Thank You For An Amazing Launch!

Greetings Adventurers!

What an awesome launch!

We are overwhelmed and immensely excited about our launch on Wednesday! We were hoping for 200 subscriptions for the first month and we made 300 subscriptions in 5 DAYS! So we would like to say THANK YOU to all our subscribers, vendors, and supporters.

Founding Memberships

We had 25 slots open for Platinum Founding Members (annual subscriptions) and 100 open for Gold Founding Members (those purchasing 3-6 month subscriptions) and they all sold out by day 2! We have sent emails out to those that got the slots and will be sending out Founding Member bonus packs shortly after our first box goes into the mail.

Shipping dates

We opened enrollment on the 13^th and realized that our service provider CrateJoy batches subscriptions on the 5^th of each month and auto-renews on the 15^th of each month. So in order to get you all your subscriptions before the next billing cycle, we are scrambling like mad to put together our first box to ship around the 8^th of February. 

Limited first box!

We are capping our first box subscriptions at 500. This is mainly due to the ramped up shipping schedule of the first box as we were limited on the amount of boxes we could get by that date. If we hit 500 before the 5^th, we will temporarily suspend enrollment from the 5^th to the 15^th. If not, we will leave it open and anyone that signs up after the 5^th will be put on for the next month’s box. After that, we will be on track and enrollment will be open 24/7. Just remember that if you enroll after the 5^th of any month, you’ll be on the list for the next month’s crate. Remember, if you decide to cancel your subscription, do it before the 5th of each month. 

T-shirt size issue

One issue that came up initially was not having all the available sizes for T-shirts on our initial launch product. We changed that quickly and now have sizes up to 5XL. We want you to know that we won’t be sending out many shirts over the year, but needed the sizes regardless. We have all the requested size changes and will ensure you get the right size when we mail out boxes with shirts.

 Help us spread the word!

Feel free to share our site with others. Check us out on facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Post a link to our site on group pages that allow it, and feel free to send us links to any video reviews. We’ll be hosting random drawings for prizes from our email list, facebook comments, and various posts we make in social media.

Again, thank you all so much for your support and patronage. We’re working hard to get things put together to bring you a killer box of stuff we hope you’ll love.

Sincerely,

The Dungeon Crate Crew

Wayne Brekke

Bill Harvat

Laurie Brekke

1/2/16 Happy New Year from Dungeon Crate!

Team DC Assemble!

Well here it is, 2016. We’re looking forward to a big year here at DCHQ. Our launch is days away and the response from the gaming community has been overwhelming. Great things did happen before the end of 2015 though. Fellow drummer and war gaming nerd Bill Harvat has partnered with Dungeon Crate and will be adding his talents to the adventure. Bill will be handling accounts, customer service, product acquisition, and a slew of other duties. He’s got years of experience as a tabletop war gamer, roleplayer, and is a co-host of the Star Wars Bounty Hunters Collectors Podcast. He’s a great drummer and his band Flight Metaphor just released another album. You guys will dig this dude. Welcome Bill!

 

The Countdown Begins…

Now that most of the groundwork is laid out, the fun part begins. We’re gearing up for open enrollment. That means we’re working on our pricing, products, packaging, and logistics. Personally, I’m very excited about our box design. We’re waiting for some samples so that we can put together a prototype box and photoshoot so we can show you what to expect. We’ll be sending out the date and time for our open enrollment to our email list first and those in the know will get a shot at a Founding Membership. Founding Members get some extra special treasures in their first box, and the glory of being either a Gold or Platinum Founding Member. Founding members are crucial to the beginning success of any sub-box business and we appreciate those who are so excited about our launch. We are too. Middle of January is the target launch date. Stay tuned.

We’re Good Listeners

Your feedback is important to us. We’ve been getting lots of comments, questions, and suggestions from folks in the gaming community and we listen. In fact, I’ll be posting an FAQ on the website with answers to questions from potential subscribers. It’s important to all of us to ensure our subscribers get a box that’s worth every penny with products they will use.

As Green As Possible

We care about the environment and have a goal to be as green as possible with this business. The box is fully recyclable and in fact, we’re going to be adding some things that will encourage people to reuse their box. Dungeon tile stamps you can cut out and use in game, packaging filler that can be used for crafting and terrain, and a box size that’s handy for storing gaming supplies.

As the owner of Dungeon Crate, I want to wish everyone a prosperous new year. It’s a crazy world out there and our love for gaming lets us escape the daily grind and strengthen our imaginations. I hope you have lots of adventures in 2016 and I hope you come along with us on ours.

Get on our mailing list on our home page at http://dungeoncrate.com

Cheers,

Wayne Brekke – Dungeon Crate Overlord

New Vendors, Answers to Questions, and a Prize Give-A-Way!

Check out our site at DungeonCrate.com

Hello Dungeon Crate followers!

Well we are moving along with all the prep for our Dungeon Crate release. We've started getting in some samples from vendors so we can create our prototype box. We're looking into what styles of boxes would  best fit our items as well as how to best use the box itself. We have some great ideas for reusing the boxes and will keep you updated on that.

Got some amazing items in from Knight Watch Games. Molded terrain and dungeon tile accessories. Each is hand painted and look great.

Molded samples from Knight Watch Games

I've been responding to comments on various facebook forums and some of the questions folks  seem to have are right in line with my own concerns about this service. I'll be putting up a FAQ on the site to answer some of the questions, but below I address some that have been brought up so far.

Unused Loot
One major issue for me has been subscription boxes that people pay for that offer cool stuff, but then when you get the box, there's only a couple items that they can use or have interest in. I'm looking to offer a box where everything in the box will be of interest to the person. As a company, we are working hard to curate items for the gaming and crafting community. Things that WE would want to use. It's my hope that if I personally like everything in the box, others will too.

Handcrafted Items
Dungeon Crate was inspired by fantasy gaming crafters. Folks who make dungeon tiles, terrain, creatures, and other gaming accessories. Which is why we are working with individuals and small businesses that can provide us with hand painted pieces, handmade jewelry, original art, and more. We'll have monthly prizes that will be amazing works of art from some of our partners. Some items will be unfinished so you as a player can add your own touch to the piece.

Schedule
At the moment, our schedule is to keep collecting emails until January, then open up enrollment on the 1st. Cut off for the first box will probably be in Feb. We will then take Feb to order and package the boxes and ship them in the beginning of March. We will then ship the first week of each month.

I am humbled by the excitement surrounding this project and the response from the gaming community. It seems like folks are really pumped about this and I am as well!

We have lots of great ideas that will set us apart, many from those that we have been chatting up online.

Happy Holidays from us Dungeoneers to you!

Wayne

New Adventures in the Subscription Box World

Welcome to the Dungeon Crate blog! It's here you'll find updates on what's happening with Dungeon Crate and get an inside look at the process as we come close to launch.

The Adventure Begins
I started Dungeon Crate because I was fascinated by subscription box services and enamored with fun things to bring to the gaming table. I'm a long time Dungeons and Dragons player and I love dice, miniatures, coins, bags, dice trays, dice towers, tokens, maps, art, and all the accessories RPG related. I'm and entrepreneur at heart and have my own writing business, but knew nothing about the subscription box game. Needless to say, there's a ton of research involved.

The Competition
I found that Mythhoard offers a similar idea and they are fairly new, so I wanted to lessen the competition by offering subscribers some different items. I figure having a couple options for players would only strengthen the RPG box niche. I even reached out to Jarrod the owner of Mythhoard and he is a solid, hardworking guy dedicated to his business and customers. This was inspiring. It's my hope that our two subscription box services can work in tandem to bring gamers a wide range of treasures every month.

Getting The Word Out
At this point, Dungeon Crate is in the beginning stages of pre-launch. I'm getting in touch with players and potential customers to let them know about the service. I've set up a teaser site to collect emails so I can keep interested people informed and offer pre-sales when we launch.

I'm also getting a list of vendors together and checking with players on what they would like to see in an RPG box. It's all about spreading the news and simply getting interest.

Dungeon Crate Exclusive Items
I'm also working on a slew of Dungeon Crate exclusive items like Dungeon Crate designed T-shirts, buttons, stickers, bookmarks, jewelry, etc. As a crafter and artist, I've got some great ideas for fun accessories that we can design that role players and tabletop gamers will enjoy.

The Work Has Just Begun
There's lots more to do. It's a busy time for Dungeon Crate. I'm working with an artist on a logo, developing the official site, curating items, connecting with potential customers, reaching out to bloggers and YouTubers, and getting the business side of things organized.

If you are reading this and are interested, shoot me your email on the teaser site at DUNGEONCRATE.COM 

About the Owner
So who is Wayne Brekke anyway? I'm a podcaster, artist, crafter, role player, musician, and small business owner. Yeah, I'm a self-inflicted busy guy. I host a few podcasts including Worlds of Wayne, the Necronomicast, 5 O'clock Lifestyle Podcast, and the DnD5e Podcast. I also own Big Ink Writing Services with my wife Laurie. I live in Omaha Nebraska. I love playing Dungeons and Dragons and got into role playing somewhere around 1983.

I also love to make things for gaming. I craft dungeon tiles, game terrain, dice boxes, and more. Check out my facebook page Worlds of WayneCraft and my Etsy site as well HERE.

Feel free to spread the word and help us out. We're just starting this little adventure and there's a dragon horde at the end just waiting to be found.

-- Wayne Brekke