Sad day for the pink flamingo

[Jim Clark]

Originally Posted by Goin camping

Glad we got some last night at gulp $50 a pair.

I wonder if LoJack will fit inside?

You could mate them to get your money back.

Jim

[yukionna]

Nice broadcast. The good news (for those of you who haven't spent $50 to get a pair) is that a couple of companies are in negotiation to purchase the molds. The goal of which ever company purchases the molds is to resume production in 2007.

I saw something interesting on eBay the other day. Apparently, before Union Products made the decision to go out of business, they had already manufactured a limited edition gold-colored 50th anniversary flamingo to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Union Products flamingo in 2007. Check out this auction...one of the sets went for over $300!

[Barbara Peerenboom]

All Things Considered, October 31, 2006 · In Leominster, Mass., the Union Products company has been making plastic pink flamingos for nearly 50 years. The plant is closing tomorrow, after stopping production earlier this year.
Robert Siegel talks with the man who created the first pink plastic flamingo as a Union Products employee back in the 1950s. Don Featherstone went on to become president of the company before his retirement six years ago.

[Chaplain Kent]

They will rest in permanent non-biodegradable peace.

[Minnie's Mate]

Originally Posted by Sugarfoot

I just talked to this company, MasterGardening, a real person on the phone. He said these are the real Don Featherstone (http://www.mastergardening.com/gif-9001.html) and they are going REALLY REALLY FAST. And the price is the same as I paid months ago. For $12.95 a pair you too might be able to get the last of them.

And now they are out of the Featherstone's. The model the show isn't the original and is $19.95.

[NorCal Bambi]

Maybe we should all mail our pink framingos to the president and congress to show them that we are tired of our jobs and small businesses being sent over seas.
Don

[A-Merry-Can]

these birds are too rich for my blood... i think i'll switch to something classsy like yard gnomes... or frogs with fishing poles...

jp

[AZstreamin]

Check this out

$145.99 !!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Don-Featherstone...QQcmdZViewItem

[Sugarfoot]

No guarantees though. Lulu would probably get all giggly and think the thief was dropping by for a rousing game of "chase the flamingo".

Oh, Fed Ex is here even as I post. Sure enough, I think my back-up flamingos from MasterGardening BEFORE they started price gouging have arrived. Let me open them . . . . . and they are the real Don Featherstone Union Products thing.

Maybe I should put them in a safety deposit box.

[SteSpot]

Originally Posted by AZstreamin

Check this out

$145.99 !!!

http://cgi.ebay.com/Don-Featherstone...QQcmdZViewItem

I just saw them on the Airstream store for $15....assume they are the real ones? pjpoll

[wkerfoot]

Originally Posted by pjpoll

I just saw them on the Airstream store for $15....assume they are the real ones? pjpoll

Paula,

I have heard that the ones sold by Airstream are not the original Featherstone Flamingos.

Bill

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by Minnie's Mate

I am crushed. We bought ours at the JC Factory Store and now to find out they aren't originals. What is the world coming to when one American Icon doesn't support another American Icon! No wonder they went out of business. It's the story of American manufacturing. China's economy is emerging at the cost of the American worker. How much longer 'till we start buying Airstreams built in China...hey, the quality might actually go up!

Hi, I think we will find Airstreams being towed by Chineese trucks first. At these prices, are there any rules against pet flamingos in the campgrounds? Since the price of plastic has risen faster than gold.

Bob

[SteSpot]

Originally Posted by wkerfoot

Paula,

I have heard that the ones sold by Airstream are not the original Featherstone Flamingos.

Bill

You are correct...they are not even Featherstone knock offs...but they are cheaper.....pj

[Minnie's Mate]

Originally Posted by pjpoll

You are correct...they are not even Featherstone knock offs...but they are cheaper.....pj

I keep forgetting to verify, but the box ours came in looks identical to the one on the $145 e-bay auction. Is it possible that they did sell the originals and switched? We paid $15 or more for ours. I don't remember exactly because we bought other items at the same time.

[clancy_boy]

That's funny. Ours are in the original manufacturer's box and I cannot find the signature either. What fun this would be if the Chinese had copied the mold for the birds AND the box style and shipped a bunch of these over. Of course this would be all a mute point if the plant had not closed down. Now I have to watch the Pink Flamingos closer than the AS

[rickandsandi]

Originally Posted by pjpoll

I just saw them on the Airstream store for $15....assume they are the real ones? pjpoll

Don't be fooled! I am sorry to say that the ones at JC are not the original Featherstones, but Made In China! I received a bulk case of real ones five days before to Obit. came out. I could use any protection anyone has to offer!

[Minnie's Mate]

Originally Posted by rickandsandi

Don't be fooled! I am sorry to say that the ones at JC are not the original Featherstones, but Made In China! I received a bulk case of real ones five days before to Obit. came out. I could use any protection anyone has to offer!

Please post a photo of the box, and maybe a close-up of the signature, so I can verify wheather mine are the real ones or not. I'll dig mine out to see if they are real or fakes.

[rickandsandi]

Hi Mini!
When I buy them in bulk they do not come in retail boxes. The fake box says made in china but looks like the original white 32 ECD with pink printing. To tell if the bird is real there are two very quick tests; does your flamingo have the eytes with these little beads inside them so when they move their eyes move? Also, you will find Don Featherstone's signature in the underside of the flamingos tail feathers where his (or hers) poop would come out. There I kept it clean!

[SteSpot]

Originally Posted by Minnie's Mate

I keep forgetting to verify, but the box ours came in looks identical to the one on the $145 e-bay auction. Is it possible that they did sell the originals and switched? We paid $15 or more for ours. I don't remember exactly because we bought other items at the same time.

Did you buy from the Airstream Store? I called and they told me they are not originals or even a knock off......pj

[Minnie's Mate]

I did buy them from Airstream. But my confusion is the box looks the same as the one in the e-bay auction.