TH reveal must haves

This one?:

Sizzix is currently suing many of the smaller companies which also make thin dies. That has the potential of driving those smaller companies out of business. The financial costs of the lawsuits could destroy the smaller companies, and many of the companies that we love may disappear.

Based on everything I was able to read about it, Sizzix seems to have taken advantage of a legal vacuum and are now using it and the courts to beat down their competition. If you haven't heard or read about it, the Sizzix lawsuit discussion is on the stamping board here.

Sizzix won't get a dime more of my money, no matter how cool Tim's new products are.

This is a ProvoCraft Cricut and SCAL software thing all over again!

I bought a lot of sizzlit dies quite a few years ago. They did NOT sell any wafer thin dies at the time. Yet, they came out with adapter plates in order to use other manufacturer's dies.

The details of the lawsuit are focused on dies where the cutting line is on the edge of the die and the die is 2.5 mm wide. Quite a few small companies have been named in the lawsuit.

The main advantage to having the cutting line at the inside edge of the die is to match up the die with a stamped image more easily. Heartfelt Creations has been matching stamps with dies for years.

The only other obvious reason for moving the cutting line to the inside edge would be to take advantage of a legal vacuum.

Spellbinders held the original patent to the thin dies, but lost it in their lawsuit with QuicKutz. That legal vacuum allowed other companies to manufacture the thin dies. Sizzix apparently recognized that would allow them to file a patent for thin dies with the slight modification of the cutting line being on the inside edge of the die. The timing of that patent application, however, is interesting.

In the Sizzix lawsuit against Heartfelt Creations, the Sizzix legal paperwork also specifically refers to "the method" used by Heartfelt Creations, and demands that HC take down a video from their website which supposedly encourages die users to violate the Sizzix patent. An early video on the HC site, does show how to center a stamped image with a matching die and get a perfect cut. I believe that video is probably the one referred to in the lawsuit.

However, that Heartfelt Creations technique video was posted on their website prior to Sizzix filing for the patent referred to in the lawsuit, and it had to have been filmed even earlier, since it was from a televised craft program.

The law does allow for "simultaneous design," but because there is so much information on the internet, it is also easy for ideas to become common knowledge. Who came up with the idea of matching stamps and dies, with the cutting line on the inside edge first? That is the question the courts have to decide.

These are the reasons why I feel that Sizzix may have taken advantage of a legal loophole and could be using the courts inappropriately to eliminate their competition. Unfortunately, bigger companies have more money, and small companies are often destroyed by a lawsuit, even when the lawsuit is unjust, as I believe the Sizzix lawsuit to be.

Update on the new Chrome Precision plateL I got it and used it with an MFT intricate die and it left impressions (just like the acrylic ones). When I called and asked about it, they said it's only designed to work with their Thinlets, other thin dies will leave impressions. So unless you have a ton of Thinlets, save your money! Mine's going back. (And yes, they said to return it!)

Ok, I actually watched the video now.

I LOVE the alphabet! I have a thing for mini alphas. I like the look of some of the Bigz dies, but I don't have a machine that they will work with. I don't want to make that investment. Those tins look like the size of Altoid tins. I don't do a lot of mixed media, lumpy and bumpy stuff, but it's fun to see what Tim and his team creates.

Thanks for the warning. I bought one a couple of days ago but fortunately I didn’t take it out of the package yet. Back to Hobby Lobby it goes. Maybe they’ll have the crocheted edges in by then. 

It does seem strange that they’d make a plate that only works with their dies as most of us have dies from many different companies. I’m one of the peopleTim talks about in his video—I use cardboard cardboard shims and various sandwich combinations to cut my intricate dies. I like the idea of being able to use a plate that will be easy to use. Maybe I’ll wait on that return. I still want those crochet edge dies though.

I know it has been said before, but thank you for sharing that information.


And I am sorry Sizzix, but you do NOT make enough cute dies for my money to come to you because you stomp on and kill the competition.

If you don't care about the grid part, I glued two sheets of super sticky post it note back to back (non sticky sides together) and I think it'll work for making items stay put while I'm working on them. I haven't actually used it yet. They also sell bigger sheets of post it note paper that could be glued together.