Unpredictable Ramblings

Anime North

Fri, 20 May 2005 18:37:54 GMT

How is it that conventions manage to sneak up so fast? No matter how many months of time we've budgeted, it always seems one morning we wake up and suddenly realize the convention is two weeks away and we haven't done everything we wanted to do. Of course this time is not an exception. So where do we stand in our preparations?

This year we have something very special planned for the raffle, we think you will be excited to see what's on offer. The smaller baby bunnies will still be on sale for those wanting an immediate bunny fix, and even better, the magnet ranks have swollen to overflowing. There are thirty, count 'em ~ 30 new bunny magnets ready for your fridge, 4 new cos-player magnets, 2 new character magnets, and the addition of a whole new line of magnets as well. (Any guesses on this one?) We went ahead and splurged on the bookmarks this year. Not 5 but 10 new designs! But the biggest addition to our lineup is the return of our often demanded shirts. There will actually be a limited supply of ready-made shirts you can bring home right away this time, as well as an ordering system for that one special design you want. The convention exclusive issue Alpha is ready for reprinting and will once again be on sale, so if you missed your chance before, make sure to pick one up!

And if all this isn't enough to fill you up, you can look forward to the rest of our convention year. We have a number of projects we think you will be excited about for the future. Change is on the wind this year, and good things are coming with it!

So now that you KNOW...

Sat, 07 Aug 2004 20:39:41 GMT

I hope everyone is appropriately intrigued by the revelations at the end of chapter 3. Please feel free to discuss on the message board, we are dying to know how people reacted! If you do so though, please put spoiler warnings in the title.

Convention update ~ Next con: CNAnime ~ August 20 - 22
Well as usual, we are behind schedule. Such is the price you pay when running a business in your spare time. Such is also the price you pay when being addicted to interactive video entertainment (ie: video games. If anyone wants to play me on XBox Live, drop me a line). I can happily report we have a few more baby bunnies available this time, they are ready to go. Hopefully more people can acquire one this time around! Of course there will be a few new full sized stuffed bunnies for raffle. The comic is behind, don't count on that. :(

Now believe it or not, I'm going for a nap in the middle of the afternoon, good night!

~ Crystal

Wasn't that fun?

Tue, 25 May 2004 00:51:52 GMT

Conventions are truly indescribable. You simply cannot understand unless you have experianced one. The same is true for the people on the other side of the table in the dealers room. There is a special comraderie among anyone wearing a dealers pass. An instant understanding of that special con fatigue you wouldn't give up for the world. Thousands of people waving money at you and all wanting your attention at once. Trying in vain to keep cute things on the table for people to grab. It's such a wonderful experience! I don't know about the rest of the DM crew, but I for one am addicted to conventions. (Does anyone know any others in the Toronto area for us to try out?) I know I'm hard to get along with at one, I'm too bossy, but I'm trying!

Last night, after three days of full body drain and brain meltdown, I was already plotting the next one. I couldn't wait to call the rest of the DM team this morning and discuss CN Anime. I'm determined we shall be ready for it. Comics done, bookmarks pre-cut, new prints printed! Yeah, that'll be the day.

~ Crystal

Time for the monthly entry!

Mon, 26 Apr 2004 16:32:46 GMT

Aren't you glad this journal gets updated once a day so you can keep abreast of current developments? Lessee.... what to update you on.... As you all know, Anime North is just around the corner. We do our major merchandise additions there, and this year is no exception. Lets take a peek at what's coming, shall we?

Magnets: Two new cosplayers are done and ready to be cut out as magnets. Some who spoke to me at Anime Con will already know who's coming, the rest of you will have to wait with baited breath! Here's hints: 1) Uma 2) black (It will be one female and one male.) One regular character magnet who was retired a year or two ago will return by very popular demand in an all new pose. There are 10 new sheep and we'll release a sheep which was restricted before, so 11. There will be 30 new bunnies and two previously restricted bunnies released as well so 32. In total, enough magnets to topple your fridge with the weight!

Bookmarks: (Bear with me whilst I repeat myself.) This year's bookmark additions are special. At Anime Con we introduced a limited edition set of 7 bookmarks. Each set was hand numbered on the back of each bookmark. To date, there are only 20 sets printed, but this number will go up. We will be offering these again at Anime North. Originally, we intended these to be con exclusive, but we figure that's not very fair to those of you that live across the globe. So after Anime North, we will be selling them in the store while supplies last. As in, we're printing extras and only those extras will be made available in the store, no reprinting, no rain checks, grab 'em before they're gone.
This will happen late May, so be on the lookout! After they are retired we will be introducing a different assortment of 7 to replace them at CNAnime.

Prints: New large and small prints are in the works. The small prints have been done on cool new paper and look very slick! Not as many people seem interested in prints though, so not much to say here. :(

Comics: Ah, now here's the biggy which is causing me so many headaches! The plan is to have three, yes THREE, bonus comics done for your reading pleasure. And on top of this there should be....... wait for it....... the fabled Issue One ready to drop in your hands! Now, as you can imagine, this is a monumental amount of drawing to do, and last I checked we were *ahem* quite behind schedule. Add to this the fact that we STILL don't know how to go about getting issue one perfect bound! So while the goal is one and three half comics, sadly there aren't any guarantees here.

Tshirts and Mousepads: Le sigh! There are some nifty new designs worked out. But unfortunately, we haven't got a reliable new pressing source yet, so no more until an undetermined date.

Stuffed Bunnies: What convention would be complete without another chance at an adorable bunny? Karen has shown me a couple of new fabric prints she picked out for these cuties. I don't know if she will be using them yet, but there's always that possibility of two new colours for Anime North! As usual, a small handful of these critters will be raffled off. This always draws a crowd when it comes time for the draw, so arrive early to get front row seats for the show!

Baby Bunnies: What? Baby bunnies? Yup, in an effort to ensure less people go home bunniless, new buyable bunny goodness has arrived. Those of you at Anime Con have already met them, perhaps even got your hands on one if your were lucky. Now they will be available for outright sale.

Is that enough new stuff for you? Mark May 21 - 23 on your calender!

Convention-A-Go-Go Baby!

Sun, 14 Mar 2004 17:45:17 GMT

(Don't ask me why the random video game reference, seemed fun)

So, convention in T-minus 142 hours! (That's March 20th at 11:00am.) We hope to see YOU there! What to expect from this con? Well, it's a minor one, so there isn't quite the usual amount of new additions. But there shall still be cool new stuff nonetheless. A new character magnet, and a hotly anticipated new cos-playing magnet shall be there. This cos-player has been in the works for a while and is a guaranteed best-seller. One of our most popular characters doing a popular anime, and she looks so stylish! An assortment of new bookmarks will also debut. We are experimenting with a new idea for these bookmarks. They will be available only as a set, and they will be limited edition. Your only chance to get them will be at AnimeCon, then Anime North. (If there are extras they will go to CNAnime, but we don't anticipate this.) When you see them you'll know why they are limited and why they are a set....

What else? Why, a cute new stuffed bunny of course! Here's another chance to get your paws on one of Karen's rare little creations in a totally new colour! As usual, you can participate in the raffle and get a cute sticker out of it too.

Can you tell I'm psyched about this con? I'm proud of our cute new stuff! And maybe, just maybe, if you're good little boys and girls, there might be new bonus comics to be had! Anyways, get all the important con-going details here: http://www.hobbystar.com/TO-AnimeTrans/index-anime.html And we'll see you in a week!

~Crystal

Life has a tendancy to Get in the Way!

Thu, 04 Mar 2004 19:57:46 GMT

Adam and I just went through one of the most dragged out moves in recent history, complete with the smattering of unforeseen difficulties one expects from such things. All the Dragon Mango stuff except for online art is kept in our apartment so Unpredictable Fish was naturally effected in unfortunate ways. There was no access to the internet for nearly a week which prevented proper attention to orders from the online store. Existing orders were shuffled around and the materials and products to fill them ended up in various stages of transport, delaying them. And all this rearranging has naturally put a big crimp in preparing for the convention coming up later this month! All in all, everything feels pretty scattered and disorganized right now, and may take some time to get back to normal. We're not going to let it get in the way of a great convention though!

~Crystal

Anyone like bunny magnets?

Thu, 22 Jan 2004 17:25:49 GMT

Well, it's been a long time since this journal's last update eh? Maybe I'll have to remind the other Authors of it's existence. For now, how 'bout I tell you about our new bunny magnets?

Yup yup, new bunny magnets are coming to Anime North 2004 (not Anime Con)! I've just finished up penciling 10 new poses for the little critters. They are now awaiting Adam's magic pens, then comes the fun part, colouring! Normally each pose gets flipped and coloured 3 different ways, which makes the bunnies multiply rapidly. But this time, two of the bunnies are essentially cos-players. So I'm not sure if they will get the standard colouring treatment or just stick with one to match their characters. But you can expect a minimum of 26 new bunnies, maybe up to 30! We may have to re-think how we display these guys, they're taking over our convention table space!

~Crystal

Did you order something at Christmas?

Thu, 15 Jan 2004 16:31:43 GMT

Still having trouble getting all the orders out! :(
We've managed to send all but three orders though, so most should be expecting their Mangoie goodness soon. I expect to be able to ship two more today (including Baachan's accompanied by her bunny). Which means one order left! I do believe the orderee has been informed via email though, you should know who you are.

~Crystal

Anyone like experiments?

Thu, 08 Jan 2004 17:57:33 GMT

Welcome to the life of Unpredictable Fish!
This'll be like a running commentary on the goings-on of the "DM Team". Well hopefully anyways. We'll try this for a few months and see how it evolves! Essentially, we started this journal to track our progress through the various stages leading up to conventions, and keep you abreast of other significant events in the daily life of the Authors. Maybe there'll be sneak peeks here, maybe not. Maybe you can find out about our top secret projects, maybe not. Maybe we'll give away the entire plot to the story, maybe not. That's what makes us Unpredictable!

Since all the Authors have access to this journal, it'll be a way for us to randomly post tid-bits without having to bug Mark to get them on the main page. Which means die-hard fans like you get more inside scoop. Crystal will be able to update you on new products coming up! Adam will be able to tell you why there has'nt been a BAA update! Karen will be able to post the entire contents of her sketchbook! (One can hope right?)

And don't forget, YOU can respond to our entries with your own feedback, suggestions, and questions! As far as I know, you can leave a guest comment without needing your own Live Journal account, so what's on your mind?

~Crystal