MirrorCave - A glimpse of the inner dark
Updated: Dec 16, 2021
You approach closer, ever cautious. The image starts to reveal while the shadows refuse to step away...
Now live, the latest offering from Tinkerer's Cove - The MirrorCave. Featuring black stone and mirror fragments, this release captures the essence of a renewed Palpatine. The first twenty will feature a Tinkerers' Cove stand and all crystals will have a lore placard to commemorate the item.
Discovered shortly after the final demise of the mysteriously revived Emperor, these crystals were found during an archeology mission to Ach-To. Having traced the crucial events back to this island, a private firm has started to catalog and recover as many relics as they can. These crystals were discovered and extracted from a wading pool on the lower end of the island at the mouth of a yet to be excavated cave. The discovering technician is still recovering from the expedition as she was discovered clutching the satchel of these crystals after missing for hours. These crystals feature a translucent black and gray resin with embedded black pebbles and mirror fragments. Each one carries the spirit of Emperor Palpatine and will work with both Holocrons and lightsabers from Savi's. Each item is made to order.
Disclaimer items: Each item is handmade and requires ramp up time to produce and ship. Some may appear more smoky or black as the resin blending process lends itself to unique outcomes. A single RFID module is in the core of the crystal and allows it to be read from either end using a proprietary design. The first twenty will be sold with a custom Tinkerers' Cove base later to be featured as an add-on item. All crystals include a lore placard that tells the experience of the expedition technician.
Recovered from the dark, reflective cave on Ahch-To, this Mirrorcave crystal is now available. This contains the essence of Palpatine using the new proprietary Tinkerer's Cove core system. The first twenty will include our new 'crater' style crystal holder which features our logo on the front along with magnets to connect them side by side should you add any more to your collection. https://www.etsy.com/TinkerersCove/listing/1038757957
After the success of the Krayt Pearl, we went back to the traditional shape from Batuu and wondered how to put our own twist to it. Talks of duality, balance of the Force and chosen destiny brought us to the MirrorCave. The idea was that everyone has a little darkness and a little light inside of them - even if they are the chosen one. So we set out to try and pay our tribute to the imagery found in Episode VIII. Whether you love or hate it, few could deny that the scene of the caves was gorgeous.
Our very first offerings were known as the Elemental Series. Being who we are, we of course dived straight into doing embedded mediums within our resin work. These early items had sand, seashells and ribbon placed within the crystals as symbols of their respective elements. We knew how to do this, we just needed the right material. While talking about this concept, we were driving home from a trip to the parks. That's when it hit us. Aquarium pebbles. We pulled off at an exit and found a Pet store and craft store next to each other. What a dangerous combination..... Having secured the perfect pebbles, some crushed mirror fragments and a new adopted cat (that is it's own story), we set a path home.
We knew this was something special. No one else in the custom kyber world was playing around with embedded mediums with exception to alcohol ink and mica. And while we had done it before, that was before the success of the Krayt. Lessons learned with the pearl paid off significantly. How could we fit the chip with all this in the way? And how could the chip work either way? Easy enough to fix with the Pearl's redesigned core system. Borrowing this idea and making it modular let us bulk production and significantly lower our losses due to chip placement. Better yet, this crystal could work either side with only a single RFID chip installed. Less loss, less cost and full function from either orientation.
And while the technical attributes were cool - those don't sell to regular buyers. We wanted this to truly stand out and figured why not let it do just that? So while S took the reigns on discovering the proper ratio of colorings and pour patterns for the crystal, K set out to design a stand to hold this new offering. The result was a simple but inspired stand that features the logo on the face and an crater impact influenced core. Either side would feature an embedded magnet to allow multiple stands to 'link' together in a display case.
The only remaining task was how to announce it. Something new. Something different. Drum up curiosity. We are still a small fish in a shrinking pond and wanted to catch attention in various groups since our direct following was minimal. Being that this source material was a division in the fanbase, it made sense to take a clinical, academic approach. Remove the feelings and make this a research event. A framework of a character was drafted up and used as our feature expedition leader. Purposely left vague to further play on the idea of seeing inside yourself, this character was initially little more than a shadow so a buyer could place themselves in the role. While we later expanded this character, it started as a reflection.
There was definitely some satisfaction in this design. We took a controversial movie of the series, refined our own technical craft while starting down a path of homebrew lore. While the Pearl was the mark of making a name for ourselves, the MirrorCave is where we decided what type of brand to be and how our story telling and quality control would drive us forward.
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