Are the Wizard's days as the official DGR putter over?

[JeremySW]

Hopefully, Never was a fan.

 

[Spike1]

If you release a disc (Voodoo) that is quite similar to an already existing disc (Wizard) in your line up, they will be competitors. Few carry both. Just look at the Voodoo thread here. The disc has definitely pulled some attention away from Wizard, but I see Voodoo as an evolved Wizard, so they are in the same family, almost like Aviar driver and Aviar P&A. Maybe, if Voodoo was named "Wizard2" they would be seen as one, and together still be THE putter. But that is just dribbling with names I guess.

 

[rehder]

When I first started lurking on this site, the Wizard was the golden child of putters. As time went on the glow of the Wizard covered the whole GDS putter line-up. It seemed that all the cool kids had a GDS putter in the bag.

Now, Vibram had the Ridge. MVP has the Ion. A lot of the cool kids are sportin' a Wizardless bag theses days. I found myself telling a friend who orders discs for a parks department that he needed to get on the Vibram bandwagon and check out some Ions while he was at it.

Realistically has the Wizard been significantly overshadowed by these new discs in your opinion? Or do you think it is still in the ballpark of these new discs and will end up back in a lot of players bags after the "new car smell" wears off these new putters?

I doubt it. While it may not be the best in a single specific category, it is VERY versatile. The wizard was the first disc I used because of dgr, got 5 of em, a couple of months after I started playing. While Ive had a couple of stints with other putters, (either as a total replacement or just as addition). I can say that the wizard is the only one that remains. And my putting and upshots have never been better.

 

[Marmoset]

Yeah, they need a lid!

I was thinking the same thing the other day!

 

[Frank Delicious]

If you release a disc (Voodoo) that is quite similar to an already existing disc (Wizard) in your line up, they will be competitors. Few carry both. Just look at the Voodoo thread here. The disc has definitely pulled some attention away from Wizard, but I see Voodoo as an evolved Wizard, so they are in the same family, almost like Aviar driver and Aviar P&A. Maybe, if Voodoo was named "Wizard2" they would be seen as one, and together still be THE putter. But that is just dribbling with names I guess.

The wizard and voodoo are really not that close.

 

[DigIt]

If the question is to the larger Disc Community then I have close to no idea. I would be fine with the Wizard being to other Putters as Disc Golf is to other sports. It's not the most popular by far, but the ones who are involved with it love it and defend it to the death.

As for the question posed to this specific community I think the Wizard will keep it's status over time more than the new flavors. I think the phrase it's the Indian not the Arrow applies more to putters than any other type of disc (driver, mid, fairway). If you're a shit putter a new shiny disc wont help your putting but for a short while until you're back to being shit with that new putter. Great putters from what I have seen spend a small amount of time looking for a putter and a LARGE amount of time actually putting. This makes me think most people that have switched from the Wizard to something else will eventually come back because they will realize that they were trying to mask their flaws in putting with a new disc. Couple this with the community here having a perceived tendency to be mold minimalist and you have them looking for one disc that does it all instead of two new ones that compliment each other well.

 

[WRK]

I just switched back to wizards as my circle putter. There is just something that pitch/push putters find to be great about the wizard. I know the big knock is consistency, but I just bought 10 the other day, identical. Guess I wont need to stock up anytime soon....

Note: I still use SS warlocks for outside the circle spin putting.

 

[abcd]

I think I'll always have at least one for stable drives. I've gone back and forth with P&A's whenever I get in a putting funk but I always end up switching back to wiz's. I do carry a beat up P&A for turnover shots, I've never been able to hit those lines consistently with wizards no matter how beat they are.

 

[chiggins]

I keep a VP in the bag for the putting-Firebird slot. But all the rest are Wizards.

The funny thing about how they took over a huge chunk of my bag and disc shelves is that I thought I'd be needing less discs since they cover all the shots I want to throw at that range. What happened though was that almost every other mold went away, but the quantity of Wizards I have now takes up like twice the space that all the other putter molds did combined. When I read Timko's comment about the Wizard being the Roc of putters, I thought about how all my Rocs and Wizards in various stages of seasoning/beating were taking up like 70% of my disc shelf space and chuckled. They're like goddam Tribbles.

But I also think that's one of the reasons that getting them out of the bag would be so difficult, by the time you've got a few in 4-5 stages of wear, you've got a pretty heavy investment in them (in money, time, "bonding", etc). Their roots grow fast, and then they go deep. They might have given up the spotlight this year, but I think they're a long-term staple.

 

[HeartlessCynic]

I'm drinking the Vibram kool-aid for a while just because I really like the material. That said, I'm not getting rid of my hoard of Wizards.

 

[Mr. Wick]

Whats a Wizard?

 

[HeartlessCynic]

Whats a Wizard?

 

[discspeed]

I really don't think there should be an official disc of DGR. That's too exclusive. I think DGR has outgrown that model. DGR has kind of become a testing ground for new manufacturers. Latitude posts here as often or more than anywhere else on the web or in paper, and they obviously take feedback from DGR seriously. The MVP guys are always lurking and answering questions and looking for feedback. Steve Dodge is here and many DGR loyals are testers for Vibram. If we were really loyal to only a handful of discs this site would not be nearly as cool. If anything I think there is an attitude of support and respect towards new manufacturers, especially those who are trying to "break the mold" and be innovative.

 

[zj10021]

I really don't think there should be an official disc of DGR. That's too exclusive. I think DGR has outgrown that model. DGR has kind of become a testing ground for new manufacturers. Latitude posts here as often or more than anywhere else on the web or in paper, and they obviously take feedback from DGR seriously. The MVP guys are always lurking and answering questions and looking for feedback. Steve Dodge is here and many DGR loyals are testers for Vibram. If we were really loyal to only a handful of discs this site would not be nearly as cool. If anything I think there is an attitude of support and respect towards new manufacturers, especially those who are trying to "break the mold" and be innovative.

you could also say our voice had a slight impact on those C-PD everyone loves. i think 4-5 of us asked and he finally ran it.

 

[Frank Delicious]

I really don't think there should be an official disc of DGR. That's too exclusive. I think DGR has outgrown that model. DGR has kind of become a testing ground for new manufacturers. Latitude posts here as often or more than anywhere else on the web or in paper, and they obviously take feedback from DGR seriously. The MVP guys are always lurking and answering questions and looking for feedback. Steve Dodge is here and many DGR loyals are testers for Vibram. If we were really loyal to only a handful of discs this site would not be nearly as cool. If anything I think there is an attitude of support and respect towards new manufacturers, especially those who are trying to "break the mold" and be innovative.

That is the most eloquent way of saying "we are disc whores that will buy and throw anything new" that I have ever heard.

 

[zj10021]

the funny thing I didn't start hording discs(mainly roc's) until I came here. This forum can bring out the disc whore in anyone

 

[Frank Delicious]

Also the wizard was never the official DGR disc, it was more like back in the day everyone would come in here complaining about not being able to throw putters very far or which putter was the best or how to fix OAT problems (this was before the comet being pimped) and the default advice was "get a wizard, you will love it. If you don't, you can trade them on here super easily*".

*I followed this advice when I first got on here and bought a couple of the 5 for $25 deals on wizards. I got some super firm ones that I hated and traded them in no time on here. Now I wish I hadn't because I like firmer putters now.

 

[jubuttib]

you could also say our voice had a slight impact on those C-PD everyone loves. i think 4-5 of us asked and he finally ran it.

From what I've heard the C-Line was always just a question of time, it'd happened either way. I do think we hurried the schedule a bit though.

Incidentally, since the C-PD was a test run, does it qualify for use in PDGA events? Does the plastic affect it or is it just a mold issue? (I've heard differing opinions when I've asked this in real life.)

 

[Timko]

I'm pretty sure that it's just a mold thing.

 

[DiscGolfTeeSigns.com]

I like firmer putters now.

your proto magic is g-g-g-gold ... thanks