IslandMix - Soca, Reggae, Zouk and Caribbean Entertainment

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"If u put a small price on ur value.. rest assure that the world wont raise ur price! Love U 2day!" ~ Rev. Run

"If you keep believing in yourself and seek enthusiasm inside your soul, things will get simpler, more spontaneous." ~Paulo Coelho

"Knowledge is like the wind, once you obtain it, you can go anywhere." ~Yellow Hare(Native-American Chief)

Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit
the floor each morning the devil says:
"Oh Crap, She's up!"

And it doesn't provide any jobs for equally talented Trinbagoinians either.

__________________
"If u put a small price on ur value.. rest assure that the world wont raise ur price! Love U 2day!" ~ Rev. Run

"If you keep believing in yourself and seek enthusiasm inside your soul, things will get simpler, more spontaneous." ~Paulo Coelho

"Knowledge is like the wind, once you obtain it, you can go anywhere." ~Yellow Hare(Native-American Chief)

Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit
the floor each morning the devil says:
"Oh Crap, She's up!"

and it makes the cost of the costume MUCH cheaper also, so why are they still SO expensive?

That importing mess is a damn shame. Instead of keeping money and jobs circulating in trinidad they outsourcing. And its not to say the blasted discount gettin passed on to we...we still paying some outrageous prices for something thas gettin mass produced.
And they better be on the ball with getting their shipments cuz no one wants to hear yuh costume aint reach yet and we aint kno if we gettin it until tuesday or wheneva.

Very true. Tell me though, how many ppl will really take a stand on principle and make IP or any other band support the mas makers? No matter how you put them on blast they'll sell out same way as along as the costumes look great and the road experience is up to par.

I said it last year and I'll say it again..its ridiculous that there are not 1 or two huge factories in Trinidad dedicated to making mas...that Trini can't compete w/ places like china, turning out costumes in the same quanitity that look just as elaborate and cost the same or less. I'm sorry but the days for a few women sitting around a mas camp sewing are long gone...that talent needs to be harnessed in an efficient, up to date manner.

__________________
"A generation of people who refuse to be themselves.
The philosophy of 50 cent has them hook, line and sinker.
The young black men become like a sacrifice.
They love it; they living in a fool's paradise."
-Brother Valentino

For the same reason middlemen in other industries mark up services sometimes up to 100%. Everyone wants to make money. So like in everything else its up to the consumer to decide if the product is worth the price to them.

__________________
"A generation of people who refuse to be themselves.
The philosophy of 50 cent has them hook, line and sinker.
The young black men become like a sacrifice.
They love it; they living in a fool's paradise."
-Brother Valentino

You will be suprised how many of the bras, underwear,shorts and headpieces are contracted out to companies who specialise in that field in Trinidad. Have yoy ever heard of Brazil importing costumes from China? The pride is in creating the costumes locally,those Samba schools make the costumes by hand year after year and their numbers are MUCH larger than our Trinidad Carnival. So why must the tradiiton die here?

You are right though, there is no way with the labourers in the mas camp doing it by hand with a hot glue gun can compete with a huge factory in China with the latest equipment to bead down to the bra strap of a costume can compete.

And as long as that is what people want that is what they will get and pay for it as well.

I took a stand this year, it had nothing to do with imported costumes but customer service. In the past I have always played in a band based on costume and hype...but I guess old age getting to me. I find it hard to fork over $650 for a nice costume but shitty service, and for 2k7 that is what IP providing.

TRUE TRUE WORDS WE ALL KNOW TRINIDAD HAS TALENT PUMPING OUT THE SEAMS BUT WE NOT HARNESSING IT AT ALL.
NOT EVEN THE BIG BANDS ARE WILLING TO PUT THEIR PROFITS INTO A MAS CO-OP THAT CAN PRODUCE MATERIAL, AND CARNIVAL PRODUCTS .
I THINK THE BIG BANDS SHOULD MAKE THE FIRST STEP TTO DEVELOP THIS BECAUSE THEY ARE THE ONES PROFITING THE MOST.

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MASSASSINATION.BLOGSPOT.COM
MASREPUBLIC.BLOGSPOT.COM

If they do this then the exorbitant price tags can really be justified.

__________________
"If u put a small price on ur value.. rest assure that the world wont raise ur price! Love U 2day!" ~ Rev. Run

"If you keep believing in yourself and seek enthusiasm inside your soul, things will get simpler, more spontaneous." ~Paulo Coelho

"Knowledge is like the wind, once you obtain it, you can go anywhere." ~Yellow Hare(Native-American Chief)

Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit
the floor each morning the devil says:
"Oh Crap, She's up!"

I hear yuh and it makes sense. The first I end up having any serious issue I'd jump ship as well. I think ppl are more likely to take a stand based on their money and what they're getting for it rather than the principle of keeping money in the country and preserving the culture though. On issues like that ppl tend to like to mouth off but won't do a thing about it.

__________________
"A generation of people who refuse to be themselves.
The philosophy of 50 cent has them hook, line and sinker.
The young black men become like a sacrifice.
They love it; they living in a fool's paradise."
-Brother Valentino

Dem and the gov't. I don't even want to get all into it but it seems that Trini always sits back and lets someone else take our traditions, culture and innovations, perfect its mass appeal and productions and capitalize on it. It would be oh so simple to turn carnival country into a country where carnival truly feeds many

Well in a few more years it will be time for me to leave mas for the young tings so I'm going to enjoy what I have left and I hope someone comes along to put this back on the right track -or better yet, on a new track.

__________________
"A generation of people who refuse to be themselves.
The philosophy of 50 cent has them hook, line and sinker.
The young black men become like a sacrifice.
They love it; they living in a fool's paradise."
-Brother Valentino

Well well well, it seems that some people just don't care what happens to the local producers as long as they get their costume. If these same people was to be replaced in what ever profession they have by someone or something , you will never hear the end of it.
When these same people get their costume and it does not fit , they come to the local producers to fix it for them. Sad !
Whichever band engages in this practice, they save money by eliminating the local producers, so the cut back should go to the mas players. Does it ?

I am a local producer who does not suffer from this practice, but there are others who have to eat too. Why must they suffer cause these people have no regards for the locals.

Technically people get things made in China because they are CHEAPER!! This way they can pass the savings onto their clients. I have friends who own clothing stores in NYC and they get garments made for like $2.00 a piece. Also a bad thing about overseas production is that it depends on many things and their can be delays. This can be risky business