First of all, I never said that one company was doing it "right" and another was doing it "wrong." You said that, not me. Don't put words in my mouth, please. One person asked how the approach was different, and I gave my own personal viewpoint on why I found the approach to be different. That's all. And its not simply about amount of boxes produced either. Allow me to explain why: I don't think Jon is an idiot and if he wanted to make his release super HTF and rare to add hype for the brand he could've. He could've made it an old school Viaje release of 250 boxes and it would've been very exclusive and HTF. But that didn't happen as he made it in a quantity available for all to find and enjoy. Now compare that to a popular DE stick: the Dirty Rat. This stick has been produced for over 3 years now and has been constantly backordered and is decently HTF as a simple internet search won't bring up boxes available to buy and the chances of going down to your local B&M to pick some up is very low, at least it is for most people. In over 3 years they haven't been able to bring up production to come close to satisfying demand? That's ridiculous, so no I'm not "arguing that DE should make their brand less popular, or not hype/advertise their product in order to make it easier for me to find," perhaps they should actually just increase production over the amount of time they've had a product out. And the entry price - for a corona no less - is more than the HG lancero, a much more difficult and expensive size to roll. And that's if you can get Rats at MSRP, which isn't always the case, as a good size local B&M is charging $15.50 for the L40. (MSRP $13.25)
Secondly, where are you going that the MSRP on Ligas is $10? Must be a pretty solid store, because if you want to get them for that price or lower, in my experience you've gotta find deals on boxes. And I'm not saying they're not out there - I know that they are. For example, Famous Outlet recently had boxes that you could grab for $8.50 a stick last month (for robustos.) But thats done now and there aren't any deals that I've seen as good as that recently. Want a single? $12.50 is the entry price here in Detroit, and that's just for a robusto, as a DC or belicoso will run $14+, before any applicable taxes. I'd also like to add that I've also been to B&Ms outside my local area and I haven't seen a $10 MSRP Liga in years.
Lastly, I understand DE makes a more in demand product. That fact doesn't somehow elude or mystify me. But, they have been around longer than Crowned Heads as a major player in the industry and I was around back when Tat was the highest and greatest brand in the land, and no one cared that much about Liga stuff. Hell, I was one of the first ones waiting in line to suck on JD's left nut circa the release of the LP 9 Pigs. Except back then, nobody gave a shit and I was able to stroll down to the local store and pick up singles. T-52 Pigs? Limited? Not for me. Grabbed 3 boxes, days after the store received the shipment, split the stuff with buds, and the fact is no one cared. I say that, because if they did care in the same way they do now then people would've been literally lined up outside the door to buy a true DE LE stick. And DE as a brand was larger back when the Pigs were released then Crowned Heads is at this point in time. While DE was growing their name at the time no doubt, they weren't a player in the marketplace like they are now. Hell, my big local just started carrying Crowned Heads products in the past six months or so. One day, prospective buyers might look back at the Drumstick release as a their own Holy Grail, much as the older Pigs are viewed as for many right now.
Lastly lastly (or P.S.S. if you will,) sorry to continue upon the derailment of this thread. Apologies.
