Game Toppers EU, UK, and AU Fulfillment Update 1-9-2023
over 1 year ago – Mon, Jan 09, 2023 at 03:39:34 PM

Hello Game Topper Nation!

Happy New Year! We hope you all had a wonderful holiday season!

Now that we are back in the swing of things after the holidays, we wanted to get an update out on the status of the last remaining parts of fulfillment.

EU Backers:

We are so very close to the end now at this point! Despite frustrating delays in customs that we had absolutely no control over and which also cost us over $7000 in storage fees and inspection charges. An inspection I might add, that was absolutely a waste of time as we already had all of our documents correctly prepared to hopefully keep the customs process streamlined....

Anyways, long story short. The EU and UK orders have been released from customs and arrived at the German warehouse right before Christmas. Due to the holiday break, they were unable to begin shipping until last week, where a small number of German orders shipped out, and this week they are ramping up with the rest of the EU orders. We believe everything should be out the door by the end of next week.

You should receive tracking information from Fulfillment Europe for your shipment.

UK Backers:

Now that the container is in Germany, the shipment is being prepped for transfer over to GamesQuest in the UK. Unfortunately the customs inspection mentioned above decided to unwrap our nicely organized pallets pre-packed for shipment to the UK, so now we have had to spend a little extra time verifying everything is still together as it should be before it can leave Germany. I am waiting for final confirmation from Fulfillment Europe that this is now done and ready for transfer.

If all goes well, it should arrive in the UK sometime next week and then the packages to backers could ship out before the end of the month. Part of that will depend on how quickly GamesQuest will be able to ship everything out, but as all of the pledges are pre-packaged, it tends to be a very simple fulfillment process.

You should receive tracking information from GamesQuest for your shipment.

AU, NZ & Singapore Backers:

We have had a similar delay over the holidays with the shipment arriving to Aetherworks. The shipment is awaiting customs release at which point it can be delivered to Aetherworks. Currently that is estimated to happen this week. If all goes well, it should arrive sometime next week and then the packages to backers could ship out before the end of the month. Part of that will depend on how quickly Aetherworks will be able to ship everything out, but as all of the pledges are pre-packaged, it tends to be a very simple fulfillment process.

You should receive tracking information from Aetherworks for your shipment.

Dining Cover Restock:

We also just wanted to throw a note out there that our restock of dining covers (Watson and Holmes sizes) is due to arrive to us within about a week. As such, we have made them available again on our webstore: Click here to order!

Please be aware there will likely be a slightly longer time before shipping than our usual 3-6 day window depending on the exact date our shipment arrives. 

Also, after our shipment arrives we will be making XL Add-on's for the dining covers available for anyone who was looking to pick up a couple extra center sections to use their dining cover with their XL Topper leaf.

Conclusion:

Thank you all once again for you support and patience as we have worked through the last couple crazy years when it comes to production and fulfillment. You all are what have made this possible and we are so happy to be in the final stages of this campaign so we can look forwards to the future and what new projects we have in store!

As always, if you have any questions you can reach out to us at [email protected] and we will be happy to help. Until next time!

-Burky, Josiah, and the Game Toppers Team!

Christmas overseas update: 12-15-22
over 1 year ago – Fri, Dec 16, 2022 at 03:25:30 AM

Greetings Game Topper Nation!

We hope you are all well and getting ready to enjoy time with friends and family this holiday season.

We just got back from Pax unplugged in Philly. It was a great show with amazing amount of backers stopping by to say hello and take selfies. We posted quite a bit on social media. We also have a partnership with Pax unplugged in the new #First Look area where we have 120 Game Topper/ Pax first look logoed mats with all the hot games from Europe. It was so cool! 

We have been swamped getting all orders out for USA and Canada. The Late pledge manager is now closed, so to order you can go to the webstore at shop.gametoppersllc.com  Friday the 16th is the last day for the Christmas cyber sale. 

This Update is mostly pertaining to EU/UK/Australia/New Zealand overseas shipments.

It seems Belscnikel has shown his ugly face!

 As you probably know the EU/UK container got held up in Canadian port congestion, but then ported in Germany a couple weeks ago. There was port congestion there too, and then the German customs decided that an inspection was needed. This has become more normal the last 2 years, and generally a quick thing. Our paper work is in order and do not think there is any problem, but the process is is very frustrating as we cannot contact them and do anything about the time it takes or the fees that it costs us when this happens. Josiah has been in constant communication with our Logistics partner.

Yesterday I received this...

"Hey, good morning. Quick update the container was pulled to the customs inspection location today and the agent is forecasting delivery by Friday or Monday provided Germany customs doesn’t have any issues. I think they should be able to update us again by in the morning. So we’re getting close and I’m pushing them as much as possible. The congestion at the arrival port didn’t help and then once the broker made entry the container went on inspection which caused more delays. Will let you know quick about the status! Thanks"

What does this mean?

Well it means we have to wait and see. If it gets released next week, then it will go to our fulfillment Partner, Fulfillment Europe in Leipzig Germany. This could take 3 days or depending on available trucks.

We have been in constant communication with them about the situation as well. They just informed us that given these delays they will not be able to schedule their trucking partners for large packages before the Christmas time requested. With this new information it doesn't look like they will be able to ship realistic until the New Year. It's a very busy time for everyone.

They are highly reliable and have done an amazing job for us, so I am confident they will do their best to get it out asap.

This also means the UK Portion will not reach the UK till new year. We will update everyone when fulfilment EU is able to start shipping and when Games Quest will deliver.

Australia is still on the water and expected to arrive sometime next week. Deliveries probably not shipping till new years as well.

There it is.

We have repeatedly stated that shipping dates where estimates given current info. That is still the case.

It will happen, but there is simply nothing I can do to fix the timing of the logistics situations.

I'm so sorry! There is nothing I wanted more for Christmas than to tell everyone they would receive these great gaming upgrades. It doesn't look like that will happen till 2023. I have had some upset people communicate their frustration and anger about this and I understand. This has not happened by lack of attention, desire or lack of work on our part. We do not want to disappoint people. We work like dogs to do right by each backer. I hope you can understand we are doing our very best in very difficult times.

The cost overages have been significant and are painful, but the inability to fix this global problem has been very hard on me this last year. All I can say is, we will stay the course and it will be delivered. We have also had a lot of very understanding people and the support and encouragement is very much appreciated! Thank you all for your patience and we will continue to keep you updates as best we can. If you don't hear from us in the next two weeks its because we don't know anything new. 

Please have a very happy Christmas and New Years.

Burky and team.

The Final Countdown! 3.0 Fulfillment Update 11-28-2022
over 1 year ago – Tue, Nov 29, 2022 at 01:48:01 AM

Hello Game Topper Nation,

Just a really brief update as to the status of everything.

At this point all US and Canada pledges have been shipped and delivered including the handful of XL dining covers that had been delayed. 

EU & UK Backers:

Our EU and UK container made a very quick ocean journey after finally leaving the US. It is currently in port in Germany and awaiting customs clearance after which it will be delivered to the warehouse in Germany. We hope that delivery should happen this week. This is about a week behind schedule from our last update.  This means pledges should start shipping out to EU backers next week and the following week for UK backers once that shipment reaches the UK warehouse from Germany. 

If everything goes according to plan the majority of the pledges would arrive before Christmas and the new year!

Australian, New Zealand & Singapore Backers:

The shipment has unfortunately had a delay. Up until today we had not been informed of any changes after this departed port on September 29th and we were expecting the ship to arrive in port any day, but this morning the ETA for that shipment was changed to December 16th. This is of course disappointing, as it is meaning delivery for those pledges might stretch into the first part of January.

Dining Cover Overstock:

We have had numerous requests on when we will be making the overstock dining covers available. Now that we have finished the US fulfillment we are finally able to make that happen! 

The overstock dining covers will go live on our webstore:  https://shop.gametoppersllc.com/  on Wednesday November 30th at 11AM central time.

These are in very limited supply, we only have 5 Holmes Dining Cover sets and 30 Watson Dining Cover sets available. We have a restock arriving sometime in January, so if you miss out on these few sets you won't have to wait very long to get your hands on them! 

Holiday Sale:

We are running our Holiday Sale now through December 16th. Save 15% on all mats and accessory items on our webstore! 

PAX Unplugged:

We are attending PAX Unplugged this year. Come visit us at Booth TT11 in the PAX “First Look” Area and say hi! #meetunderthetophat

We may even have some Game Toppers swag that has never been available online and there is always the rumors of the (in?)famous Burky Jerky....

The first look area also has 120 Game Topper/PaxU game mats featuring the latest hot games! 

Due to the convention there will be a slight delay in shipping for orders placed this week until we return early next week.

We are traveling for the next few days so emails may be a bit delayed compared to our normal response time. Please reach out to us at [email protected] if you need any assistance. 

Thank you all again for all your wonderful support. 

We wish the best for you and your families this Christmas season!

Josiah, Burky and team.

3.0 Fulfillment Update 10-21-2022
over 1 year ago – Fri, Oct 21, 2022 at 08:02:20 PM

Hello Game Topper Nation!

We just wanted to reach out and give a very brief update on the status of the last bit of fulfillment. 

We are still waiting on some packaging for anyone in the US who ordered an XL Dining cover with their pledge. This is only effecting about 60 backers and we expect to have everything packaged up and shipped hopefully next week, but within the next 2 weeks for sure.

The Australian shipment is still on track to meet our last update's timeline.

Yesterday was the day the European container was supposed to have left port in the US, but we just heard (quite literally as we were writing this update) that it was bumped to a later ship due to port congestion....Ugh. The new scheduled departure date from port is November 1st.

As always, these dates are our best good faith estimates. Especially when it comes to ocean freight there are a lot of factors out of our control. Any changes frustrate us just as much, if not more than you. All we can promise is to continue our policy of communicating any delays as quickly as possible.

Schedule:

November 4th: US XL Dining Covers finish shipping out. All 3.0 pledges have left our warehouse!

November 21st-25th: European container reaches German warehouse. European container reaches German warehouse. UK shipment leaves Germany on the way to the UK warehouse.

November 21st-25th: Australian shipment reaches Australian warehouse.

November 28th-December 2nd: European pledges ship out to backers! (please note this is when we expect it to ship, delivery can take 1-2 weeks depending on location, you will receive tracking from Fulfillment Europe. )

November 28th-December 2nd: Australian, New Zealand, and Singapore pledges ship out to backers!(please note this is when we expect it to ship, delivery can take 1-2 weeks depending on location, you will receive tracking from Aetherworks. )

December 5th-9th: UK pledges ship out to backers! (please note this is when we expect it to ship, delivery can take 1-2 weeks depending on location, you will receive tracking from GamesQuest. )

 

If you have any questions or concerns, please email [email protected]

Thank you all!

-The Game Toppers Team

Fulfillment Update September 23rd 2022
over 1 year ago – Sun, Sep 25, 2022 at 06:29:25 AM

Hello Game Topper Nation,

We are almost at the end of our Kickstarter 3.0 fulfillment! We have been incredibly busy shipping out products the last month, and with the arrival of our dining covers as mentioned in the last update it kicked everything into overdrive as we sprint towards the finish.

 This last week alone over 20,000lbs of product has left our facility! We just wanted to give you all an update as to the status of the fulfillment process. The timeline we put out on our last update has shifted slightly for a couple items, and I'll put a revised timeline down farther in the update, however before that we want to touch on a couple specifics.

  First, at this point the 3.0 campaign only has about 60 unpacked pledges remaining! Those are specifically all US dining cover pledges that included the XL extension add-on. We have had a slight packaging delay on the XL-Add on, which has delayed those being fulfilled until we can resolve that. We only expect that to take 2-3 weeks to be resolved.
 

  Otherwise we have packaged all of the remaining 3.0 pledges! The Australian shipment left our facility on September 14th and is en-route. The Canadian Pledges which had yet to receive dining covers are currently in transit to the Canadian Warehouse. And lastly all of the European pledges have been packaged and are awaiting pickup by the container.

This last item is the biggest delay from our previous schedule. Unfortunately container shipping is still a challenging beast. We have done our best to pursue our options, but limited container availability as well as coordination with rail yards has resulted in some unforeseen delays in us being able to get the container to load.  Part of the delay in getting this update out to everyone has been waiting to hear on a concrete date for this shipment. Well, as of this morning we finally have one! The container heading to Germany to fulfill all of the European pledges is scheduled to arrive at our dock October 3rd. This puts us a month behind our previous estimates for the group of backers, which is as frustrating to us as it is to you.

  Thank you all for your support and understanding, despite these uncontrollable delays and issues we have faced over the course of this campaign, you have all been so very understanding. We appreciate that to no end, our backers are like no others, and we wholeheartedly thank you for that!

Dining Cover Overstock
  This is a question we have been getting very frequently, "how can I order the dining covers for my Holmes/Watson Topper?". Ever since we realized we were having troubles with the production of the dining covers we had removed them as an option on the pledge manager. We did so because we wanted to make sure we would fulfill what we had already promised before selling more and that we would have the product to do so.

  At this point we have been very happy with our manufacture. The product is fantastic, and we love seeing the backers who are finally receiving their covers posting about it on the Game Topper Nation Facebook group!
 

  Now that we have almost finished shipping out to all the backers who have pledged already, we have a better idea of the exact number of covers we have remaining. We will be making all of those available on our webstore right around the middle of Oct. There is a very limited quantity, so it will be on a first come, first serve basis. We have already placed a follow up order of several hundred sets from our manufacturer, however that will not arrive until near the end of the year.

  So the good news is if you still don't have a dining cover yet, you will have a chance to get one middle of Oct, and if you miss that they will be in stock again just later in the year! We will put out another super quick update when we make those available on the webstore to give everyone notice that they are live, so if possible please try to email us asking if they are there yet. Thank you!

  Updated Fulfillment Timeline:
September 26th-30th: Canadian dining covers reach warehouse in Canada and ship out to backers! (please note this is when we expect it to ship, delivery can take 1-2 weeks depending on location, you will receive tracking from Pick & Pack logistics. )

  October 3rd: European container leaves our warehouse

  October 10th-14th: US XL Dining Covers ship out. All 3.0 pledges have left our warehouse!

  November 7th-11th: European container reaches German warehouse. European container reaches German warehouse. UK shipment leaves Germany on the way to the UK warehouse.

November 14th-18th: European pledges ship out to backers! (please note this is when we expect it to ship, delivery can take 1-2 weeks depending on location, you will receive tracking from Fulfillment Europe. )

November 21st-25th: UK pledges ship out to backers! (please note this is when we expect it to ship, delivery can take 1-2 weeks depending on location, you will receive tracking from GamesQuest. )

  November 21st-25th: Australian shipment reaches Australian warehouse.

November 28th-December 2nd: Australian, New Zealand, and Singapore pledges ship out to backers!(please note this is when we expect it to ship, delivery can take 1-2 weeks depending on location, you will receive tracking from Aetherworks. )

We want to assure you we are working very hard to navigate a very complex set of variables and with so much out of our control it is very frustrating. This update is our best estimate given what we know now, it’s not an guaratee. If we get new intel we will update. 

Thank you for your understanding and all the gracious support!

Burky and team.