Teddy Talk: Creating, Collecting, Connecting

Yeah, I'm with you on the espresso and chocolate!

I should note that I am not flaking out and asking all of you to do the thinking for me on this. I've have several things in the works but figured there might a "piece of resistance" idea that I haven't thought of -- or stuff sitting here that is so familiar to me as to be overlooked.

And I DID get my first issue from the eBay lady, so all is well there. I'm sure I'll find my copy immediately upon returning from Schaumburg. :)

MK

PS: Great ideas so far. But, um, no, not so much on the time and budget...

Just heard: Steiff will be at IDEX!

So, imagine you're going to an exhibit that's supposed to celebrate 25 years of a magazine. What, exactly, would you expect to see at said exhibit?

Mindy

You mean you don't want to get on a plane and bring your bears to lunch in Lancaster? After I looked at your bears, I'd take you to two teddy bear stores and a chocolate factory!

Seriously, I've been known to choose artists based on pictures -- Yvonne Andrew being an example. But I check references on those people -- how long have they been designing their own bears, who taught them, where do they sell, how is their workmanship. If there's something really distinctive, a technique or embellishment, is that unique to their work or did they learn it from someone else. If learned, how have they made it their own?

So, send me pictures -- preferably good pictures. I know you're not photographers, but it really helps to have decent images. Not fancy, softened, glowing, inscribed-with-messages images -- just good, focused, well-framed photos. Tell me how long you've been making bears, how you got started, something about yourself as an artist. Give me a glimpse at your passion for this art. And tell me who -- collector, show promoter, retailer -- has seen your bears in person and might be willing to talk about them.

The thing is, there are far more artists out there than pages to cover them, including mine and all the other magazines together. You both have to get the pictures in front of me (or another editor) and have the timing be right. I might not have space for you. Or, I might be working on a feature with an artist whose work has the same flavor as yours (traditional, dressed, anime, or whatever). Or, I might see potential in your work, so I'd rather not cover you now because I want to see where you go next. (I regret having covered Kelly Dean so early in his career, because his work now is much better.) I tend to put artists who have been covered recently in Review at the bottom of my list, out of respect for collectors who get both magazines. Or, it might just not be right for me, right now, for some nebulous reason I can't really explain.

More than anything, I'm looking for the "wow" factor. Lots of people make nice, well-made bears with interesting clothes or accessories. I want to feature the artists who are making bears that stop me in my tracks, either literally or mentally. Something has to make me want to share this bear and this artist with my 12,000 closest friends, and spend several hundred dollars on an author and photographer to do so. I'm making an investment, and I have to be pretty sure that there will be a return -- at the very least, happy collectors who look forward to seeing what I have to share next month.

So, pictures and timing. Go to shows when you can. And if you're ever in the neighborhood, come to lunch. Really. Janet Wilson will vouch that I make a very good red pepper soup.

Mindy

Thank you, everyone, for the ideas -- I've cut and pasted them all, and once I finish my current marathon of events and deadlines, I'll give them a good look and see what might be feasible for next year. You've definitely got me thinking. I actually have someone working on a piece about workspaces already, and just talked to a prominent collector about photographing her home next year, so maybe we're more on the same wavelength than might be apparent.

I do have to agree with those who said that one person's "must-have" will be another's "um, no." It's hard to choose what goes in and what doesn't, because I don't always like a piece but might see value in it for someone else. It's a strange way of thinking. I usually only feature artists whose bears I've seen in person, because it's so easy to fake quality via good photography. Or, I check references three ways 'til Tuesday, trying to ensure that the work I admire is, in fact, original to the artist and as good in person as it is in photos.

Anyway, thanks again. I think I speak for my fellow editors around the world in saying I appreciate the support implicit in your desire to have better magazines that appeal to more people -- and I love the chance to pick your brains without having to convene a focus group and haul out the one-way glass!

Mindy

By the way, I have asked about drastically lowering ad prices. Apparently it doesn't work out in the end, as more advertisers require more customer service and graphics help, plus more ads generate more pages, requiring us to buy more paper, printing, binding, and postage -- plus pay for more articles and photography. I'm told it's a very delicate balance to have low enough prices that people can/will pay them, but have them high enough not to be over-run with ads and lose money. Honestly, I'm not in the business end so I don't know the numbers -- but this is what I'm told by those who do.

The same is true of subscriptions, by the way. We no longer participate in the stamp sheets (Publisher's Clearinghouse and such) because every one of those subscriptions actually cost us money. They also had very low renewal rates, so didn't make up the cost by saving us money in retentions. You'd think that the publicity would be worth the cost, but it wasn't.

There are days when I seriously think I ought to get an MBA so I understand the business side of publishing!

Mistakes do happen, Melanie. Usually, though, companies will try to make good on the mistakes and keep you as a satisfied customer. I'm sorry that didn't happen, and hope that now that the Canadian and US dollars are so close you'll try advertising again -- whether with us or Review. Both companies are pretty stable right now, so you should get good, caring customer service from either one. And if for some reason something goes wrong, be sure to tell your rep -- they can't fix it if they don't know. (And I know both company's reps, and they'll want to fix it!)

Mindy

Aleta, I wasn't trying to be ... I don't know, mean or snotty ... when I said that I'd done so much of this before. The ideas, yes, but obviously we don't have the paper, and never will. I used to have an art director who made my pages beautiful, but the staff has changed over the years and I know our layout can't compete with ADQ these days. And my photo budget is nothing like what it used to be. I've got to work within those constraints, unfortunately, but I could look at what I'm presenting and how, and make adjustments. Absolutely. Shame on me for discarding ideas because I did them once, sometime in the past 13 years. If the ideas are still good, it's smart to take a fresh and timely approach. And it wouldn't hurt me to take a research trip to the bookstore and read a few magazines, to see how others are approaching these topics. It's been awhile since I've done that, and there are always ideas to be gleaned. ("Glean" being a fancy word for "copied as closely as possible while substituting teddy bears for the major figures"  :))

One other thought: Those high-end art and craft magazines have broad audiences who appreciate all sorts of artwork. We should all aspire to take teddy bears to those places -- the art magazines and shows -- to prove what we've known all along, that they are art. Imagine how wonderful it would be to see teddy bear artists at not just doll or bear shows, but the high end craft and art shows, and in those pages. We have several nationally recognized art shows here in Lancaster PA every year; I'd love to see bear people there. Thousands of people attend, cheerfully paying $100 for a handcarved wooden spoon or some such. They'd buy bears, and appreciate the art. A good goal for all of us!

Mindy

Ditto. You rock, lady. Thank you for all you've done.

Mindy

You know what's funny? I've done so much of this in the past. Most of it. But I think there are so many new artists that they don't know what's been done in the past -- and I hesitate to repeat myself, because, well, I've done it. Maybe it's not a bad thing to repeat an idea if it worked well. Give it a fresh spin so as not to bore readers who have been around awhile, while fulfilling the needs of newer readers who haven't seen it before. Hm. You ladies give me much to contemplate. Thanks!

Mindy

I know that Orlando will stay primarily a wholesale show -- it's got a great market niche going. (We've convinced sooo many retailers to abandon snowy New York Toy Fair in favor of Orlando.) But we are considering a variety of ideas for the summer show.

Mindy

PS: I do scrapbooking and beading and still can't understand why there are so very many magazines out for each. And really can't understand how they're all staying in business! They do have the advantage of being appealing to a very broad swath of people, but still ...

Thanks for all of the great comments and suggestions, everyone. It's so heartening to see you take an interest in the world's bear magazines, and that you see value in them.

I can answer a couple of questions:

- The reason magazines are thin is advertising. The printing, paper, and a portion of all of the magazine's expenses are paid for by the ads, so if we have fewer ads, we can afford fewer pages. A lot of stores and shows have closed, and manufacturers have moved on to gift and baby products, so our ads are way down from the past, when we had a 140-page magazine. And, honestly, many stores and artists migrated to the Web because it's "free." Some have realized that it's not free and they are one in a couple million hits, and they have come back to advertising so their message gets out to the targeted audience of bear collectors. But the business just isn't big enough anymore to support 140 pages. We need more collectors, to support more artists advertising, and more artists going to shows so the promoters advertise, and artists buying supplies so the suppliers advertise... You see the trend. It all comes back to needing more collectors to support all of us.

- Frankly, our ads are not that expensive. The one-time rate for a 1/6 BW is $295. For a color 1/8, it's $270. (And the rate goes down as your frequency goes up.) Basically, you need to sell one or two bears to cover the cost of an ad. Unfortunately, even though all the research shows you can't afford to drop advertising, it's the first thing most people say they can't afford. If this is your business, how are you going to find customers if you don't advertise? Whether with us or someone else, I don't care -- but you have to get your name out there somehow, and you really don't want to rely on being one of the 6,400 hits on eBay or the 2.6 million hits on Google.

- We aren't selling magazines on newsstands overseas because it's terribly expensive to ship them, and the news agents have to mark them up so high that people don't buy them. (I'm guessing the reverse is true with British mags here.) However, there's a store in The Netherlands who is trying to get some magazines in -- if I can figure that out, maybe it'll be a program that we can offer to other stores in Europe and Australia.

- In the US, the newsstand business has consolidated over the past few years until just a handful of distributors are in charge of most newsstands. There are, as you know, hundreds of titles competing for space, and the distributors don't want to deal with small quantities or returns. So they try to choose the magazines they can sell in volume -- not us, in most cases. Same goes for the big chains.
     That said, we are authorized to be in most of the big chains, and I have a store-by-store list of places you should be able to buy TBF. If your chain doesn't carry TBF, you can request it from the manager. Same for doll, bear, and gift stores -- request the magazines. We fulfill independents through a company called Retail Vision, which will deal in small quantities. 

- I think it's really important for all magazines to be on the newsstand, because that is one way to bring in new collectors. But for established collectors and industry members, you really should subscribe. If nothing else, it's the cheapest method of getting your magazines -- for you and for us.

- It's an excellent idea to scatter extra magazines around at the dentist and such. I do it myself. I'm hoping to have some extra copies at Schaumburg that you can pick up to either fill holes in your own collection or share with friends.

- As an editor, I try to come up with a variety and balance of interesting stories to fill my pages. I'm always looking for new people and ideas -- never hesitate to propose an idea. And if you like or don't like something, do write and tell me -- I don't know unless you tell me. I gave up my "Regional Reports," for example, because they were a huge amount of work and not one person wrote to say it was useful, or shopkeeper wrote to say someone had come in because of it. Maybe you loved that, but since I didn't know, I decided to save myself the trouble. I'm sure other editors feel the same.

So, I've veered all over the place trying to address some questions. I hope I didn't offend anyone with my remarks about advertising -- I didn't mean it offensively, but have to admit that it's a frustrating topic for me. (Don't get me started on the people who want free coverage but don't even subscribe...) This is very much a closed-loop sort of business, so we all have to support each other and work together to expand the circle. I'm talking to a consultant tomorrow to see if I can get some new ideas for finding people. Jen Murphy is on Martha Stewart. John Port does talks and exhibits at libraries. GBW does giftings all over the country. Every little bit helps, but everyone needs to do a little bit.

Thanks, everyone!
Mindy

We've got more bear people than ever before -- 30 -- and definitely the room will be set up better than last year. We've got, literally, hundreds of retailers coming, and 10 bear collector events, too. It's looking pretty good, actually! The show is open to the public on Saturday and Sunday, and you can sign up for the events on Friday, too. Artists can sell a show special from their table, and there are retailers in the Retail Room selling bears right on the spot. It is primarily a wholesale show, but we try to make it friendly to collectors, as well.

Cheers!
Mindy

I just read the book, and I really liked it. It's painfully honest in some places -- the woman had a bad divorce, then rebounded into a relationship that was half great and half awful, and finally decided to go on a spiritual quest to straighten herself out. She's a good writer, so it's easy to identify with her struggles, even if most of us can't afford to take a year-long trip around the world in order to get our mental house in order. I'm not into meditation, but I could follow and respect her descriptions of her experiences at an ashram in India. I *am* into food, and she makes Italy sound amazingly luscious.

So, all in all, I give it a thumbs up.

Mindy

Don't bother; eBay is part of the long story.

OK, here it is:

I've got it here somewhere. I have all of the issues. I'm the editor, of course I have them. But I was reading the first two years' worth over the summer and somehow managed to misplace the very first one. Which I didn't realize until I needed to scan the cover for a decoration for Schaumburg, and the publisher told me to frame it, too. I tore my office apart looking for it (it's very tidy now). Finally I gave up and bought one from eBay. It showed up a week later, but they sent me the wrong issue -- I got the 10th anniversary issue, which recreated the first cover, rather than the first one. The seller is sending me the correct issue, but it won't go out until tomorrow or arrive until next week, and in the meantime, I need to make my decoration and frame the dratted thing before the Schaumburg show, which is in two weeks. So I'm getting a little panicky. And still looking in unlikely places for my own copy of the first issue. I know it's not in the furnace room, but, hey, maybe it slid under the door. There's no reason for it to be in my huge bin of bear-making supplies, but I was working on a project about that time and maybe I picked it up along with some fabric... You get the idea.

So I gave in and decided to ask the world at large for help, knowing I'm making myself look fairly foolish in the asking.  :redface:

It's a long story. But I need a high res scan of the cover of the first issue of TBF -- Spring 1983, and I need it ASAP. It's the one with two bears, a horse, and a hedgehog on the cover. I've done some 600 dpi scans of covers and come up with 3MB files, which I can send and receive via e-mail.

If you can help me, please PM me at: mkinsey@madavor.com.

Many thanks!
Mindy

I'd say about half the little girl bears wear undies, and half do not. But about 98% of collectors check. :)

Mindy

Try asking your pharmacist. He/she might be able to check the dosages of the meds and/or refer you to a family practice doctor who can help you. You should not need a psychiatrist for Lexapro, unless that's a law specific to Massachusetts -- and the pharmacist would know that, too.

Worst case, go to the ER.

Good luck!
Mindy

If you have been making or collecting or somehow involved with bears for 25 years or more, please contact me or ABC (www.abcunlimitedproductions.com). If you have received a form from ABC, please complete and return it. We're trying to collect information and photos from longstanding community members to share at our birthday party in October. There's no money, no commitment -- all you have to do is fill out the form so we can put it in a book and people can look at it at the party.

Of course, if you want to come, we'll give you a rose, announce your name, and gush about your long commitment to teddy bear artistry and preservation. And we'd love to have you.

Thanks!
Mindy

Kate Delosso of Collectible Tours was talking about organizing a cruise about two years ago, but couldn't get enough people interested. I don't want to rain on the idea, but given the low numbers of collectors and artists who turn out for shows, I can't imagine that we could get enough people to do it to make it worthwhile. All of the tours have gone out of business because people don't want to spend the money on travel, they want to spend it on bears. I couldn't get people to go to Vegas, for heaven's sake. I would absolutely love to be proven wrong, and I will both attend and do events if someone successfully organizes it. I just can't imagine coaxing enough people out of their houses, away from their computers, to make it work!

Mindy

I think Bev made three "See-Thru" bears. The TB Museum in Naples had one, I have one, and I think Bev has one. That was one of my all-time favorite projects.

I think that photo also shows a sample TOBY, a cover bear, several craft-project animals, a vintage Knickerbocker bear, and several manufacturers' samples ... among other things. :)

Mindy

I love seeing everyone's spaces! And since you've been brave enough to show yours, I'll show mine. This is as clean as it's ever likely to get.

My office space is in the right corner. My brother-in-law works for an office supply place, so we've got a long wrap-around desk. I keep meaning to put cabinets above the desk, but have not yet had the time, money, and installation guy available at the same time.

Another view, with my tiny window and shelves. I, too, shop at Bins 'R' Us for most storage needs.

My scrapbooking and craft desk is behind my work desk. The door to the left leads to the utility space. I'm working on the organization; too much stuff, not enough space!

My husband's desk is to the left of mine. Three of the filing cabinets are mine; one is his.

The shelves above the cabinet hold bears and books.

The door next to the filing cabinet leads to his game room. The sign above the door says, "Beyond this place, there be dragons."

The view from my chair to the door. The door with stuff on the back leads to the TV room; the other door leads to The Closet of Horror. It's supposed to be a bathroom, but turned into a closet when I found out how much an upflush toilet costs. The C of H is crammed with art supplies, games, office supplies, show supplies, and random work stuff.

With apologies to all of you who are allergic... I LOVE perfume. I have close to a dozen bottles, wear it every day, and test it every time I go to the mall. My all-time favorite is Shalamar, which smells like vanilla. I also have Lauren by Ralph Lauren, Giorgio, Chanel #5, Obsession, 24 Faubourg by Hermes, White Shoulders, Violet Bouquet from Bath & Body Works, Clinique Happy Heart, CKin2U, Crabtree & Evelyn Summer Hill, and Love's Baby Soft. And various little testers I picked up at the mall.

I'm intrigued by those single scents, but can't decide which scent I'd like to try. Lilac? Hyacinth? Cookie? Play-doh? Apparently I need more testers!

Oddly, I don't like scented lotion -- they tend to be greasy, and the scent is usually too strong.

My husband's favorite is Anais Anais, but I can't wear it -- smells awful and makes me sneeze.

I try not to wear enough perfume to cause a cloud or choke anyone, but if I ever make your eyes water, just ask me to leave (or wash). :)

Mindy

I think part of the problem is that you work from home. Everyone wants to do that, but, despite the rampant entrepreneurialism in the world today, no one believes that a "real" business can be run from home. I get that all the time. (Did you know I run my magazine empire from my basement?) Even my husband, who has financial evidence that I do, in fact, WORK at home, has been known to get grumpy because I'm finishing an article for a deadline rather than washing clothes or preparing meals. Don't get me started on the strangers to whom I must explain not just "at home" but "artwork that looks like children's toys with adult price tags" -- and I'm an editor, which people "get." When you add the "artist starving in a garret" stereotype, you're bound to confuse people and hear less than flattering remarks. You know that teddy bear artistry is a "real," difficult, demanding, creative, multi-faceted, and occasionally even profitable career, albeit not one that usually requires suits, heels, hose, commutes, daycare, or conference calls. Explain to the hoi polloi as much as you feel like and force 'em to take the rest on faith. Artists can use a little more mystery, so maybe wear a black beret and refer to your studio as "the garret." Just don't cut off your ear; there is such thing as taking a joke too far, and I like all your ears just where they are.

Warm wishes from a fellow member of the sisterhood of the stay-at-home pants...
Mindy