Sure, sure, getting a European convention report from Fleen Senior French Correspondent Pierre Lebeaupin is enough for even the most rabid news-seeker, but there were some things that I’ve come across that are at least a little timely, and FSFCPL has much more to say on the topic of Quai des Bulles, so I’m giving you bonus content today. For free!

• Those who follow the work of Christopher Baldwin know that within his nomadic travels, he has for a considerable time been working on an original graphic novel about the town of Glens Falls, New York. Today, he let us know that it’s available in his TopatoCo store. Glens Falls is fictional series of tours around town given by actual people, each highlighting significant and interesting aspects of the town in upstate New York. We at Fleen have not yet read it, but given Baldwin’s long and high-quality career making unique and wonderful stories, I’ma say this one merits an on-faith purchase.
• About a month ago, I mentioned a Kickstart to produce a line of anatomically-accurate, to-scale models of more ceratopsian dinosaurs than you’ve ever heard of. Oh, don’t give me that look. Unless you’re Abby Howard, you had no idea that Monoclonius, Nasutoceratops, Einiosaurus, Spiclypeus, or Wendiceratops were even a thing.

  You may also recall that I said that a large part of the line of figures was based on meeting some truly impressive funding targets, with my beloved Triceratops (adult) being the next-to-last figure to be unlocked at the unholy level of US$450,000 and I needed a lot of you — a lot a lot of you — to pledge or I’d never get my trike. The campaign ended at US$272,647, or more than US$180,000 short of the necessary level, damn you all.

  But project creator David Silva has done something I’ve never seen before, and I think it’s worth mentioning because a clever creator might want to emulate his tactic. Given that nearly half of the stretch goals were not reached, Silva is using BackerKit to continue the funding drive. As usual, BackerKit is being used to allow people to purchase additional stuff, using their original pledge as a credit to be expended, with the ability to pay up for more/new things. But he’s also allowing you to pre-order models that aren’t unlocked, which will not charge your card unless the required funding level is reached by a cutoff as late as February¹.

  It’s a second-chance stretch goal mechanism, one that is tailor-made to take advantage of everybody that says the day after the campaign closes I never knew! I would have pledged! As of this writing, three more figures have been unlocked via Backerkit (a fourth is only a few thousand away), and he’s increased his take to US$357,013. That additional 85 grand is in the two days since the BackerKit surveys went out. Put another way, if everything were to freeze right where it is, Silva’s increased his funding by a whopping 31 percent in 48 hours.

  Now for those with an interest in nonavian dinosaurs, there are plenty of lower-priced items available now that are certain to be produced (a 24 month calendar, gorgeous prints, even some of the smaller figures), and every one of you that finds something you like gets me closer to my enormous Triceratops. Here’s the link; go be a hero for the dino-loving kid (of whatever age) in your life.

Spam of the day:

Herb Under Tongue Destroys Fungus.

Herb has a weird name and an even weirder hobby.

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¹ Due to the high number of models envisioned, they were always going to be released in waves, with delivery between September 2020 and September 2021. As the locked critters are the largest/most complicated/most expensive models, he can continue to fundraise on them while starting production on the earlier waves, spreading out his own effort against the surety of future funds.

Yeah, some people will disappear by the time cards are charged, but I’ve got a much better chance of getting my trike now, if another US$93,000 can be raised by January.