# Discontinued Oberon journal designs! (image heavy)



## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

These aren't Kindle covers, but, since Oberon journals are sometimes used to make Kindle covers if a particular design isn't available as a cover, I figured this was on-topic for this forum. =)

In an effort to find images of Oberon products in something other than the default color, I stumbled across www.ventana-catalog.com. From what I can tell, it's a third-party vendor selling Oberon's large, extra-large, and icon journals, and there are several designs that aren't currently available on www.oberondesign.com! The main journal gallery is located here, but, since the product photos are small, I thought I may as well include them in this post for easy viewing.  If you'd like a closer look, you can click on the title above each section to see the page from which the images came.

*Leather Journals I*
















































































*Leather Journals II*


































































*Leather Journals III*
















































































*Leather Journals IV*































*Leather Journals V*









































































*Leather Journals VI*














































































As you can see, some of the photos aren't the best quality (and Ventana Window of Heaven Catalog seems to have a thing for the color saddle), but this at least gives you an idea of what some of Oberon's older designs looked like. If you visit the website itself, it's also interesting to see which designs have undergone name changes: for instance, what we now know as "Tree of Life" apparently used to be called "Grandmother Oak"; "Tree of Life" was a different design entirely, more along the lines of "World Tree."

What's _really_ interesting to me, given the recent announcement that Oberon will be selling products in sky blue, is the color list on this website: included in it is a shade called "Azure" (and occasionally referred to as "Turquoise") that looks very similar to today's sky blue. Does that mean Oberon's bringing back an old color? Exciting!  I've gotta say, I wish they would bring back some of their retired designs, too; although I prefer my dream Oberon cover idea (teehee!), I still like the dolphin journal, and "Mermaid & Shell" (the second-to-last image) is right up my alley, too... especially in azure/turquoise/sky blue.

So, what do _you_ think of these designs? Anything that strikes your fancy?


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

I like "Butterflies" from group three a LOT more than their current butterfly design.  I wish wish wish these weren't so darn heavy....or that I wrote or drew enough to justify a journal!!!!!


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

VictoriaP said:


> I like "Butterflies" from group three a LOT more than their current butterfly design. I wish wish wish these weren't so darn heavy....or that I wrote or drew enough to justify a journal!!!!!


I prefer the old butterfly, too! In addition to the design itself, it looks like it'd _feel_ really cool. 

And I hear ya on wishing you wrote or drew enough to justify a journal... so do I! I wrote lengthy journal entries every day for just a smidge under seven years straight, but that's because it was an online journal and I could edit any typos or whatnot if I needed to without messing it up (and, as you can tell from the original post in this thread, I do love the edit tool!). Oberon's journals are so pretty that I'd feel bad filling them with my chickenscratch and scribbled-out misspellings!

I _am_ tempted, though, to see if my folks still have my first-generation Kindle's original cover (they gave my Kindle to me in a cover from Bobarra and I've never even seen the original), if only to determine if I'd want to try making an Oberon journal into a Kindle cover. I've heard that the securing mechanism for the first-gen Kindles wasn't the greatest, but maybe I could use Velcro... hmm... great, now I'm thinking. That's never a good thing, at least as far as my bank account's concerned.


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

Being a good enabler here.... 

A friend of mine uses the journal cover without any additions for her Kindle.  She just slides it into the right-hand pocket.  When she wants to read, she pulls it out & just holds the folded journal behind the Kindle.  She's been doing that since the K2 arrived.

I'm **guessing** it would work for a K1, but you might ask around to see if someone who has both the journal cover & the K1 could try it, just in case it somehow didn't fit.


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

VictoriaP said:


> Being a good enabler here....
> 
> A friend of mine uses the journal cover without any additions for her Kindle. She just slides it into the right-hand pocket. When she wants to read, she pulls it out & just holds the folded journal behind the Kindle. She's been doing that since the K2 arrived.
> 
> I'm **guessing** it would work for a K1, but you might ask around to see if someone who has both the journal cover & the K1 could try it, just in case it somehow didn't fit.


Oo, I'd never even thought of that!  If anything, the asymmetrical shape of the first-gen Kindle might cause some issues fitting into the pocket, but it's certainly something to research that wouldn't have otherwise occurred to me -- thank you! 

On the subject of discontinued Oberon designs, I found a picture of an organizer (in what I'm assuming is the wine color) that I saw on eBay a month or two back. It looks like a second dolphin design, different from the one with the dolphins and the "Enso Wave" shown above.








The auction had already ended by the time I saw it, but, sadly, I couldn't have found a use for an organizer, anyway; I don't use 'em. Still, it's neat seeing yet another retired Oberon image! They told me when I emailed them that they'd sold products in the past depicting whales and dolphins, and it's cool to learn that some of them are still out there.


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## drenee (Nov 11, 2008)

Thank you for posting all of these.  Very interesting.  
deb


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

You're welcome, deb! I'm happy that other people find them interesting.


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## Neo (Mar 30, 2009)

Thank you so much for taking the time and posting these Jesspark, some of these are REALLY nice! 

LOVE the next to last ("hobbit dwelling door in tree") and the last (fern "frog under bush") in the Journal V series, as well as the third one ("chinese dragon"?) from the beginning of the Journal VI series... I think in a way it's maybe better they don't make them anymore, else I would have felt compelled to buy some  

They are really nice to look at though  

P.S. Obviously I have made the names of the covers up, would be curious to know how they are called for real though.


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## Rasputina (May 6, 2009)

Nice! Thanks for putting in the work to post these!


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## Sweety18 (Feb 14, 2009)

So many nice covers!  I'm glad they're not all available for the kindle, I would probably be making excuses to buy more and more covers


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

I would buy the Rose one in a heartbeat if it were available for the Kindle...and the Dophin one that you found on ebay. 

I really wish I had any use for a Journal. I've been trying to come up with a reason to buy one for months.


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## egh34 (Jan 11, 2009)

Wow, love the huge sunflower


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

Neo said:


> Thank you so much for taking the time and posting these Jesspark, some of these are REALLY nice!


You're welcome, Neo and everyone else!  I thought that if anyone would appreciate some uncommon Oberon goodness, it would be my fellow KindleBoarders!



Neo said:


> LOVE the next to last ("hobbit dwelling door in tree") and the last (fern "frog under bush") in the Journal V series, as well as the third one ("chinese dragon"?) from the beginning of the Journal VI series... I think in a way it's maybe better they don't make them anymore, else I would have felt compelled to buy some


While Oberon doesn't make some of these journals anymore, it looks like you _can_ still buy them from Ventana Window of Heaven Catalog if you click on the various "Leather Journals" links in my original post or go to the main journal gallery. I don't know anything about this website, including whether or not it's legit... _caveat emptor_ and all that... but the journals are listed for sale, regardless. The large journals each cost $69.00 and are, for the most part, available in a variety of colors. Looks like shipping for one large journal runs from $9.95 for Standard to $13.95 for Priority to $28.95 for Express.

(Does saying all this make me an enabler?)



Neo said:


> They are really nice to look at though
> 
> P.S. Obviously I have made the names of the covers up, would be curious to know how they are called for real though.


Neo, you actually did a great job guessing the titles of the various designs; if you click on the "Leather Journals" link above each group of journals, that'll bring you to the page where the journals themselves are listed, including titles. The ones you guessed were actually "Hobbit Tree," "Frog & Fern," and "Twin Chinese Dragon," so you were very close!



luvmy4brats said:


> I really wish I had any use for a Journal. I've been trying to come up with a reason to buy one for months.


Me, too, luv... me, too!


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## MAGreen (Jan 5, 2009)

Wow wow wow wow! I want all of them! I have actually been looking for the rose journal! So I am thinking of Purple rose, Green Sunflower,and Turquoise Whale or Mermaid and shell... I like them both, but hubby is already looking at me funny for getting 3, 4 will push him over the edge.


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

MAGreen said:


> Wow wow wow wow! I want all of them! I have actually been looking for the rose journal! So I am thinking of Purple rose, Green Sunflower,and Turquoise Whale or Mermaid and shell... I like them both, but hubby is already looking at me funny for getting 3, 4 will push him over the edge.


If you order journals from this site, please let us know how it goes! And you _have_ to post pictures.  That goes double for if you get Mermaid & Shell in turquoise/azure -- I'm really interested in that one. Of course, Whale would be wonderful, too. 

I bet Oberon could make a nice little chunk o' change if they brought back retired designs for a limited time, _especially_ if they offered them as Kindle covers. I don't know how difficult it would be, but advertising a different "limited edition" design (and/or color) every month or two might be worthwhile.


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## MAGreen (Jan 5, 2009)

You would think they must still have the plates used to print the design on the leather. They are too valuable to get rid of. I am actually contemplating getting 7 journals. 4 would be gifts, although, I am not sure they would ever make past my hands. 4 would be direct from Oberon. I was planning on a handbag in wild rose, but I'll take the 3 journals instead! I write a lot and I also love to draw. I have always loved leather goods, and these would be just wonderful. I have a small journal in purple fairy and I love it!


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## MAGreen (Jan 5, 2009)

Oh dear, I must step away from the computer. That's over $500 in journals...I might be able to trim it down to three or four, but even then...I know I have the money, but there are so many other things I could do with it. I think I will just kiss these lovely journals goodbye for now and go donate to the local USO! Ok, maybe I'll get just one...I will let you know and post pics.


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

MAGreen said:


> You would think they must still have the plates used to print the design on the leather. They are too valuable to get rid of.


See, that's what I was thinking. I'm guessing Oberon doesn't produce many of these designs anymore because it would be a pain for such a small company to maintain such a large catalog (and I was told that some of the animal designs, like the whales and dolphins, didn't sell very well), but that's why "limited editions" would come in handy. It would make more designs available to customers, but Oberon wouldn't have to deal with the hassle of juggling a zillion different journal choices -- just their current catalog plus one or two "back from retirement" designs, hopefully as both journals and Kindle covers.

The concept of limiting availability would probably persuade people to make a purchase when they might otherwise not, knowing that if they don't get it now, they might not have the chance later. For instance, I'm debating picking up one of the retired journals from Ventana, but there wouldn't even be a question if the designs I like were made available as Kindle covers for a short time. That's definitely good for business.

Shoot, Oberon could even do the same for the designs in their current catalog that aren't being offered as Kindle covers right now. Again, I understand not wanting to have an enormous selection to deal with on a permanent basis, but this could be a good compromise for customers who pine for that one special design as a Kindle cover. I'm pretty sure Oberon uses the same plates for the Kindle covers as they do for the large journals, so there wouldn't necessarily be extra equipment involved if they wanted to produce a limited number of, say, the Seaside design as a Kindle cover (in sky blue, please!). People who hesitate to substitute a large journal for a Kindle cover (like yours truly) would be able to buy their design of choice, Oberon would get more money in their pockets, and everyone would go home happy. =)

A girl can dream, I guess!


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

It was good to see these.  I've been trying to come up with reason to have a journal since I looked at them on Oberon's website this week.  I could write shopping lists on the pages.

Oberon should get the technology that LL Bean, for example, has for showing each piece in all available colors.  I bet it would bring in more business and $$$$$.  I'm sure they are doing well anyway, but it would make browsing there such a more satisfactory experience.


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

mlewis78 said:


> Oberon should get the technology that LL Bean, for example, has for showing each piece in all available colors. I bet it would bring in more business and $$$$$. I'm sure they are doing well anyway, but it would make browsing there such a more satisfactory experience.


I totally agree! That's why I like the thread for posting photos of Oberon items in non-default colors... but not everyone knows about KindleBoards or knows to look for alternate product photos here. It would be great to have the ability to see items in multiple colors on Oberon's website itself.

Although it would still only help KindleBoarders, I've been thinking about going through the various Oberon threads, pulling all the pictures, and creating a thread that's _just_ photos: no discussion whatsoever. The "Post Oberon Pictures Here!!! Help others choose which Oberon is prettiest!" thread is currently thirty-one pages long, but much of that is conversation. I like being able to discuss people's Oberon products, but I think a "photos only" thread would make for a better informational tool, you know? Combining the pictures from the main Oberon photo thread and "Please Post Pictures of Oberon Covers That Are Not the Default Color!!" would go a long way toward showcasing the various products in multiple colors and forms (Kindle cover, journal, card holder, etc.). Each product would get a different post within the thread -- so, for instance, I'd put all the photos of Hokusai Wave that I could find in one post, and then people could see both the different colors offered and the possible variations within the same color.

If a photos-only thread turned out well enough, maybe it could be made a sticky at the top of this forum to help people like us who are a little frustrated that Oberon only shows one color for each product on their website.


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## VictoriaP (Mar 1, 2009)

I'm all for a photos only thread; I think that was the original intention of the "Post Oberon Pictures Here!" thread, but the commentary far exceeds the useful posts there.

And I have to agree with the idea of limited production Kindle covers. Look at the demand Strangedog has created by having only a few designs available at a time, with a long wait in between.  

I've maintained for a while that I'd gladly pay a premium to be able to get two additional designs as Kindle covers, Daffodil and Acanthus, neither of which is on the list to add to the line up.  Since that's not happening, I won't be making any other Oberon purchases.  Their products are gorgeous and of good quality, but between the excessive weight compared to other covers and the substantial price tag, I'm unwilling to pay for designs that just aren't quite as appealing to me.

There's enough people here buying their stuff, I'm pretty sure they won't miss my orders!  LOL


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

VictoriaP said:


> I'm all for a photos only thread; I think that was the original intention of the "Post Oberon Pictures Here!" thread, but the commentary far exceeds the useful posts there.


Whew! I just finished saving all the photos from that thread and the non-default colors thread to my hard drive, and now I'm working on "New Kindle2 Oberon Cover arrived!!!"

So far (to the surprise of no one), Roof of Heaven is the clear winner of the popularity contest with forty-five photos from various KindleBoarders; Creekbed Maple and River Garden are tied for second place with nineteen pictures apiece. KindleBoards sure does love Roof of Heaven!

I asked Betsy if it would be okay to create/maintain such a thread, so, if she gives me the green light, I'll probably start on it tonight. My husband's at the fire station (twenty-four hour shifts, boo), and I have some free time, so, hey, why not. =)



VictoriaP said:


> And I have to agree with the idea of limited production Kindle covers. Look at the demand Strangedog has created by having only a few designs available at a time, with a long wait in between.
> 
> I've maintained for a while that I'd gladly pay a premium to be able to get two additional designs as Kindle covers, Daffodil and Acanthus, neither of which is on the list to add to the line up. Since that's not happening, I won't be making any other Oberon purchases. Their products are gorgeous and of good quality, but between the excessive weight compared to other covers and the substantial price tag, I'm unwilling to pay for designs that just aren't quite as appealing to me.
> 
> There's enough people here buying their stuff, I'm pretty sure they won't miss my orders! LOL


Retired designs from third-party vendors aside, I'd be hesitant to order one of Oberon's journals to make into a Kindle cover for the simple fact that Oberon seems to spring new designs/color options on us without much notice sometimes, and I would _hate_ to order, say, Seaside in journal form only to find out a week later that they've decided to offer it as a Kindle cover; the same goes for ordering in one color and then finding out that they're making it available in one that I like better. I love Oberon's products, but they can be inconsistent when it comes to what they'll sell to whom at which time, and that's enough to keep me from pulling the trigger on purchasing one of their current journal designs to use as a Kindle cover. The discontinued ones, on the other hand... 

(Of course, with my luck, I'd order a retired journal design and then Oberon would start producing it again as a Kindle cover the next day!)

My next Oberon purchase will be a Hokusai Wave business card/ID holder in navy to use as a wallet, anyway. I keep saying it, and I keep putting it off...


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## MAGreen (Jan 5, 2009)

Jess, dear, why don't you have one of the warning labels? You need an enabler banner.


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## Leslie (Apr 7, 2008)

jesspark said:


> Whew! I just finished saving all the photos from that thread and the non-default colors thread to my hard drive, and now I'm working on "New Kindle2 Oberon Cover arrived!!!"
> 
> So far (to the surprise of no one), Roof of Heaven is the clear winner of the popularity contest with forty-five photos from various KindleBoarders; Creekbed Maple and River Garden are tied for second place with nineteen pictures apiece. KindleBoards sure does love Roof of Heaven!
> 
> I asked Betsy if it would be okay to create/maintain such a thread, so, if she gives me the green light, I'll probably start on it tonight. My husband's at the fire station (twenty-four hour shifts, boo), and I have some free time, so, hey, why not. =)


Jess,

I'm not Betsy but I still think this is a fine idea. Like you, I enjoy seeing all the pictures in one place. I like the discussion, too, but I think it would be nice to have a thread of all the pictures compiled in one place. Can you get in there and copy them or can only mods do that?

I am also wondering about putting the picture thread in the photo gallery? Thoughts on that?

L


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## jesspark (Jan 12, 2009)

MAGreen said:


> Jess, dear, why don't you have one of the warning labels? You need an enabler banner.


Mwahaha!  I may have to add one after this...



Leslie said:


> Jess,
> 
> I'm not Betsy but I still think this is a fine idea. Like you, I enjoy seeing all the pictures in one place. I like the discussion, too, but I think it would be nice to have a thread of all the pictures compiled in one place. Can you get in there and copy them or can only mods do that?
> 
> ...


I started the thread here in Accessories -- I thought people interested in Oberon covers would be more likely to look here first -- but I'm thinking about either copying it to the Photo Gallery or at least providing a link from there to here. Great idea!

As far as copying the photos, all I did was save them to my hard drive and upload them to Photobucket; that way, with them all on one account, we shouldn't encounter broken links later on down the line. I've provided the name of each photographer for credit's sake, but I also encouraged people in the introductory post to contact me if they'd like me to remove their name and/or photo. I'm hoping that covers all the bases!

I've only gotten three designs done (Tree of Life, World Tree, and Forest -- and, of course, I'll go back and edit those posts to add more photos as I find them), but I'm actually about to hit the hay right now, so I won't get to work on the rest until probably Tuesday... however, if you'd like, you can see the beginnings of the Great Oberon Collection here.


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