Polyform listened! They posted an update on their Facebook Discussion page this morning, saying they have reconsidered the decision to discontinue Premo colors Cobalt Blue and Zinc Yellow. I'm re-posting the announcement here, since it's kinda buried in the 100+ comments pleading with them to change their minds:

Polyform has reviewed all of your heartfelt comments in reference to Premo Cobalt Blue and Premo Zinc Yellow. In response to your needs we are going to find a way to keep these colors available for you. We will work with distributors and will post the information as soon as we finalize the details.

To answer some of your other concerns:
Frost has been renamed White Translucent in order to clarify it’s color to new users. The color has not changed.

Copper has changed, there will be a color recipe to create the older version of this color. The new Copper color is closer to the color of a new copper penny.

The fluorescent colors have been discontinued. Two new colors, Wasabi and Candy Pink, are quite bright and sure to make a “color pop” in your creations.

The recipes for discontinued colors, with the exception of the fluorescent colors, will be available. Many of the recipes use new colors so releasing the formulas now will not help you. We’ll release the formulas on January 3rd when the new colors are going to be available to ship.

We are really excited about our new line of Premo Accents, Premo and Sculpey III, as we’re sure you will be. Designers who have already used these colors are singing their praises. They’re on trend, as well as colors designers have requested.

Your comments were heard, your loyalty appreciated.

I'm pleased (and honestly, a little surprised!) to see that Polyform has responded so quickly to the polymer clay community's "concerns." And I'm grateful social media has made it simple for the community to makes its voice heard.

Just a couple of extra notes:

• One of the comments on Polyform's Facebook page was from Kathleen Dustin, who said, "Is there a way you can produce once-a-year-run of Cobalt Blue and Zinc Yellow to sell to places like PolymerClayExpress and other distributors for the polymer community?" Considering the wording of Polyform's announcement, I wouldn't be surprised to see an arrangement like this.
• I'm excited to hear that "White Translucent" = Frost. (Though I wonder why they didn't just say it was being renamed in the first place..)

Now that that's settled, let's all get back to work. :-)

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[Update 11/22/10: See Polyform Responds for their updated plans.]

Polyform announced the new Premo! and Sculpey III colors today. You can read the full announcement on their Facebook page, but here are the highlights:

• There are 9 new Premo colors, including several that sound like they came straight from the discontinued Studio by Sculpey line. I'm most excited about Denim, Spanish Olive, Pomegranate (all Studio colors I found useful), and the long-overdue Navy Blue. The Rhino Gray might also come in handy.

• They're announcing a new line called Premo! Accents with 19 translucent, metallic, glitter, and granite clays. This is where the big changes are.
  • I'm most excited about the granite colors (Blue Granite, White Granite, and Gray Granite). I'm guessing these are based on some of the more popular Granitex colors, which have recently only been available in multi-color sampler packs.
  • The metallic colors might be interesting — they're adding 18K Gold, Antique Gold, and Bronze. They're also changing the Copper — a color I happened to like (but I may like the new one just as well).
  • I'm sure there will be lots of folks who are excited about the glitter colors, but regular readers probably know by now that glitter's not my thing. So you'll have to go read about that yourselves. ;-)
  • The new colored translucents (Translucent Blue, Translucent Red, etc.) seem an odd choice to me, since it's extremely easy to tint your own translucents.
• What they didn't tell us before is that they're also discontinuing 11 Premo colors. Here's that list:
  • Red Pearl
  • Green Pearl
  • Cobalt Blue
  • Sea Green
  • Copper (but they're adding an "updated" copper)
  • Zinc Yellow
  • Frost (but they're adding a "White Translucent" that they say replaces Frost. I hope it's just as clear!)
  • Fluorescent Green
  • Fluorescent Yellow
  • Fluorescent Red
  • Glow-In-The-Dark (I'll miss this one!)
• There are 11 new and 11 discontinued Sculpey III colors. Since I'm not a Sculpey III user, I'll only highlight these 3 additions: Copper, Glow-In-The-Dark, and Deep Red Pearl.

My take? They're spinning this as an addition of exciting new colors, but it's more like a color re-organization. They've integrated some of the more useful (and presumably better-selling) colors from the Studio and Granitex lines into the Premo line. They're tweaking other colors slightly — i.e., replacing Red Pearl with Magneta Pearl, Green Pearl with Bright Green Pearl. And they're moving a few Premo colors — like the Glow-in-the-Dark — off to the Sculpey III line.

As for the discontinued colors, I personally think Zinc Yellow and Cobalt Blue are poor choices. You need blues and yellows for color-mixing, and I can't be the only one who will now have to re-do a bunch of my color recipes. At least they plan to put color recipes for most of the discontinued colors on their site...

And the colors that are actually new? I think that by adding a wider variety of metallics and glittery clays, they're trying to keep pace with Fimo Effects and Pardo.

There are a few things in here I'm excited about, but about as many that disappoint me. I'm sure I'll adjust, though. What about you? Are you losing any favorite colors? Excited about some of the new ones? I would love to hear your comments!

Posted in: Polymer Clay , Supplies & Tools | Comments (8)

You may have heard by now that Polyform is discontinuing its Studio by Sculpey line of clay and products, effective December 31, 2010. While many of the tools are being incorporated into the Sculpey line — just changing names — some of them will no longer be available. Here's an overview of the changes:

• The Clay: Studio by Sculpey clay will no longer be available. I suspect the polymer clay community's backlash over the Donna Dewberry thing got the brand off on the wrong foot. But it was probably the tightening restrictions on phthalates (which Studio by Sculpey still included) that dealt the final blow.

  I personally liked the clay well enough for certain things. If I wanted to do a quick project, the fact that the colors looked great straight from the package was nice. I also liked the suede-like finish of the clay (though mixing UltraLight and Premo can give similar results). And I discovered as I was writing my book that Studio by Sculpey worked better than any other clay currently on the market for the tearaway image transfer technique. But I never felt like the clay had quite the right softness for me — it was either too soft or too crumbly, depending on its age. So while I'm not heart-broken about the clay, I did stock up when my local Hobby Lobby put it on clearance.

  The good news is, Polyform says they'll make color recipes available for the Studio by Sculpey colors in mid-November.

• Texture Makers: The Studio by Sculpey Texture Makers sheets are also being discontinued, at least most of them. Three textures — lace, alligator and swirls — are now available in a smaller size sheet under the Sculpey brand name. The texture wheel will also be available under the Sculpey name.

  I was a little sad about this one. I liked that these texture sheets were see-through and flexible. I liked the size and the range of patterns. And I really liked the two grid texture sheets, and have had a hard time finding anybody else making anything similar.

• Glaze: Talk about things that make me sad! I couldn't tell from the website whether the Studio by Sculpey glazes were being re-branded or discontinued. However, in the class I took with Christi Friesen last weekend, she said she had ordered some of the Sculpey Satin Glaze to check... and it's still the old goopy stuff. So it doesn't look like they're re-branding the Studio by Sculpey glazes. [Update: I confirmed this with Polyform. The glazes are definitely discontinued.] I dislike the Sculpey glazes so much, but I didn't realize how universal that dislike was until I started telling people about the Studio by Sculpey glaze. I wish Polyform had made a different decision.
• Other Tools and Accessories: The following tools and accessories have been re-branded under the Sculpey line:
  • 5-in-1 Clay Tool (read more about the 5-in-1 Tool here)
  • Clay Tool Variety Set (now called Clay Tool Starter Set)
  • Etch ‘n Pearl
  • Style & Detail Tools
  • Super Slicer with Comfort Handles (now called Super Slicer)
  • Bake & Bond Bakeable Adhesive
  • 8” Acrylic Roller
  These appear to have been discontinued:
  
  • 8” Acrylic Roller [Update: The acrylic roller is being re-branded. It wasn't on their website because they're waiting for a new photo.]
  • Clay Knife
  • Antiquing Medium [Update: I verified this with Polyform — turns out these were discontinued over a year ago!]

FYI, I haven't seen any official lists on what's being discontinued and what's being rebranded, so the above is compiled from Facebook announcements, emails with Polyform, and my own comparison of the product listings on the Polyform website. (As a side note, I discovered after recently joining Facebook that their page is just about the best place to find Polyform announcements. It's certainly a better source than their website or their long-neglected email newsletter.) So if you think I've overlooked something, please let me know in the comments.

New Premo Colors
In other news, ‎Polyform announced that in 2011 they will be releasing new Premo colors for the first time since they started the Premo line in the late 1990s. The announcement didn't specify how many colors or what they would be — it just said to "look forward to luscious, new colors." One wonders whether they're adding a few of those nice Studio by Sculpey colors...? They also said they're releasing 11 new Sculpey III colors.

Posted in: Polymer Clay , Supplies & Tools | Comments (19)