Calling all Collectors!!

Hi, Jayne,

 It's been a rough couple of weeks so please forgive the confusion. Can you clarify what you mean by collectibles? Do you mean things we've mentioned in books or items that our characters have liked/used that could be used as giveaways, or do I totally have things messed up?

If it's items that have been mentioned/used in books that readers might enjoy, I mentioned Longaberger purses/totes in HIS PERFECT WOMAN. I've also mentioned T-shirts with certain sayings, and charm bracelets/charms (my current giveaway fave). Bought in bulk any of the above would be quite affordable and great for collecting.

Kay - hoping I'm not totally off base  

for the Bradford Exchange ... those would be the Collector plates? ... that sort of thing?  ..... how about a plate for the very first cover of the various lines progressing as the lines have developed ..... maybe three plates from the beginning of the Harlequin Romance line, the Temptation line, and Intrigue .. and then include later covers of a current Romance, Blaze and Intrigue ....... hmmm, but then I missed the Supers, Americans and Silhouettes .... hmmm ..... well you know what I mean

maybe the BE could do a village of Debbie Macomber's Cedar Cove  .... that would be soooo cool ....

or a maybe a "collector series" of Suzanne Brockmann's sexy Navy SEALs  ..... oh yum!!!  ..... I'm thinking the original covers .... or do an online poll to see which covers the readers would prefer  

definitely calendars ..... you can do so much with calendars ..... I've mentioned it before, esp. with the Blaze and Intrigue lines ... those men keep getting sexier and sexier ...... you can do some great things with calendars!  ... and you can make sets with wall calendars, personal purse size ones .. journals .....

Calendars with favourite quotes from the favourite heroes or heroines ..... you could do an online contest for readers to submit their favourites  ..... 

so many possibilites .... will be back when I think of some more!

BE also does collector ornaments usually a set of 12 ..... perhaps 12 of the most charming Christmas covers from over the years?  

BE also does Easter ornaments ..... those could be "faberge" style eggs done with charming "baby" scenes taken from past romances

I'll be back with more!  LOL

Ok, it's not a Bradford Exchange item, and it's not EXACTLY a book... but what about an Index (could be CD or paper) of all the harlequin books.. it could be sorted by line, author, and would identify all the SERIES!!!  I bet if you polled that would be a hot item cause all of us struggle to identify and find back issues when we get a series in the middle! 

Or how about something with a shelf to display whatever it is on?  I'm a sucker for displayers and a set of items that match. 

The Bradford Exchange offer series display plates that rest on a shelf .... and when the plates are put side by side the images form one large panaroma ...... the wonderful art people could come up with a collage of "Harlequin" through the years .... picking up images from various covers from beginning to present ...... I can see this in my mind

I was thinking also .... for a series of plates .... one plate cound be dedicated to one line, and again with a collage of images spaning the history of that line .... not sure how HQ classes Temptation, but I see that as the daughter of Blaze, so the collage for Blaze would include Temptation ..... and the SuperRomance to me would include the Everlasting and Next lines   ....... this could be done very nicely

also, BE offers music boxes ..... I totally forgot about those until this morning when I glanced at my china cabinet .... i have a collection of Prescious Moments music boxes that came from BE   .......  so you could perhaps do a special music box for some of Harlequin's "big gun" authors, like Nora Roberts, Diana Palmer, Linda Howard, Debbie Macomber ....

now ... I can't think of something specific, I'll have to ask my Mom .... but it seems to be that at one time Harlequin had books they gave out or sold with various tips for the single woman .... tips on dating or how to find Mr. Right ... if I'm remembering correctly, I think these would be a blast to be "recreated" and perhaps published with todays perspectives on those topics   ... sort of an "evolution" of the single dating woman over the past 60 years  ....  you could actually provide excerpts from various books showing how different today's heroine is compared to yesterday's

actually any sort of memorablia from past Harlequin promotions would be lovely  .... 

brainstorming is good!  ....... lets discuss away!

can't comment on Dolls ... not my thing

I have collected plates, music boxes, Christmas villages, and ornaments from BE .... so I'll definitely try to help there

I really think Christmas ornaments could really be done nicely ..... I can picture a few of the more recent covers from the Superromance line that would make lovely ornaments  ....

I collect booksmarks, Books (obviously LOL) and teddy bears.

But I'm all for a bust of the hunk on Deborah Hale's cover from 2006 Highland Rogue, I think that was my ultimate fave historical cover.

Aline

That is an excellent idea. Books of postcards (maybe 20) for each of the different lines. That way, people could collect them or use them.

Of Bookmarks. You can do many different designs and have something that appeals to everyone. Calendars are cool, but they "expire" at the end of the year. Although it would be nice to have dates marked, such as first book printed on, anniversary dates for authors and coming soon items. I also collect pins because they don't take up a lot of room.

Anita Mae that's a great idea! ... I'm not a coin collector  but if there were a series commemorating Harlequin I'd be one of the first on the list to get the set!

Jayne, is it too late to approach the Post Master General about a "commemorative" series of stamps to be issued in 2009? .... that's probably something that requires greater advance planning  ....... though I think it would be received well as the Harlequin HQ is based here in Canada, and Harlequin has become such a "household" tradition in many homes

on the Calendar front ..... I believe the BE also does a calendar type collectible ....... this is a type of display calendar where the plate is changed monthly and the numbers of the days move on sliding shelves to fall into the column for their appropriate day of the week   ....

I'm loving the podcasts .... how about podcasts from around the world? .... but instead of interviewing the authors or the editors, interview your readers .... look to interview perhaps families,  or rather the women of a family .... I'm sure there are families where the love of a Harlequin spans four generations ... I'd love to hear how Harlequin touched the lives of each of those women in that famly ..... you could make a series that can be either be video or strictly audio (or both)  ...... interviews with Harlequins  authors would be good too, but not promoting their latest release, but more of a look back and forward in the world of Harlequin ..... I'd love to hear what the "Queens of Romance" have to say ...

Jayne, you could approach the CBC to air a documentary or series of documentaries about the history of Harlequin, target airing in February or in October  ..... the Canadian tradition, the International tradition ....... include the interviews I've mentioned .... and show the wonderful contributions Harlequin has made to society .... the vast charities Harlequin has been and is involved in ... the "More than Words" project, and now the Book Challenge ...... unless a person reads the "press releases" the good deeds of Harlequin may not be readily known .... and heck, at the wise age of 60, I think Harlequin is entitled to toot it's own horn! 

I don't like the idea of plates and a shelf to display them.  My husband and sons already roll their eyes over my reading choices, so there's no way they would let me put "love stuff" on the wall!   Smaller items that would fit in a curio would be ideal.  I looked on the Bradford Exchange website, and they have some really nice figurines.  You could see if BE would develop something for you.  Something similar to the following would be great:  Thomas Kinkade's angel of light or snowman that featured romantic scenes, Thomas Kinkade's Garden Gala figurine with a romantic theme, Lena Liu's Era collectible figurines, "Lights, Camera, Passion" Gone with the Wind figure collection, Friends Are Like Angels figurine that would show an angel reading, a figurine showing a woman sitting in a chair reading with a framed romantic wall picture behind her, or a woman lying under a tree reading with the caption "Books are Best Friends."

 Another idea is a teddy bear.  Vermont Teddy Bear has bears related to hobbies and occupations.  Maybe they could develop something for reading.

I also like the Christmas ornament idea.  I have seen some cute ones with reading themes.  There is one with a happy woman jumping with a book in her hand and the quote "She is too fond of books, and it has addled her brain." 

A small teapot or teapot ornament could bear the inscription by C.S. Lewis "You can never get a cup of tea large enough, or a book long enough to suit me."

One last idea from me is a large anthology of short stories by some of Harlequin's favorite authors.  This could contain 10 or more stories.

Thanks for letting me have my input!  It was fun!

How about an engagement diary.  You could have pictures of book covers on some of the pages and days and dates on others.

Why not try something like miniature cover pages in the shape of a diamond. They could be porcelain or ceramic and you could feature the most popular cover from each year or each decade (if 60+ covers seems like too many). You could possibly do them for each line. The changes in covers through the years would also be a great catalogue for the growth experienced by Harlequin.

What a novel idea.  I love the idea of commemorating.  Over the years, I have received steak knives from Harlequin, as well as book marks, etc.

I have more books than our local library and almost all of them are Harlequin, Silhouette.  I also am a collector of items and have been a junk/coin/collectibles dealer for well over 25 years. There is nothing I like better than setting out my junk on a warm day, and sit and read romances, stopping for the customers,  and then reading more.

I can't wait to see what you decide. Plates?

It should be something that captures the spirit of Harlequin, and preferrably doesn't get mocked by non-romance readers.  Perhaps a professional-looking art book with some of the best pieces from Harlequin's covers over the past 60 years?  It could be sorted by decade and line, letting people see how the trends in covers and stories have progressed over the years.

The thing is, most small collectables -- fridge magnets and bookmarks -- are more the sort of thing that'd be handed out as freebee promotional items.  And the larger items, like statues, would only appeal to the really devoted fans of the specific title.  And given that Harlequin's published thousands of titles about thousands of couples over the years, it'd be impossible to pick one that would get enough people happy to shell out the big bucks for one specific pairing.

So I think something medium-range would be best, like the art book I mentioned -- or maybe bookends.  Something that works with your Harlequin books, rather than a dust-gathering knicknack.  Writing journals, book totes, maybe one of those book covers that you can slip a paperback into to protect it (I already have one, but wouldn't mind another).  The index of all the titles is also a cool idea, though digital would probably be best -- it'd be more useful for cross-referencing, and make it easier to track down titles in online used bookstores.

 If you want something fancy for the occasion, perhaps a diamond-studded pendant of the Harlequin logo.

All I would add to the brianstorming is that instead of a 12 month calendar, make it a daily calendar. To really showcase 60 years, we would need more than twelve pictures/favorite lines/series.

Someone mentioned making an index of all the book titles...  I really love the idea of an easily searchable database of the books!  It really helps you find books you're looking for.  When I buy bunches of books (off eBay) or pull books from libraries, I love to look up the book first before I buy/pick it.  I like to read the back covers and teasers at the front of the book: gives a real taste for the book. 

 That is something you might want to consider for going forward... right now your "backlists" only last a few months...

Hi!  My name is Phil and I'm Jayne's friend from the Bradford Group.  I'm really so impressed by all the terrific comments!  May I have some additional thoughts on Julie's comments about dolls?  One of the more impactful things we do here at Bradford are our Ashton-Drake dolls.  I hope we can build on many of these thoughts and create several products!  If we were to do a line of dolls, would you like to see both male and female dolls?  Which authors and stories do you think would be best to build from?  Since I'm asking questions and asking for comments,  turnabout is fair play, and please feel free to ask me any questions back.

Thanks, Phil

I would be more likely to pick up a bracelet as I do not have a lot of room for a doll - even though I love them. 

I like that flat link bracelet a lot but I am not sure if it is still "in".  How about a regular charm bracelet with all the imprints and then if they could have the clasp to hook them on the bracelet so you do not have to take them to a jewler to get them attached and you could change them out easily. 

On the dolls - would there be one for each imprint line or just a series of dolls from the different time lines? 

I just had a thought - what about a figurine of a person sitting in a chair reading with stacks of books from all the lines around them - maybe even a couple sitting in a living room?

like Werefan mentioned.

I also really like Keira's idea of a flip book of bookmarks of covers as well as postcard collections.

And like Julie's dh, my dh knows that I'm a collector of collections... hence a lack of space for anything big or with a lot of parts.  *sigh*

We actually have an Ashton-Drake doll. I bought 'Jessica' in 1990 when my daughter was born. They share the same name. My reasoning was that it was an investment she could keep and remember that I wanted to commemorate her birth.

But it was very expensive and it's still the only one we own.

I think collecting dolls is great if you have the room for it but personally, I'd rather have books on my shelves.

And thank you for your insight Jayne...if the only commemorative Harlequin came out with was tarot cards, it would be an offense to this household although I must admit I do like a good Lindsay McKenna book on occasion.

My first choice is still a coin/medallion(s).

Running a close second is a 365 day desk calendar portraying Harlequin's best sellers of all time including stats like which countries they were sold in/excelled, etc.

How about offering some of the original cover art - the painting or photograph that was turned into the cover?  And if it was signed by the artist AND author?  Even better!  I admit that I have some old editions on my shelves simply because the covers are too beautiful to give up.

I think a charm bracelet would be nice. Like someone mentioned, each charm could have a clasp to hook on the bracelet.  We could collect charms through the year. Cowboy hat for western romances, magnifying glass for mysteries, rose for American romances, etc.

Dolls would need to be small and moderately priced.  A tassel doll in historical costumes representing women through the years would be one idea.

I still like the idea of ornaments or figurines.  See my earlier comments for more details on those.

I also liked someone's idea of a commemorative t-shirt.

I am warming to the idea of a desktop spiral-bound daily calendar.  Someone mentioned putting cover art on each page and a "touching, funny, sexy line" from the book featured on that page.