[Nightcrow]

I… am kind of a Lackey fan.

I adored her Valdemar novels when I was thirteen, but a year or so ago (I’m 25 now) I re-read it and, well, let’s just say the used bookstore got a big pile of books. 🙂 I kept the Herald-Mage trilogy (Vanyel is so emo it’s hilarious), the Gryphon trilogy, The Oath trilogy, and two individual books (Winds of Fury and By the Sword), and let all the rest go. They’re the only ones I can still enjoy reading, though in some cases the reason for that enjoyment has changed.

I frankly can’t stand her newer Valdemar books. They read like they’re intended for sixth graders, and I’m bleedin’ well tired of being hit over the head with the SAME. BLOODY. MORAL. every time I pick up a new book.

On the other hand, I love some of her other novels very much, still. Children of the Night, Bedlam’s Bard, This Scepter’d Isle, the SERRAted Edge books (except for one of them)… these are all still on my shelves and I reread them frequently.

So I’m half a Lackey fan — not a Valdemar fan, but still a fan of many other Lackey series. 🙂

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).

[Nightcrow]

Was the author Mary Brown? I haven’t read all her books, but I do remember that one of the two I read involved a ki-rin leading the main character(s) in their quest.

Maybe try her name on Amazon.com or Google for her publisher?

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).

[Nightcrow]

Oh! A couple things you should *definitely* bring are the Windstone website address and the relevant phone number! Possibly the relevant email address and/or a link to the “Dealer Requirements” page. Come prepared, and don’t give them any excuse to say, “oh, that’s nice, I’ll certainly go look that up sometime.” Don’t let ’em get away! 🙂

You might also bring a mental wishlist that you could subtly or not-so-subtly bring up: i.e. a hint that they’d definitely win you as a customer, and a “guaranteed” sale if they do become a dealer.

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).

[Nightcrow]

Rusti wrote:

[
I don’t think that place ever picked up Windstones, did they? I went in there too with my Black Gold male. I didn’t speak to the owner, but the gal working looked at the dragons, made impressed noises and took a message for the owner.

I don’t think she did. And oddly enough I was thinking of you just yesterday, and wondering if you’d ever found the place and dropped in to “suggest” Windstones. 🙂 We ought to stage a concerted attack one day. (I always have Mon. and Wed. after four free; when does that shop close? What days work for you?)

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).

[Nightcrow]

I know all too well — I ran into that a LOT when I was looking for my Peacock Orientals. ::sticks out tongue::

However, the sites I got these prices from seem pretty solid — a couple say “retired” in the piece description, and others list every color as a separate item, with only a few having the retired colors listed.

So, know anybody who wants one of those pieces? I’m very tempted by the Wind Wiz (he’s Emerald — I didn’t realize there were two color versions, or I’d have specified), but there’s this dragon on Ebay right now who comes first… 🙂

Arlla wrote:

Most online shops that sell windstones have a ton of retired stuff listed that they don’t actually have – but best of luck!

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).

[Nightcrow]

Griffiness wrote:

Ha do you want the prices of windstone over here!?

Old Warriors £155
Scratchers £120
Lap Dragons £120
Young Dragons £75
Father and mother Dragons £100 each but i had to pay £120 for my rainbow male.

OUCH! My wallet hurts just looking at those prices!

I feel sorry for UKers — I went there once, and was staggered by the price of books. Apparently Windstones are just as dear!

Do you think it would be cheaper to buy from the U.S. and have it shipped overseas? I mean, considering the shape the dollar is in (one dollar = half a pound right now, I think), it must be tempting…

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).

[Nightcrow]

You’re awesome, you know that? 🙂

Retired pieces I am looking for:

“Most Wanted”:

Emerald Lap Dragon, ~ $180-195
White Rising Spectral Dragon, ~ $ 250
White Spectral Dragon, ~ $ 200

Other:

Baby Ki-Rin, ~ $65
Emerald Hatching Kinglet, ~ $100
White Lap Dragon, ~ $200

Thank you so much again!!

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).

[Nightcrow]

I’ve been snooping around the ‘web, and I’ve found a couple of sites that have retired pieces (or might — maybe their site’s just not been updated).

Anyway, do any of these sound fair to you guys? Some seem all right to me, or even very good, but then others seem outrageous. So I’m seeking second opinions.

Ruby Sun Oriental, $184
Ruby Mother, $100
Ruby Male, $106
Ruby Lap, $170 or $183
Ruby Hatchling, $42
Ruby Fledgling, $71
Ruby Scratching, $183

Em. Mouse Wizard, $100
Em. Young Oriental, $180
Em. Young, $120
Em. Scratching, $250

Pea. Mouse Wizard, $60
Pea. Young, $90
Pea. Male, $226
Pea. Lap, $235
Pea. Fledgling, $90

Wind Wizard (LE), $179

**EDIT: And these? I know some of them are higher than the ones above, but are they still in the reasonable range?

Ruby Hatchling, $61
Ruby Lap, $268
Ruby Fledgling, $104
Ruby Emperor, $482
Ruby Male, $115

Rainbow Mother, $126
Rainbow Hatchling, $43

Pea. Lap, $191

Thank you guys so much!

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).

[Nightcrow]

Mine doesn’t hate it, though she’s both skeptical and noncomprehending — she’s said more than once she doesn’t understand how I can read that stuff, and I think she suspects that it’s leading me into witchcraft or something.

(Seriously, I once explained the plot of the movie “Spirited Away” to her, and she was distressed that it had spirits in it; she made vague warnings about it being occult.)

And O.o at the “watch TV” thing. At least my mother’s consistent — I doubt she’d approve of my TV choices, either. (I was a huge X-Files fan, way back when.)

I don’t really say anything to her about the reading, though. Personally, I don’t see how anyone can enjoy Cold Sassy Tree — I gave up at thirty pages or so — so I don’t do much more than shrug and offer the equivalent of “no accounting for taste.”

Jasmine wrote:

Unfortunately, my mother didn’t like me reading fantasy. In fact, she blames all my problems (much too long to explain) on my reading.

Hee, that’s what my eventual house will look like, too! Though maybe not the “dark part, since I yearn for bright and sunny climes. (What colors did you use?) But billions of books, fantasy artwork, Windstone critters, and fantastic weaponry? You bet. 🙂

My mom will probably just shake her head privately and assume I’m refusing to grow up, or maybe she’ll be too upset over the lack of husband-and-kids to even notice the decor, but anyway, much sympathy for ya here!

Whenever discussions of heredity come up, I’m always forced to opine that clearly there’s a third factor involved somewhere, because both my genes and my upbringing came from two through-and-through Mundanes! 🙂 Even my little brother is pretty “normal” (in a grow-up-already-dude) way.

Jasmine wrote:

And she’s out and out told me that she hates the way my hunney and I have decorated our house. It’s much too dark and depressing was her view. My hunney and I both love fantasy, so there are Windstones everywhere, I have over 1200 books so the shelves are full. And a couple of years ago I purchased all the Lord of the Rings weapons for my hunney. Those are all out and mounted on the walls.

[/u]

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).

[Nightcrow]

Everyone else seems to be saying “yes,” but I don’t actually think so. (Granted, I don’t know how old you are, so “when I was a kid” might be two very different eras between us.)

I think maybe the category is larger, but not necessarily the volume of books. When I was a young-adult reader, most of the stuff I read wasn’t labelled “YA Fantasy” — it was just “YA” or children’s lit. But the fantastical elements were there, nonetheless. Roald Dahl’s Matilda and The Witches, Langton’s The Fledgling, Roberts’ The Girl With Silver Eyes, C.S. Lewis’s Narnia…

So I think that the books have always been there, it’s just that lately people have started sorting out the genres within the YA section, and being surprised at how many can be categorized as “fantasy” novels.

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).

[Nightcrow]

I’ll sell you my copy of _Sourcery_ (American pb, pretty good condition — some thin white creases on the spine) for the cost of shipping, if you don’t have a copy already. And (or) if you have a list of the ones you don’t have yet, I’ll hit up my local used bookstores and see what they have.

BiPolarBear wrote:

I am currently trying to find the entire collection of the discworld series by Terry Pratchet, for less than the $8 per book the wan’t at Borders. I’m going try ebay and half.com and amazon. Any other suggestions?

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).

[Nightcrow]

I’ve been on Ebay for a long time, but this must have missed me. What is a “hidden” auction?

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).

[Nightcrow]

Well, as far as dragons go I have eight Whites and one Emerald, so if they decide to argue over powers by color, the Whites are going to carry the day. 🙂

Personally, though, I go more by age/demeanor than by color. My Old Warrior, for instance, is mostly peaceful green in color, but his fiery eye and bright-gold touches (especially his throat) mean that he can still summon heat if needed. Not fire, though he might have had that in his youth, but a blast of incredible heat that’ll singe the eyebrows off anything that looks like giving him a hard time, and broil it if it disregards the warning shot. 🙂

As for the Whites…

The Emperor might be able to produce an acid spray — the way he’s reared up, but keeps his head aimed downward, is the best posture to ensure that it mists a wide area.

The Male, Mother, Lap, and Scratcher aren’t quite that aggressive. They’re more likely to fight physically if they’re accosted, being in the prime of their lives and still small enough (comparatively) to be agile. If they have to retreat, they breathe mist to help conceal them and cover their escape; and the Mother can curl up and “fade” from sight, so that anyone looking will find that their eyes just slide over her. The Scratcher may be just starting to develop acid abilities (hence the scratching — it feels funny when your digestive system is rearranging itself!)

The Young dragon relies on tooth and claw, though his mist is improving enough that (with good aim) he could obscure an enemy’s sight for a short while.

The Fledgling’s “only” power right now is to puff himself up like a hognose snake, attempting to look larger. That, and darting off to hide behind someone bigger! 🙂 Same goes for the Kinglet, once he manages to crawl out of the egg.

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).

[Nightcrow]

I’m no expert at repairs (I’ve never tried!) but I did paint a PYO griffin to “match” a White dragon, and the paints I used were

Liquitex “Metallic/Irridescent White”
Delta Ceramcoat Gleams “Metallic Pale Gold”

The latter is quite thin, so it makes a nice transparent layer when brushed over the white.

Not exact, but pretty darn close!

DROGO wrote:

BTW what kind of paint can I use to patch it up? Like can I order their white paint directly from Windstone?

As for condition… I’m also a model horse collector, and in that hobby it’s not uncommon to distinguish between “mint” and “factory mint” condition — the former means the horse has been closely inspected for any kind of flaw, and passes, while the latter just means “nothing’s happened to it since it left the factory, but there may be paint overspray, tiny paint bubbles or plastic flecks in the paint, or some other minor flaw.”

Not everyone make the distinction, but it’s always nice to bid/buy from those who do! Maybe Windstone fans should adopt a similar code, with “absolutely mint” for inspected items versus “factory mint” for those that only get/pass a cursory look-over?

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).

[Nightcrow]

Oh, yes, good idea! A list of abbreviations should definitely go on there! I’ve been a collector for 10+ years, and I still don’t know them all, thanks to the influx of so many new colors, sculpts, levels, and so on!

PhoenixTears wrote:

perhaps a list of Windstone abbreviations and what they actually stand for would help a lot.

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).

[Author]

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