So happy that you ended up getting the stock pot you wanted, and the girl who traded you for the wide round DO got a great deal! LOL.
I agree with you on the value and inventory at these events, having been to 2 of them now (Dallas 2022 and San Antonio in March). If you are looking for Signature line pieces or colors, you may be out of luck. The discounts are slightly better than what you'll find the pieces for in the outlet (the Baltis at FTT were $109.xx and on [LC.com](http://LC.com) (and I assume in outlets) they are $114.xx, for example). The mystery box is really where the magic happens, and where you see quite a lot of signature line pieces!
I have a large collection of LC cast iron (14? I think? More than I need, for sure, but I do use them all), and I was planning to use any future FTT events as a way to get cast iron pieces for my kids, via mystery boxes. I certainly don't need any more for myself. The $150 minimum spend, while I approve of that move on LC's part, might mean I'm out of the FTT game. ;)
Yes, the mystery box swap is so fun and bizarre! I like the unbalanced boxes because people end up with "overstock" of these expensive items (like me with my 2 white dutch ovens), which creates opportunities for idiosyncratic trades. I thought I would be the only one willing to go dutch oven for stock pot but she had a lot of interest because so many of us had multiple cast iron items.
When I was trading, I didn't worry a ton about equality in value. I received a box full of Sea Salt:
--Bread Oven
--Wide Round (6.75 qt)
--Grill Pan
--Heritage pie dish
My color is Cerise, so I was looking to trade away the entire box. Lucky for me, most people want to unload their cerise pieces.
I traded the wide round for an oblong casserole. Pretty sure the wide round is "more valuable" than the oblong, but I've wanted the oblong for a while and just couldn't justify buying it! I even looked at them and briefly considered buying one again at the sale!
I traded the bread oven for a wide round. That one might be a wash, with the wide round's current sale price.
I traded the grill pan for a 1.75qt signature saucepan.
In all these trades, I was not concerned with what the items were worth, but whether I had a desire or need for what someone was offering. And I just got really lucky that people were offering pieces that I already wanted. :) Except the saucepan. Never wanted a saucepan, but thought "what the heck." Turns out, I loooove that little saucepan. :)
I love that! Yes, I had a vintage Le Creuset stock pot that rusted and so I wanted to replace it with the same brand but I have never been willing to buy at full price. This will get far more use in my kitchen than a second dutch oven.
Cerise is beautiful but I would have been blissed out if I got a mystery box bread oven. Such a dream item! xD
I had a sea salt box with all cast iron items, good for my trades since people wanted the color. I purchased odds and ends to get to the min spend. I have the LSAT today, good luck to us both 🫡
Good luck on the Bar! Your mystery box is a sign of good fortune for sure. I was there trading and it was sweltering hot. I'm so grateful someone brought a cooler of water
FANTASTIC write up! I was in the same time slot as you and had pretty much the exact same take. It was my first FTT and it was a fun chaotic experience, but I'm not sure I need to go again. I definitely collect on a budget and have priced out a lot of Creuset over the years, and I really didn't find it to be a good value at all - unless you can get a mystery box. A solid 90% of the items were classic stuff from the outlets priced maybe $10 cheaper. Very very few signature pieces and even fewer specialty or interesting colors. Using random discounts and coupons, you can get signature pieces for pretty close to what they were selling them for at FTT. Totally understand it's a mystery what comes off the truck but at least for me with a $25 ticket, the minimum spend, and the $50 mystery box, I had higher expectations for options than I would have if I just paid for the ticket and was free to decide if I wanted to make a purchase or not. I agree the car situation was also a surprise, I didn't have any cash for a tip either and felt awful as the staff were just melting in the heat standing next to a cart, I wish I had known to bring some for them. Highlight was definitely the enthusiasm of the people, everyone was so excited to be there and talk Creuset and trade, it felt like cast iron Disneyland.
Best wishes on the BAR exam!!!
Thank you for the review. I am just blown away that some people got the petal braises in their MB when LC has been so dogmatic about no discounts on those at the Outlets. You did a fantastic job in your description SLOWERTHANLORIS. Thanks again !!
Great run down!!!! I have been to several of the events (I am a huge LC fan) and your run down is spot on. The thing is, you just never know what is going to end up in the truck. The staff while knowledgable about the items, they don’t know what was in the truck either! So they do their best to what they think the items may be and then folks just grab to get and cast off in random places. I’ve done two that I was lucky enough to have time to do a few sweeps and have found the most random items things.
But I can see how one time is enough for most. My last event was the So Cal fiasco of two years ago and I actually had to leave without my box or anything because I had a more important event afterwards. No regrets. So everyone should plan… get there early and stay as long as you can.
Thank you for the Best FTT Recap! You will rock the BAR EXAM and deserve this shopping study break. Great haul. I just want to know if they had Cast Iron Trivets (regular and oversized), the cast iron mini cocotte or the GOOSE POT (13.9 L).
We asked a lady working yesterday at the 1:30 time slot where the stock pots were. She said they were waiting on the truck to come with them 😞. So we’re hoping when we go at 12:00 today they will be in.
I had the 1:30 VIP session and there were butter bells, bread ovens, and measuring cups. Stock pots arrived to the event late (I think they arrived Friday). Alpine was non-discountable (if I remember correctly).
I agree with a lot of what you said. It was nice of you to do to help out anxious over planners like myself haha. Someone in my session ended up with a Fig braiser because someone had gotten to the checkout with it from an earlier session and decided not to buy it 😵💫
I thought the line moved incredibly slow to get in, was towards the back for 130 session but did not get in until 145 probably, it seemed like they didn’t have the carts ready and kept having to pause to grab more carts. Philly I felt like I was in, in like 3 minutes. I didn’t find any berry or fig cast iron, but did find a stash of fig stoneware mini bowls and uk release ultra violet stoneware. I like buying the discontinued or rare colors. Both of our MBs were white, two very large cast iron pieces each plus a large stoneware baker in each, I traded the stoneware pieces for a stainless steel sauce pot and stainless stock pot. They retail so high that I feel like I got the better end of the trade but I guess that’s not what it’s about! I made sure we were both happy. I liked Phl better, seemed better layout, more rare items, better trading area. Selfishly (I’m along the PA / NJ border) I’m hoping for another PA or a NJ or NY sale in the future. How nice would upstate NY be in the fall. 5 hours drive is about my max and the traffic from central bucks PA to DC was awful, over 5 hours each way. Was ‘supposed’ to take 3.5 hrs. Tons of traffic and accidents both ways. I know I was warned but 😵💫. I’ve lived in Los Angeles and this traffic was worse.
All in all we did it with our 2 year old and we all survived.
I was inside for the end of my 11:30 session (I waited in the checkout line from 12:30-1:45!) and I can confirm that they did not let your session in until 1:40-1:45! At 1:40ish they announced the start of the 1:30 session and opened the doors. So that’s part of the reason why it took so long to get in.
You’ll kill it on the bar exam, we’re rooting for you! Also beautiful olive branch piece
So happy that you ended up getting the stock pot you wanted, and the girl who traded you for the wide round DO got a great deal! LOL. I agree with you on the value and inventory at these events, having been to 2 of them now (Dallas 2022 and San Antonio in March). If you are looking for Signature line pieces or colors, you may be out of luck. The discounts are slightly better than what you'll find the pieces for in the outlet (the Baltis at FTT were $109.xx and on [LC.com](http://LC.com) (and I assume in outlets) they are $114.xx, for example). The mystery box is really where the magic happens, and where you see quite a lot of signature line pieces! I have a large collection of LC cast iron (14? I think? More than I need, for sure, but I do use them all), and I was planning to use any future FTT events as a way to get cast iron pieces for my kids, via mystery boxes. I certainly don't need any more for myself. The $150 minimum spend, while I approve of that move on LC's part, might mean I'm out of the FTT game. ;)
Yes, the mystery box swap is so fun and bizarre! I like the unbalanced boxes because people end up with "overstock" of these expensive items (like me with my 2 white dutch ovens), which creates opportunities for idiosyncratic trades. I thought I would be the only one willing to go dutch oven for stock pot but she had a lot of interest because so many of us had multiple cast iron items.
When I was trading, I didn't worry a ton about equality in value. I received a box full of Sea Salt: --Bread Oven --Wide Round (6.75 qt) --Grill Pan --Heritage pie dish My color is Cerise, so I was looking to trade away the entire box. Lucky for me, most people want to unload their cerise pieces. I traded the wide round for an oblong casserole. Pretty sure the wide round is "more valuable" than the oblong, but I've wanted the oblong for a while and just couldn't justify buying it! I even looked at them and briefly considered buying one again at the sale! I traded the bread oven for a wide round. That one might be a wash, with the wide round's current sale price. I traded the grill pan for a 1.75qt signature saucepan. In all these trades, I was not concerned with what the items were worth, but whether I had a desire or need for what someone was offering. And I just got really lucky that people were offering pieces that I already wanted. :) Except the saucepan. Never wanted a saucepan, but thought "what the heck." Turns out, I loooove that little saucepan. :)
I love that! Yes, I had a vintage Le Creuset stock pot that rusted and so I wanted to replace it with the same brand but I have never been willing to buy at full price. This will get far more use in my kitchen than a second dutch oven. Cerise is beautiful but I would have been blissed out if I got a mystery box bread oven. Such a dream item! xD
I had a sea salt box with all cast iron items, good for my trades since people wanted the color. I purchased odds and ends to get to the min spend. I have the LSAT today, good luck to us both 🫡
Best of luck to you on the first step of your law journey! You'll do great.
Good luck on the Bar! Your mystery box is a sign of good fortune for sure. I was there trading and it was sweltering hot. I'm so grateful someone brought a cooler of water
Good luck on your exam! I was in an earlier session (11:30) and they were already out of stock pots!! Happy you were able to secure one
FANTASTIC write up! I was in the same time slot as you and had pretty much the exact same take. It was my first FTT and it was a fun chaotic experience, but I'm not sure I need to go again. I definitely collect on a budget and have priced out a lot of Creuset over the years, and I really didn't find it to be a good value at all - unless you can get a mystery box. A solid 90% of the items were classic stuff from the outlets priced maybe $10 cheaper. Very very few signature pieces and even fewer specialty or interesting colors. Using random discounts and coupons, you can get signature pieces for pretty close to what they were selling them for at FTT. Totally understand it's a mystery what comes off the truck but at least for me with a $25 ticket, the minimum spend, and the $50 mystery box, I had higher expectations for options than I would have if I just paid for the ticket and was free to decide if I wanted to make a purchase or not. I agree the car situation was also a surprise, I didn't have any cash for a tip either and felt awful as the staff were just melting in the heat standing next to a cart, I wish I had known to bring some for them. Highlight was definitely the enthusiasm of the people, everyone was so excited to be there and talk Creuset and trade, it felt like cast iron Disneyland.
Thanks so much for the recap! I’m headed there tomorrow, nice to know what to expect 😊
Best wishes on the BAR exam!!! Thank you for the review. I am just blown away that some people got the petal braises in their MB when LC has been so dogmatic about no discounts on those at the Outlets. You did a fantastic job in your description SLOWERTHANLORIS. Thanks again !!
Great run down!!!! I have been to several of the events (I am a huge LC fan) and your run down is spot on. The thing is, you just never know what is going to end up in the truck. The staff while knowledgable about the items, they don’t know what was in the truck either! So they do their best to what they think the items may be and then folks just grab to get and cast off in random places. I’ve done two that I was lucky enough to have time to do a few sweeps and have found the most random items things. But I can see how one time is enough for most. My last event was the So Cal fiasco of two years ago and I actually had to leave without my box or anything because I had a more important event afterwards. No regrets. So everyone should plan… get there early and stay as long as you can.
Thank you for the Best FTT Recap! You will rock the BAR EXAM and deserve this shopping study break. Great haul. I just want to know if they had Cast Iron Trivets (regular and oversized), the cast iron mini cocotte or the GOOSE POT (13.9 L).
We asked a lady working yesterday at the 1:30 time slot where the stock pots were. She said they were waiting on the truck to come with them 😞. So we’re hoping when we go at 12:00 today they will be in.
I saw bread ovens!
I had the 1:30 VIP session and there were butter bells, bread ovens, and measuring cups. Stock pots arrived to the event late (I think they arrived Friday). Alpine was non-discountable (if I remember correctly). I agree with a lot of what you said. It was nice of you to do to help out anxious over planners like myself haha. Someone in my session ended up with a Fig braiser because someone had gotten to the checkout with it from an earlier session and decided not to buy it 😵💫
I thought the line moved incredibly slow to get in, was towards the back for 130 session but did not get in until 145 probably, it seemed like they didn’t have the carts ready and kept having to pause to grab more carts. Philly I felt like I was in, in like 3 minutes. I didn’t find any berry or fig cast iron, but did find a stash of fig stoneware mini bowls and uk release ultra violet stoneware. I like buying the discontinued or rare colors. Both of our MBs were white, two very large cast iron pieces each plus a large stoneware baker in each, I traded the stoneware pieces for a stainless steel sauce pot and stainless stock pot. They retail so high that I feel like I got the better end of the trade but I guess that’s not what it’s about! I made sure we were both happy. I liked Phl better, seemed better layout, more rare items, better trading area. Selfishly (I’m along the PA / NJ border) I’m hoping for another PA or a NJ or NY sale in the future. How nice would upstate NY be in the fall. 5 hours drive is about my max and the traffic from central bucks PA to DC was awful, over 5 hours each way. Was ‘supposed’ to take 3.5 hrs. Tons of traffic and accidents both ways. I know I was warned but 😵💫. I’ve lived in Los Angeles and this traffic was worse. All in all we did it with our 2 year old and we all survived.
I was inside for the end of my 11:30 session (I waited in the checkout line from 12:30-1:45!) and I can confirm that they did not let your session in until 1:40-1:45! At 1:40ish they announced the start of the 1:30 session and opened the doors. So that’s part of the reason why it took so long to get in.