Creator Set | SerialBuilder | Pre-order update #9

If you’re new here, we give regular pre-order updates on how things are going and a look into what we’re up to behind-the-scenes. This particular update is mainly for existing Run #01 customers, but we’ll start including more relevant information for Run #02 customers starting from the next update.

The Update

For what I thought would be a relatively simple update since we’re shipping and all we have to do is wait till everyone starts receiving their sets, the past month has genuinely been one of our busiest yet. There’s actually a lot to cover, so let me lay it out here…

1. Shipping updates and issues

2. Creator Set first impressions and issues

3. Build updates...and issues

4. Run #02...and - ok, you can see where this is going...

Let’s jump in!

Shipping updates

The process for shipping entails a little bit more than just putting the sets on a boat and bidding farewell and hoping for the best. The reason we give 6-8 weeks is due to 2 weeks processing time, 4 weeks shipping time (the time the shipment spends on an actual boat) and then a further 2 weeks for last mile delivery, ie to your door. These are estimates, because life is messy and unpredictable and each route has its own challenges. But we are only now able to say that all the packages are in phase 2 of the shipping process, where they’re on a ship and on their way to their respective destinations.

Here’s a more detailed breakdown of the specific shipments:

Asia

The sets were mostly delivered as of the first week of April, with a few outstanding sets currently going through the respective local country’s customs

Oceania

Australian orders are being delivered in 2 batches due to container capacity issues - the first batch is now checked into a local warehouse with deliveries taking place throughout the week. The second batch’s boat has been rescheduled due to the shipping company’s boat availability, and it will only arrive at the local port on the 2nd of May.

New Zealand orders are scheduled to arrive at the port on the 19th of April.

US

The ship bound for the US docked at the destination port on the 4th of April, and has been transported to the respective warehouses since the 9th of April, with deliveries expecting to take place throughout the next 2 weeks.

UK

The ship bound for the UK departed on 23rd of March and is expected to dock at the port on 26th April. You should hopefully receive the sets by the end of April / early May.

Europe

This has been the biggest issue for us and quite unexpected. Let me start with the good news, which is that the ship has finally set sail as of 13th April and is expected to arrive at the destination port on 15th May. This is obviously much later than we had promised and we’re truly sorry for the delay. Let me try to explain what happened (according to our best understanding).

Due to a stricter inspection process at Chinese customs - increasing from a typical < 5% inspection rate to a 50% inspection rate - there began a massive backlog of goods getting stuck at the port. We still aren’t clear on exactly why there’s been a change or what caused it, but we’ve also been told that the events in the Middle East have also been causing havoc to some shipping routes and thus the ports from which the boats are departing.
Also according to our shipping partner, our shipment was checked and cleared customs multiple times whilst sitting in the dock, making the 50% inspection rate still seem like an underestimate. The issue, whatever it was, has been resolved now, and we’re hoping that’s the last of it.

Others

All of the other sets are on their way and may be delayed if they are sharing the same vessel as Europe-bound shipments.

It’s now safe to say that all ships have been launched and are on their way if not already arrived.

We’re terribly sorry about the delay not just for the EU shipment but also for other delayed shipments to other destinations - adding this additional month of delay to our already 1 month of delay is quite a lot of delay. We’re learning a lot and already have things we want to do differently next time to ensure a smoother process for future runs. But we’re hoping that once you get your set, this whole ordeal around waiting for it will be long forgotten!

Which brings me to the Creator Set itself…

Creator Set First Impressions

It may sound strange but we only just received our own finalised sample (it was one from the pre-order batch). We actually had some customers receive the set before we got ours.

We’ve slowly been going through it and building the sets again with the updated bagging and are ensuring that all the instructions are free of errors and fits the build order correctly. Full transparency, I’ve already found and rectified a few small errors for some of the builds.

If you haven’t seen them yet, the instructions are available through the dashboard. You’ll notice that some already have version 1.1. When we make big enough changes, we’ll add a new version and a tag to let you know if the version you previously downloaded is outdated. Making these edits like this is part of how we’re able to bring some of the time and cost down for building these massive sets. Hopefully you can see how this can be beneficial in the future when bigger changes may need to happen. We can simply update the instructions and redistribute them immediately.

And the big issue...

One major issue we’ve identified is that there was a mixup in the pipe parts that are used across the builds. Unfortunately, the factory ended up mistakenly applying a specification for some pipes to all of the pipes, leaving them a bit too flexible and causing the longer ones to droop.

This is obviously unacceptable and so we’re offering free replacements to everyone. We’ll just need you to fill out a form for us to confirm your shipping address. We’ll process them altogether in a monthly batch and hopefully get those sent out to you as soon as we can.

I know, some of you haven’t even received your sets yet, and the irony is not lost on me, but if you apply for the replacements now, they may even arrive at the same time you get around to building your sets.

Build updates

It’s been a few months since the Ravager update, and I’m sorry to say that there’s still not much to update on that front just yet. But we are getting it and a bunch of other builds ready for our upcoming launch. It’s just all running in parallel right now and so all the builds will likely come at once as they’re all going through the pre-release phases.

The big issue here is just our capacity since there are only 2 builders - Clement and I - and Clement is busy working on an upcoming set of a different theme that will also be revealed in the coming months. But the Horizon builds are coming - I just need a little bit more time to get them right! And to stop being distracted by this Slickback.

Run #02

If you’ve been checking our website - and I know some of you have since you’ve already placed an order(!) - you’ll see that we’ve quietly enabled Run #02 so that orders can start coming in and we can do a bit of testing on our end. For this round, you’ll notice that individual sets have been enabled along with the Specter. We will be adding the additional builds as and when they become available.

We’ve been thinking about our Core Edition customers and whilst we don’t have an ‘Upgrade Set’ available for this run, if there is interest here, do reach out to us we’ll see what we can do. We just don’t have it online as the group of Core Edition customers is quite small. But we’ll see what we can do to accommodate you guys.

The issue

This is all happening according to our original schedule, but due to the massive delays in shipping, most of you still haven’t received your sets yet, let alone built them.

We were really hoping that you’d have had a chance to test out the builds and were able to already provide reviews and testimonials for us to share with everyone as this really helps us as a business.

As of now, we currently don’t have a single review for any build, but we know some of you have already built a few sets. If that is you, we’d be incredibly grateful if you could help us out by leaving a review of that specific set you’ve built, and then eventually of the Creator Set as a whole once you’re done with all the builds. We’ve set up a review system on our site where you can submit your feedback. To be clear, we’re looking for completely honest and fair reviews and aren’t asking for artificially glowing reviews because if there’s something that can be improved, we absolutely want to know about it. We’ve also been doing a lot of talking about ourselves, like a lot of it, but we’d love to see other people starting conversations online about the Creator Set and how we’re shaking up the whole process of ordering parts for these massive builds.

Pur-lease leave us a review

If you’re unsure about where to submit your review, you can click the button below and that’ll bring you to the review section. You’ll need to be logged into your account to pick the set you’d like to review - thank you!

Leave us a review