Raven YATA : Ultimate Multifunctional Boardgame Bag set

Campaign Summary

These bags were designed and produced by our company based in Japan and are made to hold and protect any size of board game boxes and gamebooks.

It is a sturdy bag that does not lose its shape even when expanded and that I have been particular about being able to carry more comfortably.

As a special for this Kickstarter campaign, we prepared plastic cases for storing board game tokens, with snap-on lids to keep the tokens in place. 

Inside the cases are removable trays, that can separately be taken out for play. In the photo below, shown for pieces from "Catan" as an example.

The inner trays are in clear blue, and comes in two different sizes.

As a special for this Kickstarter campaign, the plastic shrinkwrap is decorated with an original character designed for this purpose!

Articles in Press

Meeple Mountain

https://www.meeplemountain.com/reviews/raven-yata-board-game-bag-review/

Everything Board Games

https://www.everythingboardgames.com/2024/10/raven-yata-ultimate-multifunctional-boardgame-bag-set-kickstarter-review.html

Features

Let me give an explanation about board game bag set

It has 4 notable features.

(1) Everyday usage size, but expandable.

The greatest feature of this bag is its large storage and expandable function.

In expanded state, this bag can fit B5-folders stacked flat on the bottom and can swallow large boxes.

This bag is designed to fit most of the famous huge board games.

So a wide variety of board games can be included.

While we wanted a bag that can fit the largest of board game boxes, we wanted a bag that also could also be used for more regular games and everyday purposes such as commuting, business use, documents, books, forest barbecues...

The solution and feature is that the bag has two sizes. The regular depth can be expanded with 2 inches (5 cm) in order to fit the larger contents, while the regular size is neat enough for train commuting, flights, or carrying around for work or school.

Sizes when expanded and reduced are as follows

In unexpanded state: 6.3" x 12,5" x 16" or 16cm x 32cm x 40cm 

It expanded state: 8.3" x 12,5" x 16" or 21cm x 32cm x 40cm

The bag is enforced to keep its rectangular shape, and is thus also perfect for carrying bottles and food stuff for parties. 

Not only board games, but the whole family can enjoy the benefits of this bag together.

If you have a family, we are sure many of them will agree with your decision to buy this bag.

(2) Sturdy to keep its shape

A bag isn't a bag if it doesn't protect what's inside.

This bag has protective plastic sheets and a metal frame to have it keep its shape.
 

The inside corners are not rounded, all walls have plastic sheeting to let it keep its shape, and a metal frame to keep the shape upright.

This sends potential side shocks into the plastic and the metal frame, protecting the contents from accidental smashes. 

It's a simple design, but it's needed to send any potential side shocks into the plastic walls and the metal frame. This design to protect your board game boxes from corner smashes.

The metal frame helps keeping the brick shape regardless of how you carry the bag, making this a uniquely sturdy bag all the while being expandable. (see below)

The entire design has the purpose of keeping the "brick" shape regardless of how you carry the bag, and while expandable bags aren't uncommon on the market, few of them share this construction and focus.

(3) Swivel connection hardware for shoulder harnesses designed to fit all body types

People come in all sizes, and so do those who play board games. For this purpose, the shoulder belts connect to the bag on rotatable clips, to adapt for varying shoulder width.

As shown below, rotating to allow for different shoulder width.

It fits at least my own shoulder width and is very comfortable.

I also like the accent of the hollow rivets on the metal parts.

Sturdity tests showed that the metal clip snapped out at 400lbs (200kg). With the metal clip gone, the plastic tiles finally snapped at 780lbs (340 kg) weight.

Sturdity tests can be seen here:

(4) Presence of an inner shoulder bag

For use at work, we have also developed an inner bag that can hold a laptop computer and other small items.

This shoulder back has one larger pocket of 7" x 12" (18cm x 30xm) and two smaller of 5" x 6" (12cm x 14cm). 

Typically useful for smartphones, cables, power banks and pen cases.

The inner bag itself is 11" x 15" (28,5cm x 37cm), and easily fits even larger laptops such as a 15.6" Macbook Pro. 

Its sides are cushioned to protect a laptop, and, unless you've crammed Frosthaven into it, fits snugly into the main backpack if wanted. 

This shoulder bag holds the "business" part of the backpack set.

So how about games?
Of course, you can carry slimmer game boxes in it, but specifically it holds typical TTRPG books.
B5 slips in nicely, but as you can see, so does A4. In fact, they even go in sideways.

The token case set

These are, as the name suggests, plastic token cases with lids, but with removable trays inside to not only keep the tokens in plays, but to easily take out just the token trays that you want to use. 

For easy storage, and easy access.

The removable inner trays can be used separately, or you can use the outer case only.

They are transparent, to make it clear what's inside.

For this campaign, we're planning cases with 4 smaller inner trays, and cases with 2 larger innger trays.

Sizes are as follows

Case & Mini Case (2 pcs.)

　Outer case: 181 x 91 x 27 H (mm) / 7.2" x 3.6" x 1.1"

　Mini case: 86 x 75 x 22 H (mm) / 3.4" x 3.0" x 0.9"

Case & Mini Case (4 pieces)

　Outer case: 181 x 91 x 27 H (mm) / 7.2" x 3.6" x 1.1"

　Mini case: 43 x 79 x 22 H (mm) / 1.7" x 3.1" x 0.9"

And for this campaign, all trays come wrapped in plastic wrap, decorated with our character. (Please note that the character is printed only on the protective plastic wrapping, and not on the actual cases.)

Patents

This bag is equipped with two of our patents.

One is a swivel connection hardware.

The construction is simple: two plastic plates attached to the bag and a plastic plate placed at the base of the shoulder belt are riveted together with hollow rivets to fit any body type.

There are bags with similar mechanisms, but this one was patented for its innovation in that the rotating part was made into a unit so that it could be attached to any bag.

https://patents.google.com/patent/JP7316013B1/en?oq=%E7%89%B9%E8%A8%B17316013

Next is a custom-made metal frame that maintains strength during expansion.

This is also a simple structure with four three-dimensional bends, but it is designed to release the impact from the sides to the core material on the sides and front when expanding.
The bottom of the frame is bent in one more direction to protect the contents better.

https://patents.google.com/patent/JP7316005B1/en?oq=%E7%89%B9%E8%A8%B17316005

It is available as an option for token cases, but it is a one-of-a-kind bag that is different from other bags and performs well for board games.

Other Features

・Rain protection

The backpack is equipped with separte side-flaps to protect the contents against rain coming in from the sides. These come to full effect in the unexpanded state.

When the bag's expanded, we needed a different solution for the expanded part.

So the flap that covers the top comes with two extra flaps to fold down over the metal frame. This way, even side-blowsn rain has a hard time coming inside.

・Load lift strap

The backpack comes with an extra "load lift" strap to keep the backpack tight to your back, which is specifically necessary when the contents are very heavy.

・Bottom studs

I don't like the bottom of my bag to get dirty.
So I wanted to reduce the surface area as much as possible, so I added bottom studs.

・Expansion bottom sheet

The bottom sheet is a sturdy plastic sheet that fits the bottom when the bag is expanded.

This prevents the backpack from deforming if something is pressing from front.

Origin of the naming

The name of the bag "RAVEN YATA (八咫鴉)" is derived from a fictional raven in Japanese mythology.

It has three legs and "YATA (八咫)" means very large.

The bag can be expanded and made larger and also uses three distinctive metal parts.

So the name was borrowed from the mythological ”Raven Yata (八咫鴉)” (black, large, three distinctive parts), which originated in Japan.

TYPICAL USE CASES

・Token Case

・Commuting

・Travels

Rewards

Stretch Goals

Timeline

Development Story

"RAVEN YATA" began with the idea of creating a bag that could switch between compactness for daily use and large capacity for board games and events.

The specification requirements when we started production were as follows.

　1) Expandable

　2) 4-way (back, hand, shoulder, and carry cart)

　3) Sturdy enough to withstand a weight of approximately 30 kg without losing its shape

　4) brick shape

The box on the right was made by gluing together the backplate, side and bottom core materials, gusset expansion cloth, and front core material, inspired by Japan's original student bag "Randoseru".

I noticed then that, the expandable bit deformed, even if I used a rather sturdy fabric. Searching for some sort of metal construction that would support the expandable section, I figured that a bended metal frame might do the trick, and this was the result: 

A simple aluminum bar bended into shape, though I did miscalculate the length on this first try. On the picture it's slightly malformed, but this construction absorbed most shocks from the front and sides, and the bag didn't deform even with heavier loads.

This became the basis for the metal frame, one of the distinctive metal parts from which the name "RAVEN YATA" is derived.

But at this point, the cloth was glued to a plastic board, and it could not be used as a bag.

By making pockets on each side and inserting plastic walls, I was able to create a prototype of the “RAVEN YATA” that would not lose its shape when expanded.

Based on this prototype, I realized the final requirement of a 4-way bag, and added a swivel connection fitting that was created during the prototype process.

The prototype of the "RAVEN YATA" is now complete.

Customer Reviews

Sales performance

This bag was crowdfunded on Japan's crowdfunding site "Makuake" in 2023, and reached 1800% of its goal.

Reviews on SNS

The business backpack “Yatagarasu” from Haksankan Inc.
I have to say from the results that it was very functional and had a good capacity.
As someone who buys a lot of stuff at Comiket, it was difficult for me to separate the space for drinks and the space for loot before Comiket.
But this backpack made it very smooth. 
The space for drinks, which can hold two 500ml PET bottles, is also very strong.
The performance was almost perfect and I will continue to use it.
Great purchase!

This year, I participated in Comiket using Yatagarasu's backpack for Comiket. The extended mode was very convenient, and I was able to put books and paper bags in the backpack. I had to carry the big bags from the company. The shoulder mode is convenient for storing books while buying them, but the weight of the books I bought is getting tougher and tougher.

I see that the Raven-Yata is very convenient for carrying drinks.

Impressions after using the Comiket backpack “Raven-Yata” for a day
・It's just so solid. The stability on my back is extraordinary. It is like an armored car.
・The capacity is a monster. If you just want to buy books, this and the attached sub-bag will be enough.
・It is not good for buses and crowded trains.
・It is not good for buses and crowded trains.
・It is good that each compartment has a large capacity.

Press Kit