Brawl in the Family Ultimate Edition + Dededoll!

Update & A Humble Ask for Optional International Shipping Help
10 months ago – Fri, Dec 12, 2025 at 08:14:20 AM

The first batch has been packed and shipped out! Still plenty to go but I’ll stay on top of it! The days are long but I have help so it’s not so bad.

I do need to be frank and honest about an issue that’s causing me a lot of stress, however: international shipping has gone up significantly since I set the prices last year. Due to a myriad of factors (holiday season shipping, tariffs, Canadian postal strike, and prices simply shooting up since 2024), nearly every international package has gone up at least $10, and sometimes as much as $60 more in the case of some areas in Australia and Brazil!

The big one is shipping to our friends in Canada though, thanks to the large number of customers there and particularly UPS’s hidden fees. UPS (my cheapest option) prices a book to Canada at $30, so that’s what I listed as the shipping cost when setting up this Kickstarter. However, as I just found out yesterday, once the book ships, they hit you with an additional $27+ “import fee” i.e. “brokerage fee” on top of that initial postage! That means that the 90-or-so Canadian orders for BitF are suddenly going to cost me almost $30 apiece, for a bone-crunching charge of $2500 overall!

Under normal circumstances I might be okay just eating the cost entirely, but there’ve already been a number of very expensive hurdles I’ve dealt with so far. I didn’t raise my prices for tariffs, for instance, which also added thousands more I hadn’t planned for.  Complicating matters further was Canada's postal strike that led to confusion, lost packages, and just more money disappearing in general.

But despite all that, I still don’t think it’d be right to hold your packages hostage by having you pay these extra hidden fees yourself.

So DO NOT WORRY!! All the worldwide backers will still be receiving their package! 

You do not HAVE to do anything. But given the situation, I would greatly appreciate if you could help me cover these additional shipping costs. The heavy weight of the book (making cheaper shipping options unavailable) combined with the distinctive way UPS pulled the rug out from under me has just led to me taking a massive hit given the number of worldwide orders. The world market is just so volatile right now…

Here’s how you can help!

• 1) Go to the preorder store: https://bitf.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders#store
• 2) Click the “Shipping Charge” icon—it used to be a Tip Jar but I repurposed it.
• 3) Add the amount you’d like to help with! It’s in increments of $10, $30, and $50 so you can contribute multiples (i.e. 2 “orders” of $10 if you want to help cover that). Then just check out.

Please keep in mind that these figures are simply what it costs to export a package of this size/weight from the US right now, and whatever isn’t paid, I have to cover.

I’m sorry to throw all this at you guys so late in the process but the cost is just way beyond what I expected. It's unpleasant that I even have to ask this, especially around the holiday season when budgets are tight. But it's even more unpleasant to be slapped with mandatory hidden fees, which is why—again—everyone will receive their package regardless! No cancelations.

PS: In case you missed it, the old brawlinthefamily.com site is on the way out, and the new site for seeing BitF comics is https://bitf.matthewtaranto.com. Thanks to lots of help from the Comix Cleric guys who rebuilt the archive for me! They've got a Kickstarter going to help get their platform off the ground for aspiring webcomic artists.

Thanks for your time! Back to packing I go...

-Matthew

13,200+ pounds of books are at my house!
10 months ago – Wed, Dec 10, 2025 at 01:38:29 PM

HOORAY! After a stressful several months, and coming in a little sooner than I'd feared, the Brawl in the Family: Ultimate Edition hardcovers have finally arrived at my home!

This was taken after 5 of the 10 (!!) pallets were unloaded off the truck.

Here are the boxes in my garage after I'd brought a few of them in.

Our Christmas decor this year includes plenty of 12 x 10 x 7" empty boxes! Sammy the cat is curious about all the bustle.

The books are out and lookin' good! Time to get signing...

Okay! I've already sent out the high-priority orders so I'm going to be working my tooter off to get rest of these bad boys (and their Dededoll companions) out to you guys over the next week. It's gonna be the packing show over at our house as we open, pack, and send out a ton of books. Or 6.5 tons, rather!

If your order did NOT include a Brawl in the Family book, you should have already gotten your Doll/Cards/Waluigi stuff OR it should be on the way already. If not, please message me! Again, this is only for people whose orders did NOT include the big BitF book.

Thank you for your patience! I can't in good conscience promise that everyone will get theirs before Christmas Day but I can promise you this--I'll be doing everything in my power to get as much done as possible as fast as possible. It's the packing show over here at the Taranto house, with family members lending a hand and me working more-or-less around the [freshly-cleaned] clock.

Lastly, you may have noticed the old Brawl in the Family site is kind of...falling apart and glitchy (if it works at all). The good news is that my buddies at Panel Party transferred all the old comics using their new Comix Cleric engine and moved it to my new (under construction) site. So if you want to get your BitF fix from now on, check it out at bitf.matthewtaranto.com And Comix Cleric has their own Kickstarter to help aspiring webcomic artists make comics that can easily be shown and edited across a variety of devices! Check out the video in the link, and you might even hear me at one point...!

I'll send another update when there's more to say, but for now I gotta get moving! I hope you all have Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas. (v'.')>

-By Matthew

November Update 2: Small Delay and Bonuses
11 months ago – Sat, Nov 22, 2025 at 11:33:20 AM

Hello and happy Thanksgiving, backers! I’ve got another update about the books and a couple cool things to reveal. I like to be fully transparent with Kickstarter so everyone knows exactly what's going on.

First, the bad news: due to complications with the size of the book, they are taking a longer time to reach me than I’d anticipated, even taking into account past projects. They were sent out overseas around Halloween, but surprisingly aren’t slated to reach me until mid-December now. This has been a source of frustration for me since my goal from the beginning was to deliver everyone’s books in time for Christmas. I was concerned this would happen and I apologize sincerely for the wait.

However, I will immediately get to work at sending out packages upon receiving them so many should still arrive before the 25th. I'll be completing all the fulfillment myself so I can personally ensure that they go directly to the post office with no unnecessary bureaucracy. Sending out 1,500+ big ol’ packages is no small task but as a work-from-homer I can set aside a few days to do so.

A few pieces of good news: first, my liaison is checking on a way to expedite the books to me. They reach the west coast next week in fact, and the remaining time is simply them traveling from California to my home in Louisiana, so that leg of the trip may be able to be sped up. Even one extra week would be a huge relief at sending everything out in time, but we’ll see.

Second, with that extra bit of time, I’ve decided to give you a fun bonus!

It’s an official Brawl in the Family bookmark! This two-sided bookmark is printed on card stock and will be included for free with every book order.

Third, all book backers will also receive an MP3 package of the dozen-or-so BitMusical songs! These include the modern remakes of Ode to Minions and The History of Nintendo, so it makes a fun companion to BitF book. This will be sent out sometime in the next couple days, so check your BackerKit profiles to find it (you should also be receiving an email linking to it).

Fourth and finally, Christmas is my favorite season and I know how important it can be to get your kids or other loved ones a cool gift in time. If you’re in a real time-sensitive situation or this delay is ruining your Christmas plans, please send me a message on KS or email and I'll do my best to help you out. 

Okay, so that’s what’s going on! Thank you for your patience and for your support. You guys have stuck with me for a long time and I appreciate it greatly, so I’m trying to do everything I can to help smooth things over. When I next get a solid idea on when the books will reach me, I’ll let you all know. In the meantime, take care!

-Matthew

First Book is Here, the Rest on the Way! Paper Plates Final Week!
11 months ago – Thu, Nov 06, 2025 at 06:39:47 AM

I have the final book in my hands, and it turned out great! 

The rest of them are en route to my home, but will be here in a matter of weeks, according to my manufacturer. My initial deadline was November so that the books would reach customers with time to spare for the Christmas season, and so far we should still be on schedule. But I’ll let you all know shortly if anything changes. I certainly want everyone to have a BitF-Blue Christmas, but only in the best way possible.

Let’s take a look at the book:

Here it is next to my favorite Kirby game for a size comparison. It's a chub! The Ultimate Edition weighs in at about 6 pounds (~2.7 kg) and 780 pages, and about 11.25" x 8.75" x 1.5". However, I think we did a good job at keeping the pages the right thickness so it doesn't feel overtly clunky to handle. It's solid while still being manageable. The smyth-sewn binding helps ensure that it stays put-together too. And you can see a close shot of the ribbon up above!

This one's at a weird angle but it shows you some of the fanciness going on with the cover. The "BRAWL IN THE FAMILY ULTIMATE EDITION" lettering all has a super-glossy blue foil that classes up the place! In addition, the blue comic-rectangle across the cover has its own level of spot UV gloss happening too, so there're several different levels of shininess on the book's exterior. I think everyone will enjoy it.

A closer look at an expanded comic (compared to the book's initial print) and a demonstration that the book can still open up all the way even despite its massive page-itude.

In short, it's big, it's bold, it's blue! And it'll be ready for sending out soon, once the main shipment arrives on several large palettes.

Lastly, my next book project, Paper Plates--a Paper Mario-style cookbook--has reached its own funding goal! We're entering the final leg for that campaign and are starting to incorporate stretch goals, so take a look! Currently we're aiming to work in recipes from other Mario RPGs, so I'm excited to make that happen!

...And that's it! Exciting times, but now we wait for the full shipment to arrive. I'll keep you all posted. Until next time, enjoy the cooler weather and the upcoming festivities!

-Matthew

PDFs of Brawl in the Family sent out! New book Kickstarter! (October Update)
12 months ago – Tue, Oct 14, 2025 at 07:05:41 AM

Big update today! First up, the wait is (kind of) over--all Kickstarter backers who ordered the physical or digital book should have received the PDF! I went back and forth a little on if I should wait on this or not, but went ahead and did it. It should have been sent out via email. Happy reading! EDIT: It sounds like the PDFs are having trouble reaching many of you; I'm checking with BackerKit support to resolve this ASAP! Stand by.

Second...I'm making another book! It's a Paper Mario-themed cookbook,Paper Plates! It's a collaboration between myself and the culinary artists behind stuff like the Zelda-themed Legend's Cookbook and the official ToeJam & Earl cookbook, so it's going to all taste great too! Except the book itself, don't eat that.

Third: those of you who didn't order the BitF book should've either received your Dededoll and/or cards, OR have them on the way to you! Check your tracking number if you don't; the latest set should've been sent out this morning and you should see some activity in the tracking info by tomorrow at the latest. So between the doll, cards, and PDF, everyone should at least have part of their rewards by now (or within a few days)! The tracking number will only be available for backers who are NOT receiving a physical book! Book order numbers will be coming later.

Fourth, Canada's postal system has been on strike since last month. This makes getting goods to you guys up north tricky since even shipping companies like FedEx may still rely on Canada Post to get to the final destination, meaning the packages may still get lost or returned to me. However, there's apparently been recent progress made where the postal system may resume due to rotating strikes. I haven't forgotten about you backers! If any packages get returned to me, I'll try them again; they should (hopefully?) make it to you at this point. We're in a bit of a limbo!

Finally, the physical books are still slated to be sent out in November as planned! As always, I'll keep you posted when they come in.

I hope you enjoy the new pages, art, and comics. And it would help a lot it if you could spread the word about Paper Plates as well! I can't do it without you, so I greatly appreciate your longtime support over all these years. Thank you!

-Matthew