Some Days are Diamonds.

In the words of the song.

"Some days are diamonds, some days are stone."

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, things just never go according to plan.

So it was with our new case for the Motorola RAZR, RAZR MAXX and like-sized HTC Titan and Titan II.

We managed to craft a case for the Samsung Galaxy Note like falling off a log. Easy peasey.

But for some reason it took 3 goes to get what we now call our series 295 out the starting gate.

The problem was tightness. That's when the case is just too tight to be of any use.

The surprising things is that the 295 is, apart from the fact that it is less than 10 mm taller, almost identical to our tried and true workhorse case, the 208.

But eventually we got there.

The 295 may well be the first case we make that actually makes another case redundant. Time will tell, but for now it's all hands to the pumps as we work to fill the back orders.

The Wait is Over. New Cases for Galaxy Note and Droid RAZR are here

It's taken some time but we have finally completed creation of two new custom belt cases for both the Samsung Galaxy Note and its music player derivatives (#290) and Motorola's Droid RAZR and longer battery life Droid RAZR MAXX (#295).

 

Belt Loop lets you angle the case on your belt,

to avoid covering a pocket.

We became aware of these larger than usual devices during attendance at CES mid January and immediately set about getting our hands on a couple of 'dummies' or replica non-working examples. We've been doing this long enough to know how easy it is to simply take published information and run with it. We may be right 98% of the time, but it is the 2% fail that worries me.

However the stars were obviously not correctly aligned for this to be a simple process.

CES afforded me the opportunity to meet with many Asian component manufacturers.

There were hundreds in attendance; one day I wandered through an unremarkable door off the main LVCC - Las Vegas Convention Center - and found them clustered in the basement of the next door and interconnected Las Vegas Hilton hotel.

This fortuitous stumble opened my eyes to the many, many opportunities available, as well as introducing me to several companies specializing in spare parts...and the aforementioned dummies.

So far, so good.

What was not so good was the fact that following close on the heels of CES was the annual Chinese Spring Festival or New Year. And until then I had never realized that during this celebration time China shuts shop completely for two weeks. During this time nothing, and I mean nothing, gets done.

This global powerhouse and it's 1.5 billion strong population goes into shutdown mode from the last week of January through to the end of the first week of February. And when they do return to work and crank up the volume for the new year, obviously the first thing they do - is clear the backlog - and that takes about another fortnight.

Eventually, six weeks later, at the end of February, we finally got our samples.

Then we had to design the patterns, make the knives to prove the design actually worked and assemble  sample cases that had to be approved.

Finally all the design hurdles were cleared and the two new cases are now listed in our catalog.

In a deliberate design change, neither the #290 or #295 has a tab top option; pouch or full flap version only. This is because sales analysis shows these two by far outsell the tab version of our other products. While the pouch gives easy access - and can be easily stowed in a handbag, satchel or briefcase - the full flap affords both total protection and (for those uncomfortable about displaying their device publicly) a measure of security by hiding it from view when not in use.

We have also removed the D-ring from the clip. Nobody ever asked specifically for it, and it was one of those small legacy design accoutrements that somehow managed to find its way into the mainstream. I am sure if it's passing offends too many people we'll soon be told.

There's been very strong interest in the Galaxy Note case in particular. We have just shipped about a dozen cases that were pre-ordered by customers. To those folk who have waited so patiently we say "thank you". We believe you will agree the wait has been worthwhile.

In addition to offering these new products in a variety of leather finishes in our online catalog we are in the process of delivering the first of the Galaxy Note full flap cases in both Black and natural Russet to Amazon.

As a vendor in Amazon's 'wireless accessories' division we are very keen to see how well they are received and to ramping up production to meet what we hope is extreme demand.

But that's another topic that demands an entry like this, all of its own.

A Grand Design

We are likely best known for our holsters, but it is not all we do. Over the years we have added value for many, many individual customers. It's part of being a bespoke merchant and creating products that people actually want.

It's also how we come to create new products. The options we offer on our holsters and belt cases are the results of customers' requests.

The previous post extolled the virtues of our smartphone folder/holder wallet-like leather cover for almost any smartphone under 5.5" long.

This post shows off two of our bespoke belt pouches...larger than a holster...not as big as a tablet case, and certainly larger than the two horizontal holsters we offer for the iPhone and similar sized smartphones with "medium" sized accessories.

The smaller one was originally developed for the HTC X7510 Advantage handheld that came out several years ago. Next we responded to user requests and created a second case to hold that device wrapped in a leather book-like cover.

The result?
Two leather belt pouches.

Nutshell Belt Pouches make great tote bags.

Similar in design, side seams, great leather, lined with our ultra-suede...but maybe they can be improved?

Larger Size: 6" L x 5" W x 1.25" D
SKU: WN76512

Smaller Size: 5" L x 3.5" W x 1" D
SKU WN75351

The smaller sample also has an inside-the-back business card holder, which is nice.

It means we have the patterns, so we don't have to walk through the lengthy and time consuming and costly development process.

Now all we have to do is revisit the pricing models, arrange the supplier, create the GTIN wholesale barcode and our NUTCC ASIN, fine tune the descriptions and work out the true costs and benefits; make sure the packaging is acceptable, think about the rich text HTML and the high quality studio images that we'll need to bring the product to the consumer...make sure the rebates and affiliate structures are in place and acceptable, and work on suitable wholesale pricing (with enough margin for all concerned).

No worries...

to be continued...

;-)