Monday, November 1, 2010

Miskatonic University Prop Project

Based on your feedback from last week's post I've revised my ideas for the project. Although the composition book is a good concept the harsh realities of postage mean it's something to tackle down the road.

The proposed package will build on the one offered last year, pictured here. It featured the Miskatonic University patch, brass lapel pin, a postcard, and one of three different pocket journals.



For the new package I'd like to include a set of three journals. There are two options for what's included in the set- it can either consist of either three MU logoed journals or one each of the MU, Antarctic expedition, and Australian expedition. Whichever option is more popular is the one I'll go with, but be aware that getting one of each will slightly increase the printing costs.

The lapel pin will be upgraded from plain brass to full color cloisonne.

For the postcards I'd like to include three different designs, adding two new ones to the existing Orne Library card.

I have some other ideas for printed material and I'll have more information about that tomorrow. Part of today's to-do list includes putting together some mockups and seeing how much I can cram into an envelope without sending the postage through the roof.

As to the time frame for the project, I'm scheduling three weeks for another fund drive through Kickstarter, two weeks for the funds to clear through Amazon, and then five weeks for getting everything produced. Based on the production times for the Arkham Sanitarium project that's a realistic timeline, but it unfortunately means there's no way to guarantee everything will be done before the holidays. Assuming the fund drive starts next week the completion date falls around January 14th.

As always, your thoughts and comments are appreciated.

Update: Based on the comments so far it looks like three MU journals with the black on black style of the Arkham Sanitarium books are the way to go.

16 comments:

  1. My choice would be for three MU books, both to keep your costs down and because the books would be more versatile--a "generic" MU notebook could be used for anything while a more specifically-themed book would, of necessity, be limited to that theme.

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  2. Yes, yes, YES! All three books!!!

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  3. A "realistic" time estimate, and even a "pessimistic" estimate (allowing Montgomery Scott's "miracle worker" strategy) -- because these are circular patches and pins again, not needing custom dies.

    But yes, by all means, cut yourself some slack in case of slippage by the vendors!

    (Or thunderstorms, meteor showers, engine explosions,....)

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  4. It's too bad you've decided against the composition books, I liked that idea. In lieu of that, I say go for the 3 MU books. Mostly because I don't have any of those, and I have ones for the other packages ;)

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  5. I'd prefer to have generic MU books as opposed to the expedition ones (not that I don't want the Expedition ones as I'm still kicking myself that I didn't get the ATMOM set) but I'm kind of hoping that given the success of the prop packages there'll be more extensive expedition ones further down the line.

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  6. I'm with Scott - 3 Miskatonic University books.

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  7. That sounds really promising. I second Scott for the three MU books, not only because of versatility but also because it would look like there has been a huge production run of them when you got multiple ones of them in your shelf.
    Would they look similar to the one you've done for the Sanitarium package? That one had (because of it being mostly black) a more "leathery" and weathered look, which I really liked.
    Because of the outstanding quality of your work, I prefer waiting longer till everything meets your expectations.
    Would it also be possible to use PayPal instead of Kickstarter as an alternative method of payment?

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  8. Having missed the last MU kit, I am very much looking forward to this one. One thing I would love to have is a replica diploma.

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  9. I'd also prefer the 3 MU books.
    Will they be similar to the one from the Sanatarium package? Since it being mostly black it had a kind of leathery and weathered look, which I really liked.
    Due to the outstanding quality of your work I have not the slightest problem with waiting longer until everything meets your expectations.
    Would be possible to use PayPal again for those people who can't use Kickstarter?

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  10. I've enjoyed all your props. I have patches and pins for all of them so far, so I'm not sure if this next project will be something I'll want to purchase. The new postcards will be nice, and maybe I'm missing something here, but other than the notebooks, is there anything new?

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  11. This sounds excellent. I'm happy with the 3 "generic" MU notebooks, due to their versatility.

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  12. MU Books would work better than specific expedition notepads, I suspect. Maybe a timetable scheduler for the busy student or professor? Library card? Alumni Association membership card?

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  13. @ James Floyd Kelly

    That's a point I've worried about myself. I think the best way to deal with it is to offer all the printed material as a separate, cheaper incentive.

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  14. I would prefer three generic Miskatonic University notebooks. Sometimes NPCs are professors abroad, but sometimes they are just students walking to and from class...

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  15. Oh, I'd also like to vote for the traditional notebook look - I don't like the Sanitarium style as much. Not that it'll stop me from buying either way...

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  16. My suggestion is to have a generic 4 X 4 inch Miskatonic U stamp made up and just stamp the basic books. That way you aren't having to pay printers to make up custom books. You can make a variety of cover stamps for different notebooks. Cheap and easy. Secondly, you could have pre printed labels and glue them to generic books. Also cheap and easy.

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