Boxed In

[vanquish]

siberakh1 wrote:

vanquish wrote:

In regards to the hang tags. Some of the earlier peices never even came with tags. The tags themselves appear to be pretty much generic. Why don’t they offer the tags for sale for those people that desire them and have lost or misplaced the original ones? Maybe you could order replacement box’s from the factory to. 😆

I know this has been asked before. If I remember correctly, replacement boxes aren’t made available, because it would be too easy to be purchased by someone with a knock-off (of which they do appear on ebay more often then you’d think) to help convince others that it is a ‘real’ windstone. This would definitely be true of the hangtags. There is also the issue of space/time with doing boxes at the factory for other than shipping pieces.

I know, personally, I have ordered pieces without their original box, however they were mostly smaller pieces, or ones that I know I could get home safely (because I transported them myself). I generally will not order an emperor without it’s original box (because of the risk of breakage is a higher, and it is a more expensive piece… I don’t pay for it to arrive in pieces), and would prefer lap dragons, old warriors, and scratching dragons to have their forms as well (since they have he wings a bit more spread, horns sticking out, etc., moreso than smaller, more compact pieces). I have kept all of my windstone boxes and keep them in plastic storage tubs. They store very easily in the attic. Since I will eventually move overseas (I live with family right now), and eventually elsewhere later in the future, I know those boxes will be very useful to me then. I also collect Swarovski and the same applies. Due to theif delicate (and expensive) nature, I always save my boxes, especially since some pieces are seasonal (like the snowflakes and yearly holiday stars). My mom keeps all of her precious moments boxes and a few of her doll boxes. Again, this is personal preference.

In regards to value, many collectibles, especially the more delicate ones, carry more value with their original box and tag/documentation/certificate (if the collectible has such), even if they were placed on display.

In regards to Windstone reselling hangtags I can see why they wouldn’t want to do that, what with the counterfitters. With the box’s though, they wouldn’t take up extra space in the factory per say because the box’s are the same for the respective peices. From what I can see, as I’m new to e-bay, there is quite a large market for the reselling of windstone products. So in that regard I think Windstone could help out their customers to better protect their investments by making available replacement box’s. All though the fewer original box’s that remain out there the more likely there will be fewer mint peices which in turn will force up prices, hmm.

I have approximately 50 Christmas village houses that I bring out of the basement every season and I have kept them in their original box’s for ease of storage when they’re not on display so I can understand why sometimes keeping box’s can be advantages. My quirky comment was not directed at Windstone collectors personally but was meant more as a remark in regards to the idea of keeping the box’s in general. In hindsight though I can see the purpose.

[Jennifer]

vanquish wrote:

In regards to Windstone reselling hangtags I can see why they wouldn’t want to do that, what with the counterfitters. With the box’s though, they wouldn’t take up extra space in the factory per say because the box’s are the same for the respective peices. From what I can see, as I’m new to e-bay, there is quite a large market for the reselling of windstone products. So in that regard I think Windstone could help out their customers to better protect their investments by making available replacement box’s. All though the fewer original box’s that remain out there the more likely there will be fewer mint peices which in turn will force up prices, hmm.

Windstone doesn’t sell (or give) empty boxes for a number of reasons. The most important one is that they simply do not have the capacity or storage space to store and ship empty boxes. When a Windstone needs a box, the box is assembled, the Windstone is placed in it, then it is shipped or put into inventory.

Here is a quote from Melody herself:

Melody wrote:

I don’t think the danger of fakes in Windstone boxes is really much of an issue, myself. A fake looks like a fake, no matter what kind of box it is in. The biggest issue to me is that we simply don’t have time or space to deal with selling individual boxes. We assemble one kind of box at a time, as needed, for batches of finished things when they are packed. We don’t have the complete boxes sitting around for all the products, that would be impossible..

Mind you, this comment was made back when they had the large CA factory. The new factory is even smaller.

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[Laurie]

I know how hard it is to find boxes. I’m still hunting for an Emperor box for my brown if someone wants to sell. 😉

[Heather]

Speaking as someone who’s got a bunload of boxes squatting in the garage right now, it is a nuisance to hang onto the darned things. But it’s worth it. When we moved last year, I fretted like mad about the Windstones that didn’t have their original boxes, but the ones that did have them I didn’t even think twice about. I insisted on boxing all of the Windstones myself and hovered over the movers when they put those boxes into the big moving boxes. (Probably drove the poor guys up the wall, but they were very patient about it.) Everyone travelled fine.

I have had an Emperor shipped by mail without its original box, and nearly died of nerves unwrapping it because one corner of the box was damaged. The seller had, however, wrapped the Emperor in enough bubble wrap for a VW Bug, and he was almost unscathed (two minor chips). But I also had a Lap dragon shipped without her box, and although the seller was a vendor of glassware and certainly wrapped her well, her box was also dropped at some point and she landed squarely on her horns. Major skull fracture. The damage glued together well and you can barely see the crack, but it’s a reminder that luck plays a major role for Windstones travelling without their boxes. Poor things!

[yolanda]

for me and to me the box and hang tags are a part of the piece. sure sometimes theres a piece you want and just cant help but buy it without the box or tag ,but i always seem to wait for the ones that do have them. i really feel they are part of the investment too. its always nice to have everything that comes with that piece even if it is just a box……..but thats just me.

[pipsxlch]

I’ve been really lucky in that I’ve purchased several pieces secondhand via eBay that didn’t have original boxes, and except for a fallen out horn on the lap (no damage, just fell out) and damage I (or my mom, her unis) knew about beforehand, they all arrived fine. This is more due to great good fortune than anything, a few of the packing jobs were scary. The absolute best packed by a Windstone pro secondhand piece I ever got is the only one to arrive smashed to smithereens. Looked like the box had been used for soccer.

I didn’t originally save my boxes, but so many of my older pieces were purchased from the retailers with no offer of a box. More recent pieces which have a box I’ve saved it, for moves.

I’m not into hangtags and don’t mind their absence, but don’t remove them just in case.

[Nightcrow]

vanquish wrote:

, that some sellers will advertize whether or not a particular peice still has it’s original box and tag.

I’ll weigh in on the other side, here, I guess — I don’t keep (usually) the original boxes for my Windstones, aside from the PYOs I purchased to paint as gifts for friends.

I guess because I never, ever plan to sell my Windstones, and the main reason, as I see it, for keeping original boxes is because the custom-fitted cardboard “bracers” are the safest way to get a Windstone through the mail.

I have moved a lot, but I don’t mind boxing them up myself in impromptu packing for that. I trust ME to transport them safely; but that’s a very different thing from the post office. (I used to handle the mail; I KNOW what it’s subjected it to!)

Quote:

I find that keeping box’s is a little bit quirky even for collectors, or is it just me.

This is actually something I thought was fairly standard with collectors — I also collect model horses, and keeping them in their original boxes generally adds a bit to their value. MIB (Mint In Box) can fetch a little more, usually, than a loose Mint horse. Maybe because, if it’s in the box, there’s less chance of it being accidentally damaged before shipping, or having damage that was overlooked when it was described as mint?

Kind of like the way some WE sellers note how the piece was kept/displayed — “displayed in curio cabinet” or “kept in the box except for photos” or “smoke free home” or “original owner” and so on.

Interested in buying or trading for: GB Pebble Sitting Red Fox in dark grey, Lap Dragon Test Paints (Water Sprite, Glacial Pearl, Opulence, Pastel Rainbow, and many others - see my Classifieds ad), Blue Morpho OW, GB Pebble Loaf dragons in blue/aqua/teal, and Griffin Test Paints (Black Rainbow or Frosted Jade).

[vanquish]

Thought I would offer a bit of an update. I didn’t want to respond to much untill I had recieved all the purchases I made at the beginning of the month.
I bought:
1 Windstone from Astral Castle
1 Windstone off of e-bay
3 peice collection off of Craigs list

The peice from (Dave) Astral Castle arrived as ordered in mint condition with it’s original box shipped via Priority Post, excellent service by the way Dave.
The second ordered peice from e-bay had no original box but also arrived in mint condition via Priority Post.
The trio of items I purchased from the same owner off of Craigs List that were represented to be in mint shape arrived with each peice being chipped. I don’t believe it was a packing fault but more likely they were misrepresented. I sent packing instructions and I believe they were packaged all right. All three items were packaged in separate boxes (not original) with bubble wrap and peanuts and then packed into 1 bigger box also stuffed with peanuts, which was then shipped via UPS and left on my doorstep as I wasn’t home, which was scary in itself.

To sum up I would have to say that with proper packing peices should arrive okay. I also agree with Castle (Dave) that even though items might be offered as mint without their original boxes I suspect you are more likely to get a mint peice when it has it’s original box. I’m not stating that based on my own little study but I think it would tend to make sense. I wasn’t to concerned with the chips on the Windstones from Craigs list because I got all 3 for the price of 1 so I guess I can just e-bay them off again myself and hopefully regain my money back.

Thanks for all the feedback though people it was very informative.

[Author]

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