At long, long last Privateer Press is reporting that not only is the IKCG written, edited, laid-out, printed, proofed, re-printed, and shipped. It has also been received by distributors. Keenly aware that they have a PR problem with the severe delays in releasing this product, they had the excellent taste to display the following on their main page:

Flying pigs spotted off the coast of Washington!
[7/20/04 19:28 GMT]
First reports have started popping up of distributors receiving the Iron Kingdoms Character Guide! We have seen the reprinted sections of the book, and though the additional delay was inconvenient, we are quite happy with the decision to fix the sections that were too dark. The book finally is real, and should be in stores within the next week or sooner…

Note that I’m not holding my breath yet, but I’ll probably feel a little less pessimistic when I head by my FLGS on Friday to pester the staff about whether UPS has shown up yet.

It’s out. Or so they say. Sure, the IKCG showed up at Origins this week, but could it be that Privateer Press has actually managed to write edit, lay-out, proof, print and ship the dang thing for general consumption. Well, that’s what they’d have us think:

The wait is coming to a close, the ulcers are beginning to heal, and the Iron Kingdoms Character Guide is SHIPPING. It’s printed. It’s finished. It’s being packed into boxes, taped shut, slapped with packing slips, and loaded onto trucks.

Heck, they even put out a third preview complete with the forward by Joe Martin, Editor-in-Chief and all-around nice guy.

Unfortunately, my local gaming store doesn’t reserve copies, so I may have to resort to violence when their normal shipment arrives this coming Wednesday. I swear I won’t be responsible for my actions if it is sold out by the time I show up on my lunch break…

The folks at 3rdedition.org managed to shoehorn themselves into the headquarters of Privateer Press and manhandled Matt Wilson into giving them a tour of the facilities. Check out the full article for their take on the good ship Privateer. Now if only somebody that’s going to Origins would be so kind as to pick me up an IKCG and mail it back to me…