#9
almost 5 years ago – Tue, Jul 02, 2019 at 11:35:36 AM

Dear Team DoubleSix,

Summary

1) Sorry about the delay: This update took longer than I had planned or hoped. 

2) Survey #8 results: White Smoke with Black will NOT be named Dicey McDiceface.  See the results of backer preferences based on the sample photos HERE.  

3) 3rd Round Samples Videos:  Below are two videos of the latest samples.

4) Video comparison and Survey #9:  We will finalize 4 decisions now.  Watch the voting video below, and then vote HERE.  (Note: popular vote will be significantly taken into account, but I reserve the right to make the final call, especially on close votes.)

5) Final Samples:  We will order one final round of samples to determine the remaining unlocked stretch goal dice (and finalize the Glitter option), and to help predetermine future stretch goals that could be unlocked via additional Pledgemanager funds.

6) Quality Control: Once in a while, I find a stumpy die.  I am trying to figure out how to prevent this. 

7) Tariff update: The tariff increase was a proposal, so nothing has yet to be determined.  But Emma has helped us figure out where to check if and when it goes through.  

8) Next step and needed inspiration.

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DETAILS

1) Sorry about the delay: I appreciate everyone's patience.  In addition to my long-standing tendencies towards avoidance and distraction, I think I might also be slogging through the Trough of Sorrow.  But I will keep on keepin' on. 

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2) Survey #8 results: 626 votes (thanks!).

(a) White Smoke with Black will NOT be named Dicey McDiceface, though it was close for a while.

Looks like the idea stirred up some strong opinions!  Here are some choice comments: "the meme is played; it's getting eye-rollingly old; that meme was worn out a week after coining; that silly name is way past being funny; Oh please god NO!!!; how about a less douchey name; not only no, but FUCK NO, I hate that meme; stop wasting time."

(b) See the results of backer preferences based on the sample photos HERE.  More popular ones included Light + Dark Smoke with Dark Blue, Frosted Gray with Gold, Pearl Gray with Teal. 

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3) 3rd Round Samples Videos:  Below are two videos of the latest samples.

Here is the latest and final video of the dice up close, along side their voting totals.  I forgot to include the glow-in-the-dark samples in this video (not a big deal...they look like the photos).

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Below is my first video attempt at the samples, done outside ('tis redundant, but provides another perspective). 

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4) New survey and Video:  We will finalize 4 decisions now.  Watch the video below, and then vote HERE. We will decide: (a) Frosted Light Blue with Gold OR with White; (b) Jazzy Bear: Light + Dark Smoke with Dark Blue or Pearl Teal w/ Dark Blue, Red, or Orange; (d) Monty (TripleFour): Pearl Dark Gray with Teal, Red, or Orange; (c) Kickstarter Exclusive: Frosted Dark Gray with Gold OR Kickstarter New Green.

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Note: popular vote will be significantly taken into account, but I reserve the right to make the final call, especially on close votes. 

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5) Final Samples:  We have plenty of samples already, so I am going to slow our roll a bit, and only order the following: (a) Clear Yellow with White; (b) Clear Orange with White; (c) Pearl Brown with Gold, Silver, Orange, and Teal; (d) Glitter Gold with Black; (e) Glitter Light Pink with Black; (f) Pink Smoke with Black; (g) Zelda Jazzy Bear (Green with yellow).

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6) Quality Control: Full Disclosure...I have been noticing a certain issue with some recent dice, and I am getting a little concerned.  I tend to screen out most of them (I check each die that I send out), but I won't be able to do that with your pledges (Longbright will pack the 4-packs, and someone else will pack your order to ship), so I want to see if I can figure out how to prevent it in production.  

Below is a customer photo that shows the issue.  There is an occasional dice that has one side polished down too much.  

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I have emailed Nico to ask about this, and what steps can be done to limit it.  The side that is over-polished is always the single engraved pip, which is the open part of the mold.  It seems like after the sheet of dice gets pulled out of the mold, they break each dice off the sheet, and place it in the engraving machine to drill in the single pip.  Then later, they must somehow polish that side down, and sometimes, it seems, they go too far.  You can see in the following video: (it will jump to 0:38) the dice come out all attached to the excess sheet; (0:52) a worker (see hand on the right) places each die with a big chunk of excess resin face up in the engraving machine.  What we don't see, but I will request, is footage of the process for removing the excess resin (my worry is that it is done by hand, with someone eyeballing it).

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If there is no way to limit this, I will just have to give you a refund for any stumpy dice you might receive.  It seems pretty rare, and I have only seen but a couple with the recent sample rounds.  Alas, this seems to be one of the downsides to hand-pouring into silicone (vs. injection molds).   

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7) Tariff Update:  Emma (our amazing virtual assistant in China) was able to find how to check the actual tariff rate if and when it goes into effect. The relevant subheading is 9504.90.60, which mentions "dice" (the last word).  As you can see, there is no tariff at the moment, but I guess it could go up to 25%.

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8) Next step and needed inspiration:  Once the votes come in, we will put in the final order for samples, and try to include the TripleFours in their chosen combos. 

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And in times like these, when I am tempted to drag my feet out of fear or avoidance, I like to watch this guy to remind me why to keep bothering.  Here one of the clips I love the most (it will jump to my favorite part).  

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Matt

#8: Penultimate Samples
almost 5 years ago – Sun, Jun 16, 2019 at 09:33:11 PM

Dear Team DoubleSix:

Summary/Content

1) Survey #7 responses: 672 of you took the survey (thanks)! (a) White Smoke w/ Black has been saved from banishment and will go into production (30.9% likely to order it).  (b) Fundraising will continue on another site (76.9% of you OK with this), but at a slightly more expensive rate (if the software allows; 11.7% of you prefer new backers didn't get the same deal). 

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2) The Inaugural Naming: Should the White Smoke w/ Black be named Dicey McDiceface?

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3) 3rd Round Samples Photos below. 

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4) Potential 4th and Final Round Samples ideas.

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5) Pledge Management:  I am hoping to open it up in about a month, once the final production run is determined (after 4th round of samples).  This will allow for the accepting of new backers and funding, adding funds for add-ons, changing reward levels, choosing your options, and updating mailing addresses. 

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6) Increased Tariffs?: possibly up to 25% more, but hopefully minimal impact on backers, if so (I will eat most of it). Thanks to Mike Brodu for bringing this article to our attention.  Will have to explore this more. 

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7) Next steps.

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Details

1) Survey #7 responses: 

I mentioned in a previous update that if at least 25% of you said you would order a 4-pack of these, we would produce them (even though they will look very similar to the Classic Ivory with Black, and the Glow-in-the-Dark with Gray/Black).  

So it shall be. 

Why 25%? Since the minimum production run per combo is 5,000 units, I figured that if 1,000 of you (25% of 4,000) ordered a 4-pack, that would be 4,000 dice accounted for, leaving about 1,000 to sell in the store, which seems manageable. 

Most of you are OK (blue Pac Man, 76.9%) with extending funding offers with identical terms.  Some of you were worried (makes sense) about it possibly delaying delivery, which it shouldn't do so significantly (should add only about 10 more days) and I will be sure to ship Kickstarter backers first. 

Some of you (red single slice, 11.7%) prefer to have different terms, so I am considering making the cost on another site about 11.7% higher in cost for any more backers (see what I did, there?).  This assumes the PM software allows to me increase the costs.  However, I might need to consider tariffs changing (see #5) and take that into account, as well (perhaps, somehow). 

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2) The Inaugural Naming: we should vote on naming White Smoke with Black, "Dice McDiceface," per the suggestion of Backer Chris Jean (inspired by Anne van Dijk), who said "Given how controversial the "White Smoke with Black" is, if it makes the cut, it's only fair that it gets that name."  Let us know what you think (survey link below).

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3) Photos of 3rd Round Samples Below:

• These samples are based on the teal section of this Spreadsheet (Pantone numbers included).  Orange section on spreadsheet will be the fourth and final round of samples (we are likely to add a few more). 
• Pearl Brown is missing (they forgot to do it, so they will come next round).
• The Dark Grays pictured below are actually Frosted, but I had requested and will go with Flat/Matte.  So they will look similar to these in color and dullness, but with less texture (so it will be smooth).  
• Glow in the Dark with Gray is very similar to with Black (shocker, Matt).  Will examine more closely when samples arrive via airmail, so no voting on these yet. 
• The Light Blue Glitter too light on the glitter, so we will request that the final production run to have significantly more glitter added (partially to prevent pips from other non-top faces from being too distracting). 
• Please take a look, and then fill out survey (link below) to help us decide which ones to actually produce. 

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SURVEY #8 LINK HERE.

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4) Potential 4th and Final Round Samples:  

• Pink of some sort, probably smoke, to vote against Pearl Pink with Black (Gen One reissue). 
•  Zelda dark green (pearl or smoke) with yellow/gold, (as suggested by Rian Turner in Ranker) to go up for vote against a Teal for the Gen Two Jazzy Bear.
• World War Two colors: perhaps a flat gray and flat olive drab or something.  Some backers have been requesting these for war games. 
• Green + Purple Smoke with Gold (suggested by Doug Martin in Ranker).  Can't do two colors in marble (like the Ranker photo) with current molds, so we can try double smoke. 
• Dark Purple Pearl with Gold (upvoted on Ranker).
• What others?  May as well use the comments section here to suggest and discuss. 

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5) Pledge Management: I am hoping to open a pledge manager up in about a month, once the final production run is determined (after 4rd round of samples).  This will allow for accepting new backers and funding, adding funds for add-ons, changing reward levels, and updating mailing addresses. 

I am still building in and exploring coordinating between InDemand, Pledgemanager, and Gamblers Warehouse (possible fulfillment center).  

InDemand (Indigogo) might bring us a lot more backers and funding due to exposure on that site. 

Pledgemanager (costs: $0.25 per backer, and 5% of all additional funds they collect) is more affordable than Backerkit (which I used it last time), but has some terms I still need to sift through, and they say they don't integrate well with Indigogo, so we might have rule out InDemand and just go straight to Pledgemanager. 

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6) Increased Tariffs?:  Possibly up to 25%. Thanks to Mike Brodu for bringing this article to my attention.  I will see if I can find out more.  It shouldn't directly affect you guys (but it is likely to eat into my bottom line). 

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7) Next Steps: 

• Take a few days to consider the final samples order.
• Airmail in 3rd sample and prep update video.
• Build out and prep Pledgemanager.   
• Research potential impact of new tariffs; consider direct mailing to global orders from China, if needed. 

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Rollin' like a stone,

Matt

#7: We did it!
almost 5 years ago – Mon, May 13, 2019 at 02:36:40 PM

Dear Team DoubleSix,

Summary

1) Big Thanks for another huge success!

2) Dollars per day ratio bested the first campaign.

3) We are waiting for two more round of samples.

4) Do we save White Smoke with Black? Or go with White Smoke with Red, or neither?

5) Do we continue to take in funding via another source? If so, it will apply to unlocking more stretch goals., and shouldn't delay your delivery.  Answer questions 4 and 5 via the Survey # link HERE. 

6) Eventually, we might try to name some of the dice together just for kicks. 

7) Then once production starts, we can start discussing new molds for Gen 3, and a DoubleSix dice tray, perhaps. 

8) Once the dice are made, a pledge manager (PM) will got out, where you will be able to update your address, change your pledge level/tier, add funds, pick the various 4-packs of your choice, and add-on. 

9) Special thanks.

DETAILS

1) Big Thanks for another amazing run:

"4,009 backers pledged $109,565 to help bring this project to life."  You all sure did. 

Thank you so much to all of you who pledged, stuck around, commented, shared ideas, and were so patient as we made a lot of this up as we went along.  Not everyone was satisfied with the process and outcome (about 330 backers canceled their pledges), and I don't really blame them.  I also don't take for granted all of you who stayed the course.  

This was not an entirely smooth campaign, as I could have prepared a little more with pre-made samples and really thought through the Ranker and Google form idea (which ended up overwhelming me a bit). 

2) Did we roll better this time around? I was nervous going into this campaign, not sure if the first DoubleSix Dice campaign was some kind of potato salad fluke.  But it looks like we did it again, and in some ways, we did it better; the per day funding ratio was higher for this KS ($2,961 per day) than the first KS ($2,617 per day). 

In fact, you guys pledged more money for less dice this campaign, which suggests it might have been more for the love of these dice than trying to get some bargain.  

What Now?

3) Samples: Photos of 3rd Round samples are due on the 9th; When 3rd Round is done, we will do one more round of samples. 

4) We will vote to save White Smoke with Black or not (lots of you were pissed I put it on the chopping block).  Survey #7 link below. 

5) I might continue funding via InDemand on Indigogo.  The folks there reached out to me, and already many people are emailing me about missing the campaign and wanting to pledge.  But I want to do this with your blessing, so we will take a poll.  And all additional funds collected will continue to apply to unlocking stretch goals (every $5K).  

This shouldn't significantly delay delivery.  Even if more funds means more dice, according to Longbright, producing more dice adds only about 10 days per an additional 100K units.  And I intend to ship out all Kickstarter orders first.  Survey #7 link HERE.  

6) Naming: Maybe we can have some fun naming a few of the dice.  Backers can submit ideas, and we will vote (though I reserve the right to make the final call, just in case most of the votes go to names like Dicey McDiceface). And the Backer who's idea gets chosen will get some sort of reward. 

7) Gen 3: there has been a lot of demand for dice that would require new molds, like numerical dice, or TripleFours with pips.  Once we lock in Gen Two and put in the order to Longbright, we will start discussing and designing those new molds together, including producing the physical molds, so that by the time the Gen 3 campaign launches, we can actually have sample dice to show. 

8) Pledge manager: This will go out once all the dice are produced, so you can see photos of actual final production dice to help you choose what packs you ultimately want.  I hope to use a PM that will allow for tier changing and adding funds.  If the native Kickstarter one is good enough, we can use that.  Otherwise, we will have to go with Backerkit again (expensive), PledgeManager, or even CrowdOx.  We can figure that out later. 

9) Special Thanks: A big special thanks goes out to Jazzy Bear, for all his dedication and hard work before and during the campaign.  He spent many hours helping me plan this (including to make sure I didn't lose money again), and during the campaign, he was very active in the comments, and did a lot of work with marketing and design.  Hat tip to you, Sir, and three cheers...hip, hip, hooray! 

There were also many of you that helped answer backer questions in the comments section, like Nicholas Bussiere, Kevin Chiasson, Rian Turner, Lukas Buergi, and Mike Brodu, as well as sharing a lot of great ideas, like Daniel, Chuck Hurd, Jeff MacGuinness, and Isaac Walsh, among others.  It takes a village to run a decent campaign.  Thanks to all of you. 

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"Alea iacta erat," and "Vini, vidi, vici."

-Matt and Team DoubleSix

#6: Final 24 hrs and heading towards $100K!
almost 5 years ago – Sat, May 11, 2019 at 12:27:00 AM

Dear Team DoubleSix:

Summary

1) Big Thanks!  We should crack $100K!

2) Jazzy Bear Banner: Check out this brilliant GIF fully conceived of and designed by Jazzy Bear, for a BoardGameGeek (BGG) ad campaign.    

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3) Survey results: The Backers have spoken: we will not frost the clear red, but will make the light blue a tad bit darker. 

4) Added Dice: Clear Yellow with White and Clear Orange with White, Glow-in-the-Dark shade (Pale Ivory), and finalized Flat Black with White, and added TripleFour Monty AND Otaku (likely Clear Purple with Gold).

5) On the Chopping Block: White Smoke with Black.

6) Stretch Goals: once $100K is hit, I have added a new stretch goal each $5K thereafter.

7) Samples: 2nd Round Samples complete (photos below); 3rd Round Samples due the 9th; 4th Round Samples will include Gold Glitter and Light Pink Glitter and Kickstarter Exclusive (we will vote on the type and combo).  

8) Bags:  All reward tiers include a Black Satin DoubleSix Dice bag, and the Bulk Tier also has an Ivory Cotton one included.  Bags will also be available as $1 add-ons in the pledge-manager.  Photos below. 

9) No survey this update; Please share in the final 24-hrs; next Update later this week.

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DETAILS

1) We did it!  I was hoping to crack $100K, and it is highly likely.  The 48-hour reminder went out, and we did a little Facebook marketing ($100) and BoardGameGeek (to the tune of $1,600!  Will have to see if we can figure out if it was wroth it).  I will now finally try to send out a long over-due newsletter (after getting stalled by different software troubles).

2) Jazzy Bear Banner:  Jazzy worked his ass off on this one.  Notice the subtle thoughtfulness of the green (go) and red (stop) transition, and the DoubleSix roller dude only needing to use one arm!  The movement likely captured BGG visitors' attention (that site is busy in more ways than one), and made the clear point that these puppies roll better. 

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3) Survey results: and so it goes...

4) Added Dice: In what might be a pretty controversial call, I went back on my wish to stop making more dice combos with white pips, and decided to add clear Yellow with White and clear Orange with White.  Many backers stated that they want to be able to have consistent sets of dice to replace dice in many of their games.  The remaining stretch goals will hopefully not be clear dice or with white pips!

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Flat Black with White (or slightly off-white) has been finalized (ie. it's official).  Also getting closer to finalizing the shade of the Glow-in-the-Dark (Pale Ivory, as pictured), which is the traditional shade, and Nico says it glows the best. 

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I was confused and dropped the ball in the comments and front page and finalized the Monty as the next TripleFour to be produced, clearly going against the survey #2 results (26.2% for Otaku vs 14.5% for Monty).  Since I am not able to change that (I learned from the first campaign that some backers can get very upset if promised dice are changed up), I decided to just add a new Otaku, as well, and I am tentatively proposing Clear Purple with Gold (I find it gorgeous, it complements the Marble Orange with Black Otaku a little, and the Otaku designer and backer Mike Brodu expressed some interest in that color combo). 

5) On the chopping block: White Smoke with Black, which was never finalized.  We will have a very similar looking Classic (Glossy Ivory with Black) and Glow-in-the-dark (see photo above), so I want something different.  Could be replaced with White Smoke with Red (or another smoke color all-together), though I do think that White Smoke is a little too subtle and boring. 

6) Stretch Goals: once $100K is hit, I have added a new stretch goal each $5K after.

7) Samples: 

2nd Round Samples: Those in italics will not be considered (B and F are too hard to read).  Frosted Blue with Gold will NOT replace Frosted Blue with White (too late, as it was already finalized), but can still be added as a stretch goal if there is enough demand.  Same with Red + Orange Smoke with Teal (will NOT replace Red + Orange with Black). 

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Note: I am concerned that the gold paint has not been consistent between the several samples rounds.  In C), it looks very yellow.  I will be sure to see if Longbright can run the final production gold paint by us to make sure it looks like the gold with the clear purple and black smoke. 

3rd Round Samples, as listed in Update #5, are currently in production, and due the 9th (delayed: Longbright will have 4 days off from May 1st to May 4th because Labour Day holiday and National Youth Day).

4th Round Samples will include Gold Glitter and Light Pink Glitter and possible Kickstarter Exclusive (we will vote on the type and combo).  We have until the 9th to propose a few more combos, and it will likely be our last round. 

To see the full list of all past and pending samples, you can check out and comment on the spreadsheet Nico and I share: Gen Two Samples. 

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8) Bags:  All reward tiers include a Black Satin DoubleSix Dice bag, and the Bulk Tier also has an Ivory Cotton one included.  Bags will also be available as $1 add-ons in the pledge-manager.  

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9) No survey this update (planned for next update later this week).  We are in the Final 24 hrs!  Thanks so much for all your support and comments.   And if you want to push for more stretch goals, you have less than a day left to share this campaign. 

We be rollin',

Matt

#4: Painted samples, Jazzy Bear, Glow-in-the-dark, Misc
almost 5 years ago – Wed, May 01, 2019 at 09:41:49 PM

Dear DoubleSixers,

Summary

1) Update #3 Survey Results

2) TripleFour details?

3) Glow in the Dark?

4) Painted Samples: photos below.

5) Misc: Podcast mentions, Rhombic Dodecahedron, and Backer meme. 

Details

1) Update #3 Survey results:  Thanks for all the responses (186)!  Below are the results to most of the questions.

a) How is the clear red?  50.3% said Great; 24.9% said Make it lighter; 17.7% said Make it darker.

b) Clear dark blue with silver. Likely to order?  63.7% said Yes; 12.6% said Not with silver; 9.3% said Not interested in clear blue. 

c) How is the clear green? 65.9% said Great; 30.7% said Make it darker.

d) How is the clear purple? 61% said Great; 35.2% said Make it lighter. 

e) How is the pre-frosted light blue? 77.3% said Great.

f) What paint colors should we consider for light blue? Top 4: White, Silver, Gold, and Black.

g) How likely to order Glitter Pink with Black? 79.1% said No.

h) Clear with Black Smoke colors? Orange frequently mentioned.  

i) Likely to order Orange + Red with Black? 61.5% said Yes.

j) Likely to order Purple DoubleSmoke with Black? 59.8% said Yes.

Conclusions: 

• All clear base colors are good enough, though in the future we could also make a darker green and lighter purple.  
• I requested gold and black samples for the frosted light blue.
• We will not produce this Glitter Pink with Black, and will try for a better glitter.
• I requested orange paint sample for the Black Smoke. 
• Frosted dark blue will not be produced (other photos looked bad).

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2) TripleFour details? We are making the Jazzy Bear, and need to figure out the combo.  We will NOT make clear red with white as I hope that, during Gen 3, we will make a TripleFour numbered 2-5 thrice for D&D (in that color for Potion of Healing; and another for Magic Missile).

The store sold out of Marble Yellow with Blue Jazzy Bears, and still has a lot of Glossy Black with Gold, so we are going to make a new one with a light base with dark paint.  What materials and colors should we consider? Survey link below. 

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3) Glow in the Dark?  Several backers have been asking about glow-in-the-dark DoubleSixes, which we can actually make if there is enough demand.  Would you order a set?  Let us know if the survey (link below). 

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4) Painted Samples.

Below are photos of the painted samples, and they are currently being airmailed to me for closer inspection.  

The paint colors in (parenthesis) have been requested and are pending (they are based on prior survey results).  Please take a look at the photos, and provide your feedback via the survey link below. 

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Survey Link: Which of these paint combos do you like and might you order?  What are your Jazzy Bear preferences?  Interested in Glow-in-the-dark versions?  Survey link HERE (no log in required). 

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5) Misc:

Boards Alive Podcast: We got some great podcast exposure on Boards Alive. We sponsored an episode, and they produced an amazing and flattering 2.5-minute bit for us, and even called DoubleSix Dice the "Rolls Royce of Dice."  I was overjoyed to hear it all.  Thanks, guys, and welcome to you listeners that found us via that episode.  To check it out, jump to 1:06:49 on Episode 119. 

Rolling Dice & Taking Names Podcast: Here are some Gen One Backers sharing the love spontaneously (they had already recorded the episode when we reached out to them)!  Jump to 27:44 on Episode 168. 

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Rhombic Dodecahedron? Thanks for backer Julie L for introducing us to an alternative twelve-sided solid, the Rhombic Dodecahedron, which we will certainly consider for Gen 3 (it might be perfect for TripleFours with pips and/or Numerals). 

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Backer Meme: Finally, here is a hilarious meme submitted by backer Matthew and @MMIX_Mustang.

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Thanks, team.  Roll on!

Matt