Fun Facts about the Four
Horsemen’s Raven Kickstarter!

NoisyDvL5

Yes, I’m still talking about the Raven’s Kickstarter. And by “Fun”, I mean fun for me. I love numbers. Plus, it’s SDCC Week and that means a whole host of checklist updates will need done and I don’t really have a lot of time for reviews as such. What I do have time for though is let all those numbers that swirl around in my head* all day bleed out onto the page!

* – It’s pathetic, really. My friends shout out ridiculous multiplication and division just to see if I can beat their calculator – luckily, they type slow.

So last night after 72 hours of Kickstarter goodness – and my goodness, it’s already reached 95% the goal in 72 hours – I took down the current numbers and crunched them into some fun statistics (and not to mention market research for the 4H!). All these numbers are as of 11pm CST on Sunday, July 14th:

  • As previously mentioned the Kickstarter hit 95% of its goal in just three days. Can you say Bone Wings?
  • 2.6% of the pledged amount comes from non-figure pledges (stickers, t-shirts, and $1 Thank yous).
    • 90% of which comes from the 6 backers who opted to be “Interns for Day”.
  • 0.25% of the pledged amount comes from the Busts & 2-Ups that were offered. Not much love for the one-of-a-kind pieces?
  • 23.8% of the pledges are for international packages while 73.3% are from domestic packages.

  • 25% of the backers purchased a 6pk, contributing to 53% of the total pledged amount.
  • 27% of the backers purchased a 2pk bundle, contributing to 21% of the total pledged amount.
  • 18% of the backer purchased a single figure, contributing to 12% of the total pledged amount.

  • Of the 2pk purchases:
    • 3% purchased a set including two Ravens.
    • 4% purchased a set including the Griffin.
    • 13% purchased a set including the Falcon.
    • 16% purchased a set including the Vulture.
    • 18% purchased a set including the Cardinal.
    • 45% purchased a set including Minotaur the Duck.
  • Of the single purchases:
    • 35% purchased the Raven.
      • 45% of those backers selected the regular Raven
      • 55% selected the Ultimate Raven.
    • 4% purchased the Griffin.
    • 9% purchased the Vulture.
    • 10% purchased the Falcon.
    • 12% purchased the Cardinal.
    • 31% purchased Minotaur the Duck.

  • Out of the 1432 figures pledged so far:
    • 26% are the Ultimate Raven.
    • 3% are the regular Raven.
    • 5% are Scarabus.
    • 5% are a Timekeeper.
    • 9% are the Griffon.
    • 11% are the Falcon.
    • 12% are the Vulture.
    • 12% are the Cardinal.
    • 16% are Minotaur the Duck.

So, what does that tell us? Well, first of all the Four Horsemen are on pace to add a very successful Kickstarter to their already packed resumes. But it could also tell us a bit about our buying habits.

While the “Ultimate” Raven (which includes the alternate head, helmet, and saber) is outselling the regular version overall, that’s largely because it is the version included with all the 2pk & 6pk bundles. In terms of singles, the Ultimate Raven is narrowly edging out his less-equipped counterpart. Are some collectors willing to skip on extra pieces (they go in a box anyway, right?) to save a few dollars? Are collectors on a budget or those that are not interested beyond the Raven less likely to want to the extra pieces? I found that interesting either way.

When it comes to which figure is selling the best after the Raven, it’s clear that Minotaur the Duck is the easy winner. While the Raven is approaching 400 units, Minotaur is the only other figure to already break into the 200s. It might seem illogical, particularly considering I’d heard that the 4H might not include Minotaur in the offering, but the Duck is a surefire hit and on pace to be one of the more collectible pieces alongside the Royal Guardsman (Dairy Cow), Chalice of Guudenuph (Pink Elephant), & Bikini Alluxundra (speaking of, I never did get Bikini Alluxundra, damn!). Four Horsemen fans just seem to love the fun stuff.

On the flipside is the Griffin. While the Cardinal, Vulture, & Falcon are all hovering near each other in the overall rankings, the Griffin is selling just a tad less and in last place out of the six. I, myself, might prefer a standard eagle in his spot, but I think the figure is one of the cooler ones – and has one of the best armor decos. There’s still a whole month to go though, so let’s hope he can catch up and join the pack… er, the flock?

Finally, while I was compiling these numbers, five more people backed the project and pushed it to 97%! I think it’s officially time to start talking about those stretch goals, don’t you?

For more details or to sign up, continue to Kickstarter!

22 thoughts on “Fun Facts about the Four
Horsemen’s Raven Kickstarter!”

  1. And, if you have questions about the origins of Minotaur the Duck, reader JamesLynch summed it up very well this weekend:

    Years ago, a newer 4H forum member was upset that Scarabus won the FanEx voting, because Scarabus was a man with goat legs, a tail, and pincers, and not, in fact, a scarab. He said that such an illogical creature was like voting for a duck wearing a horned helmet that called itself the minotaur, which no one would vote for, so everyone there was dumb for having voted for the equally illogical Scarabus. Pretty much everyone on the board thought that the idea of the warrior duck in a horned helmet was awesome, so several board members picked up the idea and ran with it.

    Here’s the story in the 4H’s own words from an expo they attended earlier this year:

    http://www.16bit.com/toyfair2013/toyfair2013-4h-goth/toyfair2013-4h-goth14.jpg

    The upset forum member was not a man known for carefully choosing his words or thinking out his ideas. He got mad at board members for buying whole sets of the various Fan Ex figures, saying that that meant there’d be no toys left for the general public, and we were creating a insular, incestuous fan community that wouldn’t be able to grow and support the 4H’s work. Nevermind that the 4H sold the figures as sets on their online store, and had said it was much easier and safer to sell the sets than individual figures, so that they could produce the figures in even numbers and not worry about certain variants becoming less popular and them being stuck with unsold stock. Go ask around the 4H forum some time about how we’re all “greedy elitists.” Also, he said that the 4H being able to fund the production of Scarabus without the assistance of various online retailers each picking up a different variant was evidence that the 4H were going under, rather than it signifying the opposite, which is that the 4H were doing so well they no longer needed the financial backing of a dozen different websites to produce each new wave of figures.

    1. Lol at that backstory.

      I wish I was in a position to support this kind of stuff. I don’t know if I should rue having a young family in what seems to be an amazing era of toys. 😛

      Hope this thing gets to all it’s goals!

  2. Proud to be part of the 23.8% AND a greedy elitist!

    Now I just have to figure out which display to put the duck in – 7th Kingdom with his brethren or Gothitropolis with those other guys who for some reason look similar.

    Jo

    1. i was just going to suggest that perhaps, if we can add a stretch goal, we could amend the t-shirt to read “greedy elitist” on the back.

  3. And we are now fully funded for the base figures. The first 6 will go into production regardless.
    Congrats to the guys.
    Now we backers need to blow the wings right on those Ravens.

  4. I just hope we’re able to get all 12 figures. I already pledged for 6, and getting the other six would go well in a battle display with all the Scarabus variants from two years ago.

  6. “There’s still a whole month to go though, so let’s hope he can catch up and join the pack… er, the flock?”

    that’d be an unkindness of ravens. 🙂

  7. Wow! Impressive work Noisy!! I had no idea you were such a whiz with numbers. Wanna go to Vegas with me? 😉

  8. Sounds like your my type of person, I’m a statistician in my day job.
    I am definitely going to go in for a 2-pack, but can’t decide who I want the second figure to be. If the Owl weren’t a stretch goal, it would be him no doubt. Minotaur is cerainly cool (now that I know the story behind him) but I’m not sure he’s $45 cool. The Vulture and Cardinal are both fantastic, but the more I look at the Falcon and Griffin I can’t help but think they would be pretty formidable fighters too.

  9. I am amazed that the Griffin is bringing up the rear. I love that green color scheme and the sculpt is quite nice. Consider the new add-ons allow you to pick individual birds at a lower cost once you have bought in at a specific level.

    1. I just saw the add-ons a couple of hours ago. Now I fear that I’ll commit to a two pack, then decide that I should go ahead and get another since it’s only $33, then another will be unlocked. Before I know it I’m in this thing for $200, which is about how much I spent on Scarabus figures after they were released and I had a hard time deciding which ones I wanted.

      1. That makes the Cardinal look all the more tempting to me. I still want to at least up my order of Minotaur to a Minotaur/Raven double pack (since that includes the “ultimate” Raven, which by itself is $48 as an add-on, so I’m still saving a few bucks). I’ll have to wait and see how things shake out, but I’m feeling a lot better about increasing the number of birds I’ll have coming.

        1. No kidding. I am almost certain I’m going to go for the Raven/Vulture pack, and add-on the white raven when he’s unlocked probably any minute. I said I wasn’t sure minotaur was $45 cool, but $33 cool? Yeah, I think so.

  10. I’M GETTING MY DUCK! hell’s yeah… I just hope the rooster opens up so I can add him… I’m already debating getting the Vulture

    I’m a little sad that the option for webbed feet for Minotaur isn’t part of the stretch goals, but it’s ok… I’m still getting my wonderfully illogical Warrior Duck named Minotaur

    1. Heck Yeah! If all 12 figures are unlocked, every Minotaur purchased will have a pair of webbed feet thrown in. That seals the deal that I want the duck.

  12. If you pledge in with an already set level but then more of the higher tier birds open up can you change your pledge to take advantage of a better deal, or are you already locked in?

    1. You can change your pledge as often as you want right up until they charge your card at the end of the project. Just add the amount of any add-ons you are interested in to your total pledge using the Manage Pledge button. Make sure you continue all the way to Amazon payments then keep track of what you want. Soon after the project ends all will get a survey that will ask which, if any, add-ons you have chosen. List them all on the survey and wait for production.

    2. You are locked into whatever your original pledge is, you can only up your pledge to add newly unlocked figures.

  13. I finally decided. I’m locked into the raven/vulture 2-pack, and put in enough money for a third figure, but I have a few weeks to decide which one I want. I may ultimately pledge more money and get 4 figures, it just depends on what is unlocked.

  14. Pingback: Kickstarter – Four Horsemen’s Ravens Project Ends in Less than a Week

Comments are closed.