and it was a gas Crystal Delights’ new Tasha’s Reignbow Pony Plugs were created in conjunction with adult star Tasha Reign... restrictions that manufacturers working with moulded toys have.” To encourage customers to switch from jelly products to body safe glass, the company introduced the Jelly Toy Wall of Shame section to its website. Customers who send in a photograph of a destroyed jelly sex toy are eligible for a 25% discount when they buy a Crystal Delights product. Seeing some of these toys broken down into their component parts is certainly a long way from sexy and Shellie believes we will one day look back in wonder at some of the materials that sex toys have been made from. “I think education is critical,” she says. “Manufacturers have used so many unsafe, unhealthy materials for so long and it has just been accepted. This has to change. I just saw on Twitter that Sweden has begun investigating the potentially hazardous levels of phthalates in sex toys. I think that is so necessary, and as an industry we really should all self-regulate for consumer safety.” CRAFT WORK Although Crystal Delights designs all its own products it frequently brainstorms with its glassmakers and customers and receives suggestions from followers on social media channels. Crystal Delights’ toys are handcrafted on the east coast of the United States and, continuing the ethos of using locally sourced craft workers where possible, the brocade padded bags that are supplied with each product are handmade in a small New England town. Generally the turnaround from initial idea to finished product is around three months but Shellie says that glass sometimes has a mind of its own and an idea can prove to be not viable even after a lot of work has gone into it. Despite this, she still loves designing: “This is my favourite part,” she says. “I love coming up with new products, it is my favourite thing. We try to come out with a half dozen or so new products a year. If they come together easier it might be a few more, if not a few less.” As mentioned earlier, the company’s basic glass plug can be specified in an astonishing number of different versions (90!) but over the last year Crystal Delights has spread its wings and come up with a number of other unique designs, such as the Crystal Twist and Spartacus Torch. “The creativity is my favourite part of the work I do,” emphasises Shellie. “What I want us to be known for is ‘those creative products’, uniquely different from any others out there.” The most recent additions to the Crystal Delights range are Tasha’s Reignbow Pony Plugs, a sparkly collection of plugs with vibrantly coloured flowing ponytails. Available in pink, lavender, blue and yellow, the products were created in conjunction with adult star Tasha Reign and will be featured in the next adult movie from Reign Productions. “I love glitter and sparkle and reignbows,” says Shellie. “Tasha is the Princess of pink and sparkle, it was a natural fit.” The products were launched at the International Lingerie Show in Las Vegas in September, to an enthusiastic response. “Everyone who sees the pony plug in person has to touch it and run their fingers through it,” says Shellie. “It always brings a smile to their face. It’s just one of those products.” And there will be more to come... “Our first Signature Series toy was the Spartacus Torch, which we did for Marcus London Productions for the movie Spartacus MMXII. The Tasha Reignbow Pony Plug was next and we currently have three other Signature Series toys in various stages of production.” We got to see two other new products this month (see Buyer’s Guide) including the delightful Kitty which Shellie emphasises is not an officially licensed Hello Kitty item: “Hardcore Hello Kitty fans know that Hello Kitty’s bow is on the right ear, not the left,” she says. “We don’t call it Hello Kitty, it is the Crystal Delights Rhinestone Kitty Plug.” The other new line is floral-inspired and sexysounding Rosebud, and it appears there will be more exotic variations like this in the future: “It is my goal to keep pushing the envelope to bring the most beautiful, creative designs to the Crystal Delights line,” says Shellie. COLLECTORS’ MARKET Has Shellie ever considered creating limited editions of Contact the firm through www.crystaldelights.com for more details. certain designs, in order to appeal to collectors? “We were surprised when we discovered that people do want to collect our products and many people have a half dozen or more,” she says. “It will be something that we continue to foster, as we want to be seen as more of a boutique product company. You will not see hundreds of thousands of the same Crystal Delights product. We prefer to specialise in smaller quantities and keep bringing you new beautiful designs.” The company’s best-selling design to date, which has won AVN and Xbiz awards, is its foxy (in both senses of the word) Crystal Minx Tail Plug and outside of the US, the UK is the company’s second ‘most shipped to’ location. “As a US company our focus as a small business was the United States first, so that is where most of our sales have been,” says Shellie. “2014 is the year we have scheduled to work on expanding into the world marketplace. We are amazed each and every day by the international web orders we get to our site. We have shipped to so many interesting places.” And does Shellie expect Crystal Delights to only ever create products from glass? “Originally the concept of Crystal Delights was a variety of mediums all featuring Swarovski crystals, including stone, wood, metal and ceramic,” she says. “But we got so caught up in glass we just have not expanded... yet.” After she mentioned ceramic I asked Shellie for her thoughts on Pipedream’s Ceramix Pleasure Pottery and if that material interested her. “We actually did a line of handmade ceramic toys a couple of years ago, again with the amazing 27mm Swarovski crystals we are best known for,” she replies. “We decided to discontinue that line until we could give it the time and attention it deserved. Like glass, ceramic has so much potential as a handcrafted medium matched with beautiful crystals.” Crystal Delights runs an affiliate programme which offers 25% first level commission and then an additional 5% second level commission on sales but it does not currently have a UK or even a European distributor, so all trade sales this side of the pond are handled directly.
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Erotic Trade Only November 2013
A V stimulating conversation Mystim launched a world first at eroFame - vibrators that also offer electrical stimulation. ETO asked Jessica Hofmann, head of product development at Mystim, about the development of the new range... Is there any significance in the name you have chosen - Vitamine V - for your new range of electrosex vibes? Jessica Hofmann: Vitamins are essential for a happy and healthy life - so, exactly like our new collection. But beware - Vitamine V deficiency can lead to unhappiness and sexual frustration. How much of a challenge was it for your design team to create a conventional vibrator when they had previously only designed electrosex devices? JH: This transition was the easy part, though truth be told we tend to frown on the term “conventional” for our vibrators. The ergonomics and anatomy are much the same after all, whether it is an electrosex toy or a non e-stim toy to be developed. The ability to work with colours, however, was something new and very
Erotic Trade Only November 2013
Jessica Hofmann: “The ability to work with colours, however, was something new and very refreshing for the whole team...”
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refreshing for the whole team, and a welcome addition to all our shiny metal and deep black silicone toys. And how easy was it to add electrosex functions to the vibrators? JH: It was quite a challenge. We wanted the function to be both powerful and completely integrated, diverse but easy to handle, and it was not always easy to convince the laws of physics of our need for higher standards. The limits we had to operate within were quite contradictory at times - like the size of the circuit board vs the amount of functions we had in mind, the thickness of the silicone vs the toy’s flexibility or the entire problem of making the vibes waterproof without resorting to caps and tops for the battery loading mechanism. So we ended up using even more high tech methods for the circuit board, finding a way to make the silicone smoother still and implemented the Mystim magnet charge to guarantee maximum hygiene. And bathtub-ability - meaning the vibes can go into the bathtub with you. How long did it take to develop the Vitamine V range? JH: We’ve been working on this for the last 18 months - so a rather short time for a project this ambitious. During development, did you draw any inspiration from the Intensity by Jopen (a vibe that also features electrical impulses)? JH: No, we learned about the Intensity during our patent research, and by that time the development of our E-Stim Vibes had already entered a very concrete and technical phase that was more concerned with implementation than inspiration. We approached the development from a very different angle, drawing from our experience with electrosex toys made of conductive silicone and adding the vibrating function to this rather than the other way around. In contrast to the Intensity, the E-Stim Vibes are capable of running both functions at once, with the different programmes designed to complement each other. The medical grade silicone that we use for the Vibes gives them a smooth design and very touch friendly, homogenous surface that sets them apart. We could go on, but one of the most striking differences is that we manage to offer the E-Stim Vibes at an MSRP that can compete even with regular vibrators. We understand users can enjoy the vibration functions and the electrosex functions of your vibes simultaneously but if they want to switch between them, during use, how quickly can this be done? JH: Instantly. Both functions have three control buttons each that are set into the handle right next to each other, so switching programmes and regulating intensity can be done during use without making a fuss. The LED lights in the controls light up whenever a button is pushed, so they’re perfectly easy to use even when it’s dark, and, because the symbols on the controls are slightly raised, you can also simply feel if you have the right button. In short, the controls are completely intuitive and independent from each other. How hard was it to keep the product a secret during this period? JH: Very hard. We were - and still are - quite excited about the new developments, and sometimes, especially after a breakthrough in one of the more frustrating problems, it took quite some restraint not to go boasting and strutting about with a chest full of pride, or even drop happy little hints here and there. It’s
Jessica Hofmann: “Electrosex is our main expertise...” a nosy business we’re in, and hinting and slipping up simply won’t do. So we did keep it together, and the result and surprise was definitely worth the wait. What was the reaction when you first revealed to the trade what you had been working on? JH: Overwhelmingly amazing. We had hoped for an enthusiastic response to the collection and the E-Stim Vibes in particular, but the reactions exceeded our expectations by far. We got a lot of positive feedback on both the concept and the design and functionality. During the product launch at eroFame, I don’t think there was even one single person who held Tickling Truman or the others and remained unconvinced. We have had very successful product premieres before, but the introduction of Vitamine V and the E-Stim Vibes was truly more than we dared to hope. And what feedback did you get to the non-electrosex versions? JH: The reactions to the traditional vibrators (in not so very traditional colours) were excellent. The variety of designs and shapes, the softness of the medical grade silicone and the two powerful motors that hardly make a sound all received a lot of praise. These features together with the vibes being waterproof and rechargeable via magnet charge made them a huge success. Can we expect to see more such products from Mystim in the future? JH: Electrosex is our main expertise, and we will definitely aim at incorporating it more and more in what you might call mainstream toys, to make it more accessible and eventually broaden the market for e-stim products. In order to do that, we need to target potential clients outside the electrosex niche, convince them with quality and earn enough trust to establish Mystim as the go-to company for when they are ready to go experimenting and experience something new. So yes, it is quite possible that crossover products will become more common in our product portfolio in the years ahead. For more information on the Vitamine V range contact Mystim on 0049 602 999 4191, email Jessica@mystim.com or visit www.mystim.com
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Erotic Trade Only November 2013
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas Retailers will already know what products they will be focusing on over the Christmas period but there are other aspects of the holiday season that all businesses should consider. Adam Bernstein is your guide... Now that all the trade shows are out of the way our immediate focus turns to Christmas, and the season’s festivities will inevitably mean a change to every business’s routine. While the season can be disruptive, it can also provide the impetus for change both over the period and into 2014. Here, then, are five areas that business owners may want to think about: ROYAL MAIL POSTING DATES Online retailers will already know their couriers’ cutoff times for sending products out but those of us who do not sell online will probably be relying on the Royal Mail, as usual, to pass on our compliments of the season to friends, colleagues, and associates in the industry. Despite the unstoppable growth of the web and email, the world is still keen to send cards and gifts that need to arrive before 25th December. With such a deluge in mail that needs to meet a finite date Royal Mail tries to help by listing the last recommended posting dates for items to reach far-flung parts of the world. The detail is posted, excuse the pun, at www.royalmail.com/greetings and covers matters such as the dates, information about Christmas deliveries and collections and the more mundane such as calculating the right still need paying and HMRC especially will be unforgiving if due dates are missed. Businesses need to either plan ahead or consider online banking. BANK HOLIDAYS
Holidays A
postage and wrapping. In essence, some surface mail destinations (Africa, Asia, Australia, Central and South America and New Zealand) needed to be posted by 30th September while Western Europe has until 19th November. For airmail deliveries to Asia, the Far East and New Zealand the last date is as early as 4th December while Western Europe can wait until 14th December. Inland 2nd class has to be sent by 18th December while Special Delivery needs to be posted by 23th December. The important part of this to remember, especially for those running a business, is that bills
Erotic Trade Only November 2013
While online banking has taken off massively, account holders need to aware of the disruption to the banking schedule over the period. Christmas Day falls on a Wednesday while predictably Boxing Day is a Thursday and New Year’s Day is on the following Wednesday. This means deposits made will take much longer to clear than normal and businesses should work around this, noting that while funds are generally available on the third working day after deposit, it’s not until the sixth day after deposit that funds become non-returnable. An alternative that has gained significant traction is the use of the (free) Faster Payment Service offered by most banks. The service means that unlike a CHAPS payment (often used by banks and solicitors when a property transaction goes through) which costs £25 or more to ensure an instant transfer of funds, a Faster Payment should go through within hours, but generally instantly, without charge. However - and there’s always a catch - a Faster Payment can take until the following day to show up in an account. So while technology can ease the flow of funds, it would be a wise business that moves monies a day or so earlier than needed. Caution must be employed with online payments. While payments are now almost instant the same process means that a destination bank mis-keyed can mean money goes to the wrong destination almost instantly, and because of confidentiality can be difficult to retrieve. Details on the institutions that are part of the Faster Payment Service, and the limits on daily transfers, can be seen at www.paymentscouncil.org.uk/resources_and_publicati ons/faster_payments_value_limits/. The dates of forthcoming Bank holidays are available on the government website at https://www.gov.uk/bank-holidays. BE FESTIVE, BUT MAKE IT COUNT Christmas is a time for giving - that’s a given. So why do so many waste the money that they do spend in spreading the Christmas message to customers and suppliers with cards and gifts that are discarded on arrival?
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