Money Update 9/23/2014 - Chris Makes a Kickstarter

[Morbid Boredom]

I love how delightfully lazy this project is. If he had...

... then he might actually get the project funded, at least for the minimum amount.

Then he wouldn't be Chris.

Never change, Chris.

He won't -not in any meaningful way, at least.

 

[crease danger]

I love how delightfully lazy this project is. If he had...

1) Bothered to think of reward tiers that made sense and utilized the products he's already trying to sell (like, "$1 and I'll include your name in a video thanking every backer," "$30 for a Sonichu medallion," "$50 I'll make a five-minute video discussing anything you want," "$100 for a colored commission")
2) Set the funding goal to be the lowest possible to make a bare-bones, spartan version of the model he wants to create using the cheapest bricks available (Let's say $1,000 just for the sake of argument)
3) Established stretch goals to help improve the quality of the final product using specialty pieces and incentivize people to donate more, like "If I get $1,500 I'll make a video documenting my work on the project," "$2,000 and I'll release a new Sonichu issue," etc.)

... then he might actually get the project funded, at least for the minimum amount.

Instead, he just hammered out a brief proposal that amounts to, "Want Lego! I really want these sets! MULTIPLES OF THESE!!!" Never change, Chris.

But this is Chris. Thinking out anything more complicated than the bare bones would be a feat. Hell, I'd pitch in money if any of these could happen.

Edit: Now I"m imagining the video with backers names. He'd write them in colored pencil on a piece of paper and show the piece of paper unfocused to the camera and give up after the 20th name because it'd be TOO HARD TO WRITE EVERYONE'S NAMES!

 

[4Macie]

I love how delightfully lazy this project is. If he had...

1) Bothered to think of reward tiers that made sense and utilized the products he's already trying to sell (like, "$1 and I'll include your name in a video thanking every backer," "$30 for a Sonichu medallion," "$50 I'll make a five-minute video discussing anything you want," "$100 for a colored commission")
2) Set the funding goal to be the lowest possible to make a bare-bones, spartan version of the model he wants to create using the cheapest bricks available (Let's say $1,000 just for the sake of argument)
3) Established stretch goals to help improve the quality of the final product using specialty pieces and incentivize people to donate more, like "If I get $1,500 I'll make a video documenting my work on the project," "$2,000 and I'll release a new Sonichu issue," etc.)

... then he might actually get the project funded, at least for the minimum amount.

Instead, he just hammered out a brief proposal that amounts to, "Want Lego! I really want these sets! MULTIPLES OF THESE!!!" Never change, Chris.

If this had happened, no one would have believed Chris had thought this up; he's just not that capable. The fact that he even says "one of the risks is that I might just not feel like doing it" is so Chris it's not even funny. MOST people doing this (if they were to do this at all) would have estimated what kits/sets they needed to accomplish this goal and then would have found how much those sets were, done some math, and found a bester estimation than "I need $5,000 but I don't know if that's actually going to cut it"

One thing that does kinda bother me though... Chris has made well over $4,000 in the past three months off of ebay and now he just might make it to $5,000 from kickstarter. We all know he's not going to pay taxes from this stuff... as a working member of society, knowing that Chris could potentially have $9,000 taxfree money irks me. Not trying to A-log but it just really hits home that Chris truly has NO sense of money worth or the workings of adult life.

 

[timtommy]

Assuming Chris gets the 5 grand (which I doubt he will);
1) what happens if he only uses $1,000 on Lego?
2) what happens if he spends NONE on Lego? (doubtful)
3) what happens if for some godforsaken reason he can't finish it because he doesn't have enough Lego?
4) if he doesn't finish it, either because of lack of resources or lack of "motivation", is there any penalty from Kickstarter for not doing what you say you're going to do or not actually finishing a project you've gotten money for?

What happens if Chris gets a bunch of money that he morally (and maybe legally, not sure about the legality) should spend on lego, but doesn't spend on lego? That is not really a problem I anticipate. I suppose there is a possibility that he spends it on irrelevant lego sets instead of the ones he needs and then screws himself, but I will give him enough credit to think that if he were to get the money he would do a decent job.

I love how delightfully lazy this project is. If he had...

1) Bothered to think of reward tiers that made sense and utilized the products he's already trying to sell (like, "$1 and I'll include your name in a video thanking every backer," "$30 for a Sonichu medallion," "$50 I'll make a five-minute video discussing anything you want," "$100 for a colored commission")
2) Set the funding goal to be the lowest possible to make a bare-bones, spartan version of the model he wants to create using the cheapest bricks available (Let's say $1,000 just for the sake of argument)
3) Established stretch goals to help improve the quality of the final product using specialty pieces and incentivize people to donate more, like "If I get $1,500 I'll make a video documenting my work on the project," "$2,000 and I'll release a new Sonichu issue," etc.)

... then he might actually get the project funded, at least for the minimum amount.

Instead, he just hammered out a brief proposal that amounts to, "Want Lego! I really want these sets! MULTIPLES OF THESE!!!" Never change, Chris.

Yeah, his rewards are remarkably shitty. Basically he is saying "if you give me some money, I will give you some change in the form of legos". The rewards you suggest are good ones, but they would involve a) pirating his own eBay sales, and I assume he wants and thinks he can have both eBay and Kickstarter money or b) making public videos, which he has avoided doing for the last little while.

As for the amount of money, Chris has always asked for "too much" money. When he is just selling drawings one at a time, it is justifiable. It is a defensible strategy, even if it is one he stumbled into, to sell fewer $50-$100 drawings instead of more $20 drawings. It probably makes similar or even more revenue, and it is a lot less work. There is also some logic in throwing overpriced junk on eBay. You only need one person to make a weird decision and buy each thing, and if you have a few things lying around that go unsold for a while it is no big loss to you.

But beyond some weird potato salad-like momentum, this seems bound to fail. I am interested in knowing how much lego he actually needs. He seems to have some specific plans, so a costing of them should be straightforward.

I would think about it differently if he only needs one or two thousand dollars of lego. I don't know which is more if a CWC-like fail, coming up with a plan with that costs $5000, or coming up with a more realistic plan but failing miserably to execute it.

The last somewhat relevant question I have is: what are Kickstarter's rules about amending/reposting? He managed to create a fairly successful eBay business by trial and error. I wouldn't be surprised if he moved towards ideas like The Nameless One's if he had a chance to revise and adapt, but I don't know if he can.

 

[Kosher Dill]

I looked up that Lego Friends encyclopedia that Chris offers as a "reward", and if he seriously reads this then it's sad, sad, sad.

 

[crease danger]

If this had happened, no one would have believed Chris had thought this up; he's just not that capable. The fact that he even says "one of the risks is that I might just not feel like doing it" is so Chris it's not even funny. MOST people doing this (if they were to do this at all) would have estimated what kits/sets they needed to accomplish this goal and then would have found how much those sets were, done some math, and found a bester estimation than "I need $5,000 but I don't know if that's actually going to cut it"

One thing that does kinda bother me though... Chris has made well over $4,000 in the past three months off of ebay and now he just might make it to $5,000 from kickstarter. We all know he's not going to pay taxes from this stuff... as a working member of society, knowing that Chris could potentially have $9,000 taxfree money irks me. Not trying to A-log but it just really hits home that Chris truly has NO sense of money worth or the workings of adult life.

Kickstarter takes a portion of the funds, (around 5%) and Amazon takes about 5% as well. He won't get it all but he'll still get a huge portion. Also, I think this counts as taxable by the government's standards since it counts as income. If Chris is smart he could SOMEHOW make this tax deductible... but who in their right mind would deduct legos?

https://www.kickstarter.com/help/taxes
https://www.kickstarter.com/help/fees

 

[Marvin]

Why do people think this is going to go past $1500? (Well, depending on the level of obligation kickstarter puts on the backer .)

 

[LordCustos3]

This was clearly what we were building up to. Now Chris has removed the part where he actually does anything.

Why doesn't he just make new Sonichu products?
Thats where he's made his money in the past: Sonichu Merch.
STOP PLAYIN WIT DA LEOGS AND MAKE MOAR SONICHU!
THATS WHERE DA MONEY IS AT!

 

[Beef Thunderpants]

Buying complete sets to build this thing is stupid. You'll be getting tons of duplicate pieces you don't need, too many mismatched colors, spending way more than you need to. There are many websites selling individual bricks, some as little as a few cents each (some of the more rare architectural features like doors or windows in a specific color can be $20+ though). Maybe if he had done the model in Lego Digital Designer first, and created a list of the bricks he needed, people might take him a little more seriously.

Here is what can be made with a proper supply of bricks and half a brain;

Go to his channel and check out the aquarium too, very cool build.

 

[Morbid Boredom]

Buying complete sets to build this thing is stupid. You'll be getting tons of duplicate pieces you don't need, too many mismatched colors, spending way more than you need to. There are many websites selling individual bricks, some as little as a few cents each (some of the more rare architectural features like doors or windows in a specific color can be $20+ though). Maybe if he had done the model in Lego Digital Designer first, and created a list of the bricks he needed, people might take him a little more seriously.

Here is what can be made with a proper supply of bricks and half a brain;
https://youtube.com/watch?v=UtTQsw6CB8MGo to his channel and check out the aquarium too, very cool build.

I'm watching this with no sound, and "Everything is awesome" is playing in the back of my mind.

It's too bad Chris never notices anything that doesn't support his beliefs, your post is full of good advice.

 

[ForTheHoard]

It's been said earlier, but a $1 donation allows you to basically shit-talk in the comments.

$218 in, 2 comments, and both are supportive.

 

[DeadMansHand]

Well, that's the thing here. Most Kickstarters have clearly defined goals, expectations, projected date of delivery, plans of action, and provide a breakdown on the costs of the project in order to justify the asking amount. Or at least the ones I look at do this.

Chris, being Chris, provides none of that and talks about the project in vague autistic gibberish. He doesn't get that Kickstarter is meant to fund projects for a community of people; it isn't a magical genie that gives him more toys.

Well, Chris has never put any real effort into anything he's ever done. Why should this be different?

Even if Kickstarter pulls his project, I'm sure he'll modify it again and again until he gets it right. That's what he did with Ebay. Hell, he might be able to get $200 bucks for a drawing if he starts offering those as rewards for a donation. That's better than what he's getting for Ebay.

He'd have to add to the risks and challenges section though. Things like "I might set my house on fire and melt the Legos before the project is finished" or "If I accidentally sit on a Lego piece my taint ring might get stuck in a Lego hole delaying the project completion date" Chris has obviously never taken any business classes, because these are the kind of things to watch out for they pound into your head as a first semester MBA...

 

[tepid]

Multiple Hearlake Malls and Schools, Olivia's Houses, Summer Riding Camps

Why does it have to be made out of purely the godawful and expensive Lego girls sets anyway? Just so it can be all tomgirl pastel pink and he can be surrounded by Lego galpals

 

[Lalala]

And to think less than a week ago I was legitimately planning to send him some care supplies for his piercing because I felt sorry for him and his lack of knowledge. And now his top priority is trying to get more free money to play with legos.
I feel kinda now.

 

[Morbid Boredom]

$218 in, 2 comments, and both are supportive.

One of the donors has donated to the "Potato Salad" kickstarter. I'm pretty sure they believe CWC's project to be equally specious.

And to think less than a week ago I was legitimately planning to send him some care supplies for his piercing because I felt sorry for him and his lack of knowledge. And now his top priority is trying to get more free money to play with legos.
I feel kinda now.

Dead men don't need silver.

 

[LordCustos3]

Holy shit though that blueprint. I'm actually really impressed by how normal it looks. He even used single-stroke gothic and everything and not fucking comic sans like he usually does. Seriously, compare that with his plans for CWCville that look like they were drawn by a twelve-year-old.

. . . And then he ruined it by putting himself and Sonichu in the title block. I don't have any experience with architectural drawings, but from a quick Googling it looks like that might be a space for the logo of the company the blueprint's being done for. If this is a project for school, no wonder the CADD Chef didn't like him and his weird ability to add Sonichu even to something as standardized as a fucking text block.

Makes me wonder if that blueprint wasn't made by him, and he just copypasted his info the infobox.

 

[Morbid Boredom]

....and when he finally becomes homeless, that will be his one marketable skill.

"Hey, buddy, can you spare a dime for a [strike]box o legos[/strike] ...COFFEE...a cup of coffee....."

But now that he's a pretty, pretty princess....he has another possible income stream....

(Cough Cough), then again, I did say he was a "dead man".

As for begging, I dug this up from a while back.

Here's a dirty secret:

Luck is all too often underappreciated skill.

When I was a kid, I was far better at math than most of my peers. I could play things like Risk or Monopoly and appear to be "lucky" but what I was actually doing was understanding the true odds and using it to gain an information advantage over people who didn't.

In the case of CWC, being pathetic is one of his skills. We often talk about it as the "Autism Card", but the fact is this form of begging is essentially one of the few life skills he has. He doesn't understand people, he doesn't understand what he's supposed to do as a man, but he is good at convincing the world to go easy on him:

He's not worth people's trouble if they are upset by him.
He's not a worthy foe to play the autistic with.
He clearly has serious mental issues.
It is still quite hard to distinguish between malice and stupidity.

The average person doesn't know Chris or how to blame he is for his own situation. Thus, they view him as a victim. Even the likes of Megan and Michael Snyder probably hold back because Chris is good at being pitied.

And that's why he's "lucky".

He won a contest because it looks good to give it to a mentally retarded child.
He gets a break because no one wants to be the guy taking a hard stand against a demonstrable idiot. Even the law itself tends to show some reluctance to hit him with full force, as it can be interpreted as being cruel to someone.

So the Autism card is a well understood gambit; it works. There's precious little in his life that does work, but Chris might have a shot at getting institutionalized when he's out on the street.

 

[Total Dingus]

$218 in, 2 comments, and both are supportive.

Allows, not obligates.

I'm sure that there are more than a few of these people who don't want to be known for weening, and may have realized post-donation that their identity would be on display. Some might be biding their time until Chris says something even more ridiculous. Some might be paying a buck to be able to follow along and get "exclusive" content. Who knows? I bought a drawing form him because it fit into my collection of weird-Internet-people drawings.

This will not succeed. It'll get taken down, and it'll be put back up with rewards that don't violate the ToS, and it'll happen all over again - but never succeed.

 

[Ravenor]

You know, in the unlikely event this is funded I can see Chris throwing a fit over the 10% missing from the final amount (KS an Amazon's cut) and begging for more support.

What's not surprising is Chris buying set's to break down for parts, for a guy who is supposedly so into Lego he knows little of the block markets as some one else pointed out, even he can work out less money spent on item X means more to spend on items Y and Z. The guy confounds all logical thought processes, and you know what if he had a real plan and a way of carrying it out that wasn't as badly thought out I would in all likely hood kicked in a couple of quid, but no he'll chose the worst possible way of doing something 9 times out of 10 and not learn a single thing along the way.

 

[DN 420]

i'm actually pretty mad at chris for having zero inclusion of anything people actually want.

even if something sonichu-related was just a high dollar perk, but no. he just doesn't get it.

i want him to hire me as his pr and marketing agent so i can punch myself in the dick.