The Last Patch... (Patreon)

We were informed last night by our manufacturer that all PVC patch manufacturing has been shuttered in the United States. As you know, we have always made our products in the USA or nations that share secular western values. Our company has always strived to be ethical in how we treat our fans, employees and how we conduct business in the world.

We learned this while preparing an upcoming run of patches, planned for release in October as a Patreon exclusive. (See attached image)

This patch was to be the first patch in a new series, drawn from a unannounced project currently in development. You might have seen the teasers in our Instagram and FB responses, but we've decided to  announce this new project here today.

Echelon has initiated development of an animated mini-series for release in late 2019 early 2020. We have begun discussions with key team members in the Japanese animation industry with the anticipation of visiting Tokyo in early 2019 with a screenplay and storyboards to begin mapping out what production would look like for both costs and timelines.

This is an entirely new series, cast and location - set several years in the future, though you might see a few familiar scenes from the books :)

For sure, this would not be a typical anime production, but we want to bring the same visual qualities of the graphic novels to life as animation.

Why are we talking about this today? We are asking you, our most dedicated fans, do you want this patch if we have to manufacture it in China? Please comment below, either way.

Regardless of your decision...we will not be offering reprints or any other patches moving forward, until we can find alternate manufacturing source. Thank you for the year of support that has allowed us to create the best graphic novel in the BPRE series.

Jon Chang