Hey folks- Jack Wylder here. For those of you who missed the State of the Swag Address last Friday, here’s your update:

1. The plushy Wendells have been temporarily detained by the US Customs office- as soon as they’re done admiring them, they will continue their journey to us to be properly distributed to their final homes. This project has been plagued by problems with materials availability and transportation issues (which are a HUGE problem at the moment) so we’re waaaaay overdue- but we’re still moving forward and will have them out ASAP.
2. This delay has badly set us back on our schedule; we hate taking orders while there are still unfulfilled orders so we’ve held off. The original plan was to open the shop 4 times this year- if we wait until the plushy project is done, we will probably end up being open only the once. So we’re faced with a choice: take orders while there are still open orders out there or only be open once this year. As much as it pains us, we’re going to go with the first choice and reopen the shop while there’s still time to hopefully get everything out before Christmas.
3. We have new patches and new stickers available for sale! They are already made and in our possession so there’s no waiting on manufacturing or shipping.
4. We are doing a Series III set of Challenge Coins! The artwork is finished, the molds are in progress, and these are being done in the USA so delays should be minimal.
5. The plan is to open the shop to WriterDojo backers 24 hours early- if you are a backer PLEASE get us your email address! We’ve got some other thank yous coming up soon and we want to be able to tell you about those too. (www.Anchor.fm.WriterDojo to become a sponsor, CorreiaTech1911@gmail.com if you are already one.)
6. We’re going to be recording a special Q&A episode of WriterDojo with questions from our backers so if you’ve got something you want to ask the guys, let us know!
7. We’re HOPING to have everything out by Christmas and we’ve done everything we can to make that happen but the Lovely and Patient Mrs Wylder gently reminded me after the LiveStream that I didn’t emphasize quite enough that we can’t make any promises. She knows where I sleep and she can get kind of stabby so I really need to emphasize this- WE CAN’T PROMISE ANY DATES. We will begin fulfilling orders as soon as we can- orders without coins will go out while we get them minted and after that we’ll fill them on a first come, first served basis.
8. This is a limited time deal- we’re going to open the shop from Thursday October 7th (for backers, Friday the 8th for everyone else) and close it again Sunday October 17th at 4pm CDT.
9. On the coins, this is your one chance. It’s highly doubtful we’ll ever do the designs again so if you want them either for yourself or someone else, you need to jump on it now. This might be your only chance to order before Xmas so if you’re wanting to get something as a gift, don’t delay.
10. We are shipping internationally, but we cannot be responsible for orders once they leave the USA. (Which is why we hadn’t done international for a few years.)

So here’s what’s new in the shop!

and the Series II Challenge Coins are:
(note: these are the initial concepts- the actual final coins will vary slightly)

Mike Massa just HAD to suggest a boat that had less than 200 ever made- in Russia- so not a whole lot of references. I found one though! This coin probably took longer because of that than any of the others. The waves on that concept art will be much more realistic- those are just placeholders.

On this one, the different levels of the Mandala will be different thickness, and the mask will be raised with a heavy emboss.

Doing the Northern lights will be challenging, but I think it’s going to come out great and unlike anything we’ve done before. The backside is based off of native Alaskan artwork (but all monster-fied)

We hadn’t done a spinner and I love trying new stuff- the center logo there is pivoted along the vertical axis so it can be spun.

This coin commemorates the historic ‘3 Days of Peace’ back in 1970, when an unusually large blizzard resulted in a temporary armistice between these 2 warring nations.

Things around here get weird sometimes. If you don’t know what these coins are about, do a search up top there for either ‘Moon Ferrets’ or ‘Common Internet Shit Gibbon’ and enjoy (but don’t drink anything that is unpleasant coming out your nose while you read them)

Possibly the most requested bit of swag has been Team HooDoo. Team HooDoo Team HooDoo Team HooDoo Team HooDoo It’s almost as if y’all liked that trilogy or something…

There is a large blank space on one side so you can take it to your local jeweler/engraver to get the names you want put on there. (I already know which names I’m getting on mine) The front has the poem ‘Requiem’ from Robert Louis Stevenson:

Under the wide and starry sky,
    Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
    And I laid me down with a will.

This be the verse you grave for me:
    Here he lies where he longed to be;
Home is the sailor, home from sea,
    And the hunter home from the hill.

The back has the Viking prayer which dates back to about 1100 AD but is most famous for being quoted in the movie ‘the 13th Warrior’:

Lo, There do I see my Father Lo, There do I see my Mother and My Brothers and my Sisters Lo, There do I see the line of my people back to the begining Lo, They do call to me They bid me take my place among them in the halls of Valhalla , Where the brave shall live Forever

Since we did the Series I coins, Larry has picked up more than a couple of new fans, many of whom were very upset to find out they missed their chance on getting a PUFF Exemption. This is how we can offer people their own exemption without in any way diminishing the folks who got the dog tag version. Genius!