"Since it is usually my presumption that things will go terribly awry, off the rails so to speak, possibly off a cliff to be submerged in lava, whenever I hear about a fan project - pure of heart, as I said, done only in reverence - I try to avoid mentioning it. I hate that, but if the powers that be can pinpoint a single S&M Strawberry Shortcake amongst the high-grown wilds of Interspace, I don't want to be the one to instigate a good and proper foxing." -- Tycho, Penny Arcade from 12/14/05.

Is this a coded explanation for why PA hasn't mentioned the shirts, or am I hallucinating? :\ I've hallucinated before. It's entirely possible.

It's possible to take it that way (I was certainly worried when I read it), but I think he makes it pretty clear immediately after that he's talking about other things. And besides, we're not exactly at risk for getting 'foxed'; the only one who could possibly be said to own ELotH are Tycho and Gabe, and it seems fairly clear they don't intend to sue over the shirts.

Ja. Those things did occur to me -- who would fox us? Possibly some irate member of fandom who feels he wasn't given due? That's why I picked a rather ambiguous design, though, that fit the spirit of Epicness.<br/>
All the same, even though they must be crazy busy with CP and the gala dinner's aftermath, I wish I knew why the monolith hasn't spoken.<br/> (Did my tag experiment work? There should be a breakline.)

Foiled again by formatting!

Yeah, it is slightly upsetting. Some of the shirts don't even have bids out on them yet.

Speaking of which; what do we do if all the shirts in this batch don't sell? Have they been printed yet (in which case we'd have to do something with the extras) or are they going to be printed after the auctions? I hate to sound pestimistic, but if we don't get any coverage it seems that this will pretty much be 'it' for the bids we're getting.

That's basically what has me wondering. I know they aren't obliged to do a thing just because we decided independently to make some noise over here. But I don't know why they wouldn't, and wouldn't want to, give a boost to a project which is clearly the outgrowth of many projects of their own. They've been emailed about it a few times already.

Don't worry Charmy, I've been doing all sorts of worrying like that. (It's wise to consider, not pessimistic.) The shirts have not yet been printed, because we need the sizes of the buyers. But if we don't sell at least 12 we have no hope of breaking even. As it is, assuming we sell 12, we'll have to slash something about the shirt quality to get any money to send to CP. I hasten to add that this would be a miscalculation on my part, and that I should've set a lower price/offered a different number or quality of shirts. But more exposure wouldn't hurt, ja?

12 shirts will sell, this I foresee.

WOO! All faith restored, all dislikes banished like a bad dream. Wanged we have been. Victory is surely ours!

What a happy turn of events. Fourteen shirts bid on. And I wouldn't be surprised if we got a few more. Victory indeed.

awesomeness. *^_^* I....I want one. T_T But I am a poor college student who can barely afford gas. Me thinks it is time to hit up the parents. (So mom, dad, you really want to get me this for Christmas, right? Right? Right???)

That oughta do it. There are some not yet bid upon, but it's hard to tell how many will be left on Monday. I expect the tide will gradually ebb, and you'll get your chance. ;D

Holy crow, there's a bid of $51? There's still shirts not bid on and someone bid $51! Even if there are some left on Monday, it isn't going to matter. The high bids on a bunch of the other shirts will cover it. This is, I think, a surprising level of success.

Agreed. Right now, at the number of shirts sold and the total money to be paid, 50% of what we earn is going straight to child's play in the form of $285. And that's not even considering the other shirts yet unbought and the possibility of last-minute bids!

Why does it say 5 there? Oh! The dollar sign?

285 bucks is what it should say.

I'm quite pleased with how that first batch went. I think it's safe to say that it exceeded expectations. Best of luck with the next round, then?

It definitely exceeded expectations! Thankya, Charmy. :) Even if no more bidding goes on these next shirts, we should be able to send about $330 to CP now. That's the current tally.

Gah! Dang dollar signs. 330 bucks, not 0. That would be horrible.

I win!

Congratulations! :P So, the auctions are finished. What's the final haul?

Finding that out currently. *drumroll*

$300! Mission accomplished! The money has been loaded in the money cannon and fired at Child's Play. Take that, sick children in need of entertainment!

God, I hate this thing. It's 300 dollars, not zero. I sound like a monster.

But in all seriousness, I'm proud of everyone for contributing to this and of all the buyers for having taken up the idea and been willing to bid. Woooo!