From Altered Gravity Wrestling to Musical Houseplants, Here Are the 8 Best/Worst Philly Kickstarter Projects
Since its debut in 2009, crowdfunding platform Kickstarter* has helped raise over $1 billion in donor pledges, with more than 1,500 Kickstarter projects launched in Philadelphia to date. Here are some of our favorite (and least favorite) Philly Kickstarter projects out there right now.
MIDI Sprout
What It Is: A device that allows your houseplant to play a synthesizer, MIDI Sprout (a “biodata sonification device”) is just awesome. Seriously, watch their video, and then get out your credit card. A $10,000 donation gets you a “custom durable installation” in your home, and if that’s not the perfect conversation piece for your next party, I don’t know what is.
Raised to Date: $19,812 of $25,000 goal
Click here to donate.
Wiretap Playing Cards
What It Is: Hand drawn (with pencil) playing cards inspired by NSA mass surveillance paranoia. Edward Snowden is the Jack of Spades, while Julian Assange gets Jack of Hearts.
Raised to Date: $3,933 of $13,500 goal
Click here to donate.
KNO Clothing
What It Is: KNO Clothing is “bringing the t-shirt back to America” with their “ultra-premium” USA-made t-shirts, and for every shirt they sell, they “hand-deliver an article of clothing to someone on the streets.”
Raised to Date: $7,915 of $10,000 goal
Click here to donate.
Space Fighting
What It Is: Altered-gravity fighting. This Norristown guy wants to hire a pilot, rent a plane, and stage mixed martial arts events on parabolic flights.
Raised to Date: $0 of $445,000 goal
Click here to donate.
Chicken Fight
What It Is: This film project from Philly dance artists Nicole Bindler and Gabrielle Revlock is “a nonlinear, narrative, feminist, comedic tour-de-force about romantic love among the Jewish diaspora, set in Berlin, 2014.”
Raised to Date: $3,066 of $1,000,000 goal
Click here to donate.
Romeo & Juliet
What It Is: Curio Theatre Company wants to make a DVD of its controversial lesbian-themed production of Romeo & Juliet. And by controversial, we mean 1,231 comments-controversial.
Raised to Date: $2,012 of $3,500 goal
Click here to donate.
Make Music Philly
What It Is: An all-day music festival. The producers say 300 performers will be involved on June 21st.
Raised to Date: $1,721 of $20,000 goal
Click here to donate.
Mimoto Smart Pen
What It Is: A Bluetooth-enabled pen that will allow you to record your handwriting in real-time to your computer.
Raised to Date: $1,581 of $50,000 goal
Click here to donate.
Kickstarter Philly Hall of Fame
Here are the 10 Philly Kickstarter projects that raised the most money:
| Title | Goal | Raised |
|---|---|---|
| The Order of the Stick Reprint Drive | $57,750 | $1,254,120 |
| Who Is John Galt? | 250,000 | 446,907 |
| Grimm Fairy Tales Animated Series | 175,000 | 188,970 |
| Dispatch: The Internet, Faster | 50,000 | 107,622 |
| New Renaissance Studio Album | 44,000 | 92,531 |
| On the Other Side of the Fence | 87,000 | 87,190 |
| The Carpenter Collection | 10,000 | 73,564 |
| Auditorium 2: Duet | 60,000 | 71,061 |
| Smart Guys | 27,575 | 71,050 |
| Sam Katz's Philadelphia: The Great Experiment | 53,500 | 65,777 |
* If you’re unfamiliar with Kickstarter, it’s a site that helps people raise money for their projects. You ask for a certain amount of money and offer donor rewards in return. If you reach your fundraising goal, you get the money (minus Kickstarter’s fees, of course). If you don’t meet your goal, you get zilch.
