Cast your vote for Figure #12!
over 3 years ago – Thu, Dec 05, 2019 at 11:43:44 AM

I still can't wrap my brain around the tremendous success of this campaign. Thanks to supporters like you we reached 2 more stretch goals and are approaching 3x the funding goal. This means that packs of Plastic Army Women will now include 36 figures and 12 different poses and will be available in 3 colors: OD Green, Tan and Pink. I know some supporters don't like the idea of pink soldiers, but a lot of folks asked for the option. You will be able to mix and match packs of different colors within your reward. For example, if you pledged the Corporal Reward for 3 packs you'll be able to choose one pack of each color, or all the same, or one OD Green and 2 Tan, or whatever combo you like when the campaign is completed. 

Here's 11 of the 12 figures:

• Pathfinder Captain
• Standing Rifleman
• Kneeling Rifleman
• Prone Sniper
• Grenadier
• Bazooka Operator
• Running Rifleman
• Combat Medic
• Low-Crawl Rifleman
• Radio Operator
• Wounded Soldier

I'm having a little trouble deciding on the 12th figure. I've narrowed it down to 5 possibilities and am asking for your feedback with a quick ranked choice survey over the next day:

There's been some great figure suggestions that I didn't include in this survey because they belong as part of a future Navy and/or Airforce set. All the figures in a plastic injection mold really need to be part of the same product as they'll come out of the machine together and all have to be the same color, so I'm staying with the ground infantry combat theme for this mold.

I'm getting ready to add more rewards and even some add-ons to the Kickstarter Campaign over the next few days. One of the things I'm working on is some bucket and boxed playsets. Some of these will include Men and Women Soldiers in the same set, which has been another frequent request.

That's all for now.

Have a Happy Tanksgiving!

Jeff at BMC Toys

PHENOMENAL!
over 3 years ago – Tue, Nov 26, 2019 at 03:07:46 PM

The Plastic Army Women supporters have continued to show their awesome enthusiasm for the project, thanks so much for all your help. We've more than doubled the funding goal, hit stretch goals #3 AND #4 AND there's still 4 more weeks in the campaign! These stretch goals increase the figure count to 36 and the number of poses to 12 in every pack of Plastic Army Women and adds a Tan color option. If your reward includes single or multiple packs of the Plastic Army Women you'll be able to choose your pack colors after the campaign ends.   

Stretch goal #5 will add Pink color variant. I know there are a lot of supporters that don't like the idea of pink plastic soldiers, but there's also many that do. I introduced the classic Tim Mee Army Men in Pink back in 2013 and they've been popular ever since. I want to give folks  that love the pink army men the option of getting their army women in pink. 

Speaking of stretch goals, you may notice that #5 is the last one. I am working on some more goals and rewards and the best way to offer add-ons (like the Plastic Army Women buttons). I need a little bit of time as you hit the first few rounds of stretch goals I'd planned a lot faster than I ever expected. 

James Van Schaik (our sculptor for this project) had an idea for a special figure he wanted to create for the campaign. He was really excited about, and so was my focus group (everyone at the kitchen table), so I gave him the OK to proceed. I'm going to be a little mysterious about it, but I'm hoping it will be complete in time to offer a few resin castings of this figure as a new reward option. I don't know if it would make it into plastic production, but I am getting quotes just in case.

Speaking of sculpts, James sent me the first photos of the Bazooka Operator. I think she looks amazing. She needs some work on the arm placement for molding purposes, but I'm really pleased:

You may also notice that figure #12 is still undecided. There's several great candidates, so I think I might run a ranked choice poll to get some feedback from supporter. Here are some of the candidates (in no particular order):

• Marching 
• Advancing with Bayonet
• Light Machine Gunner
• Dog Handler with Dog
• Minesweeper
• Mortar Operator

I've also had requests for a soldier standing at attention and/or saluting, navy, air force (especially paratrooper and pilot), and more medical figures. I'm not adding those as potential candidates for figure #12 because the way this set has turned out I think the figure should be ground infantry in a combat action of some kind. Once I figure out the best way to conduct the poll I'll post as an update here and also send to Plastic Army Women Newsletter subscribers.

I've been asked if I'll be adding additional figures as stretch goals, and the answer is.... maybe. Adding more figures at this stage could be tricky for a couple of reasons, but I am looking into it. 

I have a couple of ideas for some new rewards to offer including possibly some playsets:

• Bucket of Army Women
• Bucket of Army People
• WAC Training Camp Boxed Playset
• Green vs. Tan Battle  Boxed Playset

That's all for now,

Jeff at BMC Toys

OUTSTANDING!
over 3 years ago – Tue, Nov 26, 2019 at 02:38:09 PM

I can't thank the Plastic Army Women supporters enough. We met our funding goal in just under 12 hours. I'm absolutely gobsmacked, but I shouldn't be surprised, but still am.  This morning I asked supporters who signed up for the BMC Toys Plastic Army Women Newsletter to pledge early and you all came through.  I'm humbled and at a loss for words, so just plain old "Thank You" will have to do for now.

IMPRESSIVE!
over 3 years ago – Wed, Nov 20, 2019 at 06:13:11 AM

Plastic Army Women supporters have done it again. For the second day in a row I'm darned near speechless. Not only did we hit our funding goal in half a day, but since yesterday all the Resin Prototypes rewards have sold out, we hit TWO Stretch Goals, and  just passed $20K. We're well on the way to hitting Stretch Goal #3 at $21,800. 

Going into this campaign I was pretty confidant we'd hit the funding goal, and fairly confident we'd reach the first 3 stretch goals, but I never thought we'd hit them with such conviction. The first 3 stretch goals are really important as they will expand the basic set of Plastic Army Women from 24 pieces with 6 poses to a 36 piece set with 12 poses. That's more figures in more poses for EVERYBODY. Once these figures are made into a steel plastic injection mold, it's kind of like they're carved in stone. Over the mold's useful life it could produce hundreds of thousands of these figures that might be found in toy boxes for generations.  I had always envisioned the Plastic Army Women set as having a bunch of different figures, just like the classic army men of yesteryear. I'm incredibly grateful that there's been enough support to bring the full vision to life.

Moving forward, I'm working on some other stretch goals and rewards that you might really like. I have some boxed playset ideas for the Plastic Army Women that I'd planned for the future but might be feasible much sooner.  James Van Schaik is the sculptor of the figures and asked if he could create a special figure for the project. It's a great idea so I've given him the go ahead to make it as soon as the first 12 sculpts are finished. I'm hoping it will be ready in time to offer a few in cast resin as a late campaign reward.  I'm also considering offering add-ons (like the buttons I had at the Chicago Toy Soldier Show) and want to check in with supporters to see what everyone  thinks.

Tanks' again, I really appreciate all your pledges and comments.

Jeff at BMC Toys