Call of the Wolf, pack 20

Westland Giftware announced the winter 2014 Call of the Wolf pack back in January, but we have not had an opportunity to see it first hand until the Denver Market show. The Call of the Wolf series has been one of the cornerstone lines for Westland since its release in July 2004. That’s right, the winter 2014 pack is the 20th set, adding to a total of 103 wolves in the series.

Western (European) lore of the wolf paints it as an aggressive predator and an opportunistic killer. It is a villain in childhood tales and a shape shifter in the night, stalking humans. The ironic truth is that even though wolves are accomplished predators, very seldom do they attack humans and never because they view humans as food. Wolf aggression against humans is defensive or territorial as the animals fight for their own survival.

Howling Moon

American Indians have a distinctly different view of wolves, one of admiration and respect. A wolf is a protector, representing power and courage, and a member of a strong tribal community that acts as one and takes care of their own. It is this Native American view of wolves that Westland Giftware used to inspire the Call of the Wolf product line and it is this view that the public used to embrace the very successful series.

The Denver Mart show was also an opportunity for us to sit down with the product line representatives to discuss the series and the direction it is taking. Westland has high hopes for the continued success of the Call of the Wolf line. In the discussion we mentioned that what we would love to see in the future of this line is a “Paint Your Own Wolf”, akin to the popular Paint Your Own Pony, Paint Your Own Mustang, Paint Your Own Cow and Paint Your Own Weiner sets. Call of the Wolf is the last of the Westland major product lines that does not have a Paint Your Own kit and we firmly believe that this would be a very popular expansion of the series. In the very least, the idea was popular. A lot of eyes lit up in the room when the proposal was made.

We look forward to more great products to come from Westland Giftware in this popular line.

[whohit]2014-02-28 Denver Mart part 5 – Calling Wolf[/whohit]

Call of the Wolf

On a cold winter night freshly fallen snow hides the tracks of those who recently passed this way, making it easy to become lost in the wilderness.  The light of the full moon reflects off the freshly fallen snow, giving the forest an appearance of twilight rather than total gloom.  Trees tower all around as silent sentinels of the night.  Off in the distance a howl of a wolf pierces the darkness, followed by another and another … the hunt is on.

We’ve all grown up with the stories of wolves howling at the moon, but recent studies at the University of Vienna in Austria (Christian Science Monitor, ABC) show that wolf howling isn’t related to the full moon.  Wolves are not recluse solitary creatures stalking the night, but are very social animals with tight bonds within their pack.  The howl is a form of communication and it is more common between wolves who spend more time together.  It is a way of staying in touch when separated, which makes howls a common event during a hunt, when the pack splits up to stalk their prey.

The howl is the Call of the Wolf.  It means that a member of the pack is outside of visual range.

Even though wolves have a bad reputation, it is extremely unusual for wolves to attack humans.  Most of the bad reputation that wolves carry comes from old European superstition and lore where wolves are the supernatural predators who stalk human villagers.  The greatest threat that wolves pose today is to commercial cattle, which they will stalk and take down when their natural food supply grows thin, especially in the cold of the winter.

The January full moon is called the Wolf Moon by Native American tribes and we wish to take tonight to remind you about the rest of the pack.  Howl for your friends tonight.  Be sure to stay in touch with them!

[whohit]2014-01-15 Wolf Moon[/whohit]