2013 GB Young wants!

So…

In the beginning, there were ebay pieces.

And any collector who wanted an OOAK piece made by Melody, would need to pay a justifiably higher price for these lovely and intricate pieces.

For most collectors, these were pieces only to dream of.

And for a long time, so it went.

But Melody, in her wisdom, came up with something great:

Make a small run of OOAK pieces, and offer them in the store at an accessible price for the ‘average’ collector.

Those who before merely dreamed of having a unique, signed piece from Melody could now afford one, or even two.

They were thrilled to be given the chance.

And it was good.

Perhaps too good.

For the collectors clamored for more, such a hit this idea was.

And Melody, in her graciousness, obliged.

From her imagination poured vast herds of unicorns, each more beautiful than the last.

Each more beautiful, but each requiring more time and effort on the part of Melody and the staff.

So they were priced accordingly, for no artist should starve.

And it was still good.

But many herds later, the collectors were still just as eager for more, if not more-so.

They waited for news of another chance to try for a coveted GB Young Unicorn.

And as photos of Melody’s latest progress were seen, they became even more excited; this herd defied imagination.

Truly Melody pulled out all the stops.

Each was a masterpiece.

So they were priced accordingly, for no artist should starve.

Most knew to expect an increase and were saving, but where past increases were about 20%, this increase was 200%.

A tipping point was reached.

The increase pushed these pieces out of many collector’s budgets.

And so as it was in the beginning, any collector who wanted an OOAK piece made by Melody, would need to pay a justifiably higher price for these lovely and intricate pieces.

And for many collectors, these again became pieces only to dream of.

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I think you put this very, very well.

Way off topic, but I was sent an email from a gallery today for the LP run of Michael Parkes’ newest painting. The Glicee run was limited to an edition of 25….and the price for this canvas glicee (pretty much a high-quality print on canvas) was…….$3,500! Talk about pricing yourself out of the market!

At least we are actually getting a OOAK piece of art! 😀

Wow, the idea of preordering with Kickstarter makes this whole thing even more exciting! I mean, can you imagine? You contribute to the Kickstarter then sit and patiently wait and then magic happens!

Okay im a little lost now 😕 Can someone please explain what the “kickstarter ” is ?????? unless I missed some of the posts explaining.

I used Kickstarter twice. It’s a website where fans pledge money to help fund companies, artists, etc. to complete a project. It helps smaller companies and such pay for the materials or whatever they need to complete their project. Usually they offer packages, for example: if you pledge $100+ you get a *blank* in the future, for $200 you get a *bigger blank* in the future. From my assumption, you would be prepaying to secure yourself a grab bag when they are completed! I think it sounds like a GREAT idea! No more drooling over my computer screen to hope I can nab one when the appear in the store!
I once pledged a good chunk of change for one of my favorite authors to kill a character with my name in his next zombie novel, LOL! I also pledged $20 to get my name in the end credits of a movie. Unfortunately those projects didn’t get enough pledges to fund their movies. 🙁

All of you who are defending Windstone’s right to make a profit, I really don’t see anyone disagreeing with you on that. We’re all good. 🙂

If the Unis need to be $500 for Windstone to call them a success, then they should charge just that. (Though at that point I think all but the bravest collectors might be spooked…) But saying, well the aftermarket is what it is, so Windstone should get more of that profit, that’s hard to jive with for the collectors who’ve always been priced out of the aftermarket.

A store Uni and an aftermarket Uni are sold completely different ways, with different factors affecting the final price. For Windstone, it’s the time and effort that increase costs. The aftermarket is driven by 100% unbridled competition and demand for specific pieces. Certain factors seem to influence why Youngs from past batches sell for what they do:

– Few collectors have Youngs: First batches had fewer/no limitations on quantity, before that was sorted out. So more Unis ended up with fewer collectors, who tend to hold on to them.

– Market uncertainty: 2 years of uncertainty regarding if any more could be produced, drove a healthy aftermarket.

– Knowing what you get: Many collectors who can pay more than store price are happy to, when they know they are getting their #1 pick in the batch.

– Multiple bidders: The most-desired Unis that were put up for sale, drew lots of offers that often went above the asking price. Some of the bidding wars got downright intense, when several collectors were bidding against each other knowing this was probably their only chance at their dream piece. How often do you see the top-ten most desired Unis go back up in the Classifieds? They do not surface often.

But these factors that make an aftermarket price what it is, don’t play in the same way when you’re buying an unknown item from the store, where:

– You don’t know what you get.
– You’re not competing for an particular, specific piece that you’ve seen already.
– You can’t be outbid. Everyone who places an order in time gets to have one.

So while it’s fair to justify the increase based on time and labor, it doesn’t seem fair to justify such a huge price increase, based on the aftermarket alone.

I think everyone was shocked at the prices some collectors were willing to pay for their favorites, and no one could have expected that these Unis would be such a hit, or so profitable on the aftermarket. The factory staff have have never complained about this unexpected twist. I’ve only ever seen it shrugged off in a good-natured way. And I would certainly hope, despite what’s been implied, that the previous prices set by the store have accommodated feeding the staff and meeting their expenses in exchange for the effort.

If the people who missed out on the last batches could have afforded a $350 purchase, they would probably have purchased one in the two years they were waiting for this batch. The people who lost out the hardest in this situation, were the very people the GB items were invented for.

There’s ZERO debate about whether or not Windstone should take a hit on their work. That’s freaking silly. Of course not. A specific demographic was marketed to, and became VERY devoted; yesterday a huge portion of that demographic felt very left out by the company that created the market in the first place. THAT’S what stung, no matter how unintended/unforeseen it was. And it’s what I see reflected in the posts of others. Not because anyone thinks Windstone should operate at a loss.

All of you who are defending Windstone’s right to make a profit, I really don’t see anyone disagreeing with you on that. We’re all good. 🙂

If the Unis need to be $500 for Windstone to call them a success, then they should charge just that. (Though at that point I think all but the bravest collectors might be spooked…) But saying, well the aftermarket is what it is, so Windstone should get more of that profit, that’s hard to jive with for the collectors who’ve always been priced out of the aftermarket.

A store Uni and an aftermarket Uni are sold completely different ways, with different factors affecting the final price. For Windstone, it’s the time and effort that increase costs. The aftermarket is driven by 100% unbridled competition and demand for specific pieces. Certain factors seem to influence why Youngs from past batches sell for what they do:

– Few collectors have Youngs: First batches had fewer/no limitations on quantity, before that was sorted out. So more Unis ended up with fewer collectors, who tend to hold on to them.

– Market uncertainty: 2 years of uncertainty regarding if any more could be produced, drove a healthy aftermarket.

– Knowing what you get: Many collectors who can pay more than store price are happy to, when they know they are getting their #1 pick in the batch.

– Multiple bidders: The most-desired Unis that were put up for sale, drew lots of offers that often went above the asking price. Some of the bidding wars got downright intense, when several collectors were bidding against each other knowing this was probably their only chance at their dream piece. How often do you see the top-ten most desired Unis go back up in the Classifieds? They do not surface often.

But these factors that make an aftermarket price what it is, don’t play in the same way when you’re buying an unknown item from the store, where:

– You don’t know what you get.
– You’re not competing for an particular, specific piece that you’ve seen already.
– You can’t be outbid. Everyone who places an order in time gets to have one.

So while it’s fair to justify the increase based on time and labor, it doesn’t seem fair to justify such a huge price increase, based on the aftermarket alone.

I think everyone was shocked at the prices some collectors were willing to pay for their favorites, and no one could have expected that these Unis would be such a hit, or so profitable on the aftermarket. The factory staff have have never complained about this unexpected twist. I’ve only ever seen it shrugged off in a good-natured way. And I would certainly hope, despite what’s been implied, that the previous prices set by the store have accommodated feeding the staff and meeting their expenses in exchange for the effort.

If the people who missed out on the last batches could have afforded a $350 purchase, they would probably have purchased one in the two years they were waiting for this batch. The people who lost out the hardest in this situation, were the very people the GB items were invented for.

There’s ZERO debate about whether or not Windstone should take a hit on their work. That’s freaking silly. Of course not. A specific demographic was marketed to, and became VERY devoted; yesterday a huge portion of that demographic felt very left out by the company that created the market in the first place. THAT’S what stung, no matter how unintended/unforeseen it was. And it’s what I see reflected in the posts of others. Not because anyone thinks Windstone should operate at a loss.

You’re speaking my mind very well! As an artist myself, I hate sounding like I’m begrudging Windstone profit on their work. I’m not. And I don’t expect them to take a loss.

I’m also perfectly aware that as a business owner you just can’t win sometimes. No matter what you do, if you have a large enough following, you’re going to honk someone off or disappoint someone eventually. I just wish it hadn’t been me this time!! ;P

The price on these, I think, is reasonable for the amount of work that went into them. At a guess, they probably took 3 or 4 times longer to paint than a plainer batch would have.

I’m wondering if maybe some “squeaking” to have the remaining youngs painted in “normal” colors or “low fantasy” is in order? If that happened, maybe they could reduce the price? (I have no idea how possible this is! Just an idea!)

I’d still, honestly, expect the prices to go up significantly due to how long it’s been (nothing costs what it did 2 years ago in the world!), but probably much lower than these super fancy ones! 🙂

I prefer normies to fantasy (appaloosa specifically) and woould looove if they released a $250 normie batch 🙂