I don't know if I've ever posted about why we went back to a more traditional folder for the Doubleday Years, but here's the short version:
No one wanted the IT Artwork Portfolios.
Here's the longer version:
We priced the IT Artwork Portfolios as low as we could because we know art related stuff is a niche market, and in the end we priced them too low because we barely broke even once the fancy portfolios were paid for... and no one wanted them.
Most people said the price was the problem. Too expensive for artwork.
We sold maybe 250 of the 500 by the time the Artwork Portfolio was produced. It took nearly a year to sell the other 250 and many of those were in heavily discounted sales.
(Of course, now look at what a matching Limited Edition and Portfolio will get you!)
So, when it came time for the Doubleday Years, we switched back to a more traditional paper folder, which we jazzed up by printing full-color artwork on them. (In the past, the folders usually had a sticker with the title of the project and maybe a small piece of artwork.)
This, along with the smaller prints, let us get the price point down where people wanted it. We could also increase the run, so everyone who wanted matching numbers could get matching numbers.
But then some collectors were unhappy that they weren't getting an IT style folder for the $50 price... when those folders alone cost more than $50 each to produce...
This was the ultimate "there's no pleasing everyone" we've ever encountered.
Brian