Looks Like We've Pissed Somebody Off

Quoting from a previous blog entry- "Taurus 3 Ringsaws Update If we bought them from our local (and only) Canadian supplier these great glass saws (with a round blade) would cost us more than what we've put them on sale for! I guess that's why we've got only four left at $388.88!"
And thus the shoe had dropped.
We received a couriered letter today from the Electrical Safety Authority advising us to stop selling Taurus 3 Ringsaws as they are not approved in accordance with Ontario electrical standards. This of course is not true but an incorrect assumption that has been made by that person. It might have been better (and classier) if they had of just called Mikey.

Apparently Mikey Was Mistaken

In a previous blog entry, trying to make nice after being critical of Spectrum's fusing line, (and thereby hurting J.M.'s feelings), we made a comment about how the profits from the sales of SP100W allowed Mikey to now be able to afford single malt scotch rather than blended (sure ain't making it from the sale of Taurus 3 bandsaws... The Missus). After careful review by the accounting firm of FIG Inc, it was discovered that it was actually BU0126 that allowed Mikey to drink in such excellent fashion. See pics for proof, and thank you 'Ed the Cat' .

It Makes No Sense At All

Just picked up some Taurus 3 Bandsaws today at our one and only Canadian stained glass distributor. While our dollar has gone up significantly in the last six months theoretically making American goods cheaper, our Canadian supplier has raised the cost of this saw again. Now, I'm not supposed to tell you how much they cost us up here from our sole Canadian supplier because they would rather make you believe that it's us, the retailer, not them, that's taking advantage of the market, so I'll just tell you that...

Anything in Stained Glass in New Jersey sells them for $336.99 U.S., Nickates for $379.99 U.S., Maple City for $335.00 U.S., Ameriglass for $334.75 U.S. Now, remember, they buy them for for less than that and still make a profit at these prices. Our cost is in excess of 'three figures' more than what these retailers are charging at retail.

Now, like the last time I went on this kind of rant, I'm guessing I'll get a phonecall, trying to get me to keep quiet about these things. This time, rather than phone, this blog has the capability to accept comments...

The Adventures of Figidomo in Moldopolis

While we might be known to partake in a bit of brevity around here occasionally, this does not belittle the fact that we also do serious work. See here for proof- the latest from Francis Ford Pattyopolla- a stunning, film noir vignette on the recent arrival of our Bullseye slumping molds.

Stained Glass Goes to the Dogs

From the artist that brought us some of the best design books available today- books like Witchcraft, and Frog Song, Sea Faeries and Faerie Lights and Cat Designs- Gillian Sawyer now rounds out her series of books with one on Dogs. Thirty eight original designs including labs, terriers, German shepherds and a bunch of others too ugly to be even associated with the canine species (but excellently drawn by Gillian nevertheless).

Now available at under twenty five bucks at FIG.

Bullseye Rodz for Beadmakers Coming Tuesday

This is just incomprehensible! Imagine all this on the same day arriving- sheet glass, molds for slumping, and now also glass rodz for torchworking! It's like too much to absorb! What are the chances that we would have three distinct and different lines of product all arriving on the same day. At the same time! On the same truck. Oh, the humanity...

Oh, yeah- go here to see the colours arriving, including the Special Production Rod Colours Zenia was crowing about.

Disclaimer: picture looks suspiciously like 'Ed the Cat'. Might he still be around?

Slumping Mold Order Also Arrives Tuesday

What a coincidence! Bullseye glass and now molds arriving on the same day. What are the chances of that happening?! Hey, wait a minute- they're arriving on the same truck! Now that's amazing. The list of molds and some other sundries can be found here.

Bullseye Glass Factory Shipment To Arrive Tuesday

Pat points out to Mikey again (I hate it when she does that...Mikey) that the rack allocation for fusible glass has sustained an underabundance of glass with the propensity to cause a loss of coalescence with other glasses within the immediate but not quite adjacent area. Mikey takes a Valium, consults Dr. Skinner and thinks Pat is trying to say we don't have enough Bullseye fusible glass, and that this shipment might provide sustainable relief to all fusers in the land, far and wide.

Arriving Tuesday, see the packing slip for the fusible sheet glass here.

Bullseye Fusible Versus Spectrum System 96

It’s not really a valid title of course, as we sell and support both. How the heck do you think Mikey can afford wieners for his family’s Sunday Kraft Dinner extravaganza?

But do we love both equally? We don’t. And because of that, apparently, Spectrum is angry.

Mikey got a call this afternoon from Jim Matthews from Spectrum Glass. He felt that we’ve been a little hard on Spectrum Glass lately. We agree- he’s right, we have. Unashamedly.

And why?

In our opinion, it seems that Spectrum Glass, with all their might in this industry of ours, doesn’t like to be criticized or editorialized about. They would prefer people not make mention of any weakness to their fusing product line (they didn't like our blog comments about their colour selection being substantially less than Bullseye). Hey, they make a good consistent product, at a fair price- we’ve never denied that. We sell hundreds of their Rat Paks every year (as a matter of fact that’s our artwork of a rat that adorns every single crate they make). Spectrum even featured a front page Score Magazine article on us once. Sales of SP329.6 put my kids through university. I drink single malt instead of blended scotch now from the sales alone of SP100 Waterglass. How could we not love them?

But as a glass source for fusing?

Should they be ashamed of themselves for having such a small selection and act like they're the industry leader? Or should they acknowledge the fact that perhaps they’re not and promise to continue to improve their product rather than shoot the messenger? Their limited pallete is something that we have pointed out to us every day by you the customer. Is that why we prefer Bullseye over Spectrum then? Of course it is.

Hey guys, you really can’t have it both ways now can you? A couple of years ago, Spectrum took a big swipe at Bullseye (read it here), on why you should buy their glass instead of the ‘competitors’. It seems that no one but Spectrum is allowed to be critical of others in this industry. Bullseye didn’t take this criticism lying down- see here for their rebuttal. And here for some background on Bullseye’s litigation against Spectrum.

We will continue to carry Spectrum as it is our best selling line of glass and we like the glass- we really do. We will also continue to be a Bullseye dealer as it is our favourite line of glass for fusing.

Fantasy In Glass is just a small retailer. Spectrum Glass is a large company. Were they trying to intimidate us perhaps? I don’t know. I do know that we’ll just continue to call them as we see them.

Disclaimer: We are a Bullseye dealer (they called us and offered it to us). We are not a Spectrum dealer

New Store Hours (effective January 15, 2008)

Classes start and store hours change-
Mon........11:00am to 7:00pm
Tue........ 11:00am to 6:00pm
Wed....... 11:00am to 7:00pm
Thur...... 11:00am to 7:00pm
Fri......... 10:00am to 6:00pm
Sat........ 10:00am to 4:00pm
Sun.................Always Closed

New Colours for Fusers

Spectrum Glass adds another colour of glass to their fusing line (hey- it's also great for your stained glass projects too, remember).

"WARNING"- copywriters working here;

'Chesnut Brown Opal is a deep, earthy brown that augments the System 96 "Natural Selection" family of neutral tones. It's creamy, rich colour softens slightly upon firing. Chestnut provides a super smooth solid anwhere an earthy brown is desired. Order through your System 96 Glass Supplier — Stock Number: #211-74SF.

Or how about just calling FIG- we've had it for several months (one of the many advantages of not being dependent on our sole Canadian supplier to get stuff).
Holy cow, that brings their unique colour count to what? Around a staggering 60 colours- or about 1/4 the selection of Bullseye. 

Oh yeah, while Spectrum proudly announces one new colour, Bullseye modestly announces five- three opals and two cathedrals- go here to see
Oh, yeah, just got an email from Maria at Bullseye- our next massive factory direct shipment ships tomorrow, and should be here within a week. This one includes all their new colours, as well as a their popular Tekta Clear, experimental and curious colours and quite a few molds (if you've pre-ordered molds, they are on their way).

Free Bandsaw Clinic Saturday February 2, 2008

Not sure if your bandsaw is running up to snuff? How about your spouse? Bring it in (the saw- Mikey's wife will be in on Saturday) for a free checkup Feb. 2 between 11am- 2pm.

Seminars Finally Posted

On the first day of Mikey's first stained-glass course many years ago, his instructor attempted to perpetuate the common myth that stained-glass flows over time; 'That’s why, in church windows, glass is thicker at the bottom than at the top' he bragged.
A few years ago, Edgar Dutra Zanotto, a Brazilian researcher, published an article in the American Journal of Physics (No. 66, May 98) in which he calculates the time it takes glass to flow. He estimates it will take 100000000000000000000000000000000 (1 followed by 32 zeros or 10 to the power of 32) years for the glass to show any substantial change at normal temperatures.
The age of the universe is 10 to the power of 10.

Oh, by the way, our instructors hopefully know better. Go here to see a list.

Congratulations

We've been pretty hard on our one and only Canadian stained glass supplier since they became a monopoly about a year and a half ago. We feel they've been consistently terrible at getting their house in order as far as getting supplies making it very difficult for the retail market as a result.

While I still have issues with them (such as their pricing not truly reflecting the strong Canadian dollar and reduced selection contrary to what they promised) I must compliment them on the high fill rate of a delivery received yesterday. Yes, it's true- I'll slam them when warranted and applaud them when warranted. On an order placed with 135 unique items we received 120, a very encouraging sign.

So, here's some items that are now back in stock-
12" and 18" L-squares, small hobby u-came, Inukshuk bevel clusters, small black chain, all previously out-of-stock bevels, bevel clusters, Kokomo and Spectrum glass (with the rare exception)...

Another Ukrainian Christmas

Well, the kutya will hopefully stick to the ceiling again promising, if not a good year of crops for the  peasant farmer, or a Ukrainian stained glass store owner, then at least it is for the painter the Missus will hire to repaint the ceiling. Merry Christmas Joe, Mary, Paul and all our friends who celebrate the Julian calendar and Christmas tomorrow

Original Video Tour of Fantasy In Glass World Headquarters

Our video series by film auteur Francis Ford Pattyopolla, sure to be a hit, began with this video a while ago. We're posting it here as FFP' contract has demanded it...

Video Series Expands

In keeping with the serious nature of our craft and the reverence people hold for this website of ours, we've decided to get serious and offer up some Figgy insight by way of more videos.
This one filmed by Francis Ford Pattyopolla, delves into the mysterious, high tech torchwork studio recently set up in the bowels of Fig's studio.

Because Everyone Deserves A Break

HOURS (effective January 2, 2008)
Monday.......................11:00am to 6:00pm
Tuesday...................... 11:00am to 6:00pm
Wednesday................. 11:00am to 6:00pm
Thursday.................... 11:00am to 6:00pm
Friday......................... 10:00am to 6:00pm
Saturday.....................10:00am to 4:00pm
Sundays....................Always Closed (Sorry)

Stained Glass Courses Starting Soon

FIG is is about to be inundated with fresh new students- Beginner courses start Monday Jan. 14, Tue. Jan. 15, and Wed. Jan. 23. Intermediate classes start Wed. Jan. 16, Tues. Jan. 17 and Friday Jan. 18. Sign up soon as all courses these have usually filled to capacity and we can only hold your spot if paid in advance. Mikey thinks it's because of the unusually attractive teachers he has a penchant for hiring. Pat thinks it's because it's anybody but Mikey teaching. See our full schedule here...