ziggie opened this issue on Dec 06, 2004 ยท 23 posts
hauksdottir posted Wed, 08 December 2004 at 4:01 AM
If the modeling is clean and charming, they should sell. If they offer something no other village has, they'll do better. "Elfridges" is a nice start on punning names. "The North Pole Barbershop Quartet" (with 4 poles outside) and 4 chairs inside is an idea. "Rudy's Hoof and Hay" with reindeer stuff instead of western tack is another. Out here in the West, they tend to put large plastic/resin palominos on top of feed stores to indicate that they sell cowboy necessities. Like barberpoles and pawnshop balls it hearkens back to a less literate time... or perhaps visibility from a distance. Back to how to make this product line a product line... and collectable. People will probably want enough to make a street unless they are doing simple shots against one building. Therefore, you need a theme to anchor it. Simple "Victorian Christmas" is probably not going to do it alone, since there are already Victorian Christmases. Same with "Cartoon Christmas". Being able to tag onto already existing lines will add value to yours... unless you want to make a whole lot of accessories, it will help if the elf or santa or sleigh that artists already own will also go with your suite. However, you may want to add your own unique quirky twist. Recognizibility helps sales! Especially since people don't always credit the makers. There is a place in Sweden where you can go to visit Santa at home. It has a hotel carved into solid ice. Everything from the front desk to the beds. (Guests sleep in down bags on top of reindeer pelts and are quite toasty.) The hot beverage made from fermented berries might have something to do with it. Many northern cities have ice villages and ice castles, all lighted nicely. Even P4 has a way to do glass, but Poser 5 has better materials, so making an ice village is an idea... and one that I haven't seen done. Another direction that you can go is a modern Santa's Village tourist trap. (I noticed your gas station.) This sort of theme park would have reindeer rides (or petting zoo), ways to watch "elves" at work, and shops in which to buy the toys and cookies. They operate all year. I think there is even one here in California. To do something like this, you'd need a kiosk to sell tickets, and a couple of attractions, in addition to the little houses, stores, and workshops. Anyway, that's two directions, and I'm sure you can think of others. :) Carolly