I’m back from ConStellation and playing catch up. I’ve got a bunch of patches going out in the mail this afternoon. That should take care of everything over a few weeks old.  I’m waiting for the next batch to arrive from the factory to get caught up with the rest. We ran out of happy faces because my “administrative assistants” (my daughters) thought a bag of Utah patches were actually happy faces. So if you’ve ever wondered how come a package from me has handwriting that looks like it belongs to a tweenage girl, now you know.

I’ve got a ton of emails and FB messages that I’ve not read yet. I actually got home late Monday night, (because no flights out of O’Hare leave on time) but I had two deadlines yesterday so I had to edit and turn in two different short stories first.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/451021352/monster-hunter-international-challenge-coins?ref=live

The Kickstarter has been going on for a week now. We are 1763% funded and have unlocked 10 coins. Right now we’re working on the Earl Harbinger coin. Then we’ve got one that is one of my absolute personal favorites, as it is a bit different, but extremely cool. Then we’ve got a surprise backer coin. So I think our supporters are going to enjoy the next few.

Up next we’ve got a surprise optional add on. I think you guys are going to flip out when you see this one. It is really, really cool. Jack has been working on nailing down the production costs. This is something that people have been asking about for years. It isn’t going to be cheap, but it is going to be awesome. This is probably the most requested MHI related bit of merch there is short of an actual Abomination. And no, sadly I can’t sell you an NFA weapon over Kickstarter. 🙂  Okay, so this is the second most requested item from the MHIverse, but at least it should be legal in all 50 states, probably… Because we do have some really screwed up states.

Most Kickstarters have a big initial opening spike, then things settle down to a trickle for most of the month, and then there is an uptick in the last couple of days. It looks like we have entered the doldrums period, which I am totally cool with since the first few days far exceeded me expectations for the whole thing. But since it has slowed down, this is the part where I ask you to please spread the word and tell your friends.

I’ve had a few people ask about the various designs. Like all things artistic, there are going to be some that you like and some that you don’t. (and there isn’t a consensus, that’s for sure!)  That is why we set up the tiers the way we did. I wanted people to get as many coins as they wanted without getting stuck having to pay for any they didn’t like. However (as usual) I underestimated the number of people who want all of them. As you can see, our initial big Alpha tiers ran out super fast, but there is a third, unlimited one now. (It just doesn’t come with the autographed/cartooned book).  To reward these brave souls, in the next few unlocks we will be adding a special free bonus KS exclusive to those of you in the Alpha tiers.

So I got my DNA tested by Ancestry.com. I wanted to see where my ancestors hailed from. Some was expected, but there were a few surprises in there.

Eastern European 21% – Also expected. I have one grandmother whose family immigrated to Pennsylvania from Poland and Latvia. This was also the family with the Hebrew surname, but there was no middle eastern DNA.

Finnish/Volga-Ural 17% – Now this is interesting, but Finland and Latvia aren’t exactly super far apart. Though those two together is way higher than the 1/4 of my DNA that is supposed to be from that part of the world.

British Isles 13% – Also interesting, as it is much lower than expected. My other grandfather was supposedly 100% British by way of Mississippi. Yet it is looking like there was something else in there too.

Scandinavian 8% – I am a Viking Conquistador!  But as much as the Vikings got around I wouldn’t be surprised if everybody in Europe had some in there.

Central European 7% – France and Germany. But I suspect this one helps fill in the 50% Portuguese gap. My family actually has Azorean cousins whose family had a French/Belgian last name. Like I said… Super good at picking up chicks.

The part that is kind of cool is that when you combine the Slavic and the far north eastern/Russian bits, that’s 38%, while my primary ethnicity that I grew up with is actually smaller at 34%. Who would have expected that? Though it does explain why I’m one big ugly Cossack looking dude.  Add the Scandanavian in there and that’s 46%, almost half.  I didn’t know there were so many Rus and Varangians in the genetic woodpile.

Another interesting bit was that there was no middle eastern/Jewish, but it wasn’t like that Grandma ever talked about her family (she ran away from home when she was a kid) so our thinking that she grew up Jewish was based more on surnames and conjecture than anything.

Sadly, I am not related to Genghis Khan. That’s a bummer. 🙂

So I’m in Alabama right now, but I’ll be flying home in a few hours. It has been super crazy busy. ConStellation was fun, and now I’ve reached that point of terminal brain damage that comes after 3 days of con. 🙂

I figured the coins would be popular, I just didn’t realize how popular. http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/451021352/monster-hunter-international-challenge-coins

I just posted this update to the Kickstarter page:

Larry here. ConStellation is over. I am in Alabama this morning and will be flying home today.

The last 5 days of the Kickstarter have been amazing. We are 1613% funded, have unlocked 9 different coins so far, and are closing in on the Enchanted Forest Trailer Park. After that we will be revealing the most requested coin of the bunch.

Our Marketing Daimyo, Jack, is working on some other cool add ons. I’ve been talking to a special guest artist about another possible add on and will hopefully be able to post about that in the next few days.

The Kickstarter has been getting a lot of really good publiciity. I really appreciate you guys spreading the word and telling your friends.

-Larry

I just posted this to the Kickstarter page:

Wow. What a crazy day.

We reached our initial goal in half an hour. By the first hour we’d hit our first stretch goal. Today we have funded 800% of our goal and unlocked 5 MHI challenge coins. I figured this project would be successful but I’m blown away by the reception.

You guys are absolutely amazing.

We will be putting together a FAQ as soon as possible.

So far we have unlocked:

Original MHI

MCB/Agent Franks

Team Haven

The International Conference of Monster Hunting Professionals commerative coin

Skippy

I will be attending ConStellation in Alabama for the rest of the week but I’ll be checking in as often as possible. I’ve got someone helping me (though I believe he has declined to be identified) 🙂 so as more stretch goals are met the next coins will be revealed.

We’ve got 29 days to go, so please tell your friends and spread the word. The Monster Hunter Nation rocks.

-Larry

So we’re 4 hours in and 596% funded.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/451021352/monster-hunter-international-challenge-coins?ref=live

We have unlocked 4 coins so far:

Monster Hunter International

MCB/Agent Franks

Team Haven

The Last Dragon/ICMHP commerative coin

And we have revealed:

Skippy

Special Task Force Unicorn