The gentleman over at ROMA Collectibles announced a somewhat unfortunate update for their fans. The owner of the company, Jason, shared a big Facebook post discussing what issues were occurring with the figure, and why fans would be receiving their Animal Kingdom action figure a little later than they’d anticipated:
Per ROMA Collectibles:
A lot of you have been asking about our exclusive Animal Warriors of the kingdom figure, Or’Vah The Raider, and when to expect him. Well, we finally got a pretty solid answer from the factory in China. There seemed to be some delays and setbacks but from what we can tell, everything is now on track and hopefully…. Fingers crossed, we will have this item in May/June. Anyways, here is the complete update from Spero Studios.
Posted by Jason Bienvenu (Creator)
Friends and loyal AWoK supporters,
It falls to me to me as the head of our project and one of its creators to communicate to you some difficult news concerning the timelines on our second series of figures and outstanding items from KS 1. I have been agonizing over this message for quite some time now, and how best to communicate this information to our loyal fans, but as the old saying goes, “Rip the Band-Aid off quickly!”
Manufacturing is Delayed
While this news is not great, I feel it is critical that we remain forthcoming and honest with our supporters as we move through Series 2. Please take a moment and read through everything before commenting.
In early August of 2018, we sent all of our paint masters for Series 2 to the factory in China for work on the new deluxe tooling as well as paint deco and color samples. Everything appeared to be on schedule, and we were told to expect examples of the first pass of production paint and new/revised tooling samples around mid to late November. These samples allow us to check and change anything that does not meet our standards, ensuring that you receive the best product.
The factory missed this November deadline (a common occurrence when working through manufacturing in China), giving a new date of mid to late December with promises that they’d meet this deadline. We stressed that any tweaks we required would take a bit of time to implement, and we did not want further delays.
December passed, and in early January we were told to expect paint and tooling samples of new figures for us to finalize and approve shortly.
Sadly, it is now the end of February without those much-needed samples. Our set deadline of March for shipment from China appears unachievable.
After some thought on how best to get this project back on track, we reached out to Chris Gawrych, a respected industry veteran from the US who is currently in China working with other factories. We’ve asked Chris to intercede on our behalf to get an accurate assessment of our project and where it stands.
While the situation has resulted in some sleepless nights and a great deal of anxiety, we have done as much we can on our side of the project. To reduce any delays, we have provided all possible print materials, artwork and design input.
On a positive note, we are doing everything in our power to restore a timely working relationship with the factory. We want nothing more than to get this project back on schedule and build forward momentum.
Now that the workers are back from the factory they have updated us with the following “milestones” that Chris’ team is overseeing to make sure they hit all of the deadlines.
MILESTONES
1. Paint samples for basic figures – Early March. Basic figures only (including series 1 missing and corrected items.)
2. Production for “Basic” figures completed in April.
3. “Deluxe” figure tooling complete in early March.
4. Painted samples for “Deluxe” figures early April.
If all goes to plan, we will have the product in MAY.
I want to stress that I have every confidence that the factory will deliver the figures to us and we will get them to you.
Thank you for bearing with us and for your continued support of our project. As always, I will answer any questions you may have and update the Facebook page with any new information and pictures.
Toy Wizards will continue to report on this progress for fans who are interested!