Soft Circuit: Short Circuit 1.2

Greetings robot enjoyers,

As we teeter on the brink of a New Year, I'd like to offer you a new and long awaited expansion to the Water Unit Line~!



Though they don't have a robot form yet, they already have a potential model function and bug (my metamour was excited about the addition of a shark and wanted to help brainstorm it)!

Designed to cheerfully guide snorkeling tours, Else can get quite snippy with irresponsible tourists. More concerned with protecting the reef than showing sight-seers a good time, this otherwise peaceable unit is rumored to behave aggressively towards travelers who damage coral or drop litter, driving them out of the water early.

Else will be a guaranteed stretch goal in the upcoming campaign, so if you'd like to add their bot-board to your pin collection then get loud and share the campaign around!!

I've been hard at work getting everything else ready for launch (which is in 23 days?? wild)! For those who haven't already met them on the Discord, here's a sneak peek at some of the bear robot art--



And now that the character art is in progress, a reveal of their intended function and bug:

Hash and Heap are stock management units in charge of tracking and distributing retail offerings. They're instructed to crush and toss excess exclusive or seasonal items beyond a certain sell date but, with the help of other units, secretly cache and redistribute the goods to those who could use and enjoy them. Hash units are often employed to handle foods, while Heap specializes in holiday sundries and decoration.

Both bear units will share a joint unlock goal for their default Light colorway, which will include their enamel pins, selective holographic stickers, and robot character art sticker sheets.



That's all for now! I have a few more design reveals incoming, and will of course also excitedly update you here when I receive sample updates on Byte or any other Soft Circuit offerings. 👀

Thank you for being here, and Happy impending New Year!! 🥂🥳

Closing link reminders --  
 
Short Circuit Discord: To see works-in-progress early and hang out with some lovely folks! 💚
Spooky Circuit Pre-Order Store: If you missed out on the last campaign, the pre-order store for Spooky Circuit is still live! 🕸️

Hey robot enthusiasts,

Really exciting sneak peek for you all today: I received images of a first Byte prototype from one of my suppliers!!



As is generally the case with plush manufacturing, it'll probably take a few passes to land on the desired design, but this version already has potential and I'm so stoked.

My adjustment requests include a couple material swaps, removing/adding/changing the color of some embroidery, increasing the size of the tail, and adding more dimension to the nose pattern. I'm also checking to make sure the bandana has a closure mechanism rather than just slipping on and off, since the intention is to offer it as a separate item if desired!

Here's a look at the photos I was sent (left) and a collection of edits with their associated change notes (right) —



A detail I'm absolutely delighted with as-is are the little square paw pads. Perfect peets, no notes!!



I requested a video of Byte being picked up to get an idea of the current leg situation. She'll definitely need looser stuffing, we'll see what can be managed!



No images yet from the other manufacturer; as a reminder, I did contract two of them to produce samples, to increase the odds of quickly landing on something we like. I'm already a bit in love with aspects of this one, but the other supplier was recommended to me as being particularly skilled at handling unusual shapes, so I bet picking the final Byte to run with will be a hard decision in the end.

I'm VERY excited to see the second pass on this version, and also the prototype that the other supplier comes up with, and I hope that you are too!

Before we wrap up this update: I've gone ahead and ordered samples of the five Light line pins, their alternates, and another fun surprise~



The Light units will feature yellow star clutches to mirror the black stars on the Void pins. 🌟

Honeypot handily won the last poll, and will for sure join Heap as an alternate colorway stretch goal!



We're also deviating from the sparkly effect relying on the sandblasted metal itself for this colorway - since the crystal clear tinted enamel is additive, you can't wind up with an effect lighter than the plating itself. That bright green-blue of the mockup feels just perfect for the desired aurora vibe, so I'm going to explore more of a translucency + inlaid glitter effect!

And one last reveal for the night --



A wonderful backer last campaign requested a miniature version of Pause, and I loved the idea. This itty bitty version of a previous favorite will be one of the backer rewards possible to earn! More on that to come as our launch date approaches.

Thanks so much for reading, and please share the Soft Circuit launch party page with anyone you think would be interested!! I hope the holidays have been treating you all kindly. <3

Closing link reminders --  
 
Short Circuit Discord: To see the video of the Byte prototype and hang out with some lovely folks 💚
Spooky Circuit Pre-Order Store: If you missed out on the last campaign, the pre-order store for Spooky Circuit is still live 🕸️

Hello gentle robot enjoyers,

First and foremost, I come bearing results from the past two pre-launch party polls!

The polar bear and brown bear based bot-board designs have tied over and over, so I have decided to go all in on the "Why Not Both??" approach: for the first time ever, a Unit Line will feature two showcase robots!

These big sweethearts needed matching names to mark the occasion, so the brown bear will now be Hash while the polar bear will retain the name Heap. More on their potential function and bugs can be read over on the Short Circuit Discord, and will eventually be shared here as well once their accompanying robot character art is ready. 🐻

As for our first poll -- plush are more expensive items than a BOTH!! solution can sustain, so after securing and maintaining a lead for many weeks, Python will be the next ambassador robot to receive a plush design work-up! If you want to see them become real, please share this campaign around!! Funding more than one plush design is going to be a wild ride, and we could use all the eyeballs we can get. (Remnant fans don't despair, but share extra hard: funding a third plush would be an especially pie-in-the-sky outcome, but I would LOVE to make it happen if enough folks do show up!)

Then without further ado, I would like to introduce the full planned Light Line~



You've already met Hash, Heap, Honeypot, and Transistor, but to round out the group, Trojan the horse joins the mix!

All five are now properly vectored up and will be sent off to sampling. After a bit of waffling I realized I did firmly prefer a yellow-based primary colorway for Light, in part because of its association with our sun and in even bigger part because it helps round out the rainbow of Unit Lines as a whole. The above appearance is what will be sampled for first!

If you did prefer a white pantone, however --

It also occurred to me that since we had copper alternates of two (2) Void units (Remnant and Web), it would be lovely to also produce rainbow anodized versions of two Light units! Heap is naturally a shoo-in on account of polar bears and the northern lights, but the second is up to y'allemaal. Should the other alternate be Honeypot (because of blue orchard bees) or Transistor (the elemental design of the Line, like Web was)? Vote in the poll at the end of the update to choose!

Finally, perhaps a bit out of left field and decidedly self-indulgent, but an additional soft item popped into my head and wouldn't leave me alone!



Robot fingerless gloves based on Byte's paws!! I've found a potential supplier and requested a couple of sublimation printed sample prototypes, one polyester–spandex and one polyester with added fleece backing, to compare the feel and visual results. These are also a bit pie-in-the-sky, but if the samples turn out well and we gather enough funding momentum then they will also be added to the campaign as a stretch goal.

Those are the main updates for the moment! Still awaiting the Byte plush prototypes; I reached out to those suppliers last week and both indicated their samples were in the embroidery stage, so hopefully sooooon. 👀

I hope you are all staying cozy and safe this December. <3

Closing link reminders --

Short Circuit Discord: The disc-orb gets Circuit 'verse ponderings and sketches extra early, and saw both the gloves and Trojan days ago! Come join us, if you'd like. 💚
Spooky Circuit Pre-Order Store: If you missed out on the last campaign, the pre-order store for Spooky Circuit will remain live until surveys lock! 🖤

Hello bot enthusiasts!

It's approaching three weeks since I contracted two suppliers for their takes on a Byte plush prototype, so I'm hoping we'll have a first look very soon. 👀

But until then -- I've been pushing forward on the new pin designs!!



Here are tidied up sketches for possible bear bot-boards. As promised, there's a poll attached to this update for y'all to help choose which one will become the showcase unit of the Light line! Though they may both get the chance to become pins (more bears, more better!!), whichever is chosen will be the basis for the corresponding robot design as well. c:

One will be named Heap and the other might be BASIC (just the bear necessities)! More on them later.



Pantone fiddling for Light! I'm leaning toward the pale yellow hard enamel of the second row with the purpleish transparent enamel overlay of the last row, and either copper or rose gold plating, but nothing is quite final. I'll get a couple of these vectored up this week to start sampling for them as well! The bee will be named Honeypot, and the heart, the elemental board of the line, is Transistor.

More designs coming soon, for both pins and the possible second plush. ;3 If you want to see even more sneak peeks and works-in-progress, join the Short Circuit Discord!

Please vote below if you have a bear preference, and keep sharing the pre-launch party page!! The more folks we have following the campaign, the more likely we are to fund a bunch of new friends!

Hey robot enjoyers,

Thank you so much for following along with Short Circuit 1.2: Soft Circuit! Launching in late January as part of the Pintopia 2026 event, we will seek to bring a whole new realm of robo goodies online - starting first and foremost with the Earth Line's feisty relaxation assistant unit, Byte!!



After sending the above design spec to a whopping six different manufacturers for quotes and additional information, I pared down to the two I thought most likely to do Byte justice and paid them to create prototypes. Since plushies can vary quite a bit more in result between suppliers than the goods I've previously sought to produce, I figured it was worth the extra cost up front to ensure that we land on a solid result in advance of the campaign.

As the image above indicates, Byte will be approximately 20" (51 cm) from paw to paw when laid out, will feature dangly, poseable legs, embroidered details, and an optional bandana "motherboard" accessory to interface with any of the Short Circuit bot-board pins!

It's also very common practice to provide shape and material examples when putting together a design guide such as this, for faster communication. The leg type example photos are of the Magpie Wolf from the recent Feathered Fox Plush campaign - shout out to how wonderful they look, follow this link to check out their pre-order page! The robot friend is the Youtooz Wild Robot plush. I was very encouraged to see the latter, as it showcases the possibility of capturing a robotic aesthetic in a plush doll.



One of the two suppliers already sent me several color book sample images to pick and choose from. Initially just a range of minky, but I asked after 5 mm cuddle and settled on the above combination to try! The grays there are 5 mm, the golds are minky, and I'm pushing for fleece or another flat material for the greens; I'm hoping pile height difference between the various fabrics will help sell the "jointed" illusion. 5 mm cuddle is so, so soft and still works well for creatures not intended to look fuzzy. I know this from my past endeavors, as I used exactly that fabric type to construct some of my costume work!



The Soft Circuit campaign will of course also feature expansions to the Short Circuit bot-board collection itself. I'll dig into pin designing in earnest soon as well, to begin pin sampling and settle on pantones for the upcoming new Unit Line: Light!



The above are very loose sketches extracted from my sketchbook and subject to change upon clean-up, but represent a few of the designs in progress! They also reveal the first stages of how I've approached a lot of these: draw the target creature more "normally" first, then iteratively break down and simplify them once I've acquainted myself with their shapes.

Beyond the plush, bandana, and pins - depending on how much support and funding this update to the Circuit 'verse draws forth - I would love to explore even more pins, a bandana in the colors of each of the six Unit Lines, larger size bandanas, possibly some other wearable items, and... maybe even a second plush? 👀 I'll need to begin scheming for all of the above, so: if we did make it that far, then which other ambassador bot would you be keen to see in three dimensions? 

Thanks again for tuning in! Vote for your favorite in the poll below, and link Soft Circuit to a comrade or two!!