Did DMC 868 Ever Exist?

Many lists of threads include DMC 868, a dark brown color, often described as discontinued. But did it ever exist?
No. It’s simply an urban myth. But why do some people seem to be sure that the thread did exist?

Are You Sure?

DMC directly has confirmed that the thread does not, and has never existed. In fact, you can contact them directly now and they’ll say the same thing; they’re very open about it. But that doesn’t stop people from talking about it. In fact, if you search for DMC 868 online, you come across loads of Facebook, Reddit, and blog posts talking about how they are sure it did exist and its use in patterns. But none of these patterns are ever at hand, and no one to this day has been able to find one. There simply appears to be a mandela effect attached to this thread.

The Upside Down Number

Let’s start really simple. DMC 898 is dark brown. DMC 868 is, reportedly, dark brown. Is it out of the realms of possibility that it’s the same thread, but upside down? DMC labels are hardly known as being particularly helpful, with random asterisks on DMC labels and font changes through the years, it’s not always easy to identify if a thread label is the right way up or not.

 
The fact that the colors are the same, and the numbers are perfectly the same just flipped, to me makes perfect sense.
This is probably where the start of the story comes from.

The Anchor 868 Thread

So if people think there is an 868 thread somewhere in the world, what thread could it be? Well, Anchor jumps into the picture, who has a thread numbered 868! It isn’t brown, it’s a dirty pink, however in a bad light, I could see the thread being seen as light brown.

 
It’s possible that this thread was often mistaken as the DMC thread over time, securing the idea that DMC 868 existed, whilst still not being able to find the actual thread.

The Mysterious Unknown Threads

A few weeks ago we spoke about the rarest DMC thread 724. This thread, and others like it, creates a feeling that if you keep searching, we’d be able to unearth this thread from the ether. Sadly, threads like 724 turning out to be real only went to boost the idea further.

The Discontinuations

The real issue with all of this though, that the DMC company are really cagey with information, and they never officially discontinue threads. Groups of threads like the US only threads, the linen threads and the discontinued variations threads, were not officially confirmed, so leading sites such as ours to list discontinued DMC threads. Therefore, when a thread can’t be found, many assume it’s simply discontinued.

 

A Copyright Trap

But that doesn’t mean sites listing discontinuations are being foolish. In fact, one of the copyright traps for my own DMC thread inventory list is the inclusion of fake lines and names. I could easily see someone adding a whole thread for the purpose of trapping copyright infringers.

So there you have it, the 6 possible reasons why people think DMC 868 exists. However, it definitely doesn’t!

Did you think DMC 868 existed? Or did you think it was simply an urban myth?

Happy stitching!
Lord Libidan