Enduro - Toy Cars Built for Tough Drivers |100% Sustainable

Backerkit Surveys have been sent!
about 6 years ago – Fri, Feb 23, 2018 at 09:54:00 PM

Hey Backers!

We've returned from New York Toy Fair and we had a great show! It was crazy busy, but really good. About an hour ago, we sent out Backerkit surveys to all of our Enduro backers. Please check your email for the survey link. 

If you did not receive your survey in your email, please visit this link to get access to the survey:

 

We sat down with our Enduro manufacturer, Eric Lo, during Toy Fair and had a great conversation with him. This was my first time meeting him (I am the marketing guy), and my initial impression was that he was extremely friendly and really cared about making Enduro right. The team walked through all concerns with him and he was already on top of them. This team is doing a fantastic job!

 

After the team met with Eric and walked through the entire project, he informed us that his team's estimated ship date is early June of this year. Enduro is going to be a fantastic product well worth the wait. I know because everyone who held the vehicles at toy fair had a very surprised look on their face - they just couldn't believe the quality of the toy they were holding. "Wow.... this is meant for kids? I want one for myself, these are impressive!"

We ask that you try to fill out your surveys as soon as possible so that we can figure out how many blackout editions need to be manufactured. Once we get the majority of surveys in, we will be able to estimate how many blackout editions need to be made. Any extra blackout editions made will not be sold, but kept by ThoughtFull Toys - so it would be very helpful to have an accurate order amount. 

Have a great weekend everyone! We'll talk soon :)

-The ThoughtFull Toys Team

Manufacturing Update #12 - Second Samples Have Arrived! Beautiful!
over 6 years ago – Tue, Feb 13, 2018 at 11:58:23 PM

Hi all, 

Another quick update for you. Yesterday we received our second samples of Enduro... they are stunning. When I walked into the office and saw them, my jaw truly dropped... they just look amazing!

Here are some pictures (sorry, I didn't have much time to take good photos):

 Now that we've got our second samples, we are confident that we are aware of all issues, and we have plans to fix them. It is currently Chinese New year in China, so factories are taking a week break from work. The good news is, we are heading to New York Toy Fair this week and meeting with our factory team directly to discuss the Enduro project. After we get back from Toy Fair we should have a good estimate of when Enduro will ship. We'll update you with that information upon return from New York.

We have also sent Backerkit Surveys to a small portion of our backers (5% from each reward tier) to make sure our surveys are working as intended. Once we get the majority of these backers to fill out their surveys, we'll send the final surveys out to all of our backers (if everything is working properly). 

We are heading off to New York Toy Fair and we'll be back on the 23rd of February. You might see full surveys sent before then, so keep an eye out. We will update you once they are sent to all of our backers. 

We'll talk soon!

-The ThoughtFull Toys Team

Manufacturing Update #11 - Samples in our hands. Wow!
over 6 years ago – Thu, Feb 08, 2018 at 06:17:18 PM

Hi all, 

We just wanted to share a quick update with you. The Enduro samples arrived in our office this week and they've gotten a lot of play from employees and visitors. These things are amazing! They feel great and work even better than our prototypes. Trevor Hite, our COO says these are the best first shot samples he has seen in the 25 years he has worked in the industry. Our manufacturers have done a great job. 

The truck was originally prototyped in plastic. Now that it is built from aluminum, it has a very nice weight to it... extremely tough and sturdy feeling. The second you pick it up, you know it is different from any toy vehicle you've held before. Due to the extra weight the truck now carries, the truck's leaf suspension system also needs to be made a bit stiffer.

Both the truck and racer drive very well, but need a little bit of tightening up in the steering mechanics for an even better experience. We intentionally left a little bit of play in the steering mechanic connections so that our first assembly would work, as it is easier to fit things into larger holes than smaller.. now we just need to downsize these holes a tiny bit and steering will be tight. 

Things are exciting right now. The samples are in our hands, we know what needs to be fixed, and now the factory is working to correct the issues. The problems are small, but important to the quality we are aiming for.

The factory has also sent us pictures of the truck's pieces finished and painted/plated. You'll notice blackout pieces are also being worked on. They'll be painted with black clear coat so that the aluminum still shines through to give a nice shimmer to the paint. 

Backerkit surveys are still being approved. Once they are approved we will send out a "smoke" test to 5% of our backers at each pledge level to make sure the survey is working as expected. We want to make it as straightforward and easy as possible for everyone to get their orders shipped accurately.

We'll update you when the survey goes live, which should be shortly.

Have a great rest of your week!

-The ThoughtFull Toys Team

Manufacturing Update #10 - First Parts Assembled!
over 6 years ago – Thu, Feb 01, 2018 at 10:31:29 PM

Hey hey hey!

Exciting news ladies and gentlemen… Enduro samples have been fully assembled and look to be fitting great! We’ve just received images from the factory, and so far everything looks good. Keep in mind, these are totally raw and unfinished samples fitted for the very first time, not what the final product will look like. 

There is only one small alignment issue with the diecast wheel bushing not fitting properly onto the shaft of the truck… so we will need to rework these tools a little bit. But from what we’ve been told so far, everything else fits great.

We still need to get the samples in our hands to make sure that everything is working as designed. These samples are being shipped to us and will arrive in approximately one week. 

After we get the bushing alignment on the truck fixed, there will be another fitting to check for accuracy. We are getting close to production! Surveys will be sent out shortly (possibly tomorrow if we get everything finalized in time), and we’ll begin collecting final orders! 

We’ll also be following up with another update once we get the samples in our hands 😊. 

We’ll talk soon. Have a great weekend everyone! 

Sincerely, 

- The ThoughtFull Toys Team

Manufacturing Update #9 Rubber Samples
over 6 years ago – Mon, Jan 29, 2018 at 08:58:46 PM

Hey backers! 

Today we received our first rubber samples! They came out great.. they look and feel very nice.

Here are some pictures:

We've heard back from the metal factory and they said they'll have photos in the next few days. They have first articles of two trucks and two racers being assembled now and they'll share photos when they have finished. If all goes well and everything works/fits, we'll move right to manufacturing!

We aim to send out surveys by the end of the week, so look out for those as well. We'll update you soon. 

Have a great day!