Price Increases for 2010?

Price increases on Gold & Gold-Silver are rumored to occur in the UK and overseas sometime in January or February. There has been some talk of them occuring in the US as well, but the amount (15-30%) and whether or not this will also happen in the Glass & Silver categories is unclear. I'll keep fishing... meanwhile you may want to buy that Gold item earlier rather than later.

The Ltd Edition Prisms in the UK (a Royal Blue with Purple and a Pink & Amber) will most likely not be making it into the regular production line. The stock numbers don't follow the regular prism sequence (601## - they are 602##'s.) TB HQ also denies that they will be available outside of the UK. Rats!!

New release date rumored now to be Feb. 10th, not Jan. 15th. Possible the retirement will occur in January in order to not affect the sales numbers on the new release. Of course if you haven't heard already, the new coffee table Trollbeads book is released! Don't wait for your local dealer to have one if you are in the US or Canada, instead check out Amazon.com to order your copy. You can also order it on the author's website, but the price is quite high... For more info read:

http://trollbeads.com/site/trollbeads_usd/nyheder.asp

That's it for now... I'll keep trolling for more news...

Empowerment Beads Now On-line

The Ltd Edition Pink Empowerment beads that are being sold in the US and Canada to raise money for Breast Cancer Charities & awareness about the disease are now being sold on-line in the US. Lund had at first specified that these were only to be sold in-store to walk in customers, but have now given the OK to on-line sales for authorized dealers. If you've been wanting one make sure you contact your on-line dealer to see if they are now available. These beads have the larger core size and fit other popular brands like Pandora or Chamilia, so they make a great gift, & are very stunning in real life.

Ltd Edition Black & White Set

Trollbeads in Denmark is about to release a set of 10 black & white glass beads! This too is a Limited Edition, but before you begin having heart palpatations and worrying about your credit card balances, you will be happy to know they will only be available in Denmark shops. The set has the larger core sizes, similar to the Pink set just released here for Breast Cancer. The set also benefits a Danish charity. Rumored release date is Oct. 26th, and only 500 sets said to have been made. So if you are holidaying in Denmark you may see them, otherwise, enjoy this photo!

Unoffical To-Be-Retired List

I've argued in my head whether to post all of this list, some, some cryptic photos, or ? In a way, it's nice to have newbies & ebay prospectors earn their Troll information and keep these lovely secrets for the seasoned trollies. But this list has been widely circulated and it is UNCONFIRMED. Keep that in mind!

So here is the unofficial list of retirements rumored to happen in January 2010. With all of the exciting recent releases (Autumn, Breast Cancer Ltd Edition, China Ltd Edition) and the upcoming Christmas release (usually in November), I'm guessing there won't be much opportunity for anyone to buy up all the maybe retireds for resale. So here's your chance to pick up any must haves on your wishlist before then, or help you budget & prioritize your beadlist.

Glass: Red Bubbles, Twisted Bud, Lilac shadow, Polka dot, Orange armadillo, Red shadow, Lilac Edge, Mardi gras, Green flower, Green eye bead, Blue Flower bud, Stripe of fashion, Summer bud, Circus, Lime, Double flower, Banana, Red Berry, Rod, Elton, Carly, Dolly, Freddie and Abba

Silver & Glass: King & Queen

Locks: Mexico (assuming both silver & gold)

Gold: Ladybug & Scarab

Silver & Stone beads: Pearl Drops (Black, Pink, & White), All of the Zodiac star beads

Silvers: Aztec, Tower, Five Faces, Castle, Pentanque, Angles Tip, Triangles, Frogs, Cactus, Hippopotamus, Duckling, Tupilak Big, Tupilak Mouth, Flounder, Bee on Hive, Sparrow, Neither Fish nor Bird Big, Eight Faces, Chat, Elf Bead, Polar Bear, & Rhinoceros.

Antique Flower Color Change

Dealers in the US sent out a notice about 2 weeks ago that the design (glass colors) of the Antique Flower bead will be changing. The core will be a lighter green, and the flowers less vibrant purple. The original Antique Flower did have quite a bit of variety, but if you prefer the darker mossy green color or want a double to match to one you already have, you may want to go shopping now before the new stock starts to funnel into stores.

Chinese Bracelet Photo

A very kind Trollbeads collector from the Netherlands has let me use her photo of the China Limted Edition release set. All 10 silvers & 10 Jades are on here. (The first and last silver on the chain are not part of the release.) Enjoy! - Photo courtesy of Liana

Ltd Edition China Release & Other news...

Today the Ltd Edition China release officially came out. There is a short description of it on http://trollbeads.com/site/trollbeads_usd/inspiration.asp - (tip: click on the link in the paragraph to see bead names & descriptions) the beads will only be available in local shops or on-line to die-hard trollies who know where to look.

Fable Trading in the UK will only be selling them as an entire bracelet with the 10 silvers and 10 Jaspers. 500 will be sold and will include a silver Scroll bead with the number on it. This will definately push the UK people to shop on-line in countries like Germany & Denmark where they are selling the individual beads. My advice, due to this, is to shop early if you are planning on buying only a few of the silvers or Jades.

You can view the beads on line at http://www.njewel-24.de/TrollbeadsChina-Limited-Edition/. The Jades are brilliant in color while also offering some more muted tones. The silvers names, losely translated from German, are as follows: Silkworm, Dragon, Wall of China, Birds & Flowers, Clouds & Flowers, Dragon & Phoenix, Symbol of Eternity, White Snake, Deer-Rabbit-Bird, Pig-Chick-Badger. The stories & mythological inspiration have not been widely published yet. Some distributors will hopefully have a brochure for us to browse.

Now, for those in the US & Canada, Lund (or Trendy Group) has not released any official info yet, whilst those in Germany & Netherlands are happily shopping in store already, and the UK gals already know they need to look elsewhere unless they want to splurge on the entire set. Lund, hopefully, will release details to the dealers today. Sometimes I wish they would attend TB Kindergarten (instead of TB University) and learn how to expediate release information. True collectors, are already securing the new beads through online options, meaning by the time the beads slowly roll into North America, potential Lund profits have already migrated out of country. UPDATE: Unofficial info is that the North American release of these beads will not be until early November. No word on if they are selling in sets or individually.

Retirements - I will be posting a bit more about this soon. For now I will report that the Retro Kit, and certain beads of the Winter Kit, & Summer Kits are rumoured to be on the chopping block.

It's Official...

A quick note: The new Purple Prism can be ordered from www.trollbeads.com. It is available alone or in the Prism Set. The Red-Pink is now gone. :(

New Purple Prism!

Here is the stock photo of the new Purple Prism (60194)!!! (Correction - this was not seen on a US site, just in the UK so far.)

The Retirement list, which is said to be officially announced Dec. 31st or thereabouts, has also been circulating the underground trollworld. Stay tuned for that later this week.

Red Pink Prism Retiring

The big news leaking out from the UK is that the Red-Pink prism, bead #60187, is being discontinued (retired) and replaced with a Purple Prism #60194, also a 2 tone that fades to a lighter color, but a true purple color. Dealers in the UK already cannot order the Red-Pink, and are receiving the Purple so if you read some of the UK forums you can see pictures from collectors that have purchased them already. The beads look fantastic, and I'm excited to see a true purple in the prism line.

Retirements, rumoured to be about 20 beads, are expected this October. If so, this will be when the Red-Pink is officially discontinued and the Purple Prism is officially launched. So if this bead is on your wishlist, you may want to snap one up now.

Other news: The Empowerment Beads - the Ltd. 10 Pink glass bead set being realeased in the US may be harder to obtain than thought. I've heard that constrictions have been placed on who can order & buy the set, limiting shops to selling only to customers that physically come to the store to buy the beads. Meaning ordering from Canada will become, um, not an option. Never fear though, this creates a perfect opportunity for greedy prospectors to sell them to us on Ebay at inflated prices. Trollbeads Gallery has taken down their Forum & Blog postings regarding these beads as well, although pics of the prototype beads can be found on other sites using Google: search "Trollbeads Empowerment".

The China themed Ltd October release, has had a picture leaked. The release consists of multi-colored Jade stone beads, similar in size & shape to the Jaspers, and some round silvers, with different designs. It appears that the silvers alternated with the colorful Jades create the sectional Chinese dancing Dragon that is seen at the New Years celebrations. The silvers have different creatures & flowers on them, and there appears to be 10 silvers in all (& 10 Jade colors), but it is hard to tell if they are all unique. No news yet on the official release date, if it is to be a Worldwide release, or if the silvers & Jades are sold as a set or separately. It looks amazing though, so save some cash for October.

More Release Rumours

There is a rumour about a smaller October 15th release. Overseas the story is a Ltd Edition bead with an Oriental Theme, inlayed with Jade stone, and possibly a dragon??? No idea if this is fact or fiction, or if would be a world-wide release or just specific to Europe.

(In the US the North-east dealers are releasing a Ltd Edition set of 10 Pink glass with proceeds going to a Breast Cancer charity. This release is scheduled to take place around the same time. My last post has a link for this.)

Now that the Fall release is out, the next for sure release will be the smaller Christmas themed one that usually comes out in November. Until then, I'm sure our pocketbooks will be suffering trying to afford all of the beautiful beads that just came out!!!! :)

One Little Picture...

...won't hurt, will it??? The beautiful Caravan set, with deep coral colors!!! SHHHHH! ;)

New Topic: There is a Limited Edition Glass set of 10 pink beads, made exclusively for Trollbeads US Northeast dealers. You can find out more information by joining the Forum or viewing the Blog for www.trollbeadsgallery.com. You can view a picture of this gorgeous & very limited set there. Proceeds from sales are donated to a Breastcancer group, but it is US based. Maybe Canada will do something similar for a Canadian Charity?

If you agree you could go to the Canadian Trollbeads site: www.trollbeads.ca and email the Trendy Group with your thoughts.

New Release Teaser!

Friday is the big day, the Fall 2009 release for Trollbeads!!! The beads were leaked on a German website, although it was pulled down quickly. So I won't spoil the suspense for you but I will give a few teaser details.

The new release includes: 1 silver lock, 1 silver ring, 1 faceted stone bead (not the Amazonite, after all), 2 round stone beads, 12 new glass 1 beads (one set is called Caravan, the other Desert, inspired after their namesakes), 1 Fantasy silver bead (very, very cool!), and 8 silver beads, covering a variety of sizes & price ranges. UPDATE: 3 of the beads have also been released in gold, as well as the ring is available in 18K gold.

I have to say that this is one of the most amazing & appealing releases I have seen from Trollbeads. I was stunned by the glass, it is new & different from what Lise has released before. It is beautiful and I think will appeal to a wide range, it is not as quirky as the Aquarelle & Tuscany sets of the spring release, nor the Mosaics. There are some really sexy bead, with new colors & textures & shimmers.

The silvers are all inspired from folklore & fables, history & nature. They have stayed very true to the TB theme and these beads are not only beautiful, but meaningful & interesting as well. They really do have good stories!

For everyone who swoons over the OOAK Bubble beads that are plentiful in Denmark, but impossible in Canada - you will be very happy with this release. Anyone looking for some sparkle will be too.

If you want to be informed of the new beads, make sure you check out the TrollbeadsNow.com blog. It is always a good idea to sign up for the newsletters directly from the source in Denmark too: www.trollbeads.com

August 15th Release

The next TB release date is August 15th (at least what I can gather from the emails sent out from TB regarding the People's Bead competition.) The Fall release will include the silver version of the People's Bead winner which is the dove cradling the earth design. Also rumored to be included (???) is the turquoise Amazonite faceted stone bead. Runners up in the top 10 received Sapphire faceted blue stone beads, and a Ltd Edition of Citrine (pale yellow) faceted stone beads were in Denmark shops, so one could wonder if there is an upcoming release of new gemstones in the Fall collection. Only Lise knows!!!

TB.com has also started a new contest, instead of the summer photo contest it is a movie contest about where you have taken your Trollbeads this summer. The contest link is www.beoriginalthemovie.com

Jasper prices in Canada seem to be at $40 Cdn and some smaller dealers have not received their supply yet so keep checking at your local store. In the US the prices have ranged from $35US to $80US!!! Dealers were charging more for beads they percieved to have better, rarer, or more desirable color. Sets of 6 are almost sold out in Europe so if you have an overseas contact to obtain one I would make your move as soon as you can.

As always there are retirement rumours, and some Glass beads are temporarily??? unavailable to order from the Canadian Distributor, one of these being Pumpkin. I think it is unlikely that this correlates with any retirements, but has been almost 2 years since the last big retirement so it is a possibility that something may go this Fall. (Of course, I hope not!!!)

Enjoy your summer days & happy trolling!

Ltd Edition Jasper Beads!!!

Just got word from the Trollbeadsnow blog that the Jaspers are released in Canada!!! This is quite exciting news as these types of beads vary so much it is always nice to choose them in person or on-line pictures of individual beads. Jasper is reported to be a very durable stone so it should make a great bead for daily wear.

Pink Ambers in North America?

The rumour mill has been rich lately, and one little tip I've heard is that the Ltd. Edition Pink amber beads, also called Rosa Amber or Peach Amber, that were released in Europe for Valentine's Day will be making their way to North America in time for Mother's Day.

This rare type of amber is only found in Russia and has a very unique color. It ranges from creamy peach to more translucent pink and is stunning! I'm hoping that it does arrive here, but it will be in short supply and possibly only the largest sales volume dealers will receive it. It was very rare in the UK and most dealers only had 1 or 2 sets of 6 ambers to sell.

So, if you do happen to stumble across one in April or May, grab it because it will be your only chance!

Mother's Day Ltd. Edition Beads

Rumour has it....

Trollbeads is releasing 2 Limited Edition beads just in time for Mother's Day. They are based upon the "Heartbeat" bead that was originally released in November of 2006 on the Ltd. Edition Anniversary Bracelet. The new beads are available with a choice of two difference precious stones: Pink Sapphires or Rubies. The stones are set in the center of each heart around the bead. So far it seems they are going to price around $570US.

I have heard a rumour that TB will also be having a 2nd bead release before Mother's Day with more affordably priced beads. So far that is just rumour, but seeing as the big Spring release was early on January 15th of this year, it does seem feasible that a release could happen within the next 3 months. Trollgirl will keep her ears & eyes open....