Here’s the finished artwork for them:

I also added some other pins and keychains to the add on store! I have a set of skull pins that I have been sitting on for a while: 

And here are some embroidered keychains currently in production:

I also added a couple tip jars! One is my usual dog-themed tip jar, but the other is a super stinky tariff tip jar. Tips are NOT required!!! They are an entirely optional thing if you feel like it and I super appreciate every tip. 

Surveys will lock every Friday until the end of May. I will make the pin order as soon as we reach 75% survey completion. 

Thanks, and see you in the next update!

Wow I really can’t thank you all enough! Thank you so much for your support and being here - we were able to break 18k thanks to you!!

Got a little bit of housecleaning to do and some general updates as we move into post campaign.

1. Surveys Go Out This Coming Week
I’m working on surveys at the moment and should have them out in a few days. There’s a lot of items to set up but it’s nothing I haven’t done before. Once they go out, it would really help me out if you could fill out your surveys as soon as possible! This way I can get the pins ordered as soon as possible!

2. Please Check Your Emails And Cards!
There are a lot of failed card charges so please check that all your information you provided is correct! If you backed multiple Oddities and Obscura campaigns, sometimes banks flag that kind of repetitive charge as fraud so it might be best to check on that if that applies to you.

3. Pre-Order Bonus Pins
I will have some extra pin designs available as unlockable add ons - mostly pins that kind of fit the theme but not exactly. There are a few outliers though. You’ll see why ;D
No pressure at all for funding them though - they’re just some smaller designs that didn’t fit into other campaigns.

4. Plushie!
Thank you for your understanding as I and many other US based creators try to navigate the unprecedented tariff situation! Our last poll decided that the plushies will be an unlockable add on in the pledge surveys and pre order store. I think this is the best option too, and I’m going to get cracking on getting them made. Some things moving forward:

Usually plushies require a very high minimum order quantity much like pins. I’m going to talk with my manufacturer to see if I can get a lower minimum quantity for each colour variant since they will all have the same template, but just in case we have to go one plush at a time here’s what unlocking will look like:

I’ll let you know as soon as I know!

In the meantime, vote for your favourite colour variant! I’m so curious to know which one you like the most!

Also sorry I didn’t send out a thank you right after the campaign ended! If you’ve talked with me in person or online over the past couple months you know I have been devastatingly exhausted and haven’t had a break since early November. I pretty much slept all day yesterday and really needed it! 

But I really really do appreciate the overwhelming support. I’ve been wanting to make this pin set for over a decade but never had the resources or following to do so until now. Even with all the extra stress, I am so excited and so grateful!!!!

I’m going to go take a nap. See you soon with manufacturing and survey updates!

Cheers!
- Lachlan

WOW HOW DID WE GET HERE?!

My last string of updates was made ONLY A DAY OR SO AGO at the 13k mark and I mentioned that I didn’t think we were going to get much further with incoming cancellations and such at the 48 hour reminder. Well you sure proved me wrong, WOW. So thanks so much for 17k and knowing my timing it’ll be 18k by the time this update actually gets published. WOWEE!

No April Fools jokes here today - I’m autistic and can’t detect sarcasm online! Unfortunate considering how sarcastic I am irl. Regardless, got some housecleaning to do:

1: Community Vote Pin
You voted, and here is the result! We have quite the cryptid with a jay head, deer body, scorpion legs and claws, fox tail, wings, flora, and fungus!

This is now available as a regular pin! This means that you will be able to select it as an add-on right now, or you can select it in the pledge survey as long as you back a tier with regular pins (excluding the complete cycle pledge - that tier is for only the zodiac year pins). Just like the rest of the pins, the metal is copper plating and there will be two backing posts. This will be around 2.5” big.


2. Let’s Talk About That Plushie…
So to start - I really want to make this. I already have a manufacturer set up, already have seen and held samples of a similar product to what I would be making, and have a mock up I made back in November - I drew it out before I designed any of the pins in this collection actually.

They would be about 12” long and there would be a wire in the neck so it’s pose-able ! The wings would be fun and floppy. I was going to inquire to see if I could get a deal on minimum order quantity for all four colour types since the template would be the same for all of them. It’s going to be so so cute!

So we need to talk about tariffs. Gross, I know. There is a very real possibility that the tariff on Chinese goods (pins and plushies for this campaign) will increase to 30% before I will be able to order and fulfill this campaign.

For perspective, I first planned this campaign before the US presidential election. I finalized the campaign planning around a 10% tariff, then had to quickly pivot and modify some things when the tariffs rose to 20% shortly before we went live. Unfortunately I am not prepared for a 30% tariff as things stand now. If you take 30% of what we have raised and add that on top of everything…. It’s a lot. A whole pin set and then some to be honest.

So we have a bit of a choice to make concerning the plushies. Yes it would break my heart to not make them, but also I need to make sure the pins get here without hassle since that’s the reason you’re all here! Here are some options:

Option 1: We don’t make the plushie at all
Yep, this would be breaking a campaign promise and that SUCKS. But it would also ensure I can have some wiggle room for the upcoming customs nightmare.

Option 2: We continue as is
I can just add the plush as an add on right away and we carry on. The problem with this is that with the tariff increase I will have to pay for the plushie and taxes out of pocket. It will take me time to scrounge up the extra funds so this will definitely delay the plushie by a lot.

Option 3: I charge more for shipping to prepare
I HATE this option. This would be an extra $5-$10 added on to your shipping fee depending on package size. I really don’t want to charge you extra for this. That’s bad. Don’t pick this. I’d feel bad.

Option 4: Make the plushie an unlockable add on in the pre order store
This one feels a little weird because we did unlock the plushie already by passing 15k, but I would feel more confident in going forward with the plushie if I knew people were actually going to order it! I would set the unlock point at 30 orders so if we could get to that point I certainly wouldn’t be as worried!

Option 5: Wait and see what happens
I, like many folks in Oddities and Obscura, am based in the US. It’s certainly an experience at the moment. Policy has been aggressive for sure, but it’s also been fickle. Maybe all we need to do is wait. But that’s putting the fate of my merch in volatile hands and I don’t really like that either. But it is an option.

I’m attaching a poll to this update so you all can vote on this issue. I definitely want your input! And if the answer is “naw, we don’t like the plush actually” I will not be offended. But best we figure out what we want to do now before the campaign ends!


3. Please check out the other Oddities and Obscura projects if you haven’t yet!
Everyone worked so hard on their projects and I’m so honoured to be part of it! Here’s my favorite pins from everyone else’s campaigns - click on the images to go to their campaigns or check out the Oddities and Obscura story section on my campaign page!













AND PLEASE DOUPLE MAKE SURE TO CHECK OUT PANGOLIN KNIGHT’S CAMPAIGN! She’s my cross collab partner and her pins are absolutely amazing!!!!


I’ll be back one more time with some design updates but other than that, have a great rest of your night/day and cheers! Happy final 48 hours~

Cheers!
- Lachlan

Hi, sorry for the double update!
I was asked if I could share a graphic of the baby animals with labels so here you go! I’ll also add it to the story section of the campaign.

Also upon request, I added a pledge tier for getting every single pin! It’s at the same discount rate as the other full set pledge tiers with an extra free regular pin’s worth and some change just as a special thank you. It will include all the pins unlocked during the campaign! 

I’ll be back tomorrow with poll results and with a couple reworks - I’m a bit unhappy with how the caribou and elk turned out (regular pins, not the babies) and switching a couple colours on the horse. Mostly, I want to make sure that I’m 100% happy with the pins before I commit to molds and everything. The general shape of the pins won’t change - just some of the colours and patterns.

That’s it for now! I gotta go eat and rest - I spent all day yesterday putting together furniture and boy am I sore!

Cheers and have a good rest of your night or day!