Translated:
A classic item, still featuring thin tissue paper in a special effect color around the top opening, and fuses glued to the side of the casing. Suitable for year-round use.
Since the first batch of our Star Kids fountains was almost six years ago, the current downturn in the Chinese market finally convinced the factory to produce them again this year.
Unfortunately, this item has now almost completely disappeared from the market, as rising labor costs in China are making such items increasingly expensive to manufacture, making them hardly profitable anymore. I had to search for a very long time before I found a factory even willing to produce them; several others refused, partly because I place great importance on proper labeling.
Previously, this was an item that was mostly labeled at home, meaning the workers would take boxes of fountains home, where the whole family would then affix the labels. This is now illegal and, due to strict controls, impossible, which is why this work can now only be done in the factory. This further contributes to the high costs, as factory capacity is limited and workers are better paid.
Many factories' solution is to have entire families pre-label the cartridge cases of such items at home, but without powder, and then fill them with the label already attached. The problem with this is that the labels often get dirty when the powder is added, and, moreover, it's no longer possible to attach a cover for the primer (red wax paper or colored tissue paper, as is the case here) under the label. This means the exposed primer is visible, which really doesn't look good.
So it was important to me to have the item properly labeled, with the exposed primer covered, and primers glued to the side of the cartridge case. The same factory as with the last batch was finally willing to do this again.
Unlike the last batch, this time we were able to convince the factory to manually compact the powder so that it burns more evenly, resulting in a relatively consistent burn time.
I'm very happy about this, as I was really dissatisfied with the old batch due to its wildly fluctuating burn time and uneven burning.
The new batch has turned out quite well; the colors are good, and the burn time is also appropriate for the small size, in my opinion. The only slight drawback is the somewhat weak crackling effect; it could use more micro-stars. If there are further batches in the future, this is an area for improvement.
It should also be mentioned that, of course, there has been quite high inflation over the last six years, particularly during the pandemic, and workers' wages in China have risen sharply again, which has unfortunately made such a labor-intensive product considerably more expensive. Nevertheless, I think the product will still be worth its price – especially considering that the new batch is definitely better than the old one.
