“Last systems check before we ship your Bones stuff!”
So, a massive wave of plastic is pointed my way. Yes, it’s going to be a few months late. It’s certainly not the only thing I have ever ordered that’s this late. When I was a child I sent off for an expansion pack of tiny Empire Strikes Back guns and gear after saving a bunch of proof-of-purchase stamps from action figures. What I got, 4-6 weeks later, was a letter telling me there had been more orders than expected, and mine would be delayed. I was heartbroken.
A few months later, the guns and clear plastic breath masks came. I was thrilled. And I was never again worried about the gap of a few months when I couldn’t play with those specific bit of plastic.
(Most of which ended up on Micronauts anyway, though i also had a surprisingly broad collection of Black Hole and Battlestar Galactica figures because… you know what? That’s a different story.)
I don’t know if that was a formative experience for me, and I was always weird in my willingness to wait for things ordered rather than bought in-hand, or if we all used to be more patient, or if being involved with some game companies has made me more forgiving of companies that can’t do as well as their very best guess first suggested. But if I have these in hand before July, I’ll consider myself very well taken care of.
Would it have been cooler to have them in march? Would some game have gone better? I can’t see how. All I know is for years, and years, and years from now every player will be able to look at my miniatures display and think “Oh crap, is Owen going to hit us with 3 driders tonight?”