Yes, there was. For Episode 1, there was a pair of hypnotic goggles(cardboard, clear plastic with green swirls).
For Episode 2, there's an issue of the Love Triangle Times. One two-sided page. I should scan that sometime.
For episode 3, there was the Ted E. Bear magnet.
Episode 4 had a Max campaign button(One Rabbit, One Law!). It's pretty small compared to the Trial of the Century-y-y-y-y-y-y-y et etc button.
Episode 5 had the Bosco-Tech Biological Weapon, which is just a napkin like the game item. It has a Bosco-Tech logo on it and a greenish blob printed inside.
You're right, but honestly I don't think I would have wanted it. I still can't decide about the Season Two case file, I'll probably only order it if I'm already ordering other stuff (and it still exists :P).
By the way, the picture is very small and there's no details about what's in it... I'll look around but could someone give me a link to a more detailed photo/page?
I pulled out my phone and case file and snapped a couple pics. Here I set them all out with the envelope over my Tales of Monkey Island DVD as a frame of reference. I also got a couple of the two sides of the coin, here and here. Sorry the second one is so blurry, but I don't want to bother to retake it. =P
Gotta love how people are instantly ready to blame all the negative aspects on Lucasarts, and attribute the goodness solely to Telltale.
And I mean 'love' in the sense of 'laugh at'.
Depend on what negative things you talk about.
Long time required for the DVD to be "accepted". LA (although compared to some KOTOR2 stuff it's been really fast).
Logo overall. LA.
Shipping being pretty sloppy. TTG.
Gotta love how people are instantly ready to blame all the negative aspects on Lucasarts, and attribute the goodness solely to Telltale.
And I mean 'love' in the sense of 'laugh at'.
Personally I'm indifferent about the whole logo thing, but I'm just sayin' that lucasarts demanded the logos for everything. Lucas definitely can't be blamed for everything.
It is a pretty big deal. Hell, two of the items have 100% analogous entries in the Season Two case file, which helps with the comparison.
Opposite side of the Tiny Tiki coaster has the design mirrored from the front. Other side of the Tales of Monkey Island coaster has a gigntic logo and copyright information.
Opposite side of the Soul Train token from the Season Two case file has an entirely different design from the front, something that could very well be a part of the coin in-universe. The Tales equivalent has a gigantic logo.
This completely disrespects the legacy that these extras are emulating. Rather than revering them as the original two case files did, these entries into the Tales Deluxe edition spits on them.
Feelies aren't new. They're something that harkens back to a time when they were the only real visual connection you got to the game world outside of the box art. They were a tactile piece of the universe you were entering into. The Sam and Max case files seemed like they were designed by people that cared about this, by people that cared about what the hell they were doing. This release, on the contrary, feels like it was designed by a marketing committee. By a group of people that can see the success of the case files, and seeks to emulate and capitalize on them. This emulates the form, but it feels like the people in charge didn't understand *why* they were doing this, or *what* made them important to begin with. It falls flat and reeks of blatant exploitation.
If I knew this was what I was going to get, I wouldn't have ordered it. As it is, I've decided that I can't take the Telltale name as a blanket stamp of quality anymore, and that's sad.
You bring up another point that pisses me off: Paying $15 for something that ultimately has far less quality than an analogous release made by a smaller version of the company two years ago. A person can buy three Season Three case files for the price of one Deluxe Edition. And you're only getting one Deluxe Edition anyway, because the goodies are tied to a single purchase of the game. Previously, you could get a couple for a couple people, or people who bought from other retailers could get them even though they aren't getting the disc.
On this, we can't possibly disagree any more. Generally, I prefer not being outright insulted.
"Marketing ploy" is the wrong word. "Cash-in" is more apropos. Take that thing they did two years ago that was a hit, emulate, and charge more for it. The logos, ratings, and copyright notices rob these things of any sense of soul.
You have to understand that there was a reason we got trinkets for Sam and Max. It came from a question of how to capture a feeling from a bygone era. The Tales Deluxe Edition lacks any of the respect or individual care of the cheaper Case Files. We get two knock-offs, both of which have opted out of a real opposite side for a logo. We get a map that showed promise, but a botched and lazy execution made the thing feel like a broken promise taken physical form.
The card and pin are nice, I guess. I don't like that I paid $15 for a card and a pin.
I'd have to say that I agree with this. ALL of this... and add that it's not only probably not worth the extra $15 but also not worth the longer wait.
Suffice it to say that, for me, both the quality of the extra merch (read: map/slipcover) and the extra time waiting for it discourage me from ever buying a special edition package from Telltale in the future.
Also, I don't understand the justification for the long wait with the excuse "we didn't anticipate the high volume of demand" or some such reason. After all, isn't that the primary reason for having a pre-order system at all? To learn how many people want your product so that you can prepare accordingly?
at last, the telltale support team already reply to my concerns and updated me about it...
"Your order is in process of shipping, it's on the dock to be picked up by USPS. With the Independence Day Holiday, I believe your order will ship on Tuesday, tomorrow."
hope i can get my order very soon in good condition
So.... to the people who already have it... can you give a little hint as to what new concept art is on there ?
I'll put in some spoiler tags over the whole thing. If you don't want the experience "spoiled", just don't click or highlight below.
-Early bugeye sketches
-Three pieces of DeCava art(two that are in-game)
-line-up of DeSinge sketches
-Marked "Evil Doctor". Seems like early sketches of the idea of an evil doctor from before DeSinge was decided upon. Really cool stuff. These all look a bit like the final guy in some respect.
-Color Elaine art from the icon and launcher
-Elaine sketches
-Demon Elaine color concept.
-Elaine sketches, Elaine in T formation. Notes by concept artist in black, notes by the guys who have to make it into an in-game character in red. Really cool insights.
-Early Elaine design sketches.
-Ferryman sketch
-Fisheye painting from Lair of the Leviathan
-Grindstump sketches
-Guybrush angles
-Early Guybrush sketches. Include an "evil Guybrush" that definitely looks different than the one in-game. These earlier sketches look a little less Curse-inspired, I wonder if the game could have gone in another direction?
-Demon Guybrush concept. Cool horns!
-Color poxed Guybrush and Elaine(seen in Nintendo Power if anybody remembers that)
-Guybrush Sketch and Guybrush Sillouette. There are two, one marked "Original" and one marked "LucasArts". There are notes here for minor changes to the general shape. Shorter ponytail for stronger head sillouette, shorter boots, etc. These are pretty incremental changes.
-Three more pieces of art have Guybrush. Marked "Feedback". Very detailed notes. Nice comparison shots.
-Comparison of the silhouette before and after feedback.
-...um?
-Guybrush heads. Return of the demon horns! Man, those are badass horns.
-More Guybrush!
-LOTS OF GUYBRUSH!
-Color human LeChuck!
-Four files dedicated to color LeChuck concepts.
-LeChuck art. More LucasArts feedback on minor design elements.
-Line-up of LeChuck art.
-Really early LeChuck sketches
-LeChuck from a couple angles
-And now in color!
-Magilicutty!
-Manatee!
-More manatee!
-Manatee level layout!
-Desinge again! With a note about hair shape!
-Merfolk!
-MONKEY!
-MONKEY EARLY SKETCHES OMG
-Oh my god it's Moose. On the plus side, I think I'm descending into madness.
-Morgan sketches. Yay cleavage!
-Early Morgan designs. My favorite bit. Love the eyepatch! Hourglass shape with an intense focus on the bust throughout. So really, from the start she was the Morgan we know and love =P
-A few titled "others generics" and "others styleguide head". Fun notes! Apparently eyes being the SAME SIZE ON ALL HEADS is important! Yay! OH MY GOD THERE IS MORE ART AFTER THIS ONE WHY
-Pyrite Parrot concept
-Giant angler fish with a treasure chest instead of a glowy thing. HE EATS PIRATE SHIPS.
-Probably giant seahorse thing!
-MANATEE
-Character silhouettes. Dear God why can't this gallery end? WHY DID I START ON THIS FOOLHARDY QUEST?!
-Some Voodoo lady stuff. Some in color. Some sketches. You know. The deal.
-Club 41, color.
-DeCava hut. Sketch.
-LeChuck's ship. Color.
-Flotsam bar. Sketch.
-Flotsam City Hall. Sketch.
-Club 41. Sketch.
-Glassblower shop. Sketch.
-Flotsam map with notes.
-It's the map, it's the map, it's the map, it's the map, I WANT TO EAT AND SEE MY FAMILY.
-Marquis lab sketch.
-Newspaper building sketch.
-FLOTSAM SKYLINE
-FLOTSAM SKETCH
-FLOTSAM COLOR
-FLOTSAM SKETCH
-Glassblower shop
-Color hut concept
-Color lab concept. I hold on only because I can see the end. It's in sight.
-Guybrush's ship's deck. Sketch. Hahha. Sketch. You say it enough times and IT WILL DRIVE YOU INSANE.
-Hey look. It's Guybrush's ship. Again. *twitch*
-OH JOY IN LIVING COLOR. BROUGHT TO YOU BY TECHNICOLOR. IT'S WALT DISNEY'S LECHUCK'S EPISODE 1 SHIP.
-LeChuck Ship.
-LeChuck ship with notes.
-LeChuck ship template WITH NOTES
-The Narwhal
-Voodoo hut interior sketch
-....um, this is totally a thing. There's that saxaphone stone thing, um. Guybrush is hanging from it. Crossed out. USELESS. Things crossed out. Equation. Reference to firkens. NOT ENOUGH. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS IS. MAYBE TRYING TO DOCUMENT THIS GALLERY HAS DRIVEN ME PAST THE BRINK OF SANITY. NORMAL NOTES NOW COME OUT AS CRAZYSPEAK. HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA
-oh hey look altar sketch
-altar bbq
-artifacts sketches. Turtle n' friends.
-Voodoo lady chair/table.
-Mouse-powered elctromachine sketch.
-hey look espon JA LIKE IN JAWS
-Columns sketch.
-That giant head thing. Sketch.
-That head again. Only different.
-Prison poster. I was in prison once. A prison of my own mind. Heheh. Heh. Heh. *twitch*
-Submarine
-Voodoo items.
-Voodoo dolls
-Painting of the beast.
-Merfolk painting.
-And we close on the anatomy of a pirate from Episode 1. Wait, close? We're done? I'M FREE. YES. FREE. FREE AT LAST TO BREATHE THE FRESH AIR! TO FEEL THE WIND IN MY FACE! TO LOVE, TO LAUGH, TO LIVE!
Ugh, I knew I'd been avoiding this thread for a reason. Just a browse over the last few pages confirms it.
My main gripe with the DVD is that it feels like they went into it with better intentions. Due in part to what was said on the commentary, it feels to me like there were much bigger and better plans for it, then the Universal license came along and the company found themselves stretched so thin that the Tales DVD was set aside until they could put all the content onto it that they intended, until eventually it had been sitting aside for too long and they finally just put it out. It seems like there was so much more they wanted to put on it. Yet another reason I'm dubious about the Universal deal and Telltale taking on two new games at once.
Also, no DVD credits, unless they're really well hidden, but judging by the rest of the DVD, I won't hold my breath.
So.... to the people who already have it... can you give a little hint as to what new concept art is on there ?
I'll be honest, I might have gotten a little carried away with this, so I spoiler tagged it just in case. I don't think I gave away too much, and I certainly only scratched the surface of what's on there, but...you've been warned. And...er, sorry about the links showing through the tag.
There's 108 pieces. There's things we've seen before, like the poxed Guybrush and Flotsam concept art that appeared inNintendo Power, and there's also some of the things we saw in-game, like the paintings of Fisheye from the manatee and the merperson and jungle beast from Club 41.
But the best part is what we haven't previously seen. There's both pencil sketches and colored concept art of just about anything you can think of. For example, the early pencil sketches of De Singe are nearly unrecognizable, and they really show a lot about what sort of character they originally intended him to be. All the original sketches of Morgan include an eyepatch. There's also a few pieces that include feedback sent back from LucasArts, as well as several things that didn't make it into the final game, like a demon version of Guybrush, or the original design for LeChuck that looks like a walrus. And there's plenty more that I haven't mentioned.
I hope that was a small enough hint for you.
Edit: Dammit, Dashing! Well, at least I didn't give away as much as you did, so there's an alternative for the spoiler-shy.
I talked to Bonnie in PM and she said that the warehouse was supposed to ship some out before the holiday weekend.. but they didnt go out .... and Monday the postal service still had off from the holiday... So with any luck ours should ship today... but that means we still have to wait for it to actually arrive...
Ya, I dunno who's warehouse it is (ie, actually Telltale's or a third party), but I just get mental images of two guys with a MOUNTAIN of Deluxe Editions just sitting there in a huge warehouse... and wide-eyed and mouth gaping they're like, "Oh my god..."
What I'm trying to say is that Telltale probably doesn't have the budget or the funding to have the same warehouse/distributing staff that other places would have. They are a smaller company... They may not be able to afford the resources to mail your item at the same rate as those big companies. That's just how business works... and I'm sure they are trying their best with what they have.
While it is a case to case basis, I think for the most part that statement that your item has been sent to the warehouse means that it's no longer backordered... and will ship soonish. I suppose the message is misleading, but its good knowing that it eventually come soon.
Just know that it will get to you soon... It's not like they lit the deluxe editions on fire and are laughing maniacally at all of us (myself included) who haven't gotten it yet. They're working on it. Have faith.
Our stuff isn't stored at our own warehouse, it's stored at a place called North Bay Distribution, I believe. And while it's not literally what you describe, it was close. Bonnie had to go down there a week or two ago to help them assemble and pack the mountain of DVDs to send out. There are no happy robots doing it or something, it is a warehouse staff staring at palettes of Monkey Island merchandise, realizing they have to put it all together (including building the treasure chest boxes from their original flattened state), and then shipping them out. Fortunately from photos in this thread, it looks like they're finally arriving and looking nice!
And while they take a long time packaging the preorders, more and more new orders are being made. The slower they are, the more likely they are to never ever catch up.
My imagination tells me something like that they could have three thousand orders or more waiting to be packaged, (who knows how many of those are preorders, and remember preorders started in March) with a hundred or so more new orders coming in every week... and that's only for ToMI, while Telltale has other stuff also needing to be shipped, and they're not North Bay Dist.'s only client, meaning there's even more stuff from other companies waiting to be sent.
Not that I've ever worked in a warehouse, but I consider that after a while of putting together the same merch, you kind of get into a rhythm of how to put it all together in a timely fashion.
Say I'm being liberal on time spent per deluxe edition set, and estimate that a person takes about 15 minutes per set (which is way more than enough time, I would think.)
15 minutes per set @ 8 hours per day; 4 sets per hour = 32 sets per day per person = 160 sets per week per person.
If there are... say 4 people at any given time working on building ToMI Deluxe Edition sets, 4*160 = 640 sets per week. If we assume that at least 100 more orders come in every week, that leaves at most 540 sets from the current number being completed every week. If there really are 3,000 orders in the current pile, it would take them over 5 and a half weeks to get them all done before they were caught up.
Now, I'm probably not accurately estimating the real-world numbers of these, but I figure the ratio of number-of-workers to time-spent-per-worker to number-of-orders-waiting to number-of-incoming-orders ought to be somewhat close. So I assume if the number of orders is actually larger, then there either would be more people working on them or those working on them would work faster or both... and in any case, after running these numbers it sounds to me like there's still another month or more even before just all the preorders get shipped.
Which is to say I'm not holding my breath waiting to get mine soon, even though it does say it's in the warehouse (and has been there for a while now.)
ok cool. as long as they don't forget my order, which is something that happens to me way too often. (specially at pizza hut... "oh i'm sorry, i totally forgot about your order and didn't notice in the last 30 minutes since i started bringing you guys stuff that you didn't get ANYTHING" ...grrr)
ooh i love assembling packages! it was my favorite part when i worked for a month at a factory/warehouse thingy. I hated when the boss guy said that we could stop.
Just send me everything flattened and in pieces and i'll assemble the box myself!
My deluxe edition has just arrived, i'm from Spain so it has been very quick. Congratulations to Telltale for the great edition they made and the shipping
Bonnie had to go down there a week or two ago to help them assemble and pack the mountain of DVDs to send out. There are no happy robots doing it or something, it is a warehouse staff staring at palettes of Monkey Island merchandise, realizing they have to put it all together (...)
I would love to see a picture of that warehouse mountain!
Wow. This opens up a whole new realm of possibilities for people who still have their orders in the warehouse. We could get them anywhere within the next few hours or the next couple weeks.
I read other people earlier saying that they got their order and the site still says "in the warehouse". So from the moment mine started saying that, I consider it to be the last update I'll get before I see a paper asking me to go to the post office and get the package.
I'm going to post my own photos of this. Because there are so many pictures, I'm posting thumbnails which are clickable to show their larger versions.
BTW: The numbers on my tape measure are inches; 1 in. = 2.54 cm.
.... okay, so putting all the infamy that TTG has gained from this aside for a second, I do feel a lot better about the merch and the way that it looks now that I actually have it in my hands.
The DVD is shrinkwrapped, which why it shows up all shiny.
And that's my Ziploc bag, not Telltale's. I thought it'd be a good way to keep the extra stuff safe and "pure as a mountain goat."
The coaster is made of rather thin cork (it seems.) I wouldn't recommend putting a drink on it that would potentially sweat and ruin it.
edit: at first I was going to say it looks like cardboard, but making a drink coaster out of cardboard would be foolish, since it would effectively be like thick paper. Cork makes more sense. Still, I wouldn't recommend using it for drinks that sweat.
Ugh, the dotted lines on the spine are the worst. And "games" being in red on the spine is annoying also, since it's been grey-ish on the side of every other one. It also kind of bothers me that the logo/text is so small compared to the rest of the cases. I think this is easily the worst box art that Telltale has done to date, which is a shame because Purcell's painting is amazing, and so is the game contained within.
Comments
If so, what was in it?
For Episode 2, there's an issue of the Love Triangle Times. One two-sided page. I should scan that sometime.
For episode 3, there was the Ted E. Bear magnet.
Episode 4 had a Max campaign button(One Rabbit, One Law!). It's pretty small compared to the Trial of the Century-y-y-y-y-y-y-y et etc button.
Episode 5 had the Bosco-Tech Biological Weapon, which is just a napkin like the game item. It has a Bosco-Tech logo on it and a greenish blob printed inside.
And the last item is a postcard from the moon.
Not so awesome for those of us dumb enough to have waited too long to buy one.
By the way, the picture is very small and there's no details about what's in it... I'll look around but could someone give me a link to a more detailed photo/page?
Anyway, thank you, greatly appreciated
Long time required for the DVD to be "accepted". LA (although compared to some KOTOR2 stuff it's been really fast).
Logo overall. LA.
Shipping being pretty sloppy. TTG.
What else?
I really like that coin! I never contemplated getting the case file before, but now I am...
Personally I'm indifferent about the whole logo thing, but I'm just sayin' that lucasarts demanded the logos for everything. Lucas definitely can't be blamed for everything.
I'd have to say that I agree with this. ALL of this... and add that it's not only probably not worth the extra $15 but also not worth the longer wait.
Suffice it to say that, for me, both the quality of the extra merch (read: map/slipcover) and the extra time waiting for it discourage me from ever buying a special edition package from Telltale in the future.
Also, I don't understand the justification for the long wait with the excuse "we didn't anticipate the high volume of demand" or some such reason. After all, isn't that the primary reason for having a pre-order system at all? To learn how many people want your product so that you can prepare accordingly?
"Your order is in process of shipping, it's on the dock to be picked up by USPS. With the Independence Day Holiday, I believe your order will ship on Tuesday, tomorrow."
hope i can get my order very soon in good condition
-Early bugeye sketches
-Three pieces of DeCava art(two that are in-game)
-line-up of DeSinge sketches
-Marked "Evil Doctor". Seems like early sketches of the idea of an evil doctor from before DeSinge was decided upon. Really cool stuff. These all look a bit like the final guy in some respect.
-Color Elaine art from the icon and launcher
-Elaine sketches
-Demon Elaine color concept.
-Elaine sketches, Elaine in T formation. Notes by concept artist in black, notes by the guys who have to make it into an in-game character in red. Really cool insights.
-Early Elaine design sketches.
-Ferryman sketch
-Fisheye painting from Lair of the Leviathan
-Grindstump sketches
-Guybrush angles
-Early Guybrush sketches. Include an "evil Guybrush" that definitely looks different than the one in-game. These earlier sketches look a little less Curse-inspired, I wonder if the game could have gone in another direction?
-Demon Guybrush concept. Cool horns!
-Color poxed Guybrush and Elaine(seen in Nintendo Power if anybody remembers that)
-Guybrush Sketch and Guybrush Sillouette. There are two, one marked "Original" and one marked "LucasArts". There are notes here for minor changes to the general shape. Shorter ponytail for stronger head sillouette, shorter boots, etc. These are pretty incremental changes.
-Three more pieces of art have Guybrush. Marked "Feedback". Very detailed notes. Nice comparison shots.
-Comparison of the silhouette before and after feedback.
-...um?
-Guybrush heads. Return of the demon horns! Man, those are badass horns.
-More Guybrush!
-LOTS OF GUYBRUSH!
-Color human LeChuck!
-Four files dedicated to color LeChuck concepts.
-LeChuck art. More LucasArts feedback on minor design elements.
-Line-up of LeChuck art.
-Really early LeChuck sketches
-LeChuck from a couple angles
-And now in color!
-Magilicutty!
-Manatee!
-More manatee!
-Manatee level layout!
-Desinge again! With a note about hair shape!
-Merfolk!
-MONKEY!
-MONKEY EARLY SKETCHES OMG
-Oh my god it's Moose. On the plus side, I think I'm descending into madness.
-Morgan sketches. Yay cleavage!
-Early Morgan designs. My favorite bit. Love the eyepatch! Hourglass shape with an intense focus on the bust throughout. So really, from the start she was the Morgan we know and love =P
-A few titled "others generics" and "others styleguide head". Fun notes! Apparently eyes being the SAME SIZE ON ALL HEADS is important! Yay! OH MY GOD THERE IS MORE ART AFTER THIS ONE WHY
-Pyrite Parrot concept
-Giant angler fish with a treasure chest instead of a glowy thing. HE EATS PIRATE SHIPS.
-Probably giant seahorse thing!
-MANATEE
-Character silhouettes. Dear God why can't this gallery end? WHY DID I START ON THIS FOOLHARDY QUEST?!
-Some Voodoo lady stuff. Some in color. Some sketches. You know. The deal.
-Club 41, color.
-DeCava hut. Sketch.
-LeChuck's ship. Color.
-Flotsam bar. Sketch.
-Flotsam City Hall. Sketch.
-Club 41. Sketch.
-Glassblower shop. Sketch.
-Flotsam map with notes.
-It's the map, it's the map, it's the map, it's the map, I WANT TO EAT AND SEE MY FAMILY.
-Marquis lab sketch.
-Newspaper building sketch.
-FLOTSAM SKYLINE
-FLOTSAM SKETCH
-FLOTSAM COLOR
-FLOTSAM SKETCH
-Glassblower shop
-Color hut concept
-Color lab concept. I hold on only because I can see the end. It's in sight.
-Guybrush's ship's deck. Sketch. Hahha. Sketch. You say it enough times and IT WILL DRIVE YOU INSANE.
-Hey look. It's Guybrush's ship. Again. *twitch*
-OH JOY IN LIVING COLOR. BROUGHT TO YOU BY TECHNICOLOR. IT'S WALT DISNEY'S LECHUCK'S EPISODE 1 SHIP.
-LeChuck Ship.
-LeChuck ship with notes.
-LeChuck ship template WITH NOTES
-The Narwhal
-Voodoo hut interior sketch
-....um, this is totally a thing. There's that saxaphone stone thing, um. Guybrush is hanging from it. Crossed out. USELESS. Things crossed out. Equation. Reference to firkens. NOT ENOUGH. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THIS IS. MAYBE TRYING TO DOCUMENT THIS GALLERY HAS DRIVEN ME PAST THE BRINK OF SANITY. NORMAL NOTES NOW COME OUT AS CRAZYSPEAK. HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA
-oh hey look altar sketch
-altar bbq
-artifacts sketches. Turtle n' friends.
-Voodoo lady chair/table.
-Mouse-powered elctromachine sketch.
-hey look espon JA LIKE IN JAWS
-Columns sketch.
-That giant head thing. Sketch.
-That head again. Only different.
-Prison poster. I was in prison once. A prison of my own mind. Heheh. Heh. Heh. *twitch*
-Submarine
-Voodoo items.
-Voodoo dolls
-Painting of the beast.
-Merfolk painting.
-And we close on the anatomy of a pirate from Episode 1. Wait, close? We're done? I'M FREE. YES. FREE. FREE AT LAST TO BREATHE THE FRESH AIR! TO FEEL THE WIND IN MY FACE! TO LOVE, TO LAUGH, TO LIVE!
My main gripe with the DVD is that it feels like they went into it with better intentions. Due in part to what was said on the commentary, it feels to me like there were much bigger and better plans for it, then the Universal license came along and the company found themselves stretched so thin that the Tales DVD was set aside until they could put all the content onto it that they intended, until eventually it had been sitting aside for too long and they finally just put it out. It seems like there was so much more they wanted to put on it. Yet another reason I'm dubious about the Universal deal and Telltale taking on two new games at once.
Also, no DVD credits, unless they're really well hidden, but judging by the rest of the DVD, I won't hold my breath.
I'll be honest, I might have gotten a little carried away with this, so I spoiler tagged it just in case. I don't think I gave away too much, and I certainly only scratched the surface of what's on there, but...you've been warned. And...er, sorry about the links showing through the tag.
But the best part is what we haven't previously seen. There's both pencil sketches and colored concept art of just about anything you can think of. For example, the early pencil sketches of De Singe are nearly unrecognizable, and they really show a lot about what sort of character they originally intended him to be. All the original sketches of Morgan include an eyepatch. There's also a few pieces that include feedback sent back from LucasArts, as well as several things that didn't make it into the final game, like a demon version of Guybrush, or the original design for LeChuck that looks like a walrus. And there's plenty more that I haven't mentioned.
I hope that was a small enough hint for you.
Edit: Dammit, Dashing! Well, at least I didn't give away as much as you did, so there's an alternative for the spoiler-shy.
Our stuff isn't stored at our own warehouse, it's stored at a place called North Bay Distribution, I believe. And while it's not literally what you describe, it was close. Bonnie had to go down there a week or two ago to help them assemble and pack the mountain of DVDs to send out. There are no happy robots doing it or something, it is a warehouse staff staring at palettes of Monkey Island merchandise, realizing they have to put it all together (including building the treasure chest boxes from their original flattened state), and then shipping them out. Fortunately from photos in this thread, it looks like they're finally arriving and looking nice!
My imagination tells me something like that they could have three thousand orders or more waiting to be packaged, (who knows how many of those are preorders, and remember preorders started in March) with a hundred or so more new orders coming in every week... and that's only for ToMI, while Telltale has other stuff also needing to be shipped, and they're not North Bay Dist.'s only client, meaning there's even more stuff from other companies waiting to be sent.
Not that I've ever worked in a warehouse, but I consider that after a while of putting together the same merch, you kind of get into a rhythm of how to put it all together in a timely fashion.
Say I'm being liberal on time spent per deluxe edition set, and estimate that a person takes about 15 minutes per set (which is way more than enough time, I would think.)
15 minutes per set @ 8 hours per day; 4 sets per hour = 32 sets per day per person = 160 sets per week per person.
If there are... say 4 people at any given time working on building ToMI Deluxe Edition sets, 4*160 = 640 sets per week. If we assume that at least 100 more orders come in every week, that leaves at most 540 sets from the current number being completed every week. If there really are 3,000 orders in the current pile, it would take them over 5 and a half weeks to get them all done before they were caught up.
Now, I'm probably not accurately estimating the real-world numbers of these, but I figure the ratio of number-of-workers to time-spent-per-worker to number-of-orders-waiting to number-of-incoming-orders ought to be somewhat close. So I assume if the number of orders is actually larger, then there either would be more people working on them or those working on them would work faster or both... and in any case, after running these numbers it sounds to me like there's still another month or more even before just all the preorders get shipped.
Which is to say I'm not holding my breath waiting to get mine soon, even though it does say it's in the warehouse (and has been there for a while now.)
ooh i love assembling packages! it was my favorite part when i worked for a month at a factory/warehouse thingy. I hated when the boss guy said that we could stop.
Just send me everything flattened and in pieces and i'll assemble the box myself!
i have learned my lesson. Now i'll only order pizza from them
I would love to see a picture of that warehouse mountain!
^ [Reposts the picture from Raider's of the Lost Ark :P]
Though I've already slightly damaged one of the art prints, sadly
And the corners are a bit folded, but nothing bad.
Other than that, great stuff!
I got a package just now. Like, really just a few minutes ago.
Okay... I'm not expecting any packages, so what could it be?
WTF? It's from Telltale!
Okay... umm... I only remember ordering ToMI recently, but my order on their website still says it's in the warehouse.
No... It can't be. Can it?
IT IS!! omg omg omg omg omg omg...
Now let's just hope I don't have a cursed set of cards and abuse the mojo out of them.
Let's hope it's our case too though.
BTW: The numbers on my tape measure are inches; 1 in. = 2.54 cm.
.... okay, so putting all the infamy that TTG has gained from this aside for a second, I do feel a lot better about the merch and the way that it looks now that I actually have it in my hands.
The DVD is shrinkwrapped, which why it shows up all shiny.
And that's my Ziploc bag, not Telltale's. I thought it'd be a good way to keep the extra stuff safe and "pure as a mountain goat."
edit: at first I was going to say it looks like cardboard, but making a drink coaster out of cardboard would be foolish, since it would effectively be like thick paper. Cork makes more sense. Still, I wouldn't recommend using it for drinks that sweat.
but arnt coster suppost to cost