So! Let's recount 2024 and talk about the new year. Happy 2025 everyone!
2024 was a very eventful year. Not the year I started working on this, but the year I basically started to become what I am now, working towards how I want this to be.
2024 saw the release of my Protodermis Reclamation Yard packs, which has been instrumental in making use of otherwise wasted material (as well as getting the Legendary Mask of Cheese into a few folk's hands)
We matched Yellow, bringing the colour count up to Six, a very important number! (Though I'm debating tweaking the White formula again this year...) I sold out of yellow Rurus and Kakamas so many times over and I've still got folks asking when they'll be in stock again 😅
Yellow also led to the launch of commissions! Which still haunts me to this day. I'm thrilled with the ones I have completed, but there's still so much to work on that's taking so much longer than I could've expected, so I will not be reopening commissions this year. (I'll explain more later)
The last release of the year - and my celebration for 810nicle day - the Metru Nui Matoran Mystery packs! Managed to just match silver in time for this, taking us to 7 colours (though I never put out silver beyond this yet)
And we capped off the year with two more colours - Orange and Teal! Don't feel time to take a new picture of the latter but this morning's test I think is it, having opened it a few minutes ago! Thus the total colours matched is 9 - Red, Orange, Yellow, Teal, Blue, Pink, Black, White, and Silver! Masks will be available in all of these once the shop reopens.
This was also the year I started Mask Monday! Great fun that ways, even if I missed a lot more than I would've hoped. I'll be trying to keep to that this year as well!
Which takes us to this year. 2025 is going to be a year of change, and my Forge is no exception! I've had some rearranging in my personal life that should allot me more time to work the Forge, so I'm hoping to boost both production and development through the year.
There's been a complication with the shop though, which I'll be getting help to resolve so I can open things back up as soon as possible. I'd rather not discuss it too deeply because it's incredibly stupid, but it's really my fault for putting things off for so long that they became problems. Again, as soon as these are resolved the shop will reopen, even if it still takes some time for me to add any new masks and colours to proper listings.
Regarding commissions, the current ones in development are going to of course continue to be worked on, even if some of them currently feel impossible (looking at you, Purple and Sand Blue.) Aside from those two, I am developing Lime, Medium Blue, Pearl Gold, and a consistent formula for a custom Neon Pink (that commission was already sent but I want to revisit the colour and add it to the list, start doing some other non-lego colours eventually too).
However, as aforementioned, commissions will not be reopening this year, and likely not next year either. The commission formula was chaotic, frustrating, and hard to properly estimate. As such I've been turning around another idea in my head, and I'd like some feedback on them if you're willing!
Since development can take so long, some sort of steadier support would be more ideal. I've been thinking of making a Patreon! There, supporters would be able to vote on which new development ideas I pursue, as well as gaining access to behind-the-scenes/tutorial videos! I'd of course set access behind as low a barrier for entry as possible, but I've gotta have some incentive there as well, right?
That wouldn't launch until after the shop is reopened, and there wouldn't be polls on developments until current commissions are finished. No way am I widening that list before it's cleared out. The videos though I am very excited for and have already begun writing scripts for!
That's pretty much all I've got planned for the year. I don't wanna overhype myself with empty promises like "oh, this year I'll finally get the Mctoran build!" So the focus is just gonna be on clearing the backlog and getting things back up and running.
Thank you all for sticking around with me for the past year - being part of such a fun, supportive and creative community has been a highlight of my life, and I hope to be able to bring you all great things! Happy New Year, let's make 2025 a great one together!