Short Circuit: An Enamel Pin Collection

Hey robot champions --

I'm blown away that we managed to not only fund Short Circuit in 23 minutes, but we've gone on to unlock a whooping 7 Pin & Sticker Combos in the first 5 hours, plus of course the cross-collaboration and early bot freebies for meeting the base funding goal.

Byte, Circat, Nibble, Leaf, Hex, Mozzy, and Cloud are all online and going into production for sure, and we're only €93 away from knocking out Firewall and completing the Fire Unit Line as well!



The Water Unit Line includes some of my personal favorite bots, so I'm going to keep pushing hard in the days to come. If we make it through them all, I have even more in store for you - something I wasn't sure we'd get to consider this campaign. This was such a thrilling beginning! Thank you so much and keep spreading the good word, I'm excited to see what we build together!!

Hey again robot enjoyers,

At the time of writing this, we are now a mere 22 hours away from embarking on Pintopia 2025 and thus the launch of our Short Circuit campaign!

Now that we've reached over 300 follows (!!!) I am pleased to announce a new freebie that will be given to all backers who pledge for one pin or more in the first 48 hours of the campaign:



In programming, the pause() function suspends program execution until a signal arrives - but in this case, it's your signal to pledge your support early to ensure our little bot-boards have the most promising start possible!! The first 48 hours of a campaign can be a real predictor of how it will fare, and I'm really hoping we open strong.

Additionally, before we get going, I'd like to tell you a little more about our robot friends. I call the pin designs bot-boards with the idea that they're sort of the CPUs for their corresponding robot models. If Short Circuit does really well I'd love to design robots for each of them someday, but to start each Unit Line of bots has an ambassador showcase model! If you've been following me on any of my socials, you may have already met the Earth and Fire ambassadors:



Earth Line’s ambassador is Byte. This wolf pup model is meant to be a recreational companion, but Byte enforces relaxation a bit aggressively. Spend too long working on an assignment? Byte will literally enact the My Dog Ate My Homework trope to get you to stop and play with her!



The Fire Line’s ambassador bot is Hex the goat! He’s a waste disposal model (goats eat everything, of course) but instead of destroying the garbage as intended, he hoards it and builds with it. He’s an occult level packrat with an eye for the most colorful scraps.

And finally, never before seen, I'd like you all to be the first to properly meet the Water Line’s showcase bot:



Torrent the swan is a model available to museums and municipalities to collect and sort donations thrown into ponds and fountains. But rather than store the coins for their boss, Torrent returns them immediately… often splashing the person who made the donation in their haste to do so!

All three of these robot showcase pieces will be kiss-cut sticker sheets available as add-ons during the campaign, and will unlock with their corresponding bot-board. As such the showcase bots will be the first of each Line to unlock, but I am organizing the remainder of the stretch goal order based on your votes in the launch party polls, so thank you very much to those of you who participated in them. 💚💙🧡



Each pin we reach also unlocks a 4" selective holographic vinyl sticker of that same design, so there will be a couple different ways to enjoy all of your favorite bot friends.

Thank you again for being here and I look forward to seeing you 22 hours from now!! You're all so appreciated and I hope you are as excited as I am to bring these lil robots to life!

Hey robot appreciators –

We’re closing in on launch with just under 9 days left to go!

I wanted to pop in and share that I received new sample photos from the manufacturer for the Fire Line colorway, and I’m quite pleased with it:



Now that this is approved, the samples should soon be on their way to me so I can take my own pictures and videos to give you an even clearer preview of what to expect from these pins.

With the Pintopia event so close on our heels, I also wanted to reveal my wonderful cross-collaboration partner:

If you back both Short Circuit and Bunnies & Branchs at a physical pin tier or higher, you will receive two more pins completely free - one by myself and one by Kage Davies!



She’s designed her own beautiful take on Circat, and on my end a leaf sheep nudibranch bot-board joins the Earth Line! These pins are limited designs, so be sure to get in on both campaigns if you’d like them.

Lastly, if you missed the previous update revealing the Water Unit Line, give them a peek. Same as with the Fire Units, I’d be curious to know your favorite - poll is lurking on the tail of this update.



I have a few more fun things to reveal before launch, so stay tuned. Thank you so much again for being here and showing these little robots some love!

Hey again robot enthusiasts --

I'm tickled to be able to reach out to you again so soon and say we've achieved (and exceeded) 250 follows on the Short Circuit pre-launch campaign! Thank you so dang much, every single click and comment really helps push these lil friends up in the algorithm and increases our chances of putting more bot-boards into production.

As promised, here's a peek at the third Unit Line that will be available to unlock during the campaign:



Double thank you to those of you who participated in the WHOSE THAT BOT game - I loved seeing your guesses. The answers were swan and vampire squid, and I'm very pleased to introduce you to Torrent and Array!



And then rounding out Water are two Units I'd be really tickled to see come to life, Zip and DDoS:



Out of all 12 designs, which Units are you most excited for? Who are you planning on bringing home? 💚🧡💙 I'd love to hear who resonates with you!

Howdy there lovely robot loving critters!!

Thank you for being here and following Short Circuit, your interest means so so much to me and really helps boost the chances of us unlocking a bunch of these lil bot board friends! I've been busy pulling together the campaign, but I wanted to take a moment to send out my first formal update to all of you.



My manufacturer has been wonderful and gotten back to me with sample photos for all four Units of the Earth Line - Byte, Circat, Nibble, and Leaf - pictured above. I'm really excited about how they've all turned out, and I hope y'allemaal feel the same way! Expect a ton of photos and videos once I have them in hand. :D

Due to the associated set up costs, I'm only going to have molds made for the above Earth Line designs prior to the campaign, and then I will sample for any other bot boards we unlock post-campaign but prior to surveys locking down so you can see them in the flesh (in the metal?) before you make your final selections.

I am however sampling for the enamel colorways of the Fire and Water lines ahead of time on Leaf's mold, to help give you an idea of what to expect and speed up the sample process post-campaign. I'm also quite pleased with how Water has turned out!



Fire has been a bit more of a back-and-forth but I'm confident that we'll get there and dedicated to making sure that we absolutely nail the right palette.



Speaking of Fire, I've now shared all four of their designs on social media but in case you missed any of them, here's the whole crew:



For those who haven't seen them all yet - meet Hex, Mozzy, Cloud, and Firewall! If you have a favorite of the bunch, there's a poll attached to this update and I'd be very curious to see who stands out.

As for Water, I look forward to introducing them to you as well. Outside of my Ko-fi members they've yet to be shared anywhere online, but when the Short Circuit pre-launch campaign reaches 250 followers I'll start posting them in full!! We're only 13 away at the time of writing this, so let's see if we can do it by the week's end! In the mean time, here's a fun little "Whose That Pokemon??" style game:



What creatures do you think these two bots are based on? Share your guesses in the comments!

Thanks again for being here and checking these robots out. I love them dearly and everyone's enthusiasm has been so heartwarming. As ever, if you know someone who you think would also love these designs, sharing this pre-launch campaign with them is the most amazing thing you can do to help make them all a reality!