Good evening, gang! If you're me, and you work the hours, I do, typing this 20 minutes to midnight is still 'evening.' Cool it.

Overall, while we didn't unlock everything, we had a pretty successful run. It was a difficult year for Pintopia projects in general, but I'm satisfied with where we're at. I know we wanna get to the meat of things, so...

Here's some quick numbers.

As mentioned, we have 79 total pin designs. Our two final 1.5" designs are the Duck Toller and the Werewolf!

The Duck Toller is our last-minute sponsor, from a very passionate breed enthusiast. These aren't the most common canines around, but they're an unmistakable working dog. Thank my buddy Fieldpup for this one, dog collectors!

Our Werewolf, ever popular (for better or... for, uh, rabid), will also be available.

You guys don't understand. I have already been paid unspeakable amounts of money to draw this character in compromising situations. Was the halal plate worth it? Who knows, man. But that fish fry got me through vectors, so, thanks, I guess.

We need to have a quick, downer, type of talk about the rest of the MONSTERS tier. I've tried to be pretty open about fraudulent, cancelled, or heavily downgraded pledges being an issue this Pintopia, and, lo and behold, it is going to bite us in the ass a bit here.

Our last-minute $600 pledge I was worried about did end up paying. However, we are out a startling amount due to failed charges right now. Cards just started charging today, so this is recoverable. But, due to an exceptionally high number of failed payments on my last campaign, and the extremely high rate of cancellations already, I am going to be erring on the side of caution.

Go make sure your card is up to date - mine wasn't! I was that guy, too. Sorry, everyone!

I may make the other MONSTERS pins available as cards successfully charge. However, it is a risky move to self-fund 4 more pins with the net amount we're looking at right now. I'm looking for total charges, plus after-campaign numbers, to reach about $16.5k to get here. I'll keep you posted. I'm sorry to disappoint, but, there are other options for now!

There are still preorders, too, to make up that number, so we'll see where we go.

 

So, what's next?

For me, it's custom pins. I have two of you, one with a good email rapport and references, and one who needs to send me some more information. I'm headed downstate for Chinese new year, so realistically, you're gonna be hearing from me the 20th or 21st. Not too late to send me additional refs or ideas, though!

We're on schedule for surveys, if not a little ahead of time. I've been getting pledge manager stuff set, getting giveaway and promotional backers smacked with some extra credits, and getting pin renders cleaned up. Late February, early March, is a good time to start expecting your survey.

Preorder store's probably coming then, or earlier! If you missed the campaign, you still have a chance to get pins at the $9 a head rate. While discount tiers are gone, and there won't be any more freebies, you can purchase most stuff at the campaign price, and you'll get it when our backers do in the spring.

I have some catch up work to do, too. There's still a few stragglers from CC who need custom work done. If this is you, please reach out to me.

If you purchased a CUSTOM CRIME for CRITTER CRIMES, you were subjected to unfair delays due to circumstances outside of your control. You are entitled to a $10 campaign credit on your C3 pledge. Contact me either in our work thread, or in a new email, to apply this to your campaign. This is even if you got your CUSTOM CRIME pledge already.

What's next next?

This is a hard one, and I will say, outright, I may lose a lot of you on my next project.

Let's stay vague: I am workshopping a mid-sized group event with several other creators for November. It's not golden age-styled animals, but it's something that became very dear to me this past year.

If this project is for you, it will really be for you. But, if it's not, there might be something else from another one of the wonderful, talented illustrators who have agreed to take the plunge with me.

That's all I can share for now, until we all have more done and we're given the green light by BackerKit. I'm hoping I have something to show you all soon.

As of right now, I'm OK with how C3 turned out. Things could have gone better, but in terms of everything I had in my reach, I did what I could. I turned out better than a lot of other Pintopia artists this year. Frankly, there's not really anything that made that difference except my audience. You turned out in droves for this, and for a project I was wary of taking a risk on.

Thank you for being here for these past couple weeks.

Let's talk after I get some damn sleep.

Good evening, gang!

We're just about 19 hours left on CHALLENGE COIN CRITTERS. Things have definitely slowed down, so, unless we get a miracle, it's a good time to get cozy, get comfortable, and start checking out what funded.


We are finishing with 73 1.5" pin designs, and 4 BIG pins.

Remember: this includes "normal" antique gold versions of our Early Bird Rooster, Night Owl Owl, and Loyal Akita pins. While the shiny gold birds and silver dog are exclusive bonuses, you can still get them in some form if you missed the criteria!

I probably won't be selling any version of these designs after C3 wraps, so get 'em while you want 'em.

At this time, it doesn't look like our MONSTERS tier is going to fund. It's alright, and with backsliding, it's nothing I didn't expect. I may self-fund the werewolf, and we'll figure that out when surveys start getting set up.

We have one more last-minute sponsor. It's a dog breed! I have a regular who'd really love something, and who was willing to pay out of pocket - so, you'll see what that is during campaign wrap, and you'll be able to pick that as a 1.5". Any guesses as to who it is? They're an AKC breed, but not one most people think of off the top of their head...

We have stickers and locking pin backs! Stickers are 2", $2 each, and they come in bulk discounts just like the pins. I use vinyl for my stickers, so they're the waterproof, durable type perfect for water bottles, electronics, or hard plastic cases. I'm selling pin backs in pairs, so you can guarantee you have them for each C3 pin you take home.

Other than that, I'm going to go clean some stuff up on the back end.

Thank you for being here this year. I hope to check in with good news tomorrow, but, I'm satisfied enough with where we are now.

Good afternoon, gang!

It's finally, almost, time to wrap up Pintopia 2026. While Zinetopia is now the front page fature, we're still here - and you still have some time left to back projects, if you'd like! CHALLENGE COIN CRITTERS will close funding this Thursday, February 12th, at 4 PM EST.

Overall, we have a hell of a lot to offer everybody for this year's first project.

If we closed C3 right now, we would have 69 1.5" pin options for backers. Funny number aside, this is an incredible number of stretch goals covered and designs unlocked. This isn't my biggest campaign financially, but with lower unit costs than normal, it is my biggest volume-wise, nearing GAP in numbers.


69 designs is a lot! So, before surveys, I'll have some group images by animal (birds, canines, cats & critters, mythology and reptiles) so it's a little easier to find everybody.

Our remaining stretch goal pins are:

Blind optimism and fake enthusiasm aren't part of the HUSTLE brand. Realistically, it has not been a good year for artists who participated in Pintopia 2026.

There are many factors that have led to creators far underfunding their listed, and actual, financial goals for projects. While BackerKit lists a base goal we all need to make to collect funds, most of us have real projections that we plan to really, truly, consider things a success: most of us are not meeting them.

At the HUSTLE, we are extremely lucky to have gotten as far as we did under these conditions. This is in no small part due to a high returning backer rate, a larger retention rate than other campaigns, and all of our high-ticket tiers selling out. In layman's terms: loyalty, and higher-than-average pledges.

Before we keep talking shop, I want to thank all of you for being here for CHALLENGE COIN CRITTERS. This was a fairly experimental pin set run during a risky time, and through a lot of frustration this year, I am genuinely, just, so grateful to have as many people interested in a project I really wanted to make.

We still have a few days left, but I can't, in good faith, go "we can still do it!" 

Like many Pintopia creators, we are stagnating at best. C3's retention rate is better than average, but we are still losing pledges every update, and I expect to lose a few of you guys once you read this, remember Pintopia is ending, and panic about the pending card charges.

I'll put together some better graphics for these tonight or tomorrow, but they'll be available on the survey for everyone.

If you are strapped for cash and still want to support the campaign, this is a reminder that we do have a $19 10-sticker tier now. Singles can be purchased as addons for $2, or discounted bulk tiers, too.

I'm expecting a quiet last few days here, but maybe that's OK. We already got pretty far. I'm grateful to have funded, and to have some decent financial wiggle room. I have to finish sticker artwork, then get the pledge manager ready for you guys' surveys.

Custom run backers will get sketches started shortly, so we can have their stuff sent off to the manufacturer first. Then, I need to take a few days to work on samples. I've got some pretty elaborate stuff planned for this year's fall campaign, and I'd like something to show you guys for it.

Other than that, I'm back to work this week after ear and throat crud kept me out of a few paychecks. If you want some in-stock stuff, give the HUSTLE a look.

Otherwise, I'm off to get a nap in and do some housekeeping.

Thanks for reading. We'll check in tomorrow.

Good afternoon, gang!

Quick one, today.

I know exactly what backer did this, and he thinks he's funny. He's not wrong, either.

Our Whitetail Deer, Cardinals, Squirrel and Rabbit 1.5" pins are now available!

Our next stretch goal is ASCENDED TRASH MEN at $13.5k... you think we can do it?


We're at 6 days left on all Pintopia 2026 projects, including CHALLENGE COIN CRITTERS.

Remember: we are cross-collab partners with Henrieke Goorhuis's THE HYENA FAMILY. She just put out sketches for some new stretch goals, featuring some brand new animals. Interested in our African Wild Dog, Coyote or Lemur pins? Well, you'll love hers, too!
 

You can get two free pins - one from each of us - by backing any physical tier on both projects. So, if you haven't had a look at Henrieke's selection yet, go do that soon! This is the only way to get the special gold 1.75" BIG HYENA PIN from me - you can get an antique version as an addon, but he's not as shiny.




I'm going to hold off on cleaning up any more stretch goals until we get further. It's been a good run, but we are not quite in range of our $20k ambitions if we keep things up the way we've been going.

I may move the vote tier up to $15k depending on how this week goes. Let's see.

Either way, happy Friday, take it easy, and thanks for backing!