With this backer kit we are hoping to acheive the ability to produce every single plush design from the salty salmon and friends line! There are 18 in total, as well as a super secret stretch goal for if we hit the other ones! As we are planning to hit and exceed our set goal of $5,000 the real goal to get all plush designs unlocked is $20,000 including all the stretch goals! We hope you will help us make this a reality to be able to bring joy and happiness to so many other people out there with our little guys!!
EACH PLUSH IS BETWEEN 8-12 inches long depending on the design! And each weight about 1-1.5 pounds! Made with soft, stretchy mochi minky with embroidered details making them long lasting and durable!
Humble beginnings
Salty little salmon started out as a silly 3D model made by Lily. After being inspired by other weighted plush toys. She wanted to create a silly little plush that could be loved by everyone, and could be used to help those with social anxiety, something she suffers with as well. Having often bringing small plush keychains or trinkets with her into crowded places to help calm nerves, she hoped these small weighted friends could do the same for others! Happily able to say so many people have told us how these little friends help them with anxiety, or bring them joy during their work day with them on their desks. (Photos of these testimonies are at the bottom in the "Happy Past customer" Section of the story!
The first Look at the Salmon Plush model
Who then passed it on to their friend and artist Soja to create the sketch of the lineart for the plush toy reference! After this, the production of the salmon started!
Salmon Plush art Done by Soja
With the First Line of salmon created, Lily funded them through a preorder on her website with astounding success! She was able to create two other colors thanks to this. A Pastel Blue and Moss green! Though the pink salmon had come messed up, they were still loved by so many people who enjoyed calling them imposter salmon thanks to their silly looking shapes and overly filled look.
Three salmon designs from the First line!!
After getting these Cute salmon in, they were brought to a convention in Chicago in December of 2024 where they sold out in three days! With so many people requesting a restock and more colors lily had decided to turn to Backer kit to help get a larger line of colors, species and sizes for everyone who loved this silly little guy! There were so many to pack with over 150 orders for the first line, plus all of the ones sold in person at the convention totaling over 400 salmon sold in the first run of them!!
With some input from friends, and their online community Lily finally decided on the full line of colors for the salmon! As well as some other adorable animal species, included sturgeon, Alligator Gar, catfish, Wyvern, Dragons, Beetles, and Koi fish!! With most plush samples already being done and shown below! If we exceed our goal, we may add other colors or species to this list!
We have a few other samples done and ready as well!
Let's see how far we can truly take these silly creatures!
Here is the current lineup of UNLOCKED designs!! More can be added to this as more stretch goals are reached!!
Here is the full line up! And below they will be listed from left to right!
Top row- Enlarged Gar, Enlarged Sturgeon Row 2- Enlarged salmon, Moss salmon, Pretty Pink salmon, Enlarged Wyvern Row 3- Green bean, Rainbow salmon, Catfish, Blue saphire salmon Row 4- Orange dream salmon, Sad Beetle, Lemon Salmon, Pastel Salmon Row 5- Wyvern, Red salmon, Sturgeon, Red Bean Row 6- Gar, Koi fish, Horseshoe Crab, Moray Eel Row 7- Red Tail Catfish, Sea Dragon, Coelacanth, Blue Beetle
The first goals will be unlocking the first five colors of the salmon plush toys!! After this a new design will unlock roughly every $1000 achieved!! Below is a fun little graphic with the list of stretch goals and main goals!! We sincerely hope to be able to meet and exceed every single one of them!!
First five goals!
Once we acheive the first five goals of the main $5,000 then we can move onto unlocking all of the fun stretch goals!! This includes all the other species and fun designs!! After we reach $10,250 we can unlock the next goals! These are the wyvern, catfish and other creatures!!
If we reach beyond the astronomically high goal of $24,000 then every $2,000 after that a new stretch goal will be voted on by the community! This can be a new creature, or a giant version of a current one! Even a color change of a current design too! Nothing is off limits during these community votes!
SINCE WE HAVE EXCEEDED THE GOAL $24,000 BELOW ARE A TON OF NEW STRETCH GOALS!!!! Stretch goals are being updated!! ❤️
*** PLEASE READ!! YOU CAN PICK WHICH DESIGN YOU WANT DURING THE SURVEY THAT GETS SENT OUT AT THE END OF THE CAMPAIGN***
Here we have our timeline!! Below is a rough outline for the timeframe of this project! We have in-depth detail descriptions as well for each section of the timeline to make sure you and everyone else knows exactly what to expect from this campaign!!
*** PLEASE NOTE!! YOUR CARD WILL NOT BE CHARGED UNTIL THE CONCLUSION OF THE CAMPAIGN. THIS CHARGE WILL NOT INCLUDE SHIPPING COSTS, THESE ARE SENT VIA AN INVOICE TO THE EMAIL PROVIDED IN THE SURVEYS FOR THE SHIPPING COST. ORDERS WILL NOT BE SENT OUT TO BACKERS UNTIL THEIR SHIPPING COSTS ARE PAID.***
Campaign Timeline
Here is a rough outline for the timeframe of the campaign, bulk and sample production as well as leeway for shipment to each of you amazing supporters! This is only an estimated timeline, and please be aware that it can change and become shorter or longer depending on how many stretch goals, and backers are unlocked or gained respectfully.
COLOR CODE GUIDE FOR CALENDER
CHINESE HOLIDAY- Please be respectful of this holiday block! There is no samples or updates to be sent during this time block as the company will be on holiday.
Campaign timeline- Pretty self explanatory. But this is the timeframe of the campaign! From February 1st until March 5th we will be able to reach for the different goals set for this campaign!
Sample Production time- During this time samples will be produced for every goal unlocked! This includes if we reach beyond the current listed goals, and get even more stretch goals! The story section will be updated with more goals as we reach higher and higher for the stars! Or rather, the salmon! Please also note, that samples will be worked on during the campaign as well, so this section could end up being shorter, or could end up longer if we hit more and more goals! (Which hopefully we break through and beyond our initial goals!)
Bulk production time- This is the time when the bulk order will be worked on! This time block can end up being affected by how many backers we have, as well as how many designs get unlocked. The more designs the longer the bulk production time will take. Which means even more weighted friends!!
Shipping and surveys- Once Sample production is completed, surveys will begin being sent out. I will be sending them out during the bulk production time, but I want to give enough time for all Surveys and invoices to be sent/paid respectfully. SO the deadline for these surveys will be the day that the bulk orders arrive on my door step!
Packing and shipping- This timeline is meant to represent the time needed to pack and ship orders! I work a full time job, and will be packing all orders my self with help from any friends who can join me during the process. So I ask for all the patience during this time, and i will be available to update people as needed and asked during this time as well!
Due to the success of this campaign, we have decided to continue on with another campaign!
This campaign will launch in august! And will feature prehistoric criitters, from dinosaurs to mammals to inverts! This was voted on in the community tab, and won by a landslide!! With this campaign we will be planning a minimum of 20 designs, with 5 variants for various designs, and if funding can reach high enough we have a list of over 40 to pull from for community voting!! As well as making enlarged versions similar to what we did in this campaign with enlarged fish and wyvern!!
Lily has always had a passion for fossils, and has actively collected and dove for fossils since she was in middle school, and will be sending a genuine fossilized shark tooth retrieved by her from the cooper river in south Carolina with every backer order. Complete with a little case and a card telling about its species name too!! Below we are sharing the first 7 designs to be made for this campaign, unlocked in a stretch goal during this campaign!!
We hope that you will consider joining the tease page for this project as well, to follow along until its launch!! This project will be an even larger undertaking than Pocket Pals series 1 has been, and we will need all the support we can garner to make this amazing, unqie and fun dream come to life in august!!
Below are the testimonies from several past buyers of the salmon plush! We hope to be able to add to this section after this backer kit assuming it is successful!!
All Orders will be sent flat rate ground USPS, and in a recyclable box!
Orders larger than 20 will be sent in two separate boxes to save on shipping cost for buyer due to weight of each package.
You will be sent tracking for your package
OUTSIDE US
You must cover any fees that occur on package shipment for your country
Orders will be sent in one box no matter how large unless specifcally requested, to avoid losing one of the boxes if it were split into more than one box
You will be sent tracking for your package
International orders will be sent out before US orders, since they will take longer to arrive
Everyone
I will post updates daily for orders that get packed
It will take time to get all orders out, especially if there are hundreds of them. Please be patient, but please feel free to ask for updates anytime during the process and I will do my best to answer your questions.
