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I’d like it if they keep it mostly a secret when they are going to release. I wouldn’t mind a general idea – IE “They won’t be ready for another month”, but I certainly do not think they should give us a date, or even a week that they will be out. The way they have been released lately causes SO much less stress in my life, and I’m sure in theirs as well.
Agreed. “Probably in May,” etc., is all the notice that is needed. It’s easier on the servers, and easier on us. Word travels plenty fast enough, and the longer time they’re in the store, the more people will get a chance to participate.
A price range would be nice, or at least an upper end limit that would give us an idea of what to plan for. But regardless, I’m in on this one!
Thanks! 🙂
Haha, I’m really looking forward to the Foods…uh, Foofs 😉
That Foo Mama is beyond amazing. I honestly can’t tell you how incredible she looks just in these pics. What a beautiful, beautiful piece!
Heading to a new home today, but I still have the pix!
Thanks, L! Wish I’d had something to trade for him, but it’s great to see more images of him. 🙂
I guess I consider myself new compared to people who have been on here for years and I have been a little intimidated to talk to many I know already have a big network of friends they trade with after the response I have had in trying to message anyone. It’s not that I have been hunting down anything. I just sent polite messages inquiring about 2 pieces I really liked and no one seemed to know where they ended up or at least wouldn’t tell me. I was just told they had had been traded or re-traded. I just figured maybe if something went to someone who isn’t that active anymore that they may consider trading again if they knew what new pieces were available. From what I was told about the ones I asked about, it looks like they may have been traded multiple times so my thought was if it is a piece that tends to be traded over and over, how do you find who has it now to see if they would trade again? Especially if they are not active on the forum now my thought was just asking the original owners? But that didn’t work unfortunately. I guess there are lots that go to people that aren’t active on here unfortunately so maybe there are some pieces we will never find out who has them but I guess I will keep my hopes up. There are some I would give a permanent home to if people wanted to trade them again.
I wouldn’t give up hope, because even well loved pieces do change hands as people find something they want more–but again, tracking down specific owners when a piece hasn’t been posted as part of their collection is pretty much viewed as akin to stalking by many people here. Asking around is not going to produce the results you’re looking for even if those owners are still on the forum. I know that’s not what you intend and your heart is in the right place–I always feel a little sorry for GB’s who’ve been repeatedly traded myself, and more so when it’s a baby I’d love to have on my shelf! But if there are pieces you specifically would like to own, I strongly urge you to put up want ads for those exact pieces (Amy Jane has a good example of how to do this in the classifieds right now, with clear pics to identify the ones she’s looking for). Let the new owners come to you once they see your public interest in their pieces. Honestly, I don’t know of anyone on here who passes on the names of those they’ve traded to unless that person has already posted up the new baby as part of their collection. It’s likely that anyone who didn’t respect the new owner’s right to privacy on that front would find themselves running low on potential trading partners. If someone asks me for the whereabouts of a traded item, I’ll pass their interest on to the new owner myself, but that’s about it–and that’s assuming I remember who I traded with. 😉
But making your desires and willingness to trade for (or purchase) specific pieces DOES work sometimes. It took 3 months of want ads, a lucky GB catch, flexibility in what I offered, and most of all, PATIENCE! (Which I suck at, LOL), but I got my copper lap that way–and they’re not a common piece by a long shot. So get your ad up, with pictures of the specific babies who’ve caught your eye, and let’s see what turns up. It certainly won’t hurt, and perhaps you’ll at least get some answers on whether or not certain pieces are in forever homes.
For the record, you’ve been around more than enough that I don’t consider you new. People who have never posted, rarely posted, or just made an account to use the classifieds–those people, yes, I would hesitate to trade with unless someone I know can vouch for them. But honestly, if someone’s been around for a few months and is active on the boards, I don’t think they’re necessarily considered a risk by most traders.
While I do understand being sad over missing out–because it happens to everyone–I have to say that comments about “tracking anything down” make me uneasy, and that’s as someone whose collection *is* pictured publicly. Imagine how someone more private feels about it. My philosophy on that is simple–if it’s not pictured recently in someone’s collection, there’s a reason, and it’s none of my business who has it. If I want something badly enough and there’s no current record of where it might be, I’ll post a want ad. Someone may privately tell me they know that that particular piece is with someone who isn’t willing to give it up, and I have to respect that. Or perhaps I hear nothing, and I just have to live with that as well. When a piece is posted in the forum, most members feel that a single, polite “if you ever consider trading/selling, I’d be interested” (public or via PM) is totally fair–and that’s where a lot of trades come from. But hunting someone who has chosen not to make their acquisition public may very well be considered harassment, no matter how innocent the intention.
As others have said, trades happen behind the scenes in a number of ways. Most people aren’t trying to shut anyone out. As one example, I know I’m not the only one who keeps an eye on what people have said they’re looking for, and a list of who wants something I own, even if I never intend to trade it. You just never know, and people generally are going to go for the quick trade where possible over having to field a bunch of offers.
Trading is often part luck, part making your wants generally known, and part patience. In general, if you’re not getting a whole lot of responses to your ads, it’s time to look at the wording, the trade bait you’re offering, and perhaps just the timing of it all. I’ll say this: the more specific you are about what you want for an item you have for trade, the more likely you are to be eliminating trade possibilities. If I look at your ad and don’t have EXACTLY what you have listed (I.e. “rainbow tiger”), I’m extremely unlikely to offer you something else like a half tiger-half Appaloosa, and I know I’m not alone in that. It doesn’t matter how gorgeous I think that poad of yours is. And I do! 🙂 To me, if someone says “I want X”, they’re not interested in anything else–which may or may not be true, but I’m not going to waste either of our time trying to find out. (Personally, I equally dislike totally open-ended ads that give me no clue at all what someone wants, because I don’t like hearing the word “no” any more than your average toddler does! But that’s just me–others may disagree.) Perhaps that’s exactly how you want it–it’s a rainbow tiger and nothing else. But if you’re more flexible than that, it’s something to consider, anyway.
I also tend to think that ads get “stale” after a while–if you’ve renewed it more than once and the item is still available, something is wrong. For a sale ad, it’s almost always the asking price that’s a problem (This goes triple for eBay listings.) For a trade ad, it’s harder to tell, so try changing a few different things. If all else fails, take it down for a short time, or try again just before the next GB release, and run it through that prime trading period about a week to ten days after the GB’s first start arriving in the mail. People generally seem to be more likely to trade during those times, even when what they’re trading has nothing to do with the GBs!
Thanks! Yeah, he’s going to be a little hard to let go of. Mama Foo is out of her tea bath (for base color), but now she’ll need to dry for a few days before I try to paint her. I think I’ll order a couple of babies for delivery this week. They’ll be fun to work on between other things.
I really wasn’t interested in FooPs when they came out. Mama Foo, though, now I really wanted one of those. And well, I figured she’d need some company. So I bought a pup. And as scrpbkgrl is visiting for the weekend, I thought I’d paint him up for her and just pick up another one later. After all, I wasn’t really that big on them.
ZOMG! I was so wrong. I WANT A FOO ARMY!!!! LOL These little guys are so stinking cute, I can’t stand it.
Here’s Puget (aka Pug)–we went with an Ocean theme, since I already had greens and blues mixed up for other projects. He’s probably the best blended I’ve done so far, though it’s hard to tell with blues & greens, neither of which photograph very well. Ignore the slight mottling; though he’s glazed instead of opaque painted, it’s mostly reflections off his clear coat. As with Night Wolf, this one just doesn’t want to be matte finished. *rolls eyes*
I just cannot believe how tiny these are!
Excuse me, I need to go place a store order….! 😉
So amazing & wonderful to hear! Oh, River, your boy has the heart of a lion and courage to spare–and I think we know his mama does too. *hugs*
Family portrait day at Jolie’s. This is just the phone version; a bit too headachy to process & upload the “real” camera version.
The herd has gained quite a bit of color lately!
Oh man, you’re making me miss sweet Gothic Rose!! And I giggled a little at that I’ve met and cared for 3 of those unis XD They are all beautiful 🙂
I thought about that the other day when I was glancing over at the curio. LOL Sorry to make you miss Rose, though. Next time, I’ll hide her behind someone else. 😉 At least you know where she is and that she isn’t going anywhere. You’ll just have to come for a visit.
Sikek, the aqua lichen just arrived a few days ago. It felt weird at first to have blues and greens in with the pinks, purples, and “normal” colors. I’m just not a green/teal person, and it’s the first thing you notice on that baby. But I was amazed at how she fit right in!
Love seeing everyone’s latest arrivals. :love:
Looking at all these guys for the first on the computer instead of the iThings… WOW. I’m just stunned by the level of detail. And it’s awesome how you can have two berry-scheme babies like scrpbkgrl’s & Fjorab’s post back to back, and yet they’re completely different in looks and personality. Love the purple “mohawk” look to the mane on the first one, and the green ears on the second! Just adorable, a few unique touches to make each one special.
*bows in Melody’s general direction* Bravo. I think this might be my favorite uni batch yet for the creativity they show.
Hopefully once people get used to no tags, it simply won’t matter any more on the resale market, but realistically, I’m not sure I care. I don’t collect to “ZOMG, look at all the shiny tags!” LOL I collect only the pieces I want to have, and I cherish them. If they fetch 10% less each when I’m dead because “oh horrors, the tag is gone!”, I won’t be around to worry about it!
I guess because I remember the collapse of the Beanie Baby market, I can’t get too fussed over whether or not a piece has a tag. I have at least a large box of Beanies with oh-so-carefully preserved tags that are essentially worthless. In the end, these sorts of things aren’t a wise investment. And I suspect that the lack of a tag won’t stop most collectors from picking up a piece that they really want, especially a one of a kind (GB, eBay, or store Special) or very limited one.
(Somehow I seriously doubt that I’d lack for offers if I yanked the tag off my copper lap today and put her in the classifieds or on eBay. They’re just too rare an item, there’s always several people looking for one. While someone might want to knock $50 off the price because there was no tag, someone else would quickly outbid them because there hasn’t been one for sale in a year. Condition of the sculpt FAR outweighs a tag. Heck, a box outweighs the tag in my mind, especially on a lap, OW, Scratcher, or other piece notorious for breaking in shipment.)
My .02 worth, all the smaller sculpts in the house will eventually lose theirs, though I’m not going out of my way to yank them off. As tags get bent or scuffed or whatever, I’ll probably pull them while cleaning. The bigger sculpts I don’t tend to move as much, so their tags may last longer.
… I put a portion of the crew together today for pictures, looked at the $$$ amount of the group, and darn near had heart failure. …
[abbreviated by Starhorse]
Ain’t that the truth. I try not to think about it too much…
I wouldn’t describe Windstones as an investment, but you can get some of your money back if you have to. How’s that for a rationalization? 😉
LOL–more of it than I could with other hobbies I’ve had!
FactFox, I love the golden blaze and the extra touch of purple on the rump of the one you got. It definitely sets her a bit apart! With regards to trading…well, it’s not *no* risk, but I also don’t think it’s too high risk. I did luck out in that the first couple of trades I did were with very well known members here, so I felt a bit more comfortable. As it turns out, when I was taking pics today, I realized that out of all the GBs I have (both poads and unis), I’m the first owner on only three! I did more trading than I thought I had this year. Most people here are relatively easy to deal with and friendly, so it’s worth at least putting an ad up to see if anyone is interested.
… I put a portion of the crew together today for pictures, looked at the $$$ amount of the group, and darn near had heart failure. …
[abbreviated by Starhorse]
Ain’t that the truth. I try not to think about it too much…
LOL…it would help if I hadn’t actually bought back one I’d traded away early last year. That’s always more expensive than retail. I’m starting to wonder if I need to add these guys to my homeowners insurance.
