🧭 April Dispatch: The Season Unfolds

March carried the expedition into one of its busiest stretches in recent memory, beginning with a hard-earned milestone as our order queue was reduced to just twenty remaining pieces. That momentum carried us into a rapid succession of three shows: Awesome Con in Washington, D.C., MegaCon in Orlando, Florida, and C2E2 in Chicago, Illinois. Along the road, we were met with both opportunity and challenge, including a rare snowfall in Virginia and a trailer setback just north of Atlanta that we were fortunately able to overcome without losing our footing.

Washington brought a remarkable surge of new attention, with more than double the number of visitors discovering our work compared to the year prior, and we owe a great deal of that journey to the help of our friend Graven Ravenwolf. Returning home for MegaCon marked a major step forward as we moved from Artist Alley to the general vendor floor, opening the door to a wider audience while still reconnecting with so many familiar faces. The journey concluded in Chicago at C2E2, closing out the first leg of the season on a strong note.

With the road now behind us for a short time, the expedition returns to the workshop as the order queue has grown once again to over 180 pieces awaiting completion. March also saw the quiet launch of our new IONOX Media newsletter, with April marking the beginning of its full rollout, including two monthly dispatches featuring updates, new artifacts, and subscriber-only provisions. If you would like to receive these messages from the trail, you can enlist here:
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⚙️ Workshop Log: Tending the Instruments

With the expedition returned home, our first focus turns to restoring and refining the workshop itself. We have begun a round of maintenance and upgrades, including the replacement of lenses and mirrors across both of our laser systems, a small detail on the surface but a meaningful step forward in our day-to-day operations. These improvements will allow the tools of the workshop to run with greater precision and reliability. With everything brought back into proper order, we expect to move through the current queue with renewed speed and consistency.
 

🧭 Dispatch on Provisions & Pricing

We have an important update to share about our pricing. For years we held the line as material costs rose around us, doing everything possible to keep our work accessible without compromising its craftsmanship. That time has finally caught up with us, and in order for the expedition to continue forward, we’ve had to adjust our prices across the board. This wasn’t a decision made lightly, but one made so we can keep creating the maps, landmarks, and artifacts that define our journey. We’re grateful for everyone who has supported us through every season, and we hope these changes are met with the same understanding you’ve always given us. Our wooden art remains available through Etsy and Shopify, our textile designs live under Retro-Realm on Redbubble, and The 3rd Unit continues its run in both print and digital form on Amazon.
 

🔭 Mission Log: New Charts on the Horizon

The opening run of the season brought with it the debut of nearly a dozen new artifacts, each one expanding the reach of the expedition’s catalog. Our full line of Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 4 designs has now made its way online, joined by the long-awaited XS Tech logo and the newly unveiled map of Universal Orlando’s Epic Universe. These pieces mark a major step forward in both scale and scope, and we are excited to finally place them into the hands of collectors.
 

With those charts now released, our attention turns to the next wave of work already taking shape on the drafting table. The attraction map for Men in Black: Alien Attack and the city map of Ironforge from World of Warcraft are both nearing completion, each bringing their own level of detail and challenge to the workshop. Close behind them, we will begin a new series of tribute pieces honoring the original 1982 EPCOT Center, including a full opening-day park map and ride schematics for Spaceship Earth, Horizons, World of Motion, and Living with the Land.

If all goes to plan, these pieces will arrive before the end of July, adding another major chapter to the expedition’s growing archive. Should the series find its footing, we may also expand the collection further with wooden renditions of the original pavilion logos. As always, the drafting table remains full, and the road ahead is rich with new discoveries waiting to be brought to life.
 

🌅 Forward Momentum: Regaining the Rhythm

With March now behind us, the expedition turns its full attention back to the workshop, focusing on bringing the current order queue steadily to completion. Along the way, we will make a brief return to the field for a one-day appearance at the Happiest Market in Kissimmee, Florida on April 24th. Beyond that, the road remains quiet until the end of May, giving us a valuable window to restore momentum and move through production with both speed and care.

No expedition endures on its own. Each mile forward is made possible by those who walk this path with us in spirit, whether you have long been a collector of our work or have only just discovered it. Your enthusiasm, encouragement, and belief in what we create continue to fuel everything ahead, and for that, we offer our deepest thanks.

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— Mike & Kara
IONOX Media: M & K Cartography