Thank you, Andy, for posting the company's decision. I would like to make a last-ditch stand on one or two issues, if I may: > From: Andy Looney <andy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> > That said, our decision stands: With the exception of gray, monochrome > Icehouse stashes are being permanently discontinued. Wow. That "permanently" is quite chilling, if I may say so. It is a shock wave through your current fan base. For instance, anyone who does not now have a full 10 (11) stashes is out of luck: they will have to buy TH sets to fill out their spectrum, and (I suppose) sell off/give away the extras. Take my buddy, for instance: I got him a Zendo set, but he and I are (sort of) working on games that use the whole spectrum. For his Xeno half of the spectrum, no big deal: he'll buy up 5 sets like anyone new to the game and make 5 stashes out of them. But that Black stash... it's gonna cost him ~$50. $10 if he can sell off the redundant stashes (RYGB)--which is little better than a break-even, when you consider what he earns versus the time it will take to manage 1-4 eBay auctions (the Givins Principle would say he should--literally--give them away unless he enjoys running eBay auctions). Secondly, if I may ask, as far as possible without revealing confidential information, could you explain what it would take to offer Clear and White for piecenikkers? Tally up the numbers, add in a "pain in the a**" percentage, add in "rarity" adjustments... give us a total. Furthermore, considering the above, what would it take to offer Black stashes to Zendo owners? (See also the post to the list advising an IceTowers owner to buy Orange while he or she can--the boxed set owners are all being set up to suffer for this decision). > I support this decision for many reasons... I have a lot to say in response > to this thread, so much so that I've decided to turn what I'm writing into > my next article at Wunderland.com. So I thank you again for all your I, for one, eagerly await a full response. For now, though, I'm gonna be the next Rabbit to stick his head into the path of the flamethrowers and assert that this is at least as bad for brand identity as the initial shift to Treehouse... and probably significantly worse. When TH came out, it generated a nuisance factor: a burden was placed on demoers and retailers to manage/explain the transition and help the early adopters figure out how to "catch up" (see example above RE Black for Zendo owners). But with that word "permanently" up there, you are drawing a line in the sand; you are, effectively, saying "catch up now or pay a premium in money and time later." And the very people hit with that ultimatum are the one's closest to being on the fence: we fanatics bought up the spectrum long ago; but these boxed set owners might be holding off for any number of valid reasons and planning to continue to fill out their spectrums at their next opportunity. When that opportunity finally comes... and they discover that they have to buy 5 sets to make up the one stash they are missing from a half-spectrum... well, I can speculate all day long, but how would that make YOU feel... how willing to continue to buy would YOU be? This is not just a "who moved my cheese" issue; this is a case of limited communication to early adopters who, in turn, are going to eventually discover that they were left out in the cold. Again, we fanatics routinely visit Wunderland and routinely read this list and what-not--we're all "warned" and could react in time. John Doe who bought Zendo/IceTowers/etc a couple of years back and is now ready to go all-in is only going to discover at the cash register that Looney Labs left him behind. I suspect that he will have a very sour taste in his mouth at that point, and it's a fact of business that dissatisfied customers cost more sales BY FAR than satisfied customers help generate. In the end, money talks and whiners walk. But I'd seriously encourage you to look at the number of boxed sets you've sold and the differentials amongst monochrome stash sales (i.e. how many potentially incomplete half-spectrums are in the marketplace) and realize that the total you get from that math equal the number of current customers and potential future customers who, now, will be screwed. And then realize that every one of those folks are early adopters: traditionally the LAST people a company wants to ditch when business pressures force a change of practice or policy (hence the entire concept of "grandfather clause"). Sorry this is such a long post, but I am quite concerned about this third (or is it fourth?) direction for the Icehouse brand. As a demoer, I already struggle with clarifying the game system versus the component sales. I do not want--nor will I ever agree--to try to console someone with Zendo who discovers they can't get Black without significant time/money investment. I will have no choice but to agree with said victim that he or she was disregarded. David