Back in November, we suspended all of our upcoming products indefinitely. It wasn't an easy choice to make at the time, but it was something that we as a company needed to do. I'd like to expand on the reasons why we decided to do that and what's happened since. 
The main cause of concern for us was the quality of the boxes produced by our previous manufacturer. They did not live up to the standards that we envisioned or wanted for our products.
Despite multiple conversations with them, after each batch was made, the quality seemed to deteriorate. Issues we highlighted were  not being addressed. We had to draw the line somewhere, and we knew that starting the process of finding a new manufacturer could potentially take MUCH longer than would be considered reasonable, especially for our fans who have been patiently waiting for the public announcement of our upcoming releases.
We also wanted to use this time to look at what we had done correctly, and where we had missed the mark. Some of our releases were successful, while others weren't.
After a lengthy search, we have found a manufacturer that understands our business and the importance of upholding quality. When we started Pin Box, we had a specific vision for our product. We can confidently say that they have worked with us to bring this to fruition - just as we envisioned! After inspecting numerous samples from them, we are certain they will be able to continue this level of quality in mass production.
Without further delay, let us present to you our new boxes that will be standard for every release from now on.
We hope you love the new box as much as we do! At a quick glance, it may not look like much has changed, so let us walk you through these changes.
The Size
Probably the biggest change is the physical size of the box. While most of the dimensions remain the same, there is one important difference - the depth of the boxes. Now measuring at 30mm instead of the old intended 20mm, this change gives us the opportunity to have more freedom with the design on the sides of the boxes. For the collectors who line their boxes up on the side, we hope these changes are more appealing for you! It also makes them far more stable when standing upright and makes stacking them much easier than before. 
The Edges
The edges are now squared at 90 degrees instead of the old rounded edges. This was an aesthetic choice and one we believe reflects our brand and logo.
The Opening Gaps
In previous releases, our boxes had opening gaps. They were small gaps at the side that made opening these boxes easier.  These have now been moved to the top and bottom. Collectors who line their boxes up on their sides can rejoice at not having the artwork abruptly cut out, or the designs of the top and bottom boxes occasionally clashing with each other.
The Foam
The foam itself hasn't changed - we're still featuring the soft velvet atop hard foam. However, we have changed the way that pins are placed into the foam. Previously we have tried lining up holes for the pin to fit in with their pin backs on. This has been difficult due to the slight variations in production and led to a number of boxes going out that didn't line up with the pin backs of the pin - certainly not an ideal situation! Now, the foam will be standardized to be the same for every design, with 2 holes to hold the pin backs and the pin going directly into the foam. The pin is just as secure as before due to the thickness of the foam it goes in.
 
All of these changes come together to create a a much more complete vision of what we set out to achieve when we started Pin Box. We hope that you agree!
Box Replacement Programme
As collectors ourselves, we know the importance of having your collection line up consistently, and with some of the more distinct changes that we have announce today, that will mean that old Pin Box fans may have a bit of a mismatch. That's why we're announcing our FREE Box Replacement Programme that you can read about in a separate blog post >HERE<

An Update On Our Pricing

This is something we have put off for a while but it's something we need to do. Going forward, the RRP of our individual pins will be £11.99. We know prices going up is something a customer never wants to see; however, a lot happened in the world over the past year that has resulted in ever increasing costs for us. We've stated before that our margins weren't great on our products mainly due to the costs of having the complexity and volume of colours we do in the pins.
Those costs are still high, however, our box costs have risen over 80% since we started, the shipping of our products from China to our offices here have risen over 100% due to Covid-19 and its impact on parcel delivery worldwide and we still have licensing costs on top of that. We've looked at many other companies that offer licensed pins and £11.99 is on par with a lot of them. Only with us, you get very high levels of detail in the pin and a collector's box to boot! 
There is some good news. When we announce a new set, you will be able to pre-order all of them together at a 10% discount. This is something that we have also been asked for a lot and its something we feel more able to do at the new RRP. 

 

International Shipping

On the subject of cost we want to take the opportunity to talk about another one that people often complain about - International Shipping. We addressed this one at greater length back in November via a video we put out:

 

The bad news is that international shipping still sucks. While we were going to be using Transglobal Express for the vast majority of shipping destinations, their entire pricing changed at the turn of the new year, with Europe being one of the worst affected areas. A lot of their shipping options to Europe have been completely greyed out and made unavailable due to Brexit and high shipping demand. 

Logistically, it just doesn't make sense for us to try and achieve the optimal price for every country, especially when the vast majority of our orders are for pre-orders, and we don't know what the situation is going to be when they ship, or if courier services are even going to be available - potentially causing a whole host of issues in actually getting them out to customers.

We still intend to use Transglobal Express for smaller parcels going to the USA. Although the pricing has changed slightly, it's still far better than any alternative we have been able to secure. However, the prices we have are extremely dependent on the physical size of the box, so if you select this courier expect your item to be packaged very tightly. Alternatively, if you would rather us use a larger box with more packaging then we would recommend you select our other service - Royal Mail.

This will be the service we are using for the rest of the world. We have negotiated the best rates we can. Royal Mail charges based on weight rather than size, which in our case is a good thing as our products are usually very light, and it allows us to be generous with packaging.

We have spent dozens of hours over the last 5 months trying to get more affordable rates, and the reality is that we're searching for a unicorn that doesn't exist. Shipping rates are what they are, and at least with Royal Mail, the rates remain the same for a period of time with notice being generous when they are going to be changing. This means we don't have to go through a list of every country checking if rates still apply, with various couriers, on a weekly basis, which takes up a lot of time for a very small company like ours. It also means we can ship out daily as opposed to weekly, which means you get your item quicker!

Having said all that, if the Unicorn of shipping companies appears, we won't hesitate to switch over, but at this point we have to just accept costs are what they are and spend our time on future Pin Box projects. 

Import Charges

We've been asked a few times what Brexit means for those in the EU and the potential import charges they could receive when ordering from us. As of the start of 2021, the United Kingdom is no longer part of the EU meaning ordering a parcel from us is the same as ordering from anywhere else outside the EU. 

Unfortunately, we can't be responsible for any import charges / taxes you might be charged. If this is a concern, we recommend you getting in touch with your local authorities to get a clear picture of what they might be, as it will depend on which country you are in as well as any trade agreements your government have. 

Please understand these aren't charges we set, receive or want you to pay; they are entirely set and received by your government and not something we have any control over.

The Member's Club

You may have already noticed you can no longer access the Member's Club. We have made the decision to retire it and focus on other methods of growth and incentive. If you were a member and you had over £5 worth of points, these have already been credited to you as a gift card and can be used for any purchase on the store.

The Legend of The Golden Bruh

Back in November we shared the only photos that would ever be taken of the Golden Gluttonous Bass. We expected after shipments went out, the proud new owner would step forward and declare their new possession. So we waited, and...

 Nothing. ...No one stepped up. Sure - it was possible this person didn't want to share the fact they had it, but what kind of resolution was that? We had to do some more digging. 

We spoke to our manufacturer to confirm they had actually placed the golden pin in with all the others.

That was when they responded with a bombshell:

"Yes, we packed both."

"BOTH?"

"Yes, we made two."

It's not uncommon for pin manufacturers to make more pins than a client orders. This way if there is an issue with a finished pin they have extra to fall back on. Now we were aware that not one, but TWO were made. We knew the odds of them going out and neither person saying anything is too low. We did have a number of parcels go missing in that batch, so we can only assume they were in those at this point. We have changed courier since then. 

So, what now?

We will be making a new golden Gluttonous Bass and we'll be making sure we know EXACTLY where its going this time. We will be randomly selecting an order that pre-ordered the Gluttonous Bass from our first production run. To make the process as transparent as possible, this will be happening LIVE at the following date:

6PM GMT Wednesday 24th March @ https://www.twitch.tv/mrpinbox

If you want know if you won live, bring your Order Number so you'll know when it's announced. We will send an email to the winner, and they will have one week to respond and claim their prize, so you don't need to tune in to have a chance. 

There's MORE!?

Wow, that's a lot to take in! We've got more to share this week, but for now we feel that's enough for people to process and discuss. As always, we're keen to hear back from the community so feel free to send us a message on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram and stop by our Discord! You'll find all the links at the bottom on the page!

One Last Thing...

Join us on Wednesday @ 6PM EST for another Q&A chat on the Digital Emelas Discord (https://discord.com/invite/eeeshVn). We've got some things we need to talk about and you don't want to miss it! Until then, we'll be hard at work preparing for the next exciting reveal!

 

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