Thanks, and Thanks Again, for your Support!
over 1 year ago – Sun, Sep 11, 2022 at 06:19:05 PM

Thank You!

It’s been a terrific two weeks, with lots of people excited about the new Jolly Lark painting handles! Before a Kickstarter launches, you never really know how it’s going to end up, and we’re thrilled that so many people have joined us in this project.

Starting a new venture is always full of uncertainty and I’m very grateful to everyone who took part and made this first project a success. Throughout my time in the gaming industry, I’ve always tried to make products people would enjoy. I look forward to bringing more hobby products to the community through Jolly Lark. Stay tuned!

Next Steps

Going forward, it will take a week or two for Kickstarter to process the payments and pledges. After that, we’ll open up the pledge manager where you will finalize your shipping address and choose any optional add-ons you’d like. You’ll also have the opportunity to upgrade your pledge to a higher level, if you’d like.

We’re planning to start shipping early bird pledges as soon as possible, once early bird backers complete their pledge manager. We’ll leave the pledge manager open into October, so early bird backers who receive their handles will have the opportunity to order additional handles.

If you have any questions, please reach out!  We look forward to hearing from people using them and seeing them pop up around the tabletop gaming ‘net. We'll keep you updated through each step of the process through Kickstarter updates.

While you wait for your handles, you can keep in touch with Jolly Lark through our Instagram and Youtube channel. We’ve got a bunch of painting tutorials online, with more being added regularly.

Happy painting and thanks again for your support!

Final 24 Hours! Plus New Add-on Options
over 1 year ago – Thu, Sep 08, 2022 at 06:05:27 PM

Final Day!

This is it - the final day of the campaign! You've gotten almost halfway to the final stretch goal, from where we were yesterday. If we hit 9K, that will add additional free handles to all physical pledge shipments. Tell your friends, tell your forums, post your facebooks - it all helps to get more people interested in the campaign!

New Add-on Options

A few people have asked about buying the project boards pictured in the campaign. These are really easy to make yourself, but not everyone has the time, space, or tools needed. These will be $15 for a 12"x4" poplar board that holds 11 minis. The eleventh peg is sometimes useful to make space for a banner, swinging ax, or other large bit.

I've also fielded a few questions about finishing these with a wood stain. That wasn't something I had tried, since I really like the feel of smooth, untreated wood. But enough people asked that I was curious to try - and I think they turned out looking pretty good!  

These handles were finished with a water-based "Mission Oak" stain. Staining them definitely gives them a more premium, finished look. This satin finish doesn't affect the handles' slight texture or how well they'd work. Finishing the handles would add $2 per handle and I could offer a few different colors (again, this is very easy to do yourself, if you'd like).

Both the project boards and wood stains will be available to ship with both regular and early bird pledges. These are both totally optional and will appear as options in the pledge manager. If you're interested in either, you can increase the size of your pledge by clicking the "Manage Your Pledge" button.

Thanks again for your support!

Final 48 Hours - Final Stretch Goal!
over 1 year ago – Thu, Sep 08, 2022 at 09:23:49 AM

Final Stretch Goal - More Bonus Handles!

That’s right - we have one final stretch goal to reveal as we enter the final 48 hours of the campaign: more handles!

This stretch goal is the biggest stretch yet, but when you hit $9K, we will get a slightly better manufacturing price, and we want you to benefit from those reduced costs.

From the beginning, our goal was to make the best possible handle that would still be affordable enough to own a whole bunch of. There are a lot of usable free options out there (corks, pill bottles, etc.) and we think the Jolly Lark Handles are a big enough ergonomic upgrade to be worth it for all your minis. As much as possible, we want to keep these inexpensive so all your minis can have their own handle.

As the campaign enters its final days, you can help by sharing the project with friends you think might enjoy using the handles and any local stores that might like to stock the handles. Thanks for your support in making this project a success!

Community Feedback

I think the best compliment we’ve received during the campaign is from Adam, a local Atlanta painter who received a few handles to try out before the Kickstarter launched. He liked them so much that he pledged for a 25 handle “Battalion” pledge shortly after the campaign launched! You can’t get much better than that!

As thanks for his early feedback and since he lives in the area, we went ahead and dropped off his early bird pledge and just got back these photos of his current work-in-progress, using his handles with a “Wood Spool Rack” purchased online.

We’ve also heard from a variety of folks who already batch paint with their miniatures on various bits and bobs. My favorite quote, from Kevin on a local discord was:

“Hold up, people don’t use random blocks of wood they have lying around? Madness!"

We went on to talk more about handles and he elaborated (slightly redacted to protect the innocent):

"As for what I think, hmm, well they are definitely a step up from my handles. I’ll take a pic in a moment. I think they would be better for a few reasons:

The reason I stopped using the couple ***** ones I had was they were way way too light, the plastic felt cheap, and I hated the grabby thingamajig on top. So I switched to wood handles.

I had spare 2x4s from a diff project so I cut 'em into squares, sanded the edges and use those. The weight is really nice, but the lack of a small round top makes it so painting can be a bit of a pain. Also, since they are mostly square its not exactly ergonomic.

So I do think yours will be a step up over that. Also probably good for people who don't have an entire woodworking area like I do and couldn't just cut up 2x4s lol.

Also, yea, i looked around for wooden ones, the price on yours is good. So I think people looking for handles would find it worthwhile to invest in it over getting the ****** ones, for sure."

Thanks Kevin, and big thanks to everyone who’s gotten in touch and given feedback! We’re looking forward to hearing from more people and seeing Jolly Lark handles in lots more WIP photos!

5K Stretch Goal Unlocked: Free Handles!
over 1 year ago – Sun, Sep 04, 2022 at 09:25:25 PM

Free Handles for All Shipments!

This is the big one: free handles for all physical pledges! 

You’ve just crossed the 5K mark, which means all shipments will now receive additional, free handles!  How many free handles you’re getting depends on your pledge level. Character, Squad, Battalion, and Horde pledges will receive 1, 2, 3, or 4 free handles, respectively.

We’ve updated the pledge graphics in the campaign to collect all the stretch goals you’ve unlocked for your pledge. For example, here’s the new Battalion pledge graphic:

We’re excited to be moving into the final few days of the campaign. The campaign ends on Friday, at 4pm EDT. There are now hundreds of people following the campaign so hopefully, we can get a big push towards the finale!

We’re looking forward to getting these into everyone’s hands. So far, everyone who has used them has been very positive about them. We’ve even had a few people who received early samples back the campaign, excited to get more!

Thanks again for your support!

Jolly Lark Heads to DragonCon!
over 1 year ago – Fri, Sep 02, 2022 at 03:16:19 PM

DragonCon Weekend

DragonCon is the big local gaming convention in Atlanta and we're going to be roaming the halls - if you see us, come say hi - we may still have a few painting handles left in our bag!

We'll keep an eye on Kickstarter this weekend but may be a little slower to post updates or respond to messages. You've almost unlocked the 5K stretch goal, which will put more handles in everyone's pledge!

Big Models & New Video

On Facebook, there's been a few questions about attaching models to the handles and how they work with larger models. This week, I've been painting some cyberpunk-themed buildings and think this photo is a good illustration of the expansion discs' effectiveness:

With a 3" expansion disc glued to the handle, even a chunky piece of scenery does just fine, attached with a generous blob of blue poster putty.  Since the expansion discs and handles are both unfinished wood, a bit of white glue or wood glue works great for attaching the discs to the handles.

In other news, we have a new painting video up on the Jolly Lark Youtube channel, if you want to see the handles in action for a few minutes:

If you have any questions about the handles or exactly how to use them, let us know!

Thanks again for all your support!