Shout out to amazing backers helping each other!
about 5 years ago – Sat, May 08, 2021 at 12:09:51 AM

I just wanted to put out a short update that was a shout out for people who are going above and beyond! 

I put out a call with some trepidation for those who would be able to assist with shipping fees hoping that people would be willing to pitch in and pay for their own packages that might have had free shipping attached to them originally. Then I found out to my surprise that some people were even willing to pay for shipping a second time to make sure they were both helping out and getting their pledges as soon as they could, this helps 2 people instead of just 1. 

The list of people below are the ones who really reached out and not only paid for their own package but absolutely smashed it by helping 5 or 10 additional people also get their stuff. I know things just plain suck sometimes and you all help to remind me of how amazing this community really is. 

Alyx beauchamp

DJ Mae

Dominick Cancilla

Greg Meyers

Nicole Hopwood

Richard Ellis

You're awesome and now everybody else knows it too. 

Please, send them some good vibes or some shout outs in the comments below and let them know that you appreciate awesome human beings doing their thing!

Packages are making their way out the door, next week will see a large number of them going out. If you want to help me send more at a faster rate please reach out to me about joining this short list of ridiculously dedicated people who are doing what they can to make someone's day that much better.

If you'd like to join our Discord and become a bit more involved in how we do things or just finding more people that into the same things that you are, please use the link below! 

https://discord.gg/PUFfG4rn

Onward!

Levi

Shipping has begun!
about 5 years ago – Tue, May 04, 2021 at 07:35:26 PM

So many bags of coins!

Greetings Hero Coin Backers! With minimum fanfare, here is a quick rundown of where things stand.

1. The coins are in (so many coins!) They have been sorted and are ready to be shipped.

2. Packing materials are either available or can be received within 2 days if reorders are necessary. They are also relatively cheap.

3. I offered free shipping to the early birds in this project, and it's come back to bite me in the butt. It turns out that the majority of the project was early birds. I didn’t expect that to be a problem, but I also didn’t expect…

4. My income tax return has been put on hold. That’s $8000 that should have been in my account months ago but is now waiting on an amended 2018 business return. Since that is the money I was going to use to ship these packages, shipping is currently in limbo! (As a side note here - as promised, I used the extra money (after manufacturing costs and packaging) to order a bit of inventory and ship out over 500 packages to older projects. I did that after discovering the unexpected delay in manufacturing (when coins are struck across the world, you’re at the mercy of those plants and world situation) would put us past my expected income tax return. So, shifting the money from this project to the others was my plan. I apologize that this unexpected issue caused this current delay in shipping.

4. Anyone who can pay for their own shipping in the United States (it's honestly like $5-$8 for most orders... easy for individuals if we all pitch in, but hard for me to cover en masse for 400 backers) will get priority. For those willing to step up and pay your own freight, I can get your packages out immediately.

5. Anyone wanting to wait and receive their goods with the free shipping offered on the Kickstarter will unfortunately have to wait on "Levi's paycheck schedule" or a "as products bring in money via my other sales outlets schedule."

For example:

Here's an image of the 5 packages I sold last week. Not many, but I don't do any advertising at all. This jump in sales actually occurred because of my canceled Kickstarter last Saturday night. I normally don’t sell more than 1 package per week without a Kickstarter running. Going about a small business with no advertising and no social media is rough! Paying for advertising is even tougher without a marketing budget to cover such things.

And here is an image of the 45 packages that were able to be shipped because of these sales!

Seems wild right?! That's because it is a little wild. US shipping isn't too expensive but when your bank account is bone dry it makes the hurdle nearly insurmountable.

More packages will go out this week, another 50-100 at least. Any sales I can make between now and then on PDF's or product that I have in stock will again shift directly into shipping packages for you guys. The shipping all around has turned into a fiasco and I'm just tackling it as best I can the second shipping funds becomes available.

I've put a hold on any and all new projects until this can be fixed. The inability to deliver is something I can get solved but it's also a poison directly killing my new projects. That means I’m having to explore other avenues right now apart from advancing or expanding the SZG product line.

That isn't an issue for you, directly, only for my immediate direction. Your packages will be delivered either way. Despite these obstacles, despite the occasional bad-mouthing from individuals who don’t understand the plight of a small business, most of you have been gracious and understanding beyond belief. Your encouragement helps me keep fighting to deliver.

It is just likely to continue taking much longer than I ever hoped or planned. Other people using Kickstarter have bailed under these circumstances; gone belly up and declared bankruptcy so they could walk away. It would honestly be so much easier to just do that. BUT THAT’S NOT WHAT I’M GONNA DO. That’s why I continue to pledge to you that I AM NOT STOPPING. I AM NOT GOING UNDER. I WILL DELIVER THE PRODUCTS YOU BACKED.

Onward!

Levi

New Project is LIVE and COINS HAVE ARRIVED!
about 5 years ago – Sat, Apr 03, 2021 at 12:13:26 AM

Well, earlier than expected since the last update but LATE AS ALL GET OUT, the coins are finally here! 

The coins are going through a sorting process now where we're separating each coin, the bags you see above are in rows based on color so the golds are on the left, each bag contains only one type (class) of coin and we're having to manually sort all 13 coins for each color into their own individual set bags. It's time consuming but not greatly so, we'll have them done in a day or so. My son volunteered to help, I expect he may drop off from boredom before we finish but it's nice to hang out with him and talk about his favorite subject (video games, of course, like father like son!) while we work :)

Other than that, we've launched a new campaign and would love to see your support! You can get more Hero Coins as Add-Ons but we've also got this new awesome floating frame with a specialty Dor coin inside, it's really cool! it only comes in a big new combo box that we have which includes a TON of really useful and fun stuff that will also look awesome on your shelf :) Gold foal box anyone? 

I'll have more updates as we get the sorting finished and start lining up some shipments :)

Onward!

-Levi

Coins On The Boat!
over 5 years ago – Sat, Feb 27, 2021 at 03:08:00 AM

This is just a short update to show you all that the coins have finally been loaded on the boat as of 3 or 4 days ago! I just received the pictures along with a shipping quantity verification. Here are some photo's of the boxes on the way! 

I'm still waiting on a general update for the delivery date, I'll give out another quick update when I know more :)

Onward!

Levi

Short Update about shipping!
over 5 years ago – Mon, Feb 08, 2021 at 06:32:51 AM

Hello Backers!

This is just a short update but it does include some important information about shipping and some cool pictures!

All I have for you today is a short update showing off a full set of the Copper version of the coins and a pile of condition tokens for your viewing pleasure! 

Along with the following about shipping info from the Manufacturer, some good news with some solid dates finally :)

Reply Received February 3rd, 2021

"Dear Mr.Ralph Clark, Happy New Year!

We have sent the 21 cartons of goods to the freight forwarding warehouse, in an attempt to catch up with the shipment before the Lunar New Year holiday, but we still missed the last vessel. We have to wait until the holiday is over to arrange the shipment.

We will start arranging shipments and export declarations as soon as the holiday is over (on Feb.19th)."

That's excellent because it means everything has been created and packaged and has left the manufacturer but is simply waiting at the port for the next boat to leave their mainland on February 19th.  When the goods hit the ship I should receive another update giving me a timeline for delivery here into the United States, I'll post more updates about it as soon as I know more!

ONWARD!

-Levi