First and foremost, regardless of what it is, I think there should be some warning if an item is disappearing forever. When they were retiring some of Lissie's stuff a few years ago, the items that were being discontinued had a "last chance" logo next to them. If they could do it then, they could do it now. It's really only fair.

That said, I have a lot of trouble accepting retirements in the historical line with or without warning. If something is introduced as a Limited Edition, that's one thing, but taking away one of the pieces of the doll's original collection is another. I love my dolls and I believe they're worth the money, but these products are not cheap. I'm one of those who hoped to *eventually* be able to collect everything, operating under the assumption that the collection would be waiting for me. Maybe I'm just being naive, but it saddens me to see them use the marketing strategy of "buy this now or else!" I like being able to daydream about what I want next without worrying about whether or not it will be available when I can get it.

Of course, I do like the occasional introduction of new things, and I understand that they can't keep adding to the collections without taking something away. As a compromise, I would like all the girls to have all their original accessory sets and outfits, but have a slowly shifting collection of short story sets. Since these aren't part of the core collection, I would be ok with them being discontinued after a few years (with advance warning!). That way, the collections would remain reliable but fresh.

- Becca