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I may be going over the road soon, and he looks to be a good size to be a mascot dragon puttied to my dash. I thought about my GB MK, but I’d rather not risk a rare piece. (weren’t the hoarders going to be LP or production last word?) I’d rather have something fiercer than the baby or hatchers, maybe could go with the young or small PYO I suppose.
So any idea when the hoarder may appear?I may be going over the road soon, and he looks to be a good size to be a mascot dragon puttied to my dash. I thought about my GB MK, but I’d rather not risk a rare piece. (weren’t the hoarders going to be LP or production last word?) I’d rather have something fiercer than the baby or hatchers, maybe could go with the young or small PYO I suppose.
So any idea when the hoarder may appear?No, I have no idea when the Hoarders will be available, but tadpoads make good dashboard items, so do foo puppies. Needs to be something small, with low center of gravity, and cheap!
I confess to keeping a TadPoad in my console of my truck! Usually he rides in the meaningless space I have in between my dashboard cd player and the controls to my heat. LOL!
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Dreamscape, Orion, Poison Dart, Fireberry, Spangler + Tigerberry DragonsI’m digging up this old thread because we still haven’t seen the hoarders get released. I know the hoarders were initially suggested to be done as part of a Kickstarter, but there have been so many successful grab bags since that idea was floated that it hardly seems necessary (at least to me, but what do I know ;)). As much as I love all the pebbles released recently, it was dragons that first attracted me to Windstone Editions, and dragons remain my favorite. I’m sure I am not alone in this.
So, are we close to hoarder dragons being available, either as a grab bag or in production/LP colors? The hoarder photos on the Windstone Facebook page have been tantalizing us dragon lovers for over a year.
I’m digging up this old thread because we still haven’t seen the hoarders get released. I know the hoarders were initially suggested to be done as part of a Kickstarter, but there have been so many successful grab bags since that idea was floated that it hardly seems necessary (at least to me, but what do I know ;)). As much as I love all the pebbles released recently, it was dragons that first attracted me to Windstone Editions, and dragons remain my favorite. I’m sure I am not alone in this.
So, are we close to hoarder dragons being available, either as a grab bag or in production/LP colors? The hoarder photos on the Windstone Facebook page have been tantalizing us dragon lovers for over a year.
I don’t know. They have become frozen in place by a grand plan we had about doing a kickstarter with them. It has never materialized, and its been a year and 8 months. It is pretty frustrating.
I’m going to ask a dumb question…
Was there something about the Hoarder that *needed* the Kickstarter? or was this just a plan to make money? – The way I see it, if it is ready to produce but just sitting for over a year and a half, then it is literally losing money not being produced… My blunt opinion is forget the Kickstarter til someone actually cares enough to do it and just produce the dragon that you’ve already put your time into making and people quite clearly have wanted for quite some time now…
I too enjoy the pebbles, but as I look at my Windstone collection, I miss the mythical creatures and have been working on narrowing down the pebbles to make room for mythical creatures… and now the pebbles have reach the same price value as many of the dragons, so they’ve lost even more of my attention, as they’re no longer easily affordable… a GB sitting fox or even a production cougar VS many of the dragons in their price range, dragons are going to win with me…
I’m going to ask a dumb question…
Was there something about the Hoarder that *needed* the Kickstarter? or was this just a plan to make money? – The way I see it, if it is ready to produce but just sitting for over a year and a half, then it is literally losing money not being produced… My blunt opinion is forget the Kickstarter til someone actually cares enough to do it and just produce the dragon that you’ve already put your time into making and people quite clearly have wanted for quite some time now…
I too enjoy the pebbles, but as I look at my Windstone collection, I miss the mythical creatures and have been working on narrowing down the pebbles to make room for mythical creatures… and now the pebbles have reach the same price value as many of the dragons, so they’ve lost even more of my attention, as they’re no longer easily affordable… a GB sitting fox or even a production cougar VS many of the dragons in their price range, dragons are going to win with me…
Dragons always win.
No, it wasn’t to make money, it was for two reasons: to get exposure on kickstarter and it would be a nice way for people to pre-order the number of grab bag pieces they want.
This way, nobody would need to worry about being around to snag one out of the store at a certain time. We would know exactly how many to make, and wouldn’t need to put a limit on them.
I am not entirely sure how kickstarter manages this, but to do this sort of thing ourselves ( taking pre-orders) would be an absolute nightmare of bookkeeping. That’s why we don’t do it.We are scratching our heads trying to think of ways to let people know that Windstone is still around.
We know we must have zillions of collectors ( mostly in Canada ) that think we are extinct because many of the stores that sold Windstones have closed.I’m going to ask a dumb question…
Was there something about the Hoarder that *needed* the Kickstarter? or was this just a plan to make money? – The way I see it, if it is ready to produce but just sitting for over a year and a half, then it is literally losing money not being produced… My blunt opinion is forget the Kickstarter til someone actually cares enough to do it and just produce the dragon that you’ve already put your time into making and people quite clearly have wanted for quite some time now…
I too enjoy the pebbles, but as I look at my Windstone collection, I miss the mythical creatures and have been working on narrowing down the pebbles to make room for mythical creatures… and now the pebbles have reach the same price value as many of the dragons, so they’ve lost even more of my attention, as they’re no longer easily affordable… a GB sitting fox or even a production cougar VS many of the dragons in their price range, dragons are going to win with me…
Dragons always win.
No, it wasn’t to make money, it was for two reasons: to get exposure on kickstarter and it would be a nice way for people to pre-order the number of grab bag pieces they want.
This way, nobody would need to worry about being around to snag one out of the store at a certain time. We would know exactly how many to make, and wouldn’t need to put a limit on them.
I am not entirely sure how kickstarter manages this, but to do this sort of thing ourselves ( taking pre-orders) would be an absolute nightmare of bookkeeping. That’s why we don’t do it.We are scratching our heads trying to think of ways to let people know that Windstone is still around.
We know we must have zillions of collectors ( mostly in Canada ) that think we are extinct because many of the stores that sold Windstones have closed.You certainly have Forum members with Kickstarter experience. Perhaps one or more of those could be a resource for you. SPark leaps to mind (Kickstarter experience and I think she is relatively close to the factory), no doubt there are other possibilities.
We are scratching our heads trying to think of ways to let people know that Windstone is still around.
We know we must have zillions of collectors ( mostly in Canada ) that think we are extinct because many of the stores that sold Windstones have closed.If I recall correctly, the wholesaler who used to import Windstones closed or something. Green Earth was one of the chains who used to sell Windstones – they’re still around, they just don’t have your stuff! If Canadian stores can buy directly from you instead of going through a 3rd party, you might need an exercise where you contact all these chains directly.
My first Windstones were bought at Abington’s Animals – they seem to be in Calgary only, and no longer in the Ottawa region.
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http://www.sarahjestin.com/feedbacklists.htmMy first dragon was also bought at Abington’s Animals in Calgary! They also sold beanie babies for a long time until that market went down and then unfortunately they went out of business a few years ago. Most of the small collectible shops actually went out of business a few years ago. There is only one toy store left near where Abington’s Animals used to be that sells beanie boos and I can’t even think of one collectible store left in Calgary that sells collectible figurines besides booths at flee markets. I found this website simply by searching Windstone online so I am sure others also find this doing the same thing but I am sure all of us regulars on here could try promoting the website of facebook page more. If I come across any stores that still sell things like this I will pass on your info to them for sure.
Looking for rainbow or pink & teal grab bags!
No, it wasn’t to make money, it was for two reasons: to get exposure on kickstarter and it would be a nice way for people to pre-order the number of grab bag pieces they want.
This way, nobody would need to worry about being around to snag one out of the store at a certain time. We would know exactly how many to make, and wouldn’t need to put a limit on them.
I am not entirely sure how kickstarter manages this, but to do this sort of thing ourselves ( taking pre-orders) would be an absolute nightmare of bookkeeping. That’s why we don’t do it.We are scratching our heads trying to think of ways to let people know that Windstone is still around.
We know we must have zillions of collectors ( mostly in Canada ) that think we are extinct because many of the stores that sold Windstones have closed.Marketing really is one of the tougher sides of any business. Kickstarter would be a fantastic way to promote Windstones…but that’s not really a guarantee it would help much overall, especially since one would need to find that particular Kickstarter. It would difficult to gauge just how much impact it something akin to that would even have, and if it would be worthwhile.
I will say that I love pre-orders; while I know it would be a nightmare of bookkeeping, I would applaud it. It’s possible you might be able to hire a temp, or a ‘volunteer’ that would help with managing that; or, as suggestions have said, perhaps find someone in the forums/in the area with Kickstarter experience to help with it.
If you’re looking for other ways of promoting Windstones, there’s always something like a charity raffle especially if you can find personage of interest that would consider sponsoring the event. A more plausible idea would be to consider web-ads on sites willing to sponsor them.
Yes dragons win!
Actually, I only collect dragons, so between that and (moreso) being broke recently, the last piece I bought was a MK grab bag. I probably don’t even deserve being here lol!What about advertising in a sci fi mag (are they still being published?) like Asimov’s, Analog or Locus? Since the bulk of the Windstone figures are fantasy, and that’s the target audience of those mags (when I’d read them some, they published fantasy as well as sci fi, and usually horror too). On a similar theme, a small ad in a general herp/reptile hobby mag, and/or a booth at a herp show? Any of your vendors that may set up at such a show being given a bonus piece or two for displaying your product? And once again, the show offer for vendors that set up at fantasy targeted i.e. Comic Con/Dragon Con/furry events? Have your products ever been displayed at the big Atlanta wholesale gift convention? (it’s the only one I know, may be others, big national event targeting gift/collectible retailers) Don’t know, just thinking…
Most of the figure vendors I know of any more are flea market vendors, like Kim said. Few in the malls or whatever anymore, and those are more likely to carry cheapo Chinese garbage than the flea market guys.
Yes dragons win!
Actually, I only collect dragons, so between that and (moreso) being broke recently, the last piece I bought was a MK grab bag. I probably don’t even deserve being here lol!What about advertising in a sci fi mag (are they still being published?) like Asimov’s, Analog or Locus? Since the bulk of the Windstone figures are fantasy, and that’s the target audience of those mags (when I’d read them some, they published fantasy as well as sci fi, and usually horror too). On a similar theme, a small ad in a general herp/reptile hobby mag, and/or a booth at a herp show? Any of your vendors that may set up at such a show being given a bonus piece or two for displaying your product? And once again, the show offer for vendors that set up at fantasy targeted i.e. Comic Con/Dragon Con/furry events? Have your products ever been displayed at the big Atlanta wholesale gift convention? (it’s the only one I know, may be others, big national event targeting gift/collectible retailers) Don’t know, just thinking…
Most of the figure vendors I know of any more are flea market vendors, like Kim said. Few in the malls or whatever anymore, and those are more likely to carry cheapo Chinese garbage than the flea market guys.
*Giggles* Apparently we were a bit on the same page… as I was writing my reply and didn’t see what you said til after I hit send, and ended up agreeing with you on several accounts, unknowling 😉 hehe
Personally for what you just described, I think Kickstarter isn’t at all what you want…
For exposure, things like Pinterest and Instagram (Maybe Twitter, though I have no idea how Twitter works, I’m not that cool, lol) would do much better, with someone with the dedication and knowledge of social media to get it out there so people see it… and better yet, targeting your market… place Windstones in Table Top game shops (I know of two that I personally go to and have heard of several others among Northern Colorado alone, along with the gamer Tavern – Non of which have ever heard of Windstone unless I make a comment on the ones I paint) even just a single Windstone and a stack of business cards could get the word out… Comic Cons and Renaissance festivals and art festivals come to mind for great places to have Windstones as well… Those types of places will get to more people that’re likely to buy Windstones than most any other shop (and you don’t need to personally have a booth set up, though it would do you better, I think.. but get a couple Windstones with a bunch of cards in a shop that’s already going to be in these places), and even though most customers may only buy one or two, who knows which one(s.) will fall so in love they become a new collector… They may be the next person who can spend $1,500 on an ebay Emp…
As for Pre-order… I think something similar to the Notify button as a ‘guesstimate’ counter would be a much better solution, otherwise, it’s been a very long time since GB’s have simply sold out in an instant, and there is no such thing as making everyone happy.. SOMEONE is always going to be at work or just a day too late to see it… no way around that! I would personally love to get a GB Hoarder, but I’m afraid they’re going to be entirely priced out of my market, so I personally hope for production colors… still hoping for a Peacock colored MK…
Kickstarter tends to work with price levels, someone pledges $5 and gets a bumper sticker, or $1,500 and get 1 of 3 special painted pieces (examples)… and somewhere in the middle is the actual GB’s… and I’m not sure if there is a minimal amount of price points, so you may need to find other things to offer…
You also have to run the campaign for an X amount of time (I’m unsure what the minimal is, but the average is 30 days) and if you don’t put a limit on how many “preorders” can be made on the Hoarder, you have 30 days of people being able to order as many of them as they’re willing to spend the money on…
Also, if you somehow overestimate your goal price -I’d recommend aiming low because it can go over the goal price, but if the goal price is not reached, the entire thing is cancelled… Also, those who do sponsor the campaign, are not charged until after the campaign ends (and if the goal is reached)… So.. I don’t see too many Windstone people wanting to figure out how Kickstarter works even for buyers… and the people you do reach, are people who are prone to be on Kickstarter… (Make sense? Much the same as a lot of people on the forum have no idea what is going on with Facebook posts because they’re not on Facebook)…I honestly think for the amount of planning, and extra work needed for the Kickstarter to get off the ground.. it’s going to stay grounded… it’ll put the factory through more misery than not… and it honestly seems like the factory all but falls apart at the seams just trying to normally release a GB batch…
If it weren’t for the obnoxious fake account issues… I’d say a great way to get word out is word of mouth, and the best way to do that is with a coupon of some sort for referring people… (if a new customer mentions you referred them, you get 10% off your next order of $300 or less) … gives us a reason to promote Windstone and a reason to make our own order!
Just some thoughts anyway, per the usual.. do what you please (and let the Windstone defenders rip this to shreds), but I honestly don’t think Kickstarter is a good idea for this company…
Kickstarter tends to work with price levels, someone pledges $5 and gets a bumper sticker, or $1,500 and get 1 of 3 special painted pieces (examples)… and somewhere in the middle is the actual GB’s… and I’m not sure if there is a minimal amount of price points, so you may need to find other things to offer…
I honestly think for the amount of planning, and extra work needed for the Kickstarter to get off the ground.. it’s going to stay grounded…
Kickstarter will let you do just one price point if you want. But it will make veteran kickstarter users eye your campaign and wonder if you know what you’re doing, it’s very unusual. Then again, “unusual” doesn’t mean you’ll fail, and if you’re running it as a kind of grab-bag order, you can set the goals such that just the people from this forum are enough to make the campaign fund.
I will say, though, that kickstarter’s order management system is… a bit rough. It works, but it’s not always terribly efficient, there’s a reason really large campaigns oursource their rewards to other services that have sprung up to manage kickstarter backer fulfillment. (Though having just one reward level will simplify this, since any given order will by necessity be one single order for one single dragon.)
I’m still totally up to consult on details if you guys want to go ahead, I’ve got four successful campaigns under my belt at this point, all finished (well, I’m still making rewards for the last one. Success can be its own problem!) Susan or Melody or whoever can drop me a line any time. Heck, pay me in Windstones I’ll help actually listing and running the thing. 😀
But yeah, kickstarter itself is not a great way to get publicity, the site will not drive backers to your campaign, especially not early on. If you get fairly successful you’ll climb up their listings and be more visible, which will bring in a few extra backers, but by and large you have to do all the publicity to reach people yourself. And since they take a cut of the money you earn, if it’s just for publicity, it may not be worth it.
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