By Kevin Siembieda

We have business meetings and service people coming in to upgrade our shipping system the next couple of days (new postage meter, new computers, new software and programming), so we thought it would be smart to post the Weekly Update as early as possible today, rather than wait till this evening or Friday.

UPDATE: Robotech^® RPG Tactics^™ Wave One

We can’t seem to catch a break with Robotech® RPG Tactics™.

The ship carrying the first container of Robotech® RPG Tactics™ arrived right on time. Under normal circumstances, Palladium would have received it this Friday and begun shipping it out. One problem: US Customs. Though we were told there is only a 15% chance of our container being tagged by Customs for random inspection, as Fate would have it, we have been tagged. It usually takes Customs 7-14 business days to get to a container, inspect it and clear it.

We were devastated by the news. That means it is extremely unlikely that we will have the Robotech® RPG Tactics™ products in time for Gen Con. It also means we cannot start shipping until the darn thing clears Customs and that could be 2-3 weeks from now (you have to factor in shipping time from Los Angeles to Westland, Michigan on top of the two weeks Customs could hold the container). I was out of the office when the news came. When I got back, Wayne and Jeff looked sad and dejected when they gave me the news. We were all crushed. We went through so much effort to get the container to the USA as fast as possible to start shipping to our backers and to have it in time for Gen Con Indy. Now this.

We need a small miracle to have it in time for Gen Con Indy. That miracle being the container is one of the first to be inspected, cleared and released by Monday or Tuesday of next week. Not likely. Our Customs broker has provided all the necessary paperwork, pled our case, and we have made arrangements for expedited shipping.

If the miracle does happen, Jeff Burke and Matthew Clements are great guys, so they are willing to wait back home and miss the first two days of Gen Con to accept delivery while the rest of the Gen Con team are in Indiana. Jeff and Matt will then truck a few hundred boxes to Gen Con so we can have some for Saturday and Sunday. We have even reserved a rental truck just in case that miracle happens. HOWEVER, that is NOT likely to happen. Sorry. I meant it when I said we would need a small miracle. According to our broker, a fast turnaround would put the container arriving a day or two AFTER Gen Con. A slow turnaround, would put it arriving sometime between August 20 and August 29. Sucks, I know.

We are trying to make the best of the situation. It’s only another two weeks or so delay (arrrgh) and the game looks fantastic. We had China express mail us a couple more box games for display at Gen Con, plus there will be more than 100 painted and unpainted game pieces on display, and demos running all weekend. We think once gamers see this game it will blow out of stores fast. To guarantee people get the product they want, we will take pre-order sales for Wave One retail items (NOT Kickstarter exclusive game pieces) at Gen Con. Of course, you can order from the Palladium online store, too. All pre-orders, whether placed at Gen Con or on the Palladium online store, will be shipped immediately after the Kickstarter backers, and are likely to arrive shortly before the product begins to hit store shelves. Note: In the USA, most Wave One items will be shipped via UPS.