WarStages Update #38: Cathedrals on Ships!

Dear WarStages Backer,

First of all, a big THANK YOU for all of you who've taken care of your shipping fee. You guys are truly THE BEST!

Because this is IT! Your WarStages Cathedral has embarked on the biggest trip of its life!

After being left on standby because of worldwide Covid restrictions negatively impacting our various partners' capabilities (including reduced truck transport within China, limited boat travels and container availability, closed warehouses), the WarStages parcels have now left the factory as I'm writing this!

Since our last update, we've been constantly working on preparing their trip but everything moved at a snail's pace. For example, the two fulfillment centers we are working with were actually physically closed, with their teams working from home. This meant that there was a lot of stuff they couldn't access, response time was extremely slow, and so just planning the work was slow. Furthermore, neither was willing to accept our products until they had a better idea as to when they would be back to work.

So there was no point in shipping it from China to them if it was gonna stay in port for an indeterminate period of time, particularly given the risk of deterioration of the products sitting there with nowhere to go for weeks on end.

Again, David, Catherine and their team at Eastar came through, agreeing to safely hold on to our Cathedrals until they could board a ship!

Eventually, the loosening of the Covid-19 restrictions allowed the fulfillment centers to be able to safely give their OK to accept our products into their warehouses, and spring into motion.

We immediately relayed the information to our shipping agent in China. It was time to put the Cathedrals on actual ships!

But meanwhile, lots was happening with sea freight... Ships could not travel! Then ships could travel, but not everywhere! Then ships were travelling, but ports were full of stock, loading was backlogged and there was no room for more stuff to ship! Then everyone was fighting for the same ships, and fighting again to reserve a spot on the ships!

For our very first production shipping out of China, this is a trial by fire. And needless to say, in the end, not only are the delays piling up, but to ship to the UK and the US, we are also paying more than double what we would have had to if the pandemic had not happened. But such are the risks of entrepreneurship… A significant learning experience, though.

And what matters most is this: your cathedral is on its way!

So what's happening and what's the timing??

All the parcels were re-packed on pallets earlier this month, with the full production split up in two: one to go to the UK, the other to the US. They left the manufacturer during the week of June 15.

They then waited a few days in a transit zone before being loaded up on their respective boats last Friday.

One container is sailing on a ship called the MOL TRADITION. It left this Friday and is due to arrive into the UK port around 30/07.

Another container is sailing on a ship going to the US. I am still waiting for the name of the ship, but it also left on Friday and transit is also expected to last about one month.

Once they arrive, after going through customs, each container will be trucked to its designated fulfillment center. Both centers are specialised in Kickstarter projects so they are very used to working with stuff coming from China and dispatching it all over the world.

And that's a good thing, as they will have over 7 tons of Cathedrals to send your way!

From what we are told, both containers are expected to be in the hands of the fulfilment centers in about 6 weeks. Shipping to you will start from there, and we have been advised that the dispatch of the shipments will take place promptly, normally over just a few days.

Have you paid your shipping?

In the last update, we explained why we absolutely needed you to pay your shipping now. If you haven't done so yet, please please do it now!

Due to the massive size of the parcels and the way we've had to structure fulfillment, we won't be able to hold on to stocks of the WarStages products. As much as we always do everything we can to accommodate our customers, this time we have very limited options. If you are absolutely unable to pay for your shipping within the next 2 weeks, please CONTACT us at RagingHeroesTeam@gmail.com.

Stay in touch!

So, that's about it for today, and of course we will give you more info as the voyage progresses. A chapter is ending, and the next one will be about shipping to your homes and assembling the Cathedrals for gaming and displays!

Meanwhile, if you have questions, problems with your shipping fees, address changes or anything else, please make sure to contact us at RagingHeroesTeam@gmail.com and we will take care of you :)

We hope things are good on your end, and that you're soon to be enjoying some well-deserved summer vacations!

See you soon.