As some have mentioned the Phoebe is not an outlet purse. I believe the same is true for the Edie. The Lexy however appears to be outlet targeted. I do not recall seeing the Lexy on coach.com but could have missed it. Another example would be the Mercer. That bag is still listed on coach.com but is also available on coachoutlet.com if you have access.
If you remember the Maggie product line, those bags are very similar and have three compartments much like the Phoebe, Edie, and Lexy. These are all identical designs from some original past with slight moderations.
So perhaps they come up with some new designs but again, why would the Colette bag make a return to the outlet when I knew someone who bought the bag from a Coach store in Puerto Rico back in 2011 or 2012. And if you take the Coach Swagger 27, I can find several examples of nearly the exact same genuine design from Coach released many years ago. Of course it wasn't called a Swagger back then.
I'm not sure you understand the differences between full retail Coach and Coach Factory outlet.
Th Maggie/Phoebe were part of the Madison line at the full retail Coach boutique. When Stuart Vevers took over at Coach, he discountinued this line along with others. They were sent to the outlets to sell off. The Phoebe along with some other designs that were and are still popular with customers like the Phoebe were then switch to productions strictly for the outlets. The materials used for the retail and the Factory produced ones are similar but have slight differences, especially in the hardware, logo placements, and quality of leather. The Phoebe has been a Factory produced handbag for over a year and is not a full retail handbag. There is another thread in the Coach forum that can tell you what type of handbag you have based on the model number found on the tag somewhere inside the handbag. My mother has both a full retail Phoebe and a factory produced Phoebe, they may look smiliar at quick glance but there are differences, especially in the leather.
The retail/boutique Coach now has the Edie to replace the Phoebe again similar, but different. These types of bags are very popular which I guess is why Coach keeps this type of design around even though each cycle does have differences in color/hardware.
At the Coach Factory outlet, they now have their own lines like the Bennett, Kelsey, and now the Lexy (to name a few) These are not sold at the full retail Coach.
The styles from the full retail Coach you see sometimes at the Coach Outlet and Coach outlet online sales are referred to as Coach Reserves or Coach Delete. At the Outlet stores, they are usually located in the back and many of us head there first! The online sale you mention going on now has them listed as such: Coach Reserves. Sometimes people return full price retail Coach products at the outlets and people are lucky enough to snag them at great prices BUT these handbags are not produced for or sold at outlets unless via returns OR these handbags are last season's or last cycle. Sometimes the outlets also get full retail items from the Coach line exclusives for overseas like this past summer when the golden hologram items showed up. If you read any of the other threads in this Coach forum, you will read the members excitement when they see/buy some full retail Coach products at the Outlet store or the outlet online sale (usually these are the first to sell out). The full retail handbags usually all come with their own dustbags/covers while the Coach Factory ones do not.
Depending on what you prefer and what you are willing to spend, both full retail Coach and Coach factory outlet handbags are nice handbags. You will find a good variety but probably the more creative ones are the full retail Coach handbags.
As for the swagger, I don't remember seeing a style from Coach like this years ago like you mentioned. If you can find a picture that would be great to see. The only one I can think of is the Blake which was a Coach Factory handbag line but that wasn't that long ago.
You mention the Colette. I also don't remember seeing this at the full retail Coach recently. I haven't been to the Coach Outlet recently either so can't really say if it's back. If it is, it's probably because people have requested for it to come back.
I hope this helps clarify the differences, I may have missed some more details so anybody, please chip in!
