2013 GB Young wants!

I bet more unicorns went to more people because anybody cheating the system simply couldn’t afford the same quantities as in the past. I, also, don’t think 360 is eBay prices for this batch. Many of these unis could easily fetch 700 on eBay. The demand and cost to Windstone is what drove the price on these. If it’s too rich to gamble, then don’t buy one. I have never been unhappy with any grab bag pick, and I have NEVER gotten my favorite, so I don’t understand why people get upset. All of them are amazing.

As a working artist in the entertainment industry, I know how frustrating it can be to produce art and then helplessly watch as a company makes millions off of your designs when you were paid pennies.

Oh man, tell it sister. I work in VFX, converting footage to 3D.

I do insanely complex and tedious work.

I get paid the industry’s BARE minimum wage.

I have no union, and no cap on how much overtime they can force me to work.

I don’t even get my name in the movie credits. Despite how much work goes into what I do, or the fact that it drives higher profits for the studios to do a 3D release, it’s not considered as important as say, “third assistant to the breakfast caterer”. Our studio might get its logo at the end of the credit crawl, after the Dolby logo. Maybe a handful of supervisors or the CEO mentioned. That’s it.

I worked for months, for peanuts on Transformers 3, then watched it become one of the highest-grossing films of the past 10 years. That’s just one movie of many I’ve worked on, with similar results. Our studio gets none of the profits.

Seriously, I get it because I live it.

Exactly what I was talking about. I’m sorry you experience this too, its infuriating. 🙁

I agree pony-up I really really want a grulla young for my family.

My point is that if you want normal but beautiful colors, you go to production pieces. IMO it would be a waste of time to have Melody pump out grab bag babies in normal, stock colors (that could just as easily be done in production) just so we can have “OOAK Melody” pieces at an inexpensive price.

I started to type out something long, but I decided the quote above really sums up my feelings about future Grab bag batches. I think it’s a waste of Melody’s time to paint pieces that could be production or limited production level paint jobs just so members can have an OOAK Melody piece at a significantly lower cost. I’d rather have her sculpting new stuff if that is the case.

I don’t recall whether the original intention of Grab Bags was for members to have OOAK Melody painted pieces at significantly lower than Ebay prices or not. If it was, well, then Windstone has released many, many batches of Grab Bag poads and baby unicorns (and one young, and one pebble wolf batch) at significantly lower prices than this batch. I don’t see how anyone hasn’t had the opportunity at this point to own an OOAK Melody piece at a much lower price than typically Ebay prices. Is the expectation that we have 10, or 20 pieces or even our entire collections be OOAK? Having something OOAK use to feel special to me, but now it seems the norm. I know in times past some members have expressed feeling their collections were inferior because they didn’t have Ebay pieces. In the future, will the inferiority feeling be when you don’t have a certain number of OOAK grab bags? Are members going to laugh that I only own three grab bag poads? =P LOL

I couldn’t afford a young and I’m not upset about it. Windstone doesn’t owe me anything and I have no expectation that they should reduce their profits so it’s within my budget. It sucks, but oh well =)

And sorry for spelling and grammatical errors. One should not post at 3am. Now where is that can’t sleep thread…

I think Windstone should probably do the last 100 as GB. simply because the price will increase revenue for them, giving them a much needed cash influx. Melody has several projects in the fire, and if we want to see those come to fruition, Windstone will need the capital to invest in producing them. The math is simple 100 x 360= 36,000 versus 100 X 80= 8000. these are last of the horns, so they need to maximize the revenue from them.

The last batch sold out in 23 hours with people still missing them. I expect these will sell out as well. Because of the horn issue, this isn’t a question about what is best for the poorer collector, but what is the best investment for the company. I do support the idea of regular production pieces; I simply think now is not the time for them to be produced.

There is something I would like to say, but I really don’t want a backlash for saying what I’m thinking or what others might be thinking.

There is no doubt in my mind, that Melody and the entire team at Windstone put a lot of work, and hours into these guys, and they should be fairly paid for doing so.

My problem is: When the GB’s first came out they were pretty basic natural horse colors, and then the regular fantasy young came out, and of corse the price went up. ( rightfully so, given the extra work, and effort.). But for the most part those unicorn were still on the basic side compared to what we have now.

Then the safaris came out, price went up because the complexity went up, then the crazy wild candycorn/ fantasy …. Price went up…same reasons as above, And every time a new batch came out, I thought to myself ” wow, how is Melody going to top herself next” because every new batch has been better than the last, to the point that you now have EBay level pieces and eBay prices.

I thought the purpose of the GB’s was to give EVERYONE a chance to own a beautifully painted piece at a good price…..

I don’t think anyone asked for these to be so elaborate and expensive. I’m willing to bet that if a normal batch of fantasy or natural colored horse was painted at a lower price, most customers would be happy with that.

Now I understand some of the “aftermarket ” prices were, and are in the range of this current batch, but not everyone sold their $130.00 GB for $200-$300+. And not everyone can afford that. And I feel if any GB makes it into this price range, they should be offered on eBay, because the purpose of these was to allow everyone to be able to afford one, not just those with large bank accounts….. And I fully believe the vast majority of customers here were not paying the after market price, I think it was a handful of people…… Which is fine, but the majority of people on this forum have a price limit on what they can spend on an item that just sits there looking pretty. (And I mean no disrespect, because I love my WS’s, but lets face it, they are just pretty dust catchers and sometimes I have to ask myself “am I out of my mind for spending as much as I have on my collection?” The answer is NO! Because Melody’s creations and art are amazing….

I don’t want to come across as bitter, I have more then enough funds for this current batch…… I just can not bring myself to part with that much money on a GB. I would be happier with a more basic color scheme, and a lower price tag.

I definitely agree here, ALOT………..Although I did not have that kind of money to spend on one and if I did I have realized I wasn’t willing to gamble on it either. I live in Nevada and I don’t even gamble here ….way too afraid of loosing something I don’t really have or could put to better use because I don’t have enough of it. lol

I think Windstone should probably do the last 100 as GB. simply because the price will increase revenue for them, giving them a much needed cash influx. Melody has several projects in the fire, and if we want to see those come to fruition, Windstone will need the capital to invest in producing them. The math is simple 100 x 360= 36,000 versus 100 X 80= 8000. these are last of the horns, so they need to maximize the revenue from them.

The last batch sold out in 23 hours with people still missing them. I expect these will sell out as well. Because of the horn issue, this isn’t a question about what is best for the poorer collector, but what is the best investment for the company. I do support the idea of regular production pieces; I simply think now is not the time for them to be produced.

Please, I need to say this again: The horns had nothing to do with this. We will make more horns and produce more unicorns, when time permits, so don’t let that influence your thinking, or buying.

You have the right idea about capital to invest however, and that has everything to do with the reality of the situation. This sale got one month’s rent and all the bills paid which leaves us only one month behind in the rent, as we have been for two years (kind of a loan from our landlord that we haven’t been able to pay back).

And I think it was more like 16 hours when they went out of stock, which means, even at $360, there was clearly not enough to go around. And that with a “one per” limit. Yes, Melody went nuts with the decoration on these and they were expensive, which got me to wondering earlier tonight, if she had painted a very plain batch of grab bag Emperor Dragons and we had put them in the store for $1000 each, how would this thread read? Think about it. But that’s a thread for another day.

I think somewhere between $130 and $360, something broke the concept of ‘grab bag’ for a lot of grab bag customers. $360 is a lot to spend on a gamble, plain and simple.

Reading over a lot of the (quite thoughtful) comments, whether I agree or not, I’m realizing that what Grab Bags meant to me, and made the whole idea really special, is just changing. C’est la vie. I treasure each Uni I do have. 🙂

Edit: Hyperbole

I rememeber the very first grab bags weren’t actually grab bags but “Oops” Unis or something like that. I don’t remember the exact word that was used.