Thank You!!!

Thank you for warmly welcoming us back and making Wave 91 a strong and positive return! We'd been working on this smaller "rebirth" assortment since all the way back into last April, so we hope it hit some of the right notes for old timers and new folks alike. The concept was an Alpha and Omega selection, with the very first production piece we ever made (Pheyden) accompanied by the very latest addition to our ranks (Sincroborg), marking almost 14 years between their debuts.

A big component of this round came in the form of the the short animation that Marc, Cady and I put together. Making any kind of new art since the loss of Ralph has been tough on a number of levels, and I've personally struggled with getting back into doing something more expansive than the sneak animations that usually accompany a new wave, without him. So I stuck an old picture of Ralph that Michelle had on the mantle in front of me as inspiration and did my best to learn how to draw some finished art on the iPad. Come hell or high-water, each day I dedicated serious time into that black mirror, and slowly started to feel more in tune with it. Cady was super patient with her old man, and imparted all her digital tricks to boost my understanding and get me up to speed. Ralph is an irreplaceable piece of the puzzle here, but I know he'd want the art to continue, so as a family we'll forge ahead and see what we can make, here in the new frontier.

We had a few shifts in the way we ship things here, mainly being that we're giving the Shopify shipping interface a shot. So far it's seemed pretty good. Michelle was the eternal champ, learning the ropes of the new interface with only moderate levels of insanity between us. Marcus tackled the taping duties with me so Pj (The Paper Palace King) could have a break from the boxing trenches. Music was kept to a minimum during the first stage of packing, but near the end Marcus unleashed another great playlist, with many highlights including Little Dragon (my favorite), D Train, Cobra Man, Tuxedo, and Mndsgn. Music absolutely keeps us alive.

On an additional note, we also tried something different with the bonus item for this wave, which may or may not float with everybody. The idea behind it was to switch things up and promote some easy building action beyond the usual figure selections. That being said, it's not a permanent thing, and we will continue to experiment here and there. Additionally, we've been discussing a possible Buildstation for 2022, and what molds to revisit if we open the gates again. Speaking of molds, expect some interesting items to debut in the next wave, which is currently scheduled for December or January, depending on the ongoing global mayhem.

As always, thank you once again from the whole family for continuing to check out the things that we create. There may be longer spaces in between our time together on the blog during these extreme years, but I assure you, our hearts and minds are clear and still full of life over here. We absolutely love what we get to do and are endlessly grateful for the creative freedoms we've been allowed to enjoy, through the incredible support that comes from each of you.