Have mystery boxes peaked?

[autocrosscrx]

The Discraft Mystery Misprint boxes are probably what pushed my love for the sport and for different discs over the top.

Now, I just buy what I want.

 

[ChrisWoj]

Haven't peaked yet for me... but I've also never bought one, and could see myself one day buying one. lol.

 

[jenb]

Should be a mystery box challenge format tournament. Pay to play, get a mystery box at checkin, and you have to use only those discs for the round. Winner gets Rhode Island.

 

[ejvogie]

Should be a mystery box challenge format tournament. Pay to play, get a mystery box at checkin, and you have to use only those discs for the round. Winner gets Rhode Island.

There's what, only 7 courses there and 1 is private? Hard. Pass.

 

[zenbot]

There's what, only 7 courses there and 1 is private? Hard. Pass.

But you're right by Maple Hill and you have 8 courses of your own. (I assume you take ownership over the private course as well.)

 

[ray1970]

King of Rhode Island.

Kind of has a nice ring to it.

Besides, it's not about the size but rather what you do with it. Or so I've been told.

 

[GripEnemy]

King of Rhode Island.

Kind of has a nice ring to it.

Besides, it's not about the size but rather what you do with it. Or so I've been told.

You ready for the most mediocre 30 seconds of your life?

 

[lee76007]

my favorite mystery box is walkin into pias and lookin thru the used discs

I walked into pias this morning and they had a Westside VIP Destiny for $11 dollars in the used bin and looked brand new. I snatched it up, nice mystery box today.


As for mystery boxes, it would be like the cooks on the boat, listing on the dinner menu mystery meat. Some of it good, some of it just plain bad.

 

[BillFleming]

Mystery Boxes : Meh!

I have a noodle arm with a 42ish MPH throw. I can't really throw anything over a 9 speed unless it is really lightweight (I have a 139 g Tern that works, but I rarely use it). So the ROI for a mystery box is low. I'm better off just buying the disc(s) I want and not ending up with Distance Drivers that I can't use (I have enough of them already from player's packs).

Mystery Boxes would be a good poll item: Why do you buy mystery boxes? To get discs to try? To get unique discs that you can resell for a bunch of money? ((I know of people who did that with the Mystery Box that had the original Tilt...they were getting enough money from selling the Tilt that it paid for the box with extra to pocket)).

 

[dmoore1998]

I remember no so long ago when Discmainia released their popular Mystery Boxes, they'd get snapped up so fast it was hard to get one.

This year, they are still available almost 2 weeks later. Customers are limited to 5 (pretty sure that used to be 2). They even got the Crush boys to do a promotional video, yet still they sit. And the Discmania box is one of the better ones.

Have people gotten wise to what mystery boxes really are, mainly unsellable inventory?

Or would people rather buy discs they actually want?

I don't think they've gotten "wise" to them, they weren't unsellable inventory at their peak. I think primarily the "peak" of them was a year or two ago when there was no inventory. No inventory was unsellable, because discs were flying off the shelves as fast as they could be produced. The only way you could GET discs sometimes was a mystery box (particularly Discmania, the plastic just wasn't available).

Do I think they have peaked? Yes, because there's no longer the insane absence of plastic in general. A lot of mystery boxes still sell though...Gyro being a prime example. One of the keys is the boxes generally contain at least 1 disc that is ONLY being released via the mystery box...and not as an early release...often as the ONLY time they are going to release it (at least for a few years in some cases). The other seems likely to be the fact that people who throw Gyro throw a LOT of gyro. Maybe it's a regional thing, but I know a lot of people who throw a Discmania disc...but I know almost nobody that just throws a lot of Discmania (or if they do, they highly prefer one "line" over another).

So have people gotten "wise"...i think people always knew what they were (absent the time period where you couldn't get your hands on some manufacturer plastic at all). So the question becomes, why are they slowing down...particularly for Discmania? Because they've just done a poor job of offering a "treat" in the boxes that drives demand. And/or because the unsellable inventory filling out the rest of the box is so unattractive to consumers that the "treat" isn't worth it to take on the rest of the discs.

 

[BillFleming]

I don't think they've gotten "wise" to them, they weren't unsellable inventory at their peak. I think primarily the "peak" of them was a year or two ago when there was no inventory. No inventory was unsellable, because discs were flying off the shelves as fast as they could be produced. The only way you could GET discs sometimes was a mystery box (particularly Discmania, the plastic just wasn't available).

Do I think they have peaked? Yes, because there's no longer the insane absence of plastic in general. A lot of mystery boxes still sell though...Gyro being a prime example. One of the keys is the boxes generally contain at least 1 disc that is ONLY being released via the mystery box...and not as an early release...often as the ONLY time they are going to release it (at least for a few years in some cases). The other seems likely to be the fact that people who throw Gyro throw a LOT of gyro. Maybe it's a regional thing, but I know a lot of people who throw a Discmania disc...but I know almost nobody that just throws a lot of Discmania (or if they do, they highly prefer one "line" over another).

So have people gotten "wise"...i think people always knew what they were (absent the time period where you couldn't get your hands on some manufacturer plastic at all). So the question becomes, why are they slowing down...particularly for Discmania? Because they've just done a poor job of offering a "treat" in the boxes that drives demand. And/or because the unsellable inventory filling out the rest of the box is so unattractive to consumers that the "treat" isn't worth it to take on the rest of the discs.

The bolded part is a big part about Mystery Discs....many buyers are looking for that one special/unique disc. The recent MVP/Gyro Heist Mystery Box included a special stamp disc which came bagged and with a certificate of authenticity. There were less than 400 made.

 

[ThrowaEnvy]

The bolded part is a big part about Mystery Discs....many buyers are looking for that one special/unique disc. The recent MVP/Gyro Heist Mystery Box included a special stamp disc which came bagged and with a certificate of authenticity. There were less than 400 made.

Yeah that was pretty crazy smart... demand was huge, it crashed their online sales platform again. Seemed kinda weird to have it come out right after the gyropalooza box... but they dumped/sold an extra 1000 discs this time a bunch instead of being stamped L2 they were stamped prototype haha, I wonder if they just did the proto stamp on whatever was lying around...

I don't know how happy I would have been about a premium 5 disc box like that but again the demand was very high and they sold out instantly. Perhaps it hasn't peaked yet. COA was a nice touch.

 

[Jolt]

I have never bought a single mystery box ever. . .but i will buy the Clash Discs one....new fun things in the box not just old moulds

 

[chevis]

i bought 1 mystery/misprints box about 7 years ago. learned my lesson; 5 discs that never made the bag.

 

[Dcinmd]

There is a big difference buying a mystery box of 10 discs for $49.99 versus $149.99

That is how much the Discraft ESP plastic misprint mystery box has gone up over the years. Good for them when the demand is high. The 49 was the sale price from 6 years ago and the 149 is the current non-sale price.

For $5 a disc I am fine getting things I don't want. But $15 per disc I want to get exactly what I am looking for.

 

[ru4por]

I have never bought a single mystery box ever. . .but i will buy the Clash Discs one....new fun things in the box not just old moulds

I dare say that neither Clash, nor any new company, is really making any "new" molds.

 

[BillFleming]

I've never bought a Mystery Box, but I have seen posts in different places about them. This is only my opinion/thoughts....Mystery Boxes at the beginning seemed to just be a way for a brand to "off load" some discs that weren't selling quite well and the price was reasonable. Folks would get a MB to see what came in it and try different discs. They mainly bought MBs from the brand they threw the most. Then came the Tilt (there might have been other's before that, but I believe that disc was the turning point). A limited run, at the time it was only available in the Discmania MB and it was a super unique disc unlike anything else. A lot of people bought the MBs to resell the Tilt and there were stories of the Tilt being sold for so much that the MB was free. Brands started seeing MBs sell out quickly when a unique disc was included....it didn't matter what else was included, people bought them for that one unigue disc. So prices went up and up. Then people complained they couldn't get a MB because some people were buying large quantities. So the brands started limiting the number you can buy....but that doesn't stop people from having friends buy them for them, or having separate accounts.

At the end of the day, the value is in that one unique disc....each person has to decide if that one disc is worth the value of the MB since the other discs might not be usable for you or have little value to you.

 

[ThrowaEnvy]

Exactly...

I kind of laughed this year at the people playing the gyro lottery and being "disappointed" with their 3 or 4 boxes. Even though the distribution of weights/molds was much better.

Not as many big auction sellers this year like the glow hex last year. MVP has been very good at making sure there are enough SE runs for everyone... and then they ran the heist box

I kinda feel like the collectors are the ones that are going to get hosed, kinda like baseball cards in the 90's I got a few sets that are worth less than I bought em for 30 yrs ago.

 

[itsRudy]

Or would people rather buy discs they actually want?

I'm already so picky with discs that I drive an hour to the only dedicated DG store just to see the colors in person (I go for fluorescence to play golf, not frisbee hunt between throws).

Can't imagine ordering a box of discs for 25% discount or whatever it is, just to bag 2 out of 10 discs at best. That's already 2x higher than the rate I want to bag unnamed discs I find on course, so I think it should be super-optimistic.

 

[ThrowaEnvy]

^ completely agree... personally it's

Possibile rarity + quantity2 trade =Fun factor
Disposable income



But I'm also extremely brand loyal so I'm not going to be disappointed with whatever mystery it is I'm also realistic