The Thomas Kinkade Slot Machine

Les Jones points to the latest coverage of the ongoing Kinkade debacle. I'm fascinated by the whole thing, because for awhile I had a front-row seat.

One of the first things I did when I started my old job was to help my boss draft a proposal to Kinkade's licensing group. I spent nearly a week knee-deep in Kinkade when he was at the height of his glory. And I swear I never saw so many greedy people who thought they could make a fast buck. I talked to a few of the gallery owners when researching our proposal, and they all seemed to be of the "more money than sense" variety of folks. Honestly, people are not going to buy paintings from a gallery in a mall on a regular basis. Sure, there was a pretty big market for TK's work. But a Thomas Kinkade La-Z-Boy? Really?

Surprisingly, they've all lost their bankroll and are blaming Kinkade. One fellow lost several million dollars. Who puts all their many millions of dollars into cookie-cutter galleries for mediocre art? Pardon if I don't feel the least bit sorry.

We did get the license, but in the end never manufactured the product. That's probably a good thing, when you consider what's happened to everyone else.

On the bright side, if you are still hankering for some expensive Kinkade artwork, I think they're still selling from the DNA collection. Wouldn't you just love to have some of the "artist's hair and blood" mixed in with your painting?