The Opposite of Black Friday….

This is a Worldbuilders Blog.

So the holiday shopping season is fast approaching. Later this week, corporations all over the US are going to pull every trick in the book to sell you crap. There will be madness in the stores. People will behave badly. There will be news stories about people getting hospitalized while trying to buy some plastic toy made in a third world country.

And you know, I get it. I want to buy my little boy every cute little thing I see in the store. Last year I bought him a plastic Thomas the Tank Engine that he can scoot around on. And he loves it.

But you know what else he loves? The cardboard poster tube I pulled out of the garbage at Worldbuilders central. I brought that home, and you know what he did? He slid it over his arm and said, “I have a robot arm! I can use it to freeze you! fpshhhhh! You’re a statue!”

I’m not going to say that he doesn’t play with Thomas anymore, because he does. But he plays with the tube just as much. He freezes me and Sarah with it, then thaws us out again. It’s a telescope. You can roll marbles through it. It’s a trumpet. It’s everything a little boy needs.

And it was free. Thomas cost me 95 bucks. I feel guilty about that sometimes. If I’d given that 95 bucks to Heifer, it would have paid for a lot of chickens. It means a lot of other little kids would be eating eggs right now. 95 bucks is almost a whole goat.

Every time I hear someone mention Black Friday, I cringe a little. And I think “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could do something better than this?”

That’s part of the reason we’re trying something new at Worldbuilders this year. We’ve formed some official partnerships with a couple geek-centric businesses. And they’re doing two things.

1. They’ve donated cool stuff that you can go and buy in The Tinker’s Packs.

2. If you go buy some stuff from them, (carefully following the directions laid out below) they will give a percentage of that sale to us here at Worldbuilders.

Let me just jump right in and show you how cool they are…

The folks at Badali made the Talent Pipes that we’ve been selling in The Tinker’s Packs for years now. They turned out amazingly well, and I’ve actually seen people wearing them at conventions and book signings.

But recently, Badali has recently made a few other pieces jewelry based on my books.

The first of these is Denna’s Ring:

I have to tell you, they worked with me for a *long* time on this. Over the course of a year, they developed at least 6 different prototypes that I, like the precious little princess I am, looked at and said, “That’s beautiful, but it’s not quite right. Could we….?”

And then we’d chat about it, and they’d go make another version of the ring.

The truly impressive thing is that at no point did they stab me in the neck for being so freakishly obsessive about the design. They worked with me on the type of stone, on the style of the ring. On the feel of it. And, of course, on the knot work involved.

If you want to see more pictures of it, you can see them on Badali’s site over here.

The other thing that came out *very* recently is the Iron Wheel pendant:

It’s modeled after the one Chronicler wears. If you look closely, you’ll see the names of Tehlu’s angels written around the edge.

The coolest thing in my opinion? Badali went out of their way to find someone who would cast it in iron. This doesn’t happen much, because, y’know, nobody with any sense makes iron jewelry. But when I stressed that it really should BE iron, not just iron-ish. They went the extra mile and made it happen. 

Best of all, Badali doesn’t just do jewelry from my books.  They have something for just about every kind of geek out there. Whether you’re into Celtic or Cthulian. Sanderson or Tolkien, they’ve got something for you.

And here’s the best part, for the duration of our fundraiser, Badali is donating 10% of the sales on their site to Worldbuilders if you use the following coupon codes.

Not only will some of your money go to make the world a better place, but you’ll also get free USPS Priority Mail shipping for US customers and $9.00 off shipping for international customers.

The coupon code is WBLDUSA in the United States.

Non-US Orders should use coupon code WBLDINT.

Amanda’s Edit: Congratulations, everyone, we broke Badali’s website this morning!  If you weren’t able to use the coupon code, email janelle [squiggly-at-thinger] badalijewelry.com and she’ll sort it out for you to be sure you get your free/discounted shipping, and to be sure the 10% goes to Worldbuilders.

Do you folks remember the Bear Steins from last year? We put them up in the store, and they sold out inside of a day.

Click to see the many faces of Sea Bear Pots…

This year, Sea Bear joined forces with John Hill (Tree on the Hill Pottery) and Katherine Taylor (Front Room Clay) to create Three Marks Pottery Shoppe.  All three of these fine pottery-ists have agreed to have a super-hero team-up and sell pottery out of their Etsy shop to help benefit Worldbuilders.

And you know what? You don’t need a coupon code for this one. Because they’ve told us that 25% of all sales from their store will go straight to Worldbuilders.

Or, if you prefer, you can head over and buy some of their awesome bear steins straight from The Tinker’s Packs. They’re the perfect gift for the person in your life that wants to drink like a bad-ass Viking.

The same blog that talked about the Bear Steins last year also talked about the wonderful Jayne Hats created by Amanda Swenson.

This year, she’s donated even more handmade Jayne Hats to The Tinker’s Packs.

What’s more, if you buy anything on her Etsy store, Almost Wicked Stitcher, 20% of sales will go to Worldbuilders through the end of the fundraiser.

You can buy all manner of coolness there, including what she’s lovingly termed a Diabeetus Stache.  We’ve got one here at the office, and my lovely assistant Amanda here is particularly fond of it.

I posted a blog about this a while back, but I wanted to remind all of you that there’s a new, paperback edition of The Princess and Mr. Whiffle coming out from Sea Lion Books, from which 15%, then 20%, then 25% of the proceeds will come to Worldbuilders, depending on how many they sell.

This version and a color-cover limited edition are both for sale over at Sea Lion’s website.

Some people who ordered their books a couple weeks ago e-mailed to ask why they hadn’t gotten their books yet. It turns out Sea Lion’s printer was hit by Hurricane Sandy, so they had to start printing over at a whole new facility. It’s set back their timeline a bit, but don’t worry, your books are still coming….

We’ve also got some great stuff going on in our own store.  We’ve already mentioned the Bear Steins and the Jayne Hats, but we also just got a brand-new shirt in.

A couple months back, a fan named Nate designed an awesome logo for Greysdale Mead, the drink of all discerning troupers.

 We used it to make a truly awesome shirt.

 

To make room for the Greysdale Mead shirt, we’re clearing out some of our older shirts. We’re selling off our remaining stock of the Worldbuilders shirts, (modeled below by beautiful assistant Kat) and the Denner Fishing t-shirt, (modeled by the ever-lovely Nicole.)

Just so you know, there are some guys that work for me too. But the ladies are the ones that like posing for t-shirt pictures.

After these are gone, we aren’t going to be printing any more. So if you want one you’d better order now.

  • 2013 Fantasy Calendar

Lastly, don’t forget that we’ve got the 2013 Pin-Up Calendars available too. We just launched a new sale on them to make it easier to buy them as gifts. So right now if you use the offer code BUYTHREE, you can get 3 calendars for $50. You save ten bucks and make some geeks in your life very happy.

And I’ve said it before folks, but I’ll say it again. Every penny you spend in The Tinker’s Packs goes to Worldbuilders. So you can buy some gifts and get a big warm fuzzy at the same time.

*     *     *

Remember, for every 10 dollars you donate on our Team Page, you get a chance to win these books and many more.

If you’d like to see all the auctions Worldbuilders is currently running, you can find them over here.

Or, if you want to see the other items that have been donated to Worldbuilders, or learn more about the fundraiser itself, you can head over to the main page here.

This entry was posted in a billion links, t-shirts, The Tinker's Packs, Worldbuilders 2012By Pat30 Responses

30 Comments

  1. Marina
    Posted November 19, 2012 at 7:04 AM | Permalink

    I find myself buying Heifer “gift certificates” as Christmas gifts each year. I’d really love to be able to do something like that through WorldBuilders – is there something set up that allows that?

  2. MLBurt
    Posted November 19, 2012 at 7:17 AM | Permalink

    Is there a minimum length for our coupon odes? I was thinking something about the changing of seasons.

  3. Posted November 19, 2012 at 7:36 AM | Permalink

    Gaaah! I’m so glad I’m not into jewelry. But T-SHIRTS? I’m addicted to T-Shirts…please stop selling stuff I’m addicted to (and have to much of alreay), I promise I’ll donate nevertheless.
    And now I’m gonna go check out if the Greysdale shirt is available in my size. -.-

    Seriously, I LOVE what you’re doing. And writing. And please, take your time with book 3, I wouldn’t want to find out you’re not blogging any more because nothing is in the literary queue.

    ;-)

  4. mountaingreen
    Posted November 19, 2012 at 8:57 AM | Permalink

    The ring is beautiful. And I love the calendar – though I really think there should be one with scantily clad GUYS!!! next year.

    • Hxlgg
      Posted November 19, 2012 at 12:51 PM | Permalink

      Agreed! This year’s calendar is fantastic. There is one guy, but he’s more of a prop.

  5. Mystic5523
    Posted November 19, 2012 at 10:15 AM | Permalink

    Hey I just tried to buy the Iron Wheel pendant and the Worldbuilder code on Badali and it says its been used the maximum number of times already. Not sure if its supposed to be that limited or if its an error, just thought I would give a heads up.

    • BJSJanelle
      Posted November 19, 2012 at 11:47 AM | Permalink

      Sorry about that guys. Everything has been fixed. Our server had a bit of a panic attack due to the extra traffic. The code is back up and working just fine.

      • Mystic5523
        Posted November 19, 2012 at 12:43 PM | Permalink

        Awesome thanks! I can throw my money at you now! :P

  6. Posted November 19, 2012 at 10:26 AM | Permalink

    I have a pet theory (actually not a theory, because it’s immediately and observably true) that Black Friday is a form of ritualized human sacrifice.

    1. It occurs every year according to a formula known to everyone

    2. Its occurrence is in direct relation to our “Harvest” celebration, where we give thanks for the bounty of the land

    3. People will amass at local places where the “Bounty of the Harvest” is most apparent, like Walmart, Target, or the Mall.

    4. These people will then try to trample other people in special clothing (the workers at these places) to death in an effort to attain riches

    Think about that for a second. Every year we know a certain number of people are going to get trampled to death we as a society do nothing to stop it. Yeah yeah, all the consumerism stuff is bad too but people get beaten and killed because we as a species can’t psychologically accept 20% off on flat screen televisions without going crazy.

    In what way is that not ritual human sacrifice?

    People here might be interested to check out a short story called “The Lottery.” You can also watch a pretty good video adaptation of it here.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIm93Xuij7k

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMhV3fwx5Sg

    Sorry, that was kind of a tangent.

    Also, I just bought a bunch of Worldbuilders stuff. It does make me feel very anti-Black Friday. Where else do you get to save and improve lives with Christmas shopping?

  7. Elizabeth
    Posted November 19, 2012 at 10:39 AM | Permalink

    Don’t know if you’ve seen this or not before, however if you haven’t (or even if you have), your story about you and Oot and the Tube reminded me of this piece called “The 5 best toys of all time” – http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2011/01/the-5-best-toys-of-all-time/all/

  8. IvoryDoom
    Posted November 19, 2012 at 10:57 AM | Permalink

    love the new merch!

    I’ve been wanting Denna’s ring for sometime now…but…that Iron Wheel…made of REAL Iron…thats just awesome.

    Makes ya just wanna go out LARPING. LOL.

    Also cool new shirt. I’d love to see even more in the apparel section!

  9. Blarghedy
    Posted November 19, 2012 at 10:59 AM | Permalink

    Pat, the link to the Jayne Hats on The Tinker’s Packs is broken. In the link, ‘products’ should be ‘product’. For simplicity:

    http://thetinkerspacks.bigcartel.com/product/jayne-hats

    • Amanda
      Posted November 19, 2012 at 12:04 PM | Permalink

      Thanks! It’s been fixed :D

  10. IvoryDoom
    Posted November 19, 2012 at 11:00 AM | Permalink

    oh man…double post – whata jerk.

    You should have Bedali work on Guilders next.
    I was just thinking the other day how I would totally buy one if they sold one.

    I’ll bet I’m not the only one.

    • He without a clever name
      Posted November 19, 2012 at 7:14 PM | Permalink

      This.

      Make it so.

  11. BJSJanelle
    Posted November 19, 2012 at 11:54 AM | Permalink

    Hi everyone. This is Janelle from Badali Jewelry.

    I do apologize that we had a hick up this morning with the coupon codes. The shopping cart had a small melt down due to the number of people trying to use it all at the same time. Which is kind of awesome in its own way! :) Everything is all patched up now though.

    If you’re order was placed without the coupon code just sent me an email and I will make sure you receive the benefits of the code and that 10% of the value of your items is donated to Worldbuilders.

    Thank you again everyone!

    • Amanda
      Posted November 19, 2012 at 12:13 PM | Permalink

      Thanks, Janelle! I’ve added it to the blog to make sure people see it.

  12. Hxlgg
    Posted November 19, 2012 at 12:53 PM | Permalink

    Another fantastic blog! I couldn’t help myself on the Iron Pendant and picked one up. They’re stunning! And I think they will work beautifully with any chain, but I prefer the basic leather. Looking forward to receiving it!

    Need to go back to browsing the Tinker’s Packs now…

  13. danielahampton
    Posted November 19, 2012 at 1:16 PM | Permalink

    You should totally make Greysdale Mead coasters!!! I thought that’s what it was when I first saw it!

    • ShaneJ
      Posted November 20, 2012 at 3:25 AM | Permalink

      So did I, and I was pretty excited by it! Though I like the shirt as well, I’d be more likely to buy coasters.

  14. JeremyM
    Posted November 19, 2012 at 1:36 PM | Permalink

    Just picked up a calendar and the bear stein. So excited! This is the first year I’ve had the extra cash to take part. Thanks for everything you do Pat and team!

  15. masha
    Posted November 19, 2012 at 2:37 PM | Permalink

    Denna’s ring is beautiful. Exactly how I imagined it:) And it is so cool that the iron wheel is actually iron! Bandali stuff is seriously awesome.

  16. Tove
    Posted November 19, 2012 at 3:53 PM | Permalink

    Ohh I bought a Jayne hat for my brother! He is going to love it. Question is how Im going to convince myself it´s a good idea to buy me a Denna ring? Concidering how much money I´ve spent on books ands posters and t-shirts from Tinkers Packs? I need to do something very good to realy deserve one…. Anyway, extremly cool stuff!!!!

  17. Marclee1703
    Posted November 19, 2012 at 11:45 PM | Permalink

    This makes me cringe : ( Why make jewelry out of iron? It will rust. It will rust even quicker when in contact with skin.

    • BJSJanelle
      Posted November 20, 2012 at 2:45 PM | Permalink

      It is true that Iron can rust, but if you notice a spot of rust you can clean it off by using vegetable oil. Just like seasoning a Cast Iron pot.

  18. ShaneJ
    Posted November 20, 2012 at 3:30 AM | Permalink

    Loved the Iron Wheel, bought one before I even finished the blog. Made sure to use the promo code!

  19. Dazbogdan
    Posted November 20, 2012 at 9:25 AM | Permalink
  20. lykashii
    Posted November 21, 2012 at 7:50 PM | Permalink

    Denna’s ring. I’m getting it. Now :D PERFECT

  21. sparrowhawk
    Posted January 4, 2013 at 2:14 PM | Permalink

    I’m very excited to get Chronicler’s pendant! I’ve been wanting a piece of iron jewelry for awhile, in part because of reading these books. I have a bit of a horseshoe right now since you don’t really see iron jewelry, but this will be much lighter and more practical for wearing often.

  22. pyxis
    Posted December 24, 2013 at 11:18 PM | Permalink

    My Christmas wish this year was to receive Denna’s Ring and my family actually bought it for me. It’s more beautiful in reality. I imagined it to be lovely, but it’s so much more, I love it and couldn’t take my eyes of it for hours. For anyone thinking about buying this ring, it’s stunning. If you love the books, when you see the ring, you know it’s perfect.

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