It’s almost a guarantee that a limited edition item is going to cause some commotion within a collecting community. For existing collectors, it can be frustrating (and expensive) to try and source the item if it isn’t released in your area. For new collectors, if the item truly is limited then you have the added frustration of finding out that you missed out on something that you would have bought by only a few years, or a few months.
Shortly after I started collecting Trollbeads, a Dutch collector offered up several of the limited edition Tulip beads that had been released exclusively in The Netherlands in 2007. Although not impossible to find, in the five years that had passed they certainly were becoming less common and so my interest was piqued. The design, while pretty, didn’t immediately grab me but the limited nature of it did make me wonder if I was being hasty in dismissing it. Would I want it in a few months, and then not be able to get it? Or would I have to pay a premium to get it? As other collectors chimed in to say that they loved theirs – and even had multiples – my opinion was swayed and I bought one. When it arrived, I opened it … and realized that my initial reaction had been correct. It was a lovely bead, and I could definitely see the allure of it, but it didn’t truly capture my heart. Even after trying it in a few combinations I found it slightly hard to use since the shape – for me – relegated it to the end of a bracelet. While it hasn’t gone unused, it’s still not one of the first beads that I reach for when creating a bracelet.
The limited edition German Clover, on the other hand, I coveted from the first time that I saw a picture of it. I’m not typically drawn to floral beads, but I do have an affinity for St. Patrick’s Day and the clover is so symbolic of that day. I had previously considered the Pandora Lucky Clover, but once I saw the detail on the Trollbeads German Clover I was hooked. The drawback to acquiring this bead was that the going price was significantly higher than the release price, even though it had been released one year after the Tulip. So it remained on my wish list and not on my wrist.
Thanks to what I considered an amazing offer from another collector, my wish list has shrunk just a little bit. And this time, the physical bead made me squeal (just a bit ;)).
I don’t have the book that accompanied either of these limited edition beads, which is fine since I bought them to wear and not as showcase pieces to sit on while the price increased. The books would have been nice, but from what I’ve heard they were rather hefty so the shipping cost may have been prohibitive as well.
Now if I could only find a Viking Knot from the 2006 Anniversary Bracelet. Oh, and maybe most of the set of silver beads from the 2009 China Limited Edition release ;).