Short Circuit: An Enamel Pin Collection

Hello robot enthusiasts,

With just 8 days of Pintopia left to go, we're nearly through the sleepy middle part of the campaign!

I was going to wait a tiny bit longer to share this with you all, but I've been sitting on it for days and I'm just too excited about how the design turned out. So even though we've still got a little ways to go until we unlock our current goal, Jump, I wanted to share the fourth bot-board design of the Air Unit Line with you —



Meet Incubate! So named for the Apache Software Foundation, an open source tech incubator whose association with feathers remains permanently cemented in my mind via both Open Office, and my eldest brother wearing an Apache t-shirt around when we were growing up.

Also: bird puns. Tech puns and bird puns can coexist. 😉

We've unlocked an incredible 15 designs already (16 including the cross-promotional freebie with Bunnies & Branchs!) but I would love to soar even higher and unlock the second half of the Air Line. Share this campaign around with anyone you think might enjoy the aesthetic, and let's see if we can absolutely smash it this last week of Pintopia!!

With the goal of unlocking Jump and Incubate in mind, as promised I've also prepared a fresh EVERYTHING tier: All In++



My initial All In included enough rewards for everything from the original core campaign - all of the Earth, Fire, and Water Lines, along with the Pause design. All In++ includes 4 more pins, 4 more holographic vinyl stickers, and 1 more sticker sheet - enough for all of Earth, Fire, Water, Pause, AND Air!

I've also future proofed this new tier. Any other campaign additions we unlock via funding or other achievements will be added to this tier's rewards for the same price!! If you're a robot completionist, this is the tier for you. If you pledged in the first 48 hours, you can also switch tiers at any time without losing your additional freebie!

The eagle-eyed among you will have identified the artwork in the above graphic as Python, whose robot character sheet is nearing the finish line as well. Here's an additional sneak peek —



Speaking of robot art, I've ALSO added another achievement to unlock - it's the same goal as the Share the Post one, but for our Number of Backers instead! The pledge count shifts around as is typical mid-campaign, but it's currently at 290 so I think it will be VERY easy for us to reach the goal of 300.

With that in mind, I've also attached a poll to the end of this update. Vote for which bot-board you'd like to see receive full robot character art! The top four will move on to a second poll to face off once again. I'm really interested to see who y'allemaal pick!!

Thank you all again for being here and appreciating these little guys. I didn't originally anticipate having the opportunity to pursue manufacturing the Air designs this campaign, and I am still SO over the moon that we're working on them now! 💜✨

Hey robot crew!

I've come armed with a few exciting advancements to report:

First up, we've firmly passed the 11k mark in funding (THANK YOU, WHOO!!) and Malware is officially unlocked and available! As such, it's high time to reveal the next upgrade pending for the Air Unit Line: Jump --



JMP, pronounced Jump, is a suite of statistical analysis software. This little bot-board will work tirelessly to jump start any research tasks their users wish to pursue - and maybe they'll even manage to hop their way into your heart!

Also now available, for those more into the sticker version of the designs than the pins, I've added two new Pledge Levels: "Sticker Fiend" (17 jumbo holo stickers and 4 sticker sheets) and "Sticky Keys" (8 jumbo holo stickers and 2 sticker sheets).



The most affordable way to get a ton of both stickers AND pins is of course "All In". Once we are closer to unlocking the last two Air Unit designs, I'll add a new "All In++" that includes even more, which any interested parties may switch to freely without fear of losing Early Bot freebies. c:

Third, the initial round of production samples have finally arrived and are in my hands!! They're simply GORGEOUS in person, so I have taken some new photographs and videos in an attempt to do them more justice.



As a note, Byte (Wolf) here is an earlier sample and currently the incorrect base pantone; Circat, Nibble, and Leaf are the intended shade of green. It's kind of fun to have though - Limited Edition Whoopsie Very Green Woof, ha! I wanted to document all them together regardless to give you a sense of how their sizing works as a set. I'm really quite pleased, and I hope you are too!

Speaking of pantones, for those who may have missed it previously, I also had alternate colorways of Leaf made to test out the colors of the Fire and Water Unit Lines and give you a sneak peek of how those bot-boards will look in reality.



Leaf kind of slaps in the alternate colorways, ngl. Tickled to have these, they should make the sampling process go significantly faster for both Lines.

If you'd like to see these samples in motion, I've also thrown together some video footage!


Last but not least, reminder that reblogging this BlueSky post helps us unlock another robot sticker sheet of your collective choosing!! 🤖

Thank you as ever for being here and supporting these designs, I'm still blown away by what we're accomplishing together. 👀✨

Hey robot enthusiasts,

You are all INCREDIBLE and Python the data relay dragon is already unlocked! I've added a little more about them to our Story section, even though the character art isn't quite ready yet.



And in text form, for those who need it:

Air’s showcase bot is data relay model Python! Their little wings allow them to hover like a drone way up high. Python doesn't always pass along the information intended, and a weather alert they relay may become a simple "Hi there!", while a request to download a scary film may instead result in a Bob Ross special.

I look forward to finishing up this delightful little friend once I have the final versions of our Air Unit pins squared away. As the above graphic also indicates, our next goal is ready for your contemplation --



Malware is any software intentionally designed to cause disruption - and while this bot-board may strike some as an ill omen, she seeks vulnerability in other robots not for exploitative purposes but to assist in securing them. We are less than €400 away from securing her as a pin option and revealing what comes next!

Keep sharing the campaign and feel free to adjust your pledges and add-ons at any time; those of your who pledged in the first 48 hours can freely can switch tiers up and down without losing your early bot Pause reward. Thank you so much for all the love you continue to show these lil bots and for making our opening few days such a huge success!

Hey robot reality-makers,

I hope you don't grow tired of me saying so, but: thank you SO much!

When I turned in to bed last night, we had just unlocked Firewall - imagine my delighted shock when I woke up this morning to discover the entire Water Unit Line was also unlocked. You all showed up in a big way and absolutely blew my expectations out of the... well, water!

This means ALL TWLEVE of the core Earth, Fire, and Water Line designs are funded and will be sampled and put into production post-campaign. Pledge with the confidence that all your favorite lil bots will come home to you!!



Also a quick reminder that there are 19 hours left of Pause() being available as a FREE pin automatically added to your cart if you pledge for 1 other pin or more. You can adjust your pledge at any time prior to the campaign ending and still keep this reward, so if you'd like this Early Bot perk be sure to back the project soon.



Now, back to the unlocks - I did not expect us to reach this juncture with such impressive speed, so I am busy finishing the designs and art assets for my next planned Line of goals: the Air Unit Line!



The Air bot-boards will be purple, and I am considering gold plating with antique finish for their metallic details. Here's the pin design for the Air Line's showcase bot mocked up with that in mind — a data relay model named Python!



Python's character art is still in progress, but I will introduce them in more detail upon completion.



The goal to unlock their pin, selective holographic vinyl sticker, and character art sheet will be 9k - a jump of safety padding to cover potentially larger order sizes with how much enthusiastic support this campaign has received. Honestly, both that and scrambling to finish the stretch-stretch goal designs are AMAZING "problems" to have and I am so deeply grateful.

Onward to pursuing bold new heights with the Air Line. I can't wait for you to meet all the bots therein, and would like to offer you a choice of which design I complete after Python: vote in the poll below to express your preference!