The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • NW4

BENW0318-A-NW -Composite Proof 3:03 0:00 RBENW0318NW4FBENW0318NW4 BUYERS EDGE NW 4NW 4NW RR RR BlueRedYellowBlack Blue RedYellowBlack NW 4 Thursday, March 18, 2004 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution EDGE When this popular marketing ploy is used for candy bars and fruit, has it lost all meaning? Photo illustration by CHRIS HUNT Staff This Crimson Flame grapefruit from is advertised as a limited edition This handmade Vacheron Constantin Mercator America watch is one of only 12 made. It retails for $47,500. These limited edition chocolate-chip cookie dough Snak-Stix by Pop-Tarts (right) are ending their three-month run. CHRIS HUNT Staff etter pick up a box of Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Pop-Tarts Snak-Stix quick. about to go out of production.

So are the dark chocolate, limited edition Kit Kat candy bars. already missed the limited edition Honey- Bells tangelos. And those limited edition T-Fal frying pans, available at Wal-Mart for $9.83, ever be made again. Once the 250,000 or so shipped to this country are gone, it. Actually, the company made about 1 million of the pans, which have a special commemorative design, for worldwide distribution.

were made to commemorate the one hundred millionth Thermo-Spot pan sold said T-Fal spokesman Ken Kandall. Does 1 million count as a limited edition? In marketing world, is getting a workout, thanks to limited edition appliances, cars, foods, cosmetics, clothing, accessories, decorative items and even fruit. a new twist to try and get people to pick up a product because it will only be available for a short said Fred Allvine, a marketing professor emeritus at Georgia Tech. a way to tempt people. A way to boost sales without cutting the why occasionally see unusual new varieties of Pop-Tarts, said Kevin Smith, senior vice president of marketing services at Kellogg USA.

Smith said the company introduces limited editions to keep products fresh and in the public eye. The editions usually are available for three months, then gone. The Hershey company started using limited editions a little over a year ago but has put out a string of them since, like Honey Roasted cups, dark chocolate Kit Kat bars and mint flavored Kisses. also a trial period for new products. White chocolate cups and dark chocolate Hershey Kisses proved so popular they have become part of the candy permanent lineup.

But company spokeswoman Christine Dugan admits hard to say how many are made, even in four- to six-week production window of most limited editions. not signed and she quipped. we recommend keeping them for 50 The same is probably good advice for limited edition fruit. a company in Florida, advertises its HoneyBells tangelos as the only limited edition But its Web site lists four other limited edition fruits an apple, a grapefruit, a hybrid and strawberries. Eileen Schlagenhaft, director of catalog marketing for said it refers to the fruits as because they have short growing seasons and carried by regular grocery stores.

Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin had another interpretation of the term. not a limited edition, Irvin said. are only certain times you can get sweet, Georgia peaches, but that make them limited editions when here. It seems like a marketing ploy to a ploy been used for a while. Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing, which studies consumer buying habits, said the term conveyed scarcity and value during the collecting boom of the 1980s and early But then companies started producing more items for so-called limited editions.

started using terms like to 45 firing which meant they could have made 50,000 a day if they had enough huge Danziger said. lost all credibility and Collectibles expert Harry Rinker, who is host of the HGTV show said few collectible items sold today have much resale value. really sad because people see it as a value-enhancing term and almost a guarantee that something will increase in Rinker said. today, most limited edition collectibles worth 20 cents on the dollar in the resale Of course, people buying limited edition Pop-Tarts or cups expect their purchase to go up in value. all a function of credibility, and that fluctuates with who is making the said Gary Wright, a marketing expert from Denver.

And there are still legitimate limited edition items available. Like the Mercator America wristwatch by Vacheron Constantin, which produced only 12 of the handmade watches that retail for $47,500. Or the black-and-silver Neiman Marcus edition Thunderbirds made in 2002. Only 200 were made. But some worry that the term is being burned out.

you have candy bars calling themselves limited editions, it takes away from legitimate limited said Charles Turner, owner of Chances Gallery in East Atlanta. An eBay search shows it may already be a losing battle. Dan Neary, the director of collectibles for the auction Web site, said recently about 150,000 items on the site used the term But only about 50,000 of them were in the collectibles category. Among those in other categories were limited edition key chains, cellphones, pins, jigsaw puzzles, lip gloss, DVDs, ties and ski jackets. even a fix for people who fell in love with the mint or orange flavored Kit Kat bars Hershey put out in a limited edition last year.

still available in England, but be reissued in this country until Christmas, said the Hershey spokeswoman. So if you wait that long, start bidding. CHRIS HUNT Staff Honey Roasted cups and Kit dark chocolate variety are two of a number of limited edition versions of the candies. By SANDRA ECKSTEIN COVER STORY.