@ frankthedm - A very good and honest question, and one that I was waiting to be asked. I don't know what caused the delays with other manufacturers, and frankly, I don't want to speculate. I know of a few of the companies to which you are referring, but I don't know the owners or the staff there.
I can, however, answer your questions regarding the King of Evil Dragons.
First, Jason Wiebe will be taking the reins on the sculpting of the King. If you're a hardcore minis collector like I am, his work speaks for itself. If you're a gamer who doesn't keep up with the sculpting and mini industry buzz, Jason is one of the absolute best when it comes to monsters and fantasy creatures. We have set a firm deadline of December 15th for the completion of the dragon king sculpt. He's been one of the key sculptors for Center Stage, having done our glacial wyrm, peryton, tyranthrax, water weird, and upcoming salamanders and peryton variant. He's also sculpted large dragons before - check out Viridius, a massive dragon he did for Reaper Miniatures.
Second, the artist, Jennell Jaquays, was already ahead of me on the illustration. She wanted to know within minutes of receiving my approval of the drawing if the sculptor needed additional pictures of the back, so he can see how the necks align, wings attach, etc. I will be corresponding with both Jennell and Jason for the duration of the process.
Third, our casting company is ready and prepared for large quantities of models and large models as well. They've been doing this since the 70s, and not only cast in resin and metal, but also in other mediums. They know what they're doing, and they have already been prepared for this model. In fact, several weeks before this Kickstarter launched, I discussed with both owners the need for thousands of miniatures (potentially) and dozens of molds within a few months time. They said absolutely no problem with ZERO hesitation. They have more than a dozen full-time employees who do casting alone, and have a long list of miniature companies other than Center Stage that have been pleased with their work for many, many years.
Lastly - Kickstarter is a great place to tell others about your business and build new products and make new friends. But it's also a place where you can go from hero to zero with one costly mistake. I wouldn't have thrown this project out to my supporters without 100% confidence there would be no issues. And as I state above, should issues arise, I am well prepared to iron them out immediately so that the time frame of the project - and the end result - are not affected. @ frankthedm, I hope this answers your questions.
Thanks to each and every one of you. As of 10:18 p.m. EST, this has been our BEST DAY since the KS began. With your help, we can make the last four days even better than this one. And I'm thinking that if we hit $40K within the next 12 to 24 hours that I'm going to need to add some $50+ stretch and bonus goals.
Any suggestions?
Best,
Matt S.
Center Stage Miniatures
