Tag Archives: Kickstarter

Startup CircuitMess launches STEM-based Batmobile in partnership with Warner Bros Consumer Products

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Croatian startup CircuitMess has announced a licensing deal with Warner Brothers and its Kickstarter campaign for the CircuitMess Batmobile, designed to teach children aged seven and up about engineering and autonomous driving.

“The CircuitMess Batmobile is a smart robot car that drives around autonomously using AI and machine learning,” says the startup’s CEO and founder Alber Gajšak. “We’ve created this gadget in cooperation with Warner Bros, and we’re the only country in the region that has landed a global contract for a product this complex.

“I see this as a first step towards turning CircuitMess into a Croatian LEGO for STEM toys and revolutionising STEM education. My goal is to create products that will show the average consumer that learning about electronics and coding doesn’t have to be boring or complicated.”

“CircuitMess is truly inspiring,” says Francois Simonetta, Vice President at Warner Bros Consumer Products EMEA Agents. “Turning toys into elaborate STEM kits that teach both electronics and coding is a great way to encourage kids to learn STEM by doing what is most natural to them: playing. We are excited that the CircuitMess Batmobile is their next and greatest STEM kit so far.”

CircuitMess has developed numerous educational products that encourage kids and adults to create rather than just consume. This includes MAKERbuino, a DIY game console,  MAKERphone, a DIY mobile phone, and STEM Box, a STEM projects subscription. The company has delivered more than 50.000 devices to customers all around the globe since its launch in 2017.

“We love the kits that we’ve been able to create for the crowdfunding community and want to continue to offer products to them first,” says Alber. “With three successful Kickstarters that have raised more than $850k in total, we have been able to get proven interest and traction for our special kits and deliver exciting projects to people all over the world.”

The Batmobile kit is designed for anyone 7 and older and comes with complete instructions. The tasks include: learning how autonomous vehicles work, how to code a microcomputer, how computers track objects, and developing your own computer vision algorithm.

The CircuitMess Batmobile Kickstarter is available for pre-order now and will have a starting price of US $99. For more details, visit the Kickstarter page or the CircuitMess website.

 

OPINION – Hurrah for the madding crowd: How crowdfunding is fueling the flames of fandom

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It’s like the old Funko strapline says: Everybody’s a fan of something. It’s no secret that adult fandom has become an increasingly important market to the toy industry and pop culture scene in general, but – with limited shelf space among retailers – just how can brands and manufacturers cater to it all? Here, Start Licensing’s Ian Downes tells us why he’s such a big fan of the crowdfunding scene

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Whether its football, film or TV, we are all fans of something. Fandom is a bond that ties people together. Fans are at the heart of licensing. Fans are the consumers who buy into licensed products or have licensed products bought for them.

Traditionally, it was difficult to have a direct relationship with fans. In the age of social media it has become easier to communicate with fans and build a rapport with them. Rights owners have got better at dialoguing with fans and have recognised that having a direct relationship with them is a valuable asset.

That said it is still quite challenging to know what fans want. Sometimes as an industry, we haven’t always tried that hard to find out. Licensing can be an industry that lives in the moment. Often reacting to ‘what’s hot’ and delivering a standard range of products.

Moving forward it would be good to see more products developed that reflect IP more distinctively and reflect fan interest.

“It’s a good time to talk to fans more frequently and with a higher level of engagement. Crowdfunding campaigns are a great way of doing this.”

In licensing, you traditionally need a licensee and a retailer to support your brand and back your idea. Retailers have finite space and manufacturers are not able to invest in all new ideas they see. Of course online selling and opportunities like print on demand have changed this up, but there are still gatekeepers to get past to get products to fans.

But there is an increasingly viable alternative, and it’s crowdfunding.

This is, of course, not a new thing and is a path that has been trod by IP owners and licensees already. Aardman Animations used Kickstarter to help finance a new Morph animation series back in 2013, while many a boardgame has been launched following on crowdfunding campaigns. Meanwhile, Unbound offers a route to market for authors with a highly engaging crowdfunding platform for new books. It’s true that a number of their books wouldn’t have been published otherwise, but have been commercially successful as they found their audience.

It’s a good time to talk to fans more frequently and with a higher level of engagement. Crowdfunding campaigns are a great way of doing this. Crucially they are also a proven way of bringing good creative ideas alive. So often these ideas would have stayed on the drawing board.

The Vine Lab has recently launched a Kickstarter campaign around Wallace & Gromit’s A Close Shave. The team is crowdfunding a high spec Collector’s Model that is being launched to help celebrate the film’s 25th Anniversary. In the real world it would have been difficult to find a retail home for it. Fans would have missed out on a super product.

As more and more, consumers are looking for original products and experiences, crowdfunding is becoming an increasingly  viable way of tapping into their passion and getting closer to fans. Used carefully and responsibly crowdfunding should be a feature in a contemporary licensing programme. It’s also a fabulous way of supporting the creative community.

We are all fans of something, and I’m a fan of crowdfunding.

Wallace & Gromit head to Kickstarter and Aardman and The Vine Lab celebrate 25 years of A Close Shave

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Wallace & Gromit is heading to the crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter in a bid to bring to life a detailed collectors’ model to celebrate the silver anniversary of the Academy Award winning short film, Wallace & Gromit: A Close Shave.

The project is the combined work of Aardman and The Vine Lab, who together are looking to celebrate the 1995 film, the third in director Nick Park’s trilogy, recognised as the team’s most ambitious project to date.

Designed using rare production images from the making of the film, the intricately detailed, silver-effect model will depict the moment that Gromit flies into the air in his sidecar plane at the end of the sequence that ultimately leads to the demise of the film’s villain, Preston.

The model will include a host of special features to add to its collectability, including limited edition numbering and a unique Aardman fingerprint signature.

In a nod the film’s original release date, there will be just 1,995 models available as part of the special edition release. However, in order to make the concept a reality, The Vine Lab is asking fans to pledge their interest in securing one of the unique models via Kickstarter.

The site will be live from 22nd October and will remain open for just 35 days, or until all the models have been claimed.

Pledgers will not only get their hands on one of the ultra-rare anniversary models but, in a first for Wallace & Gromit fans, will also be invited to become a vital part of the product development team. Throughout the project, fans who back the campaign will be able to see how the product develops as well as gain access to never-seen-before seen photos and videos from the original production.

Merlin Crossingham, creative director of Wallace & Gromit said: “We are really excited to have teamed up with The Vine Lab to create a very special 25th anniversary collectable. It’s obvious to us that the team at The Vine Lab are huge fans of our work and they have crammed in all of the amazing detail we expect from our models into this collectable and the packaging.

“We are so pleased to offer something truly unique to our fans and know that they will value getting involved in this once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

There are a number of pledge packages available across various price brackets, each offering buyers the opportunity to access original sketches and unseen behind-the-scenes content from the making of the film.

Early-bird prices for the model start at £225, and come complete with white handling gloves, a certificate of authenticity, a storyboard print, behind the scenes art cards, and an acknowledgement in the end credits. In addition, there are five deluxe packages available for £2,500, which include an illustration signed by Nick Park, The Making Of book signed by Merlin Crossingham, and the money-can’t-buy opportunity for pledgers to receive an Aardman model of themselves.

Emma Beeson, co-founder of The Vine Lab, commented: “At The Vine Lab, we live and breathe pop culture and are huge fans of Aardman.

“We have worked painstakingly to recreate Gromit’s plane using hundreds of archived images and rare footage in order to guarantee an intricately detailed collectors’ model that we know will appeal to film fans, collectors and investors alike. We’re looking forward to working alongside our pledgers to create something truly unique.”

Pledges will be open until 26th November via: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thevinelab/wallace-and-gromit-a-close-shave-collectors-model