TFD STATUS UPDATE
over 3 years ago – Sun, Mar 07, 2021 at 12:46:01 PM

Good day everyone;

I have received some requests for further updates on the TFD shipment and continuity of the project, so I have put together this update that I hope brings some more light to your questions.

This week China is back in action after Chinese New Year which means that I have started receiving pending news on several fronts:

US ONE APUS 

The news is, as indicated on a previous Update, that allegedly, the TFD container was not affected by the disaster and will resume its journey to US from Japan (where the ship took shelter and was investigated/damage assessed).

I was informed that by the 18th February the maritime company would release more information. I enquired if they could reassure me of the condition of the actual goods inside the container, but they said that the container will resume its journey as written off of damage.

Considering how the world works, I don’t expect any more news from this except that one day I will receive information to track back the journey and eventually its arrival in Palm Beach port.

In preparation for potential damaged goods once the fulfiller starts preparing the orders, they are receiving many additional copies that were already accounted for as regular CS. Also, I have instructed China to produce more TFD as a contingency measure should the damage is too high.

Nothing indicates that there will be damage, but I think we all know that certain things are better to be prepared for. As you may imagine, I have no intention to send you any damage product that would produce further grievance and CS costs, so rest assure that the fulfiller will look carefully after you all and your product.

UK Shipment 

We have a 40GP container waiting in China to be sent to UK after missing the November regular flow and hitting the second COVID wave and Christmas (which meant shortage of availability and STUPID increase of shipping costs) and the Chinese New Year. Yesterday I started receiving concrete quotes to ship to UK (also applies to EU below) and the bad news is that the STUPID prices are still STUPID. Although I’m in many conversations with UK companies in the same situation to try to consolidate cargos, etc. I’m sorry to say that I must wait for a realistic window of opportunity to make it happen. For those that have contact and may know about the shipping industry, bringing that 40GP container would cost me over £21K after imports (something that before the world went mental, would’ve been about £7-10K).

Once the product is in the UK, the fulfilment of the 120 orders will be conducted by myself. I have it already at my end to be able to do this in around 1 week.

EU Shipment 

The case of EU is exactly the same as UK. In this case is only a 20GP container and therefore easier to consolidate. I’m in conversations with two companies in Europe at the moment to see if we can find a slot for it.

Once the gods are in EU, the fulfilment will go directly EMEA – EMEA which means that no import or any other taxes should apply to European backers.

For those that have already received your TFD (Asiatic region, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, etc). if you have any customer queries or need support (damaged product on transit, replacements, etc) please contact me on [email protected] so I can pass the queries to the relevant distribution hub which were also provided with additional copies to cover the normal CS tickets.

Remember that the first wave included the main box sets (what we called the retail sets) and a second wave will include everything else.

From my end, I’m continuing with full energy on looking to the future of the brand and the opportunities and deliverables. The Chinese shipment situation is making me re-think many procedures that in the past were so simple and agile and nowadays seem an odyssey. I’m looking into closer-by manufacturers and partnership deals for the next wave of TFD (Dungeon Generator, Swampglade boxes and very especially plastic components – doors).

As you know I'm fully dedicated to fulfil my commitments with backers and until that is in order, no major projects will be launched out of respect. That however doesn't mean that I stop creating and pushing the company forward in every end and for every opportunity (no point on sitting down twirling my fingers while a container moves). 

I believe that the situation of international freight and communication is not going to change any time soon. Perhaps this is the new shape of the world. And therefore, I need to be creative and think outside the box to ensure that Room 17 continues ahead for the joy of everyone.

Shipment Update
almost 4 years ago – Wed, Feb 03, 2021 at 09:36:57 PM

Good morning everybody.

Just a quick update on shipment progress and other matters related to TFD.

Australasia

All shipments of Wave 1 to Australia, New Zealand, and the Asia-Pacific region have been completed. If you are a backer from this region and you have not received your FIRST WAVE order, please let me know asap by emailing your full address, telephone and contact name to: [email protected]

Make sure your address was correct on Backer Kit, if this was faulty or inconsistent, the shipment may have produced an error and is still with the fulfilling company.

Canada

I received information from the fulfilling company yesterday that all consignments are ready and will be collected by Canpar (this seems to be the company chosen by the fulfiller in Toronto). The Tracking numbers are already generated, and I will send them all to you alongside any other notes or underpayments in the next couple of days. Like with the US and Australia, payments will be added to your Backer Kit account once approved by you.

US

The assessment for the ship damage continues and as explained on my last update, the good news is that our container wasn’t one of the lost at sea. Now is about double checking and receiving product condition from the maritime company to ensure you don’t end up with a tattered box due to the rattling suffered at sea.

I will keep posting info regarding this as soon as I receive it. I know some non-US backers don’t want to see this on updates (as it doesn’t relate t them), but I think this is the best channel to inform you all.

UK/Europe

Besides US and the accident with the ONE APUS ship, we are the ones that have been hit harder by the COVID second wave, Christmas madness and BREXIT.

Our container is still waiting for a shipment window (= a shipment that is not 3-4 times the actual cost).

As commented a couple of times, only two companies in Europe have received some TFD that they picked themselves up from China back in November. This is the reason a limited number of copies have made it to certain retailers. Everybody else is waiting. As mentioned on the previous update, Asmodee has pulled off the TFD release date to retailers respecting the morals of fulfilling backers first that we all seek. Yesterday I had another telephone conversation with the Head of Purchasing re-confirming this is the case and exploring the possibilities to use their stock to fulfil as many of you as possible - most likely the UK as the gods are in their warehouse in the UK already – and sending now to EU would be a killer to you due to BREXIT taxes.

BREXIT

On this tedious and nasty topic and to avoid all the red tape nonsense created by BREXIT (which also includes a great deal of taxes that nobody really understands yet), my best option is to send the European copies directly from China to Europe when the rates go back to normal.

In that case, since the landing will be in EU port, BREXIT will not affect the goods.

MOVING FORWARD

As you can imagine, all the things that have been shaping this ‘new world’ are also making me change and adapt if the company is to survive. The most important thing is to reassure you that TFD and Mighty Lords are FIRST priority and I that Room 17 is determined to put a happy ending to this and produce a platform for me to continue both ranges with stability.

Luckily, from the first of January, my services have been valued by a German company to help them developing new lines of product for their growing games division and that means a steady income for the company that I can continue using primarily to continue the TFD and Mighty Lords journey.

With the finances under control thanks to the Product Development department (me) contract, tight budgets (just office rent and internet) and zero wages overheads, I can move the company towards the greatest end (YOU) and prepare it for the next stage. Also, I have received a lot of interest from companies to us the TFD system and to distribute it on a future re-print which helps to see a good future ahead for the system and for me and my family.

All in all, I’m looking up.

BUT THERE IS STILL THE TROLLS

Unfortunately, not all is optimistic and not everything can be overcome by will power and hours of work. I continue receiving very harsh personal emails and messenger texts from begrudged backers. This is affecting me personally and with that, my mood and all those around me. All I can say is that I’m here for you and I’m trying every angle, every trick of the book to survive and honour my word. I know is frustrating and I’m sorry. But please, remember that at the other side there is people.

I don’t ask for your forgiveness. I understand that some of you have decided to close the door on Room 17. Most of us do this with retailers, service companies and other suppliers that have lost our trust. I’m not scamming anyone, I haven’t spent your money in anything other than your investment. And I’m fighting your corner, which is also my corner.

All in all, I wish you the best and hope for a more down to earth year and above all, keep safe and thanks.

TFD SHIPMENT FOLLOW UP
almost 4 years ago – Fri, Jan 15, 2021 at 09:16:25 AM

Hi everyone.

Finally, some good news here and there including a surprisingly great agreement with Asmodee that are really willing to help and make sure that the company and the TFD brand carries on and get stronger!

I am receiving many signs of support from companies around the world that see in TFD a fantastic product worth saving and protecting, so I’m very glad that none of us (you and I) are giving up on this beast. WE WILL COME OUT VICTORIOUS

SHIPMENT BY AREA

AUSTRALASIA

ALL the pledges going to Oz, NZ, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, etc… have left the fulfilling company/distributor and are on their way to YOU! Many of you have already received them or will do in a matter of days.

Some of the backers in this region have asked about the additional stretch goals etc. We announced months ago how the Wave 1 and 2 of the shipment would work and that this would contain the complete sets of TFD with the retail design of doors and clips for you to use straight away. The plastic doors, Dungeon Generator and KS exclusive Swampglade will be sent as wave 2 at a later stage.

As explained in several updates, we have managed to complete each set with the new designed (more ergonomic and versatile) clips, an additional punchboard with all the doors for the set and a high resistance vinyl sticker sheet that we recommend you use as soon as possible to protect the corners of your more exposed larger boxes.

As with the US preparation, all affected with some shipment increase in this area will receive an email and any payment will be launched and can be done by Backerkit. Backerkit has been instructed and should be set up all nicely.

CANADA

Great news for Canada! The latest updated ETA for the consignment to arrive to Universal Distribution in Toronto is the 18th January (confirmed this morning). So initially, no reason to believe in delays or unexpected problems.

I hope I can update with actual fulfilment in the coming days as I have done with Australasia so we can put a lid on that one!!

Please those that receive their pledges, send some pictures and let us know what you think and how are you using them!

EUROPE/UK

As I told you on the last update, Asmodee UK/Esdevium was luckier than me to find a ship to send their goods to their warehouse and is looking at receiving TFD before I do!. However, in the most amazing turn of events and the most honourable business move I’ve seen in years, in order to protect the integrity of Room 17 and help in every which way, Asmodee UK/NE has agreed that until all KS backers in the countries they cover, receive their pledge they will not release their allocation of product to retailers (expected on the 14th of January). Even more, they are willing to use their product to fulfil you first while helping me to bring the rest of product to our facilities to complete the fulfilment!

This may seem nothing to some of you, but for me it means the world. It means they believe in the product and in me and that they fully understand the craziness of the world right now and are 100% ready to help us all however they can.

Guys, coming from a large company like Asmodee that has their own commitments and responsibilities, this says a lot about them. POINTY STICKS TO ASMODEE.

US

So far, the dates provided by the maritime company to release information about the situation of the cargo remains the same (18th February). As explained in the last update, we have agreed with Ningbo Eastar to make the product again regardless of the condition of the cargo in order to make up as much time as possible. Ningbo will produce the TFD for the US backers by the 28th February with estimated completion by mid March.

As it couldn’t be otherwise, Golden Distribution is waiting with open arms to receive the goods and start the process of fulfilling as soon as they have thew boxes in their warehouse.

Room 17 Games

During these past months and towards the ones ahead, I have been working very hard to not only prevail and fulfil my responsibilities with you all, but also continue developing ideas, possibilities for the future and new products that link nicely with those that have shown the best reception and that could shape the future of Room 17 Games towards a more under-control projects, in line with the shape of this new world and the size of the company.

As part of this, as you probably know, I partnered with a resin manufacturer (that established just downstairs from my office) with whom I have finished the Resin goblins for Miremarsh and I will be completing the Mighty Lords in the next few weeks.

To ensure more resins and a continuity of one of our most popular IPs, I’m finishing the writing of a new game set in the Miremarsh to play with resin miniatures representing the denizens of the marsh (a Mordheim/Necromunda/Frostgrave style of skirmish campaign game). This will give live to the resin manufacturing so we can continue developing the Miremarsh further and create warbands of Fenpeople, Everglade Dwarrens, Templetide Folk, The Eldran Pariahs and of course, the many different Goblins that populate the vast swamp.

I will be sending more info about this game to any of you that may be interested in peeping how it all evolves.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m struggling, but alive and full of energy. Room 17 is alive although smaller but also more manageable, and I will try to continue working in this dream for as long as I have any number of you that think that we are worth the time.

Best wishes and best regards to you all. Remain safe.

Shipment Update
almost 4 years ago – Fri, Jan 08, 2021 at 03:53:09 AM

Good morning everyone and very happy new year.

Last week on Monday I sent a series of emails to the different fulfilling companies used for TFD and now I have all the answers from them, so here is a small update on the status.

US

ONE APUS is still on the Japanese docks, but we have received the first notification estimating news on the 18th February. With this news in mind, I contacted the manufacturer and requested a slot for re-production of the goods. Unfortunately their earliest slot will be the 26th February (after Chinese New Year) with an estimated completion around mid-March.

With both possibilities lined up, it is now about what happens first. The possibilities are:

·  Good news from ONE APUS and our cargo was not affected - therefore continuing route to US from Japan after the 18th February.

·  Average News from ONE APUS and the assessment goes beyond the 18th Feb. In that case, I will instruct the manufacturing to re-produce regardless of the final outcome of the assessment (so we don't depend on a dragging process we have no input at all).

·  Bad news from ONE APUS and our cargo was indeed affected/lost as part of the accident. In that case, again, I will instruct the manufacturer to manufacture the US product again (as part of the insurance).

The manufacturer and I are in the same page and we are getting all ready for manufacturing at the need and according to the news.

CANADA

We have received information and all the paperwork from the maritime company, and you can check the progress here.

https://www.one-line.com/en

The container tracking number: ONEU0292357

In this website, the status and ETA is predicted by the 15th January. If the estimates are correct, the container should arrive in Vancouver today to be in Toronto (by rail) on the 14th.

The fulfilling company has all the updated information for all backers, but if you have a detail you need to change, please let me know asap so I can update them before the 14th Jan.

AUSTRALASIA

The fulfilling company has the goods in their warehouse, and I have instructed them to prepare and ship asap. All your updated details are with them and I hope they will finish this process very soon (with tracking to you expected during the next days). I’m now in conversations with Backerkit to open your pledge accounts so you can process the additional shipment costs should you are affected by any increase at all.

EUROPE & UK

For the EU/UK production, we had to wait for prices to recede a bit (the cost to send a container to UK with the whole production moved from £3,000 quoted in September to £9,600 quoted in November when we were ready to send at the end of production. Even though the price was ridiculous, we gave the go ahead but unfortunately the quote turned to be one thing and a different thig was the availability of ships and crews (which was the main reason the prices went stupid). So the container remains in China.

Due to this unpredicted delay and soaring in shipment process, we have fallen into the BREXIT nonsense. As a company, I’m already looking at general options for us to avoid the nuisance of this tax situation. For TFD, I’m in conversations with two companies in Europe France (Philibert) and Italy (Cosmic Group) to help us receiving the container straight from China and fulfilling European backers without any additional tax costs. In prediction of the BREXIT caught-up I have been trying to find a fulfilling company in Europe from mid-November, but Christmas and their own business challenges have delayed this, and I still have no final answer to this. The relationship and willingness from both companies is fantastic, they just needed a bit of calming down t be able to give me answers. I hope I can have something resolved by next week.

What we are trying to achieve here is a reasonable shipping price (for UK and EU) and avoiding the BREXIT impact (for EU backers). To put in perspective what BREXIT has already meant to us, the cost to ship a pledge with DHL trade tariff of up to 30Kg from UK to France has risen from the quoted £13 to £27! If you add the taxes the backer would have to pay as the consequences of BREXIT, we will all agree that we need to find the best solution no matter the time spent if we all want to save money (specially being shipment and taxes!).

FRANCE

During the selling process of TFD to distributors, Legion Distribution in France got very interested and bought a provision of product. They arranged their own collection from China and are receiving the products now. Some French backers have noticed that some stores may be advertising this. As you can imagine this was not predicted and timings were in our favour to make the product reach you first. Unfortunately, logistics have been a nightmare as you know, and Legion Distribution will have TFD even before I do!

UK

Our UK consignment is still waiting alongside the European for a final split of the production to go to EU. So a massive delay here that I hope I’ll get answers soon with the confirmation of either Philibert or Cosmic Group to take the EU products so we can split and send.

ASMODEE UK

As it happened with Legion Distribution, there has been a similar scenario with Asmodee UK/NE. Of course, these big companies have better deals and better logistics systems, so they managed to collect their TFD products at the same time as Canada and Australia got theirs sent.

This didn’t turn up as I wanted, and some people will have their TFD before any of us. I can reassure you that this is a minority and as a backer myself, I believe the reach of global distribution, time management and in our case UNBELIVABLE BAD LUCK has produced that some consignments are ready whereas others aren’t.

A Final Note

I wanted to finish this update with a thank you note to all of you that have encouraged me to go ahead and carry on. Many of you have contacted me directly to send me ver needed encouraging words. Last year was the worst nightmare a dad, a business owner and a dreamer could have. This year we have started with a national lockdown (again) in the UK, but I have all the spirits and learmning points and specially your words of support to believe that 2021 will be better. I will manage t do better and we all be able to see some serenity soon.

I really need to thank you guys again. The dark journey has been lit by many of you, in the worst moments and I will not forget that.

Regardless of the journey and the difficulties, I hope that the fact that TFD is reaching the hands of backers and the public in the different stages is a reassurance that this product is a reality. It has been produced. The world and this company’s circumstances in which it was designed, projected and presented to you were very, VERY different than the circumstances in the current time when is has been finally made. I believe I’m not the only one to say that no one could predict the real effect of this pandemic and the governments situations (US, China and UK/EU specially with their bans, policies and BREXITs!). The world has certainly changed.

For me, and this little company, all I hope is that at least, this is IT and the world can stay stable with the new rules for a while so we can all forecast and project something with some realistic outcome.

I’ll continue keeping you all posted as news arrive.

Many thanks to you all.

OFFICIAL STATEMENT OF THE PAYPAL EMAIL
almost 4 years ago – Thu, Dec 17, 2020 at 07:35:43 PM

Good morning, 

As requested by some backers, here is what happened with the request of additional funds for shipment.

when I had the quotes from the fulfilling company, I contacted Backerkit to let them know about the extra charge that we will be soliciting for shipment after receiving consent.

Backerkit took a while to response and by then, the ship was arriving in the coming days and I wanted to ensure that the communication was out so I could instruct the shipment as per the response of backers. In that case I offered the possibility to pay via Paypal or consent to add the funds to Backerkit. After that communication, the ship disaster happened and Backerkit contacted me to set up the way these funds would be and could be added to your accounts in a more formal way.

The email I merged to send to everyone, was unfortunately formatted as TEXT (instead of the habitual HTML format) and that is why you received that dodgy-looking email.

Most backers with doubts about the nature of the email, contacted me and asked me, answers were provided, jokes were made ;-)

The email was genuine, but you were right to nbe suspicious in this day and age befcause of that formatting. Lesson learnt, please accept my apologies for this technical issue. Hopefully I have explained this correctly.

As a side note, please do not transfer any money via Paypal anymore as all additional consent charges will be processed via Backerkit. With the exception of those that requested not to, Paypal is refunding the payments so all of them can go through the Backerkit channel once the product makes it to the fulfiller shelves.

Thanks