Just want to say i really enjoyed the first couple pages of this thread. And boo velvet's comment specifically. i think anybody thinking about making a new toy should check this thread out for multiple reasons. It's all there, well mostly part of it is anyways. A few things I am thinking about as my own kickstarter wraps up. I think it would take close to 10,000 to get this done. Not to get the toy made, but to get it done and funded through kickstarter in this fashion. Keep in mind that kickstarter/amazon takes 8-10% so that's 1k right there, then let's say he gets 50 backers... that's 50 boxes to ship, and so on. i do think his rewards were pretty bad, and some other things were a bit off. asking for more money to do glow or glitter seems silly. I guess some places would charge more for glitter as the molds need to be cleaned more than normal afterwards (that is my understanding at least).

I like the mention about getting yourself partway there. I asked for way less than i needed, but it was driven out of pure fear that i wouldn't make the first goal, since it's an all or nothing deal.

Story... this is something i struggle with all the time, not because i don't have the stories or a good background to the character, just that they are stuck in my head so nobody else knows about them. I think story/background is pretty dang important. And if your dude looks like some veiny ultraman dude with not a lot of detail or expression, then the story should come first either through comics, or film, or loads of imagery. Anybody can sketch out a tough dude in their notebook and then say let's make a toy. Ya gotta show your dude in action, and like more than a few people mentioned, build up to something giant like this project.

Ok... I think that's my 2 cents. Don't give up. Come at this again and again until you get it.