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Vintage Star Wars Collecting
Vintage Collecting Chat
Buying and Merchandising, what happens when a line is going to go out of stock
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<blockquote data-quote="SAVORY100" data-source="post: 490995" data-attributes="member: 5830"><p>Just want to reiterate this; I'm absolutely not trying to suggest that I believe the recent spate of red flag raising is completely incorrect, all I'm trying to do is share knowledge on how Buying and Merchandising actually works in big companies.</p><p></p><p>To add meat to the bones, my career includes WHSmith, English Heritage, Next, Homebase, Asda and funnily enough before it went pop; Woolworths, so proper, big, blue chip retailers and importers of own brand lines as well as big brand items. My work with Asda, Next, Homebase was as a Far East supplier, so the other end of the chain, with office based in Hong Kong and factories in Shenzhen; hence some of my insight to subcontracting and product materials and packaging changes mid-run of any given line. I only wrote the above to try to help people without this knowledge to make a fully rounded decision. </p><p></p><p>For all the great information in the Woolies thread though, my evidence and experience above could counter that they're not fake and suggest that these are all potentially OK. </p><p></p><p><strong>I'm absolutely NOT though suggesting that it does by any means</strong></p><p></p><p>To my mind its all still very unclear and as is very clearly noted in your responses, Iain and Spoons, one source that has been identified as selling all (or most of) the items in question, is highly suspicious, but that still does not prove that the Woolies packs are fake at all, they are different and currently under review for most folk. I actually think the Woolies post basically makes this observation, but it seems to have been construed as a statement of them being fake rather than what it is; a very detailed account of two different type label/packaging variants, one of which is worthy of additional review and attention due to the link at source. </p><p></p><p>It is still at this stage highly possible that they are from a different sticker batch in production, they would for their entire number in existence be a small portion of a batch at that... anyone thinking of destroying them or calling them out right fakes is wrong at this stage, I'm just asking for patience and caution before something that might just be different might actually be lost to the hobby in what are currently divisive and heated times.</p><p></p><p>I would also note (as it appears to have been brought into the thread) I'm not trying to defend the accused at all with my post, I've met the guy 3 times at FF, spoken no more than a handful of words to the him. Unlike many in those particular discussions (I specifically wrote this in a new thread as I have no dog in the fight), I'm trying to stay purely objective and share actual factual information about how things actually work in the industry and how and why batches can be different... variants appear everywhere and many if not all (thank you Iain for mentioning purple stitching as a very good example), they still happen in modern lines too with longer sabres etc. </p><p></p><p>I'm not placing my bets on any side of the dice, just sharing 20+ years of knowledge in the field being reviewed so people can know a little more and maybe not be so hasty to make a final decision and if and when destruction of items is eventually mooted as an action plan a little thought is given... what really scares me personally is that something precious could be lost because its not been seen before and the source currently is under suspicion and scrutiny for other questionable items.</p><p></p><p>I reiterate, hopefully people can read an learn and make informed decisions on any current or future items that appear to be different to known examples, whoever is selling them...</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="SAVORY100, post: 490995, member: 5830"] Just want to reiterate this; I'm absolutely not trying to suggest that I believe the recent spate of red flag raising is completely incorrect, all I'm trying to do is share knowledge on how Buying and Merchandising actually works in big companies. To add meat to the bones, my career includes WHSmith, English Heritage, Next, Homebase, Asda and funnily enough before it went pop; Woolworths, so proper, big, blue chip retailers and importers of own brand lines as well as big brand items. My work with Asda, Next, Homebase was as a Far East supplier, so the other end of the chain, with office based in Hong Kong and factories in Shenzhen; hence some of my insight to subcontracting and product materials and packaging changes mid-run of any given line. I only wrote the above to try to help people without this knowledge to make a fully rounded decision. For all the great information in the Woolies thread though, my evidence and experience above could counter that they're not fake and suggest that these are all potentially OK. [b]I'm absolutely NOT though suggesting that it does by any means[/b] To my mind its all still very unclear and as is very clearly noted in your responses, Iain and Spoons, one source that has been identified as selling all (or most of) the items in question, is highly suspicious, but that still does not prove that the Woolies packs are fake at all, they are different and currently under review for most folk. I actually think the Woolies post basically makes this observation, but it seems to have been construed as a statement of them being fake rather than what it is; a very detailed account of two different type label/packaging variants, one of which is worthy of additional review and attention due to the link at source. It is still at this stage highly possible that they are from a different sticker batch in production, they would for their entire number in existence be a small portion of a batch at that... anyone thinking of destroying them or calling them out right fakes is wrong at this stage, I'm just asking for patience and caution before something that might just be different might actually be lost to the hobby in what are currently divisive and heated times. I would also note (as it appears to have been brought into the thread) I'm not trying to defend the accused at all with my post, I've met the guy 3 times at FF, spoken no more than a handful of words to the him. Unlike many in those particular discussions (I specifically wrote this in a new thread as I have no dog in the fight), I'm trying to stay purely objective and share actual factual information about how things actually work in the industry and how and why batches can be different... variants appear everywhere and many if not all (thank you Iain for mentioning purple stitching as a very good example), they still happen in modern lines too with longer sabres etc. I'm not placing my bets on any side of the dice, just sharing 20+ years of knowledge in the field being reviewed so people can know a little more and maybe not be so hasty to make a final decision and if and when destruction of items is eventually mooted as an action plan a little thought is given... what really scares me personally is that something precious could be lost because its not been seen before and the source currently is under suspicion and scrutiny for other questionable items. I reiterate, hopefully people can read an learn and make informed decisions on any current or future items that appear to be different to known examples, whoever is selling them... [/QUOTE]
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