Westland Giftware has announced the release of the Summer 2014 Horse of a Different Color. Due to ship in July 2014 are four new figurines comprising the 10th herd of Horse of a Different Color.
Included in this release are:
We expect these new additions to the series to be available to ship at the end of July. Preorders are now being taken on our website.
Horse of a Different Color, Summer 2014 Herd
[whohit]2014-07-01 Horse of a Different Color Summer 2014 Release[/whohit]
Today the Trail of Painted Ponies announced the Summer 2014 herd! The new herd consists of Blood Brothers, Photo Finish, Western Leather and A Star is Born and these ponies are now available for pre-order at a Snaggy diMe!
Trail of the Painted Ponies, Summer 2014 herd
[whohit]2014-06-06 New Ponies for the Summer 2014 Trail of Painted Ponies Herd[/whohit]
Today the Trail of Painted Ponies has announced the retirement of six ponies from the existing herd. Retired are Westward Ho, Unicorn’s Garden, Celestial, Victorian Christmas, Magical Swan and Rites of Passage.
May 2014 retirement for the Trail of Painted Ponies
We still have these collectible pieces in stock if you are looking to round out your personal herds.
[whohit]2014-05-16 Six Ponies Put Out to Pasture in May 2014[/whohit]
Remember all those ponies that layer patterns that force you to sit down and take a closer look? This week the Trail of Painted Ponies announced a contest for people who like to confound, an opportunity to create a design within a design, the canvas being the figure of the horse.
The designs should come on the Trotting or Regal pony form only, but you do not need to buy the Paint Your Own Pony kit. You can simply download the application with the pony template and submit your pattern for judging. The contest runs through May 31 with the winning design receiving $500!
Take a quick look at the Trail of Painted Ponies Invitation to Artists with Magical Eyes and enter for an opportunity to win cash and prizes! We’d love nothing more than to brag that one of our customers is an artist on the Trail!
A design within a design.
[whohit]2014-04-05 Trail of Painted Ponies Design Contest[/whohit]
Spring is here and with it the announcement of the Spring 2014 herd of the Trail of Painted Ponies. Due to ship at the end of May are four new Painted Pony figurines. Included in this set are:
Empress of the Winds
Empress of the Winds by Stefanie Schaetzchen
They say that the winds are like a woman, always changing … There are the Winds of Time which span history and the Winds of Change, which mark transformations. Then there are the Winds of Dawn, which signal renewal. All of these, from The Empress of the Winds.
Petals
Petals by Paula Holoman
Peonies are pink, they’re beautiful, it’s true.
This Painted Pony, was created just for you.
She is kind and loving, and pretty as can be.
Her name is, Petals, and she loves to run free…
Rodeo Romeo
Rodeo Romeo by Valor Lee and Karlynn Keyes
He’s fast as the wind and black as night,
you can try to resist him with all of your might.
He can spin on a dime and fly through the air,
he’ll steal your heart with rodeo flair.
Look in his eyes and you just can’t say no,
’cause this little guy is Rodeo Romeo!
Trailblazer
Trailblazer by Amber Stirling
Legend tells of spotted horses that blazed trails throughout the American West. They were the constant companions of the Nez Perce, expert hunters and trackers who traveled with the seasons. Their journeys are reflected in the distinctive blanket pattern of their beloved Appaloosas. Together, they rode into history as brave Trailblazers.
These ponies are now available for pre-order on our website.
Trail of the Painted Ponies Spring 2014 herd
[whohit]2014-04-03 Spring 2014 Herd from the Trail of Painted Ponies[/whohit]
We love pre-orders. Really, we do. It’s not because we get paid before the product is delivered. In fact, that’s not an issue in the retail world at all. Whatever scary stories retailers may tell you, an important one to remember is that reputable manufacturers don’t charge for a product until it is delivered. And most offer 30/60/90 day interest free payment options for established customers.
No, we love pre-orders because they tell us how much stuff we need to order. We hate sitting on huge inventories. They tie up money and occupy space. In general, we want to have just enough inventory to get us through the month and place a new order when what we have is running low. Based on prior experience we know that (as an example) if 10 items of a new release of a particular line are pre-ordered, then we’ll sell an additional 10 the month after the release and 5 more the following month, before the demand is reduced to a trickle. That’s just an example. These trends tend to be different for different product lines. So with 10 pre-orders we’ll order 30 pieces, knowing that we’re good for three to four months, unless there’s an unexpected run on the product. That has happened to us. Some collectibles were so wildly popular out of the gate that our conservative estimates would get blown out of the water and what we thought would last us three or four months was gone in two weeks and we were left scrambling for more pieces, which sometimes can take two or three months to arrive!
NSS 2011 Convention Patch
This happened to us at a 2011 conference where we were told that only about 20% of the attendees would be interested in obtaining a conference embroidered patch and that it’s really not a popular item. We ordered just enough to cover 20% of the attendees and on the first day of the conference – in the first few hours – our entire supply was gone. The demand was phenomenal. There were attendees mad that we ran out, there was gouging by those who managed to get a patch, but were willing to part with it for the right price. There were accusations of theft. The shortage nearly caused a riot. Looking back, we could have easily sold a patch or two to 50% or 60% of the attendees. A missed opportunity based on someone else’s advice rather than our own experience.
On the other hand, a retailer’s nightmare is having inventory that no one wants. In 2007 a conference that was being held in Denver came to us to help them with merchandising. We love working with conferences because their attendees are a captive audience. We work with our vendors to get good prices on private label merchandise and in turn offer it to the attendees at a good price. Yes, the product liability stays with the merchant. Very few conferences actually buy the merchandise outright or make any guarantees.
From our experience, no one wants a $10 shot glass with the conference logo on it, but $5 shot glasses tend to do pretty well. We base what we order on organizer requests and on past history. One of the items that the conference planners wanted was a stuffed toy buffalo (really, a North American bison) wearing a conference logoed vest. They assured us that historically about 50% of the attendees would pick up a convention mascot to take home as a conference keepsake or as a toy for their kids or as a gift for an associate who could not make the conference.
Billy the Bison
We had several planning meetings with the designers at Stuffed Animal House and placed an order to cover just about 60% of the attendees. Two weeks before the conference we received several boxes of the North American bison, smartly dressed in his embroidered conference vest. Billy the Bison, as the conference committee named him, was just too cute for words. Everyone who saw him immediately fell in love with him. Except for the conference attendees. Billy’s sales were less than 1/3 of what was predicted by the conference staff, leaving us with a whole herd of stylish stuffed animals.
North American Buffalo
The good news is that the vest comes off and we could sell a GQ buffalo representing a conference long gone by or, alternatively, a naturally naked buffalo. There is a market for 8” plush naked buffaloes, but it’s not overwhelming. We have a huge inventory sitting on our shelves. If these buffalo could roam, we could probably repopulate the West.
So yes, we love pre-orders. They are not always on the money, but to date we’ve identified no better way to make sure that we are ready to meet our customers’ demand.
[whohit]2014-03-31 Planning Order Quantities[/whohit]
We have the Winter 2014 Trail of Painted Ponies in stock! We have shipped all pre-orders. We still have the herd in stock, so if you didn’t get your set yet, it’s not too late!
Trail of Painted Ponies Winter 2014 herd
You can find more details about this herd in our January 4, 2014 blog announcing this release.
Happy trails!
[whohit]2014-03-04 Winter 2014 Trail[/whohit]
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]
One of the opportunities that a trade show gives us is the ability to catch up on the news about our popular product lines and see previews of what print advertising is promising. Astonishing as it may sound, news from manufacturers can be hard to come by and trade shows are a great opportunity to corner product representatives and get some up to date gossip.
Horse of a Different Color, Winter 2014 Herd
We mentioned in a previous blog that we saw the new set of Horse of a Different Color at the WESA show in January and at the Denver Mart show we had the opportunity to see these pieces again, ahead of their official release in March. Retailers and shopkeepers are very much like consumers. We’ll get a glossy flyer from the manufacturer or, these days, a matte digital photograph in e-mail, and we are left wondering “what does that thing really look like?” Until you actually hold the piece in your hand, you don’t know what it really feels like, what the true colors are and rotating the piece to face the other way provides a completely different perspective.
Advertising images lack general sensory input. We’ve had customers complain because a piece they bought was not colored the same way as the one shown in the advertising. It does not happen often, but sometimes a manufacturing decision is made to change the color of an element in a figurine and the final product does not have the same look as the original. Bells or beads attached to a figurine make sound and create a completely different sensation than a picture. Even touch is a significant factor as the texture of the figurines varies widely, from gloss to smooth to rippled to textured. We have seen the surface of a figurine be the deciding factor in a purchasing decision. And there is smell. There are paints and glues that make items far less desirable until they have had a chance to fully air out. And then there are general differences in pieces that no one has any control over. Remember, while the figurines are all machine molded, they are also all hand finished. Fine detail may vary. The placement of accessories may be just a touch different. Even things like feathers or flare may be oriented differently, based on how they were attached, how much glue was applied and how the piece was set down to dry.
In the age of internet shopping, we understand consumer concerns about making a purchase. We always talk about judging a book by its cover, but in reality an element of the purchase is the deep desire to flip the cover open and read a few lines.
Trade shows provide us an opportunity to see new releases ahead of their official street date and gives us a chance to more clearly speak to what our customers are interested in purchasing. In a way, this is an opportunity for the retailers to do a little window shopping and develop a sense for the products they intend to carry.
[whohit]2014-02-27 Denver Mart part 4 – Using Your Senses[/whohit]
Stormy Marmot at Colorado State Capitol
This is just too cute not to pass along. And it’s local to us here in Colorado, so it would be a crime not to mention our own famed prognosticator, Stormy Marmot. Looks like Stormy was up early this morning to check the weather and he’s predicting six more weeks of winter. Looking out the window here, we agree that winter is most definitely here and the short term – one week – forecast is supporting this theory.
Old weather sage Punxsutawney Phil in on board. There’s more winter to come.
Don’t forget, a great cold weather pastime is to play games at home. We can help. And we of course carry a selection of groundhogs and marmots.
[whohit]2014-02-02 Groundhog Day[/whohit]