Let me first start by stating there is nothing that says this will be happening beyond the Mother's Day release, so don't panic, but I'd like to hear from you the collectors what your thoughts are. Please share them with us so we will fully understand your feelings.
I want to say here that many of you are upset that the Mother's Day bead is coming out (you all know what it is but I cannot mention it yet) and when I think about the comments on Trollbeads Gallery Forum I believe a lot of the emotion is centered around the basic lack of information.
There seems to be a leak somewhere within the Headquarters of the company. You are all finding out about Trollbeads releases before we as dealers do and while this is fun for collectors to have the inside scoop it causes problems to the retailers who are left unaware. Take for example this coming limited edition of the Mother's Day Bead. I have not been told by Trollbeads or by Trollbeads U.S. that it's happening but I do know it is. This in itself is ridiculous but then add to that the fact that dealers in other countries (and hemispheres) can announce it on their sites and it becomes even more twisted. The U.S. collectors are not getting information from us (the U.S. dealers) and are panicking we won't be getting it so they and are pre-ordering from the foreign sites. This hurts the collector because they will likely be paying more for it and it hurts the U.S. dealer because we are loosing sales. Add to that the fact that we are at a disadvantage because we are not allowed to sell outside N.America but dealers around the world can sell to U.S. collectors. So it's a double whammy. Although the collectors are the are the ones who are thrilled about getting the hot informaiton before the company releases it they are also the ones hurt by paying more. No blame on the collector here at all but if we were to be given the information at the same time directly from the company then we would all be on an equal playing field and we would have correct information and rumors or verbal assaults (some are very unhappy about the re-release) would not have to occur. It would be a lot more fair if the actual facts pertaining to the release is given but this never happens because the information is always leaked before the product is produced. Hmmm, makes you think doesn't it?
Take for example...one more time that elephant sitting in the center of the room...or the Mother's Day release. When it is released it is my hope that the story about the re-release also defines what is unique about it so that the collectors who paid hundreds of dollars for the first release can rest assured knowing there is a way to tell the 2 editions apart. It's my wish that when any Trollbead comes into the market a second time around it should be accompanied by all historical information and all up to date information. It should also show a stamp with a figure designating the date it was made. For example when the Pink Prisms were released to Australia (before the U.S. had them in the BCA set) the Australian dealers were not given sufficient information and were telling collectors the prisms were new beads and had just been remade. The fact is the glass that had been used to make those beads was discontinued a long time ago and that was the reason the bead was retired along with the fact the glass used was not predictable and the beads were sometimes translucent and sometimes not. The beads that were sent were the old beads they discovered in a box in the vault during reconstruction but were stamped before they left the building, as all beads are now. People were saying all sorts of things about these beads and none of it was true but the damage had been done. When the rest of them were released in the Breast Cancer Awareness kit the sales suffered because there was such confusion over what the beads were. The collectors didn't know because the information was not released by the company at the time as the bead. There should be full disclosure at the time of release so no one has to guess at the reason for the re-release or have to guess when comparing one edition against the other.
Information or no information we are very fortunate that Trollbeads is honest and moral in all business dealings and decisions and we just need to keep faith in that.
Louise Rogers
February 29, 2012
I like to think of it as personal sculpture!
