It has been another fantastic week of fulfillment here at Mini Museum! We are past the midpoint on fulfillment on MM5 and still moving quite quickly. It has been wonderful to see them arrive in homes and we want to give a major thank you to backers who have shared photos of their new museums!

If you want to share a photo of your own, send it to us at [email protected]!

Now, we have a special word from our cofounder Jamie to share on the status of MM5! Take it away, Jamie!

Jamie here reporting in from the warehouse with an update on shipping.

Right now, we are at 70% complete on shipping. The warehouse team has been working hard to inspect and prepare shipments, so I thought I’d give a behind-the-scenes look at the process.

Like everything we do, there are many little steps, each carefully considered to make each Mini Museum the best Mini Museum it can be. And, as you might expect, preparing Mini Museums for shipment is no exception. It’s all part of running a business where everything is handcrafted.

Before Mini Museums arrive at the warehouse, they are inspected twice: once after casting and polishing, then again during the laser etching process when they are individually wrapped and packed into small, white boxes for shipping. After they arrive at the warehouse, they are inspected yet again and then placed into their microfiber pouches.

While this is happening, the team is also prepping Companion Guides and Certificates of Authenticity for inclusion in the final packaging. Each Guide and Certificate are slipped into clear plastic bags to protect them from scuffing during transit. This step also provides protection for the Certificate so that it doesn’t get bent by accident.

I can tell you from experience it is a little challenging to put the Guides and Certificates into their little bags until you get the rhythm. The Fifth Edition Guides are also a little thicker so that’s been fun too. :D

Once all the components are ready, the Mini Museums are queued up for final packing. Display Boxes are inspected at this step, and each Mini Museum is carefully placed into the custom-cut foam insert.

We also make sure that the little cinch ball on the pouch fits into the knockout slot so that it doesn’t bang into the acrylic during shipping.

When I’m packing Mini Museums, I often think back to the First Edition when we designed this foam insert and the lively discussions we had with our manufacturer.

With the Mini Museum tucked safely inside, we add the pre-packed Guides and Certificates, seal the box using the magnetic clasp, apply a numeric label to match the Mini Museum, and then place the box inside a custom bubble wrap bag.

Now the Mini Museum is ready to ship, but the adventure is just beginning because our warehouse is somewhat… remote.

This region of the Appalachian Mountains is home to dramatic rock formations showcasing the ancient Iapetus Ocean. Formed during the Silurian Period roughly 443,000,000 years old, the ocean floor was twisted 90 degrees through powerful geological processes similar to the formation of Uluru in Australia. Exposed through erosion, these rock faces run all along the mountains here, and the most famous is Seneca Rocks.

Seneca Rocks is sometimes referred to as the Yosemite of the East. It is a beautiful place to visit and every Mini Museum leaving our warehouse pays this crag a visit as it heads over a very exciting mountain road.

I’ve driven this route myself several times, usually in the daytime, but two weeks ago I came over at night. It was absolutely spectacular, but also a little spooky since I didn’t see another car for nearly an hour.

This far-flung location wasn’t selected by design, but rather, it was the outcome of searching for a partner who cared as much for our Mini Museums as we do. As you can see above, just packing a Mini Museum is a careful process and it was important for us to find a partner who could treat our product with care and love.

We’ve been working together down here for almost ten years now and we really wouldn’t have it any other way.

-Jamie