We are getting many questions about the Beco Carrier availability. Here is the latest information (September 29 2012 update):
The original Beco Butterfly is retired and was replaced with version “Beco Butterfly 2” with some noteworthy design changes! We have 8 organic colors in stock – solid black and brown and the latest prints : Nova, Foxie, Robots, Nova, Niko, Sienna, Cars, and Owls. The spring/summer colors will sell out before long and no more will be made – there are only have a couple left in stock for each color and Becos move extra fast at sale prices, so we will run out before long! The most recent change is that Beco will only move forward with making the solid colors and an embroidered design on solid colors, called “jake” and “ashley”, but no other prints will be made as of Fall 2012. Because the baby carriers are over $100, they all ship free the same day or next day after you order them. When Gemini came out, the Butterfly carrier was not discontinued – the new Gemini is a quite different product and they have been selling side-by-side. Neither model is a replacement for the other kind. The first collection of pictures here are all Butterfly models – there are many more colors available on the butterfly than the gemini. Scroll down past these pictures to hear more about the Gemini carriers.
In fall of 2011 Beco unveiled the Gemini carrier – Organic – colors are black, brown, Robots, Cars, Owls, Duke, Ever, Garden in Natural, Black and Aqua, Orion and Scooter. The embroidered Jake and Ashley are coming to the Gemini model as well. Please note that some Beco Gemini carriers have the fabric print on the outside panel, much like the Butterfly does, while most newer Gemini carriers are “Gemini Insider” version, meaning that the print fabric is on the inside of the carrier body, on the fabric that is touching the baby, and so the print only shows when you have folded down the top of the carrier body or have folded in the leg opening area. The main carrier body looks like a solid color, with contrasting piping, even when you buy a print version.
Also, please note that our Lucas Geminis were sometimes produced paired with espresso brown straps but older ones are paired with khaki tan straps. Both combinations would be out of stock in all stores by this point.
The Geminis are listed in the same section of the website as the Butterfly, just scroll down to order the Gemini carriers. This is Beco’s new 4-position carrier, it does front, back, side, and forward-facing-outward. No infant insert, and price is $10 less than the Beco Butterfly. It is a quite different carrier, and the Butterfly is NOT discontinued. Call or email us if you want help figuring out which carrier would suit you best. We have blogged specifically about Butterfly vs Gemini at this link.
The automatic free shipping is FedEx ground. There is a new map on our policies page for delivery speed with Fedex ground service. You may find you live close enough to get overnight or 2nd day service at the Ground price.
Everybody is curious about how the Beco fabric prints look close up and in the sunlight, so we blog these whenever we can. Check the sidebar for the “butterfly photos” section. Our homemade close-up outdoor shots of Isabella and Olivia are here. Extra images of Abby Sara and Natalie are here. Our shots of the discontinued Scooters Becos are here. When we still had them on hand, we took photos of our custom-edition Aubrey, Ethan, and Emma – especially useful because you can clearly see the words in the popular Emma print. The currently available Paige color has extra photos here. The Butterfly 2.0 blog thread on colors and stocking is here.
Many people ask about the sold out colors – We have been with Beco since 2006, well before there was such a thing as “A Beco Butterfly” and we do still get phone calls asking for colors that came and went long ago. I can confirm that the following colors are discontinued and not beingmade any more: Duo organic owls in sand, sky blue, or rust orange. Abby, Aiden, Andrew, Anaya, Alison, Aubrey, Audrey, Avery, Argyle Deer, Carnival, Denim, Emma, Ethan, Grace, Ginger, Hannah, Isabella, Jacob, Joey, Lauren, Lenka, Lucas, Melody, Nova, Olivia, Panthers, Ponies, Pony Express, Lenka, River, Ryan, Sara, Sienna, Sierra, Trinity, Zoye. That lovely photo at the top of this page with the lady holding a coffee mug is wearing the Joshua print from an especially small production run from 2008. Also sold out long ago are the Tender Cargo Exclusive fabrics : custom-made Abby, Mia, Audrey, Olivia and Emma.
