Dear backers:

新年快乐！ Happy Chinese New Year! This January, bunnie spent most of the month in Shenzhen, ironing out supply chain issues and finalizing mass production orders and processes with our manufacturing partner, AQS.

We also took delivery of over 30,000 die-cut RYB stickers as part of a dry-run to test out the entire mass production flow front-to-back. Initial yield is at 98.5%, which is pretty decent for a first shot through a new process. Below is a sample of sticker clusters in bulk-pack trays used to protect the material while in storage prior to kitting.

Jie has been working hard on the Circuit Sticker Sketchbook, and has produced a final manuscript. The final book weighs in at 92 pages, and contains five educational activities. In it, you will learn not only basic circuits, but also how to build your own switches, pressure sensors, and switch-based logic gates.

We’ve also decided on the final form of the book. It will be hard-cover for durability, ring bound for ease of use, printed on heavy cream color paper for better light diffusion, and it contains a pocket in the back to help you carry loose stickers around. We’ve specified solid color offset printing for maximal crispness and legibility of the artwork. Below is an unprinted sample of the book binding from our supplier.

Dedicated volunteers are busy translating the book into Japanese and Chinese, and we hope to begin printing the English edition in late February.

Finally, we have dispatched the test plans for the effects and sensor stickers to the factory, and they are busy building semi-automated test jigs to ensure that every sticker you receive is properly programmed and functional.

For the next two weeks, China is on holiday, but come late February bunnie will once again make the trek to Shenzhen to oversee the reboot of the supply chain, and ensure that we keep our promise to deliver your stickers before the end of May.

Thanks again for your continued support, and if you have friends who are interested in buying circuit stickers but missed the campaign, please remind them that Crowd Supply is currently taking pre-orders for the next batch of fulfillment.

Team Chibitronics