Yoohoo, Mommies!

"Karen C in California" wrote in message
...
Mavia Beaulieu wrote:

I can even go to their website, play 'Cash Cow' to earn money and then
'buy' the little critters new cloths, furniture for their rooms or some
nutritious food!

The kids improve their computer skills and even learn that they have to
'work' to provide for their adopted family!



OK, if I repeat that verbatim to this particular clientele, your
explanation is just adding to the notion that these things exist only
online and that I'm scamming people trying to get them to spend money
buying clothes for cyber-pets.

Knowing this clientele, I've got to have something better than that to
convince them to spend their hard-earned money on this stuff, and that
it's not just a fad that will be over by February. Whereas we know
Barbie's been around for 50 years and will be around for 50 more. And she
doesn't sound like a cyber-figment of someone's imagination.

Sign me
Totally Confused

I was just teasing you a little, Karen! ......although my grandkids love
their Webkinz and drag them around all the time! The Barbies usually just
sit on a shelf! I think they enjoy interacting with them both as a 'stuffy'
and also as their 'dependents' online.

If you know what your clientele will buy then of course go that route. Just
keep in mind that the Webkinz have been around for quite awhile and they are
VERY popular! Cloths for them might be something to consider in the future.

http://www.abaskethound.com/webkinzclothing.htm

Mavia

Just talked to DBF who has even more kids in the family than I do, some
in the same age range as Cheryl's DD.

He's never heard of Webkinz, his first reaction was also "something that
exists only in cyberspace". He points out that there has been
absolutely NO advertising for them on TV or in the newspapers/magazines
the two of us read, so there's no way that he ever would have asked
anyone in his family "would little Susie like a Webkinz for Christmas?"
And even now, he's still not sure that he'd buy a Webkinz rather than
a Barbie if he was buying for one of the little ones in the family.

Reading him Mavia's explanation still didn't convince him that these
exist in 3-D form instead of only online. Given the choice, he'd buy
Barbie clothes for the nieces before he'd buy Webkinz clothes, and
having been to this event and seeing who attends, he agrees that this
particular clientele is not likely to turn down Barbie clothes for
Webkinz clothes. It's not a child-oriented event, there aren't a lot of
kids there to be yanking Granny's sleeve "I want Webkinz, not Barbie",
so we have to go with what the grannies are familiar with and not what
kids would buy.

You (Mavia/Lucille/Sheena) are hands-on, technically-adept grannies. A
lot of people are not. My mother hesitates to even touch a computer for
fear she'll break it. Dad will push a button if I tell him "arrow moves
the page up so you can keep reading", but isn't interested in learning
how to use one without me there to tell him every step. They don't go
to websites; when I had a TV interview online, I dictated the URL to
Mom, told her to go to the library and have someone help them get it to
watch it on the library computer, and they couldn't be bothered. "Oh,
just tell me what you said. I know what you look like."

If you don't have in-person interaction with the kids, you may not have
heard of Webkinz; one of my grandmothers was a long-distance call and
didn't want to spend money talking to the kids, so we talked to her once
a year when we went to visit. If it wasn't advertised on TV during the
grown-up programs just before Christmas, she didn't know about it.

And although DBF and I have regular interactions with the mothers (and
grandmothers) of the children in our families, and occasionally with the
kids, no one has ever told us anything about Webkinz. So, just because
you three are familiar with them does not mean that every granny will
know what it is, or think that Webkinz clothing is preferable to Barbie
clothing. Nor that every granny's grandchildren are as gaga over them
as yours are.

DBF spent many years in retail and now does some sales consulting, and
his expert advice was the same as my instinct: for this particular
event, stick to Barbie clothes. He knows the event, he's seen who shows
up, he's listened to their comments at the other booths, and has a good
read on what this particular crowd will and won't spend their money on.
They don't do fads; they know Barbie is not a fad. You can only say
what you'd spend your money on, because you don't know this clientele as
well as we do.

And, since the Barbie plan costs us absolutely zero upfront, if we sell
nothing, we have lost nothing. Whereas if we invest in the Webkinz and
Webkinz patterns, and sell nothing, we lose our entire investment.

--
Karen C - California
Editor/Proofreader www.IntlProofingConsortium.com

Finished 7/27/08 - MLI Christmas Visit

WIP: Oriental Kimono (Janlynn), MLI The Teacher (gift to
the library), Bethany Angel (Marbek)
Retrieved from UFO pile: Marbek's Snow Angel, MLI Farmers Market

CFSfacts -- where we give you the facts and dispel the myths
Myths, with research cites: http://www.aacfs.org/images/pdfs/myths.pdf
Newest research blog: http://journals.aol.com/kmc528/Lifeasweknowit/

Jangchub wrote:
On Sun, 17 Aug 2008 14:54:29 -0400, "Dr. Brat"
wrote:


Jangchub wrote:


"Desperate Housewives?" What the hell is that? Never
watched it.


That's too bad. I watched the first season all in a go while I was
recovering from surgery last summer and found it delighfully wicked and
funny at the same time. The "Desperate" has to do with beinge expected
to do it all and still be sane.

Elizabeth


Wasn't there cheating going on?

Yes, there was. Happens in real life, too, so far as I know.

Elizabeth
--
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~living well is the best revenge~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The most important thing one woman can do for another is to illuminate
and expand her sense of actual possibilities. --Adrienne Rich
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Mavia Beaulieu wrote:

Just
keep in mind that the Webkinz have been around for quite awhile and they are
VERY popular!



Just talked to my partner in crime who is a teacher and has kids still
living at home, and even she said "what's a webkin?" It may be one of
those regional things that either hasn't made it to our part of the
world or for some reason isn't as popular here as it is among those of
you on the East Coast who've been contributing to this thread.

Mom verified that not only she (as the honorary GGM) hasn't heard of
them, but that the grandmother didn't know about them, either. The best
she's found among her circle is "there's a sign on the door of the card
store Webkinz Sold Out" and the only reason she had any notion of what
they were was that there was a picture of a stuffed animal on the sign.
Every one of them thought this notion was nuts, putting clothes on
horses and tigers? Nope, they wouldn't spend their money on that.

Given the initial investment involved is more than we're expecting to
earn selling the clothes, the notion was vetoed by my partner. She's
got a ton of old Barbies sitting around (3 daughters), and a lot more
ideas how to dress them than she does for dressing animals.


--
Karen C - California
Editor/Proofreader www.IntlProofingConsortium.com

Finished 7/27/08 - MLI Christmas Visit

WIP: Oriental Kimono (Janlynn), MLI The Teacher (gift to
the library), Bethany Angel (Marbek)
Retrieved from UFO pile: Marbek's Snow Angel, MLI Farmers Market

CFSfacts -- where we give you the facts and dispel the myths
Myths, with research cites: http://www.aacfs.org/images/pdfs/myths.pdf
Newest research blog: http://journals.aol.com/kmc528/Lifeasweknowit/

Ericka Kammerer wrote:
And a number of kids either aren't all that into Barbie
(sales have dropped dramatically in recent years) or have parent
who discourage Barbies.


I know several parents who are OK with Barbie but not with Bratz. The
kids may whine for a Bratz, but they're going to get a Barbie if mom has
anything to say about it.


--
Karen C - California
Editor/Proofreader www.IntlProofingConsortium.com

Finished 7/27/08 - MLI Christmas Visit

WIP: Oriental Kimono (Janlynn), MLI The Teacher (gift to
the library), Bethany Angel (Marbek)
Retrieved from UFO pile: Marbek's Snow Angel, MLI Farmers Market

CFSfacts -- where we give you the facts and dispel the myths
Myths, with research cites: http://www.aacfs.org/images/pdfs/myths.pdf
Newest research blog: http://journals.aol.com/kmc528/Lifeasweknowit/

Jangchub wrote:

I suppose my point is with all this moral fiber crap we're supposed to
buy, and gays are not permitted to marry because they are not a man
and a woman, yet we can have prime time television shows portraying
the most vapid behavior I can imagine to be a tad hypocritical.



BRAVO!

We wonder why people think cheating (both on spouses and in business) is
acceptable, but never point the finger at all the backstabbing and
bedhopping that goes on on TV. That's where some people get their moral
compass from; they can't differentiate between real life and TV.
They're learning that the way to get rich is to lie, cheat and steal,
because that's how it happens on their favorite show.



--
Karen C - California
Editor/Proofreader www.IntlProofingConsortium.com

Finished 7/27/08 - MLI Christmas Visit

WIP: Oriental Kimono (Janlynn), MLI The Teacher (gift to
the library), Bethany Angel (Marbek)
Retrieved from UFO pile: Marbek's Snow Angel, MLI Farmers Market

CFSfacts -- where we give you the facts and dispel the myths
Myths, with research cites: http://www.aacfs.org/images/pdfs/myths.pdf
Newest research blog: http://journals.aol.com/kmc528/Lifeasweknowit/

On 8/17/08 8:19 PM, in article Ke3qk.8162$nu6.3857@edtnps83, "Mavia
Beaulieu" wrote:


"Karen C in California" wrote in message
...
Cheryl Isaak wrote:

On 8/17/08 2:28 PM, in article , "Karen
C
in California" wrote:


Cheryl Isaak wrote:

Now - I'm going to point you in a different direction. Webkinz are the
rage
of the moment. DD loves them. They come in "Little Kinz" and "Big
Kinz". DD
loves them and actually will dress them up.


Ah, but then we've got to buy Webkinz to custom-fit them to. We already
own Barbies, and have patterns for them.



Only one of each size... $20 investment.



The point of this venture is to make money, not spend it.

Barbie is proven to be enduring, Webkinz are flavor of the month, and by
next year our $20 investment might be worthless junk and no one want to
buy what we've made for next year's sale.

Besides, most of the clientele at this thing are grannies and
great-grannies -- Barbie they will recognize, Webkinz they won't have a
clue.


Hey!! Watch what you say about Grannies! I'm a Grannie and I know all
about Webkinz! I can even go to their website, play 'Cash Cow' to earn
money and then 'buy' the little critters new cloths, furniture for their
rooms or some nutritious food!

The kids improve their computer skills and even learn that they have to
'work' to provide for their adopted family!

Mavia


As much I as may think DD has enough Webkinz, she loves them, they don't
dress in "fashion clothes" and they can be cuddled. And completely safe for
babies.

Cheryl

On 8/17/08 8:50 PM, in article , "Karen C
in California" wrote:

Mavia Beaulieu wrote:

I can even go to their website, play 'Cash Cow' to earn
money and then 'buy' the little critters new cloths, furniture for their
rooms or some nutritious food!

The kids improve their computer skills and even learn that they have to
'work' to provide for their adopted family!



OK, if I repeat that verbatim to this particular clientele, your
explanation is just adding to the notion that these things exist only
online and that I'm scamming people trying to get them to spend money
buying clothes for cyber-pets.

Knowing this clientele, I've got to have something better than that to
convince them to spend their hard-earned money on this stuff, and that
it's not just a fad that will be over by February. Whereas we know
Barbie's been around for 50 years and will be around for 50 more. And
she doesn't sound like a cyber-figment of someone's imagination.

Sign me
Totally Confused


There is both a virtual world for your webkinz to play, be feed and given
the most lovely rooms and whole clubs of kids that get together and dress
them and take them for walks....

Cheryl

On 8/17/08 9:00 PM, in article , "Karen C
in California" wrote:

Jangchub wrote:

That's why I asked if this was the same version. Maybe I'm getting to
GOWly, but I really can't stand to see young women with those thongs
out the back with that tatoo on the small of the back which my husband
calls a slut brand like they brand cattle.

Tramp stamp

Means "this side down"

Cheryl

Jangchub wrote:



Not in my life it doesn't. I wouldn't dream of cheating and my
husband has too much character and class for that nonsense. We've
discussed many times that if it ever comes to a point where either one
of us is no longer happy, we'd discuss it and work it out however we
need. Mature men and women do not run around cheating. I find shows
which promote it are horrilble, particularly for the women who are
cheated on, or the men who are cheated on.

I think there's a difference between portraying something and promoting
it. I didn't get the feeling that Desperate Housewives was promoting
cheating, since the woman who was doing it was so completely unhappy.
Rather, I thought it was making fun of her and her obviously screwed up
values.

I'm really not sure how you can be so vehement about something that you
haven't even ever watched.

Elizabeth
--
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~living well is the best revenge~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The most important thing one woman can do for another is to illuminate
and expand her sense of actual possibilities. --Adrienne Rich
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*