Ok I can try to answer your questions
LE traits are usually announced in the notecards, and other places, that come with the collections, most commonly they are the costume eye for that collection but we have had others for example Lite Dream whiskers.
They retire when the collection goes off sale usually, I don't recall them being announced as retired therefore its assumed since they are announced as only available in the collection cats, even regular starters rezzed during a collection will not carry the LE traits, only the collections, therefore its safe to assume the trait is retired once the collection goes off sale at the mainstore. Of course there will still be some on the secondary markets that may carry a LE trait for sale.
Why did you breed 16 summer collection cats, lol, only you can answer that, as to why you never found anything new, just really unlucky I guess, I usually buy 4 from collections plus 2 other starters so test 6 cats and have been quite lucky so far. Trait hunting really is just luck I'm afraid.
In addition to trait hunting though I do breed couture cats and make most of my sales from them, even if I find a new trait its rarely an expensive one and I do like to trait up before selling so the price has generally dropped a lot by the time my kitties hit the auctions.
(10-10-2017 02:42 PM)Shamu077 Resident Wrote: Questions -
How do you know a trait is LE in a new Collection, vs just a new trait?
When do LE traits retire?
Are they announced as retired, or just assumed retired?
Why did I breed 16 Summer Collection kitties, smoke out every hidden trait for all of them,
and never found a SINGLE NEW TRAIT!
Summer trait hunting score: KittycatS Owner: 28,400 $L (kibble, milk, and starters),
Me: 0 $L (nothing worth selling)
This is why I haven't gone to auctions this summer. Make breeding a total losing activity and don't expect breeders to buy expensive cats at your auctions.
Does anyone need a several dozen zero and one trait genesis boxes (w/ 9T backgrounds), with such exciting traits showing as Mysterious eyes? 
