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It might even give people a chance to get a special piece without paying a ton of money. Lots of us can’t afford the ebay prices, so maybe this could get us a chance 🙂
This does sound like a win-win, aqnd a way for the company to recoup some instead of just paying extra disposal fees! I suppose there’d haev to be a way to permanently mark them factory seconds, but since some are slippig out anyhow in the raffles…
I like Melody’s idea, and the idea of trying to guess exactly what’s in the box by its weight and a vague description!Raffle prizes are painted special so even though they have flaws, they are still distinguishable from regular pieces. Also, only 12 are made a year. Same with the LP goof-up stone-finish pieces. The castings are not bad as with raffle prizes, but they are still a different color so they can be distinguished from their “normal” counterparts, and they are sold is very, very limited quantities.
I don’t think grab bags would be a good idea if they were finished in regular/limited production colors (especially if they are sold en mass!). As they are passed from owner to owner over time, they would inevitably get mixed in with the normal population of good pieces. 5 or 10 years from now, I don’t want to be bidding on something wondering if it’s a good piece or if it has pinholes, water marks, or some other major casting flaw. It’s bad enough that so many eBay pieces are sold as mint when they are not, but then to add plaster defects to the mix… ugh. Raffle prizes and LP goof-ups, even if they loose their COA, box, and pad, their unique colors will still set them apart from regular and limited production items.
Kachina wrote:Kujacker wrote:It might even give people a chance to get a special piece without paying a ton of money. Lots of us can’t afford the ebay prices, so maybe this could get us a chance 🙂
I like the idea of grab bags, but I just have a hunch that they’ll go for insane amounts on ebay putting them out of reach of most of us. I just look lovingly at the ebay pieces, sigh, and close the window. It’s great for Windstone to get such big money, but I’d really like to see some special stuff that those of us who can’t afford regular ebay pieces and aren’t lucky enough to win drawings can get our hands on. Why does someone have to have a ton of disposable cash to get special stuff? Maybe put these lots in the store one per customer?
As far as differentiating them from the rest of the specials, couldn’t the felt pads or pieces be marked in some way so that if they do switch hands collectors would still know where they came from?
The felt pads could be marked, yes, but it would still be possible to remove the pad, replace it with another pad, or even wipe out the writing on the pad. If defective pieces are going to be put out into the general population then IMO the pieces themselves need to be identifiable as unique by looks alone, as opposed to writing on a pad or paper. I also think it could encourage people to market their damaged/repaired pieces as “factory defective” pieces.
Most people don’t take a picture of the pad for eBay anyway. What happens when you get a piece you thought was mint and the pad is marked as defective? If the only thing wrong with the piece was the factory defect, then it could still be argued that the piece was “mint” since technically speaking it was never damaged!
Pam Thompson wrote:The felt pads could be marked, yes, but it would still be possible to remove the pad, replace it with another pad, or even wipe out the writing on the pad. If defective pieces are going to be put out into the general population then IMO the pieces themselves need to be identifiable as unique by looks alone, as opposed to writing on a pad or paper. I also think it could encourage people to market their damaged/repaired pieces as “factory defective” pieces.
Most people don’t take a picture of the pad for eBay anyway. What happens when you get a piece you thought was mint and the pad is marked as defective? If the only thing wrong with the piece was the factory defect, then it could still be argued that the piece was “mint” since technically speaking it was never damaged!
Thats why defectives would need some sort of random fun colorings! We could have sparkle windstone dragons. XD
Here is an example of a ‘Sparkle’ dragon coloring style, for those that may be unfamilier with the sparkle reference 😆 > http://fc09.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2010/092/d/7/d7afbc103a9107f1663c831574860bfa.jpg (that might be a bit extreme of an example, but it gives the idea)
Kachina wrote:Kachina wrote:Kujacker wrote:It might even give people a chance to get a special piece without paying a ton of money. Lots of us can’t afford the ebay prices, so maybe this could get us a chance 🙂
I like the idea of grab bags, but I just have a hunch that they’ll go for insane amounts on ebay putting them out of reach of most of us. I just look lovingly at the ebay pieces, sigh, and close the window. It’s great for Windstone to get such big money, but I’d really like to see some special stuff that those of us who can’t afford regular ebay pieces and aren’t lucky enough to win drawings can get our hands on. Why does someone have to have a ton of disposable cash to get special stuff? Maybe put these lots in the store one per customer?
As far as differentiating them from the rest of the specials, couldn’t the felt pads or pieces be marked in some way so that if they do switch hands collectors would still know where they came from?
I suspect you are right that the “grab bags” would bring high prices on ebay. I am also dubious about putting the seconds in the store, even one per customer, because these days things appear so randomly. If the problems of identifying them as seconds were solved, perhaps there could be some sort of “Saturday Night Special” arrangement (assuming the website could handle it). If everybody knew that 30 “seconds” Windstones would be put up at 6 pm Pacific Time on Saturday nights – one per customer, first come first served – there would still be angst. However, it wouldn’t be “Darn, they came and went before I even knew they were in the store”.
Or, the days could be random (to accommodate different work schedules) and an announcement put on the Forum three days in advance. That would cut down on website traffic and reward loyal Forum members. 😀 Or you could have “Dumpster Day” once a year. There are lots of possibilities!
Augh– sparkle*anythings… D: D: D:
Here’s a few questions for the community, and I realize that I can be shooting my own foot here but it is something I think about often.
At what point is the saturation of ‘special pieces’ floating around out there greater than regular production pieces being made? I’m not talking about the Golden Days where there were thousands and thousands of a given sculpt being produced (ahem, peacock). At what point are ‘special’ pieces less special and devalued because there are so many? Does anyone care or is the allure of having a special piece outweigh that? Is it less special to you, if say… there are a bunch of other pieces out there with close coloration to yours? How much does the monetary value and investment matter to you– do you get dismayed when the resale value goes down or even plummets if similar pieces are made (black gold Old Warriors come to mind)?Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.comJennifer wrote:Augh– sparkle*anythings… D: D: D:
Ditto.
As to when special becomes…not special. For me, it isn’t an issue. I love Windstone dragons, and I would cherish one with Mel’s or one of the other artist’s names scrawled on the bottom even more. But, there are lots of “special” items out there that are not signed. Depending on the coloration and sculpt, I would purchase them unless I didn’t have the money–which is pretty much all of the time. The value of a given piece is purely sentimental/aesthetic once I own it and is purely hypothetical if I can’t afford it. I will not pay more for a piece if there’s no money to pay for it. So, really, if I like it I will covet it regardless of how common it is. If I can’t afford it, it won’t matter how much I covet, I simply won’t have it.
Quote:At what point are ‘special’ pieces less special and devalued because there are so many?
Well, Windstone DEFINITELY cares.
Unfortunately we do have to make a living, so we have to try keeping things in high demand.Pam Thompson wrote:Quote:At what point are ‘special’ pieces less special and devalued because there are so many?
Well, Windstone DEFINITELY cares.
Unfortunately we do have to make a living, so we have to try keeping things in high demand.Oh I never meant to imply that Windstone does not care. By anyone I meant the collectors that buy these! I know that you guys do care! And I know all about having to make a living.. trust me.
Hopefully casting can be resolved sometime.. soonish, so that you guys can make regular production pieces… well.. regularly! And won’t need to depend on special pieces so much.I was just asking the collectors, is all.
Volunteer mod- I'm here to help! Email me for the best response: nambroth at gmail.com
My art: featherdust.com
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