ROUND #3 ANNOUNCEMENT -THE LAST HURRAH - BACK STORY FORETOLD

[hawkeyeps]

Got mine today! Love the books. Many thanks to Bruce and Elery!
Here's my sketch:

DAN

[bobby97801]

Got mine today! Love the books. Many thanks to Bruce and Elery!
Here's my sketch:

DAN

Very cool Dan. This one has to be my second favorite one... after mine

[cjv]

Nice!

I got mine today (no phone handy) but I got a "Have a nice day" by the man himself - Dino.

[hawkeyeps]

Big thanks to Bruce, Elery, Dinesh and VEI



Looks like I got a nice one

[jkingman]

it's a beauty! both of these on this page are great ones!

[betterthanezra]

Hawkeye that's a Great one

-Brian

[hawkeyeps]

Should I?

[depluto]

[betterthanezra]

no



-Brian

[drmirage]

If there's another Photo Scavenger Hunt. --- Create a coffee spilled Variant Sketch Cover.

[kjjohanson]

If there's another Photo Scavenger Hunt. --- Create a coffee spilled Variant Sketch Cover.

Hmmm…that makes me want to bust out the watercolor brushes and brew up a pot. A nice coffee wash illustration.

[brucehartshorn]

Now that the prizes are in the hands of the participants, here is the long promised backstory for round #3. There were an amazing number of moving parts to this as you will see below, but we wouldn't have wanted it any other way because we think it was a huge win for the fans. So....

BACKSTORY FOR ROUND #3:

The start of round #3 goes all the way back to early 2013 at the end of round #1. At the end of that, we were thinking what we could do as a prize for the upcoming round #2, and came up with the idea of resurrecting the VVSS books, but do it with a Gold book which had never been done originally. We talked with Dinesh who loved the idea and he got the writer's signature on two different gold books for us. We were not able to get the artist, but since the VVSS books in the past had at least two signatures, we asked Fred to sign them which he graciously did. Thus, the big reward for round #2 was born. However, once the prizes for round #2 were distributed, the fans made the comment several times that they wished both the writer AND artist signed the VFVSS books, so we wanted to make that happen for round #3.

Our original plan was for round #3 to coincide with the start of VEI's third year in May 2014, so in late 2013 we started working with VEI on obtaining what the fans asked for: A dual signature VFVSS Gold book. Many discussions were held back and forth, but despite everyone's best effort, it just didn't happen, so Elery and I decided to simply drop it and not do a round #3 if we couldn't give the fans what they had said would be super special to them.

Elery talks with Ramses818 (John Rucker) often, and in the spring of 2014, Ramses818 felt very strongly that Elery and I should do a round #3 as we had wanted to (and for VEI to get more reviews), so he personally contacted Clayton Crain to try and arrange for him to sign Rai #1 Gold books. At the same time, betterthanezra (Brian Wells) contacted Matt Kindt to ask him also about signing the same book. Both guys were only too happy to graciously make this happen for the fans. So, after months of delay, round #3 was on again.

Since round #2 had two VFVSS books, we couldn't do less than that, so we asked VEI not only for a supply of Rai Golds, but also Unity golds which they gladly provided, continuing their great support of such promos. Betterthanezra again contacted Matt Kindt to ask if he would also sign the Unity Golds and again Matt came through for the fans.

There were the usual mechanics of what TPBS to review, plan the promo, announce it, keep up the database to monitor such reviews for everyone, and work with VEI to make the prize package the vest it could be since Elery and I had always agreed that round #3 would be the final of these promos we would do. VEI was tremendously generous for the fans on every front. Not only did they supply the books for the VFVSS gold gooks, but they also sent enough copies of con exclusive books such that each qualified participant would get 3 different con exclusive books. And that wasn't the end of it. Elery and I asked Dinesh for something unique that would be "one of a kind" for each winner and he made the great offer to have the office staff do sketches on sketch cover books. PLUS, since the "way back at the start" original goal of the rounds was to get the fans access to con exlusives, VEI agreed that the two con exclusives for NYCC of the X O Manowar #0 con exclusive book AND the X O Manowar newly announced figure would be make available to the fully qualified participants. Fantastic to say the least.

So, gold Rai books arrived in Vermont. They got embossed, bagged, boarded, and sent off to Clayton for his signature, with the request that once done he would forward them to Matt for his signature, with them ultimately being returned to Vermont. The Unity gold books were likewise embossed, bagged, boarded and sent to Matt for his signature with the request to also return them to Vermont for placing in the prize package. So we had books going all over the country, hoping all the time they with the "expert handling" of the USPS, that they would make the entire journey undamaged.

Meanwhile, VEI shipped me the con exclusive books which had to be bagged and boarded. Then, we contacted Greg Holland to once again ask him to create the COAs for both VFVSS books which he graciously agreed to do. Once Greg did that and signed each one, he had to ship these to NYC for Dinesh's signature, at which point they also had to be sent up to Vermont for inclusion.

Over in Cali, Elery was busy producing the appreciation letter which has accompanied each of the round for the qualified participants. So he had to produce them (once he knew who the winners were so he could personalize each one) sign them, ship those as well to NYC for Dinesh's signature, and then those ALSO had to be sent up to Vermont. A tremendous amount of shipping and signing going on all over the country, with everything destined for Vermont and again relying on the USPS to make this all happen without damage

Fans did their reviews, got fully qualified, placed their orders and sent payments for what con exclusives they wanted, then payment was sent to VEI. Lots of back and forth emails were sent to coordinate this, but it was all coming together.

Round three was over by now and we "simply" had to assemble all the components upon arrival in Vermont. The con exclusive books which members had purchased arrived, and even we were shocked when we opened the box and found that VEI had added yet ANOTHER con exclusive book for the fans, this time with three signatures This demonstrated yet again (as if there was ever any question) just how much VEI thinks of their fans and appreciates their support

The last two components of this huge puzzle were the purchased X O Manowar figures and the sketch books. The shipping cost for the X O figures was calculated exacly, and then each member was emailed with their shipping bill which they paid by Paypal. The figures got shipped out and fans were told that to save on shipping costs, the X O #0 con exclusive books they purchased would be included with the prize package.

33 sketch books arrived and each was unique. It turns out that the coffee stained ones were in truth the most unique of them all, with each having a personal message written on the. Thus, VEI TOTALLY cam through with their promised unique prize for each winner

The Affinity mailer which I had recently discovered, had been chosen as the safest way to ship the packages and we laid in a supply of those to pack everything up. Eight of the packages went out of the US to qualified participants, so custom forms had to be filled out for those as well as packing them up. Everything got pulled together and triple checked that it was all as it should be, and finally I trundled off to the Jericho, Vermont Post Office to ship these all to the eagerly awaiting fans. You know the rest of the story from there.

Many, many people had a hand in making this incredible package come together for the fans: Elery, Ramses81, betterthanezra, Clayton Crain, Matt Kindt, Greg Holland, and most importantly, Dinesh himself and the Valiant team. It was our goal right from the start when we envisioned three rounds of TPB reviews, that each prize package would be better than the last and thanks to the personal effort of each of these individuals, this absolutely happened. Do these rounds take time to do? You get. Better than 100 man hours per round each for Elery and me, but I can tell you that we both feel it was more than worth it when we read the fans reactions each time. VEI is so fortunate to have such unique fans who bond together and do everything they can to support the company's efforts. Huge Kudos to Dinesh and his team, because they are REALLY aware and appreciative of those fans constantly. I know of NO other comic company that works as closely with their fans and Dinesh is to be applauded for making this all happen for the fans (being the ultimate fan himself who bought the company and brought it back)

I would ask that if you were pleased with VEI's efforts in this, that you drop a quick "Thank You" to Dinesh and let him know how you feel. While I know that he's acutely aware of how everyone feels, a personal "Thank You" always goes a long way

On a personal note, please know that Elery and I have been very thankful to have the continued support of the fans here, as well as the incredible backing of Dinesh and the VEI staff to make this all happen for three rounds and all the other promos we have done. It has been a wonderful opportunity for which we are genuinely appreciative. Thank you all

1

[drmirage]

Great write up! What Bruce has written pretty much sums up the story of Round #3.

[nycjadie]

You guys did a helluva lot of work to get this done. I thank you very much. Those that participated in all those reviews were rewarded handsomely.

[magnusr]

You guys did a helluva lot of work to get this done. I thank you very much. Those that participated in all those reviews were rewarded handsomely.

+1

/Magnus

[cjv]

Great story, typical Valiant going above and beyond. Typical Valiant fans as well doing the same. Kudos to all!

[dmezynski]

I got mine today! Thanks to Bruce, Elery and the Valiant crew for a great set of books!

This was my sketch ... from the Man himself?

[pixierosa]

Great work, guys. Lots of moving parts and time spent. Until someone takes on a project of this magnitude, it's hard to understand just how much time that takes away from your regular life.

[bygranddesign]

I got mine today! Thanks to Bruce, Elery and the Valiant crew for a great set of books!

This was my sketch ... from the Man himself?

Yep! That's Dinesh ...... Congrats!

[drmirage]

Thanks... A pleasure for us to do. So many got involved in this project, but without Ramses818 "Rucker" and betterthanezra "Brian Wells" getting those signatures, it wouldn't have been possible.

I'm positive that Rucker and Brian Wells can write their own back story on how they got those signatures from Clayton Crain and Matt Kindt (Bruce and I couldn't have gotten those signatures otherwise.)

Rucker and Brian Wells wanted to make this happen.

Like what Bruce said.... A tremendous amount of shipping and signing going on all over the country.

Great work, guys. Lots of moving parts and time spent. Until someone takes on a project of this magnitude, it's hard to understand just how much time that takes away from your regular life.

[Ramses818]

Bruce and Elery are AMAZING! this was all there work. All I did was a email to Clayton Crain who was awesome in doing this, and calling BetterthanEzra saying "can you get this done?". BetterthanEzra did and Matt Kindt was also so kind in doing this. So I pass all the credit to Bruce (seriously that's a lot of work! ), Elery (the other person who understands how much work it is! Because he did it too! Lol), and BetterthanEzra (poor man. I was calling him waaaay to much and driving him crazy, but hey at least we will always have mint cookie! ). But the end result is beyond awesome! I may have said that a few times already though..lol.

Rai for life!

[lorddunlow]

at least we always have mint cookie!

Is that a euphemism?

[Ramses818]

at least we always have mint cookie!

Is that a euphemism?

That is between me and BTE! I will never share the love that is so pure! Lmao

[lorddunlow]

at least we always have mint cookie!

Is that a euphemism?

That is between me and BTE! I will never share the love that is so pure! Lmao

[Peter]

Thank you so much for all your hard work Bruce and Elery, and as well to John and Brian, and also to Dinesh and the Valiant crew, not to forget to all the signing crew as well.

This was a mammoth task to organise, I can see now that we (the reviewers) had the easy part of it all plus the rewards.
I can't wait to see what my sketch is when it arrives. I'll put it up as soon as I get it.

I really do appreciate everyone's hard work and feel very privileged to have been able to be a part of it, cheers all.