I think the release of collectible edition cats per se is not a problem. I have seen people wishing to have a new collection in almost every single holiday or important celebrated event around the world and considering they are all starters, beautiful and each of them have something special and lovely that attracts people to buy them we all might find a good reason to get them. My issue is the size of the Collection (# of new LE available and the # of cats you have to buy in order to get the entire collection) and the # of new traits available with each Collection considering how little time there is between one collection and the next.
As many said, I'm still breeding previous LE kitties, I'm one of those who don't let them go until I'm 100% sure of each of their hidden secrets so I still have quite a few of them not giving up their shades or whiskers and my job gets harder considering the fact that some starters might not hide these traits. So there are quite a few things here and there that delay our breeding projects and I accept these things as the nature of the breeding game and actually it makes my hobby a bit more interesting and "rewarding" when I finally get the traits I want to pass, but it can be hard when I'm still half way through with a cat and I already have another special edition at my door step which in my brain traduces as a constant reminder of the potential of new traits.
Would the number of traits exclusive to a specific Limited Edition have a positive influence in the secondary market? I haven't seen many Wavy whiskers around to give an example, but this is the only trait I can think of at the moment that is not everywhere in the market and it was exclusive of a specific Collection. Is it a coincidence? My observations are just that, and I haven't carried out any serious collection of data on it. Anyone has observed similar things with traits exclusive of certain collections?
What about releasing Collectibles without new traits? I know I would still buy them, it would please the Collector heart that beats inside of us and it would give us something to dream about whenever Equinox torture us with her "hints" but it won't forcibly shower us all with new traits again when we are still discovering new traits from the previous collection (a new eye was discovered from the Halloween Collection only yesterday!)
Very interesting thread this one. Thanks for bringing this up!
Giulia
Note: I figured I would add up to what Kay said
Seasons of Hope 2011 (RFL) carried the Gerbera Eyes which were 4 and are not available through starters (but I think there are so many still available in the secondary market that it feels like they are)
The Steampunk Collection 2012 (RFL) carried Wavy whiskers and It's still exclusive to those starters. Fussy tail was discovered by breeding the Fun Flowers and the Delectable Darlings which were the Easter LE of 2012, but this tail is available in starter cats bought from the store or in new LE released.
New Releases Hurting the Breeders
