Hi everyone, Todd here.
2021 has been a whirlwind year for Retro Frog. When I started Retro Frog in December 2020 just 2 weeks before Christmas, I wasn't sure what kind of success I would have. I had a couple good ideas, but beyond that there wasn't much. I launched with the Gamecube 40mm fan adapter and the Xbox 1 40mm GPU fan adapter and that's it. I quickly followed up with the Xbox 70mm Nexus fan adapter later that month. Sales were good and showed that the idea for my own shop had some legs.
Fast forward to 1 year later. 2021 turned out to be a spectacular year. I have seen massive success with multiple products throughout the year: The RetroTink 5x vertical stand has sold beyond my wildest dreams. The Gamecube GC Video support braces for the Carby, Prism and GCHD MKII have also enjoyed massive success (thanks for the idea Bob!). MASE, the SATA hard drive add-on for MiSTer FPGA consoles has honestly been more popular than I initially thought it would be. And then there is the Nintendo 64 Wireless dongle braces for the Retro Fighters, Retro-bit and Hyperkin wireless controllers. I have probably sold more of these than anything else. Lots and lots of people order 2 or even 4 of them so clearly people like their wireless N64 controllers.
A couple of design wins this year: I designed the case for the MSDEXP for MobiusStripTech and I licensed out my OSSC classic case to Matt Buxton and Markus. Based on suggestions from Markus, I updated the design and made some adjustments and Matt via Video Game Perfection now offers an injection molded version of the case! Incredible. Plus expect some other products next year to come out that I did the case/plastics work on. ;)
Winding down here in 2021, we have had over 3000 orders this year! Over 2800 from the main Retro Frog shop, another 300+ from the Etsy shop (it offers a smaller selection of goods) and a few dozen on eBay when I was experimenting with their Global Shipping Program. Had you told me that I would ship 3000 orders this year, back in January, I wouldn't have believed you. To help keep up with demand I have increased my print farm size. When I started Retro Frog I had just a Creality Ender 3. Soon after I bought my first Prusa MK3 printer. A few months later and I bought another MK3. Over the course of the year I have added 5 Prusa Mini printers for a total of 8 printers in operation.
So what does the future have in store for Retro Frog? Expect a new logo design and some fresh, new year 2 branding to happen very, very soon. Along with that comes all new stickers (yay!) and finally merch. I plan to offer Retro Frog shirts through a 3rd party service in the coming months. I still need evaluate who I want to use, but I have some early ideas in mind. Also, as mentioned earlier, expect to see more products come out over the course of the next year that I worked on.
Well, that about wraps up this blog post. I know it's been a while since I posted one and I meant to post them throughout the year as I had time, but to be honest, I just haven't had the time. But that's a New Years resolution for 2022.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Todd Gill