I'm new to the whole kittycat thing and me and a friend really just like how cute and fun they are but we were out shopping for kitties today and noticed on the webby some furs and things say (Retired) what does that actually mean? Are they devalued cats, unwanted, not supported or what?
Many thanks to any answers!
hi, and welcome to KittyCatS! - "retired" means, that those traits are no longer available to buy in our starter packs or special collection cats. it means they are not in the "genetic pool" any longer from US.
they can be found in secondary markets and preserved through breeding, so they are not "gone", just simply not something we will include anymore as possible traits in the cats WE sell.
they are not unwanted, or devalued, in fact it just can be the opposite, since it's up to the community to preserve those traits
again welcome to KittyCatS! and i hope that helps!
* Tad Carlucci reads the above post and raises his hand, again, about separating the term into "retired" and "limited edition".
Oh yes. Limited Edition title would be good...or even Retired Collector.
Isnt it more or less the same, where the traits were to be found - starters or collectibles, as long as they were available at a time and are now anymore in any starters (collectibles included.) I think the term "retired" captures this fact. There are a lot of other incorrect and misleading terms around in Kitten marketing one could call a lingo-war on.
Yes, both are not available. But one was generally available to anyone for months and months where the other was available from a single special collection. I've seen some speak of Gerbera Orange and Genesis - Diamond, both on the same cat, both "retired", as if the Gerbera Orange were just as common as Genesis - Diamond. To some "retired" is "old, worn out, and worthless". But the limited edition stuff like Gerbera Orange attained that status within a few weeks of release where it took Genesis - Diamond nearly a year to do so. So, next week when "Gold-Plated Latinum Eyes" comes out, and is only available for a week, it immediately will be just as "old, worn out, and worthless" as Genesis - Diamond because both are "retired".
I do not think that the covetedness of traits needs to be part of the semantic concept of "availability". Besides there are some furs and eyes retired that were in the former starters, that still have their fans (Bengal Snows, White Russians, Ody Dream eyes) as well as there are traits brought by the collectibles that are not really sought after. Usually the more dominat traits like beach blue eyes. Seems we have 4 "retired" categories now: starter/collactible either coveted/not coveted.
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"So, next week when "Gold-Plated Latinum Eyes" comes out, and is only available for a week, it immediately will be just as "old, worn out, and worthless" as Genesis - Diamond because both are "retired". "
I dont think the word "retired" can do that to a cat. Even if it had the connotations you accredited it.
After a few minutes thinking on it, I wanted to come back to add that the company, itself, does not mark limited edition stuff "retired" and my comments lean toward what I've seen at auctions and on local chat when helping Charm. While the company can lead by adding the label, it's not a change in their policy.
As to where the connotations can come from? Look to the OP for an excellent example.
I think retired is a perfect term for traits no longer available in the genetic pool of the current starters.
I really can't think of a better word to describe it because Limited Edition is just not true as a retired trait can be endless reproduced.
I agree with the need for better term. The only reason I use Retired and Limited Edition in my comments is I'm trying to look at it from the company's point of view. On the web site, they list the once-in-starters-but-no-longer as Retired and don't mark what I'd call Limited Edition. The problem is once "retired" entered the vernacular, it started being applied to any trait no longer available, including those which were only in limited release: hence my term Limited Edition. You're correct, though, what we really need is a set of terms which more accurately describe it from the customer's point of view.