How did Prodigy get so big so fast?

[curveball4]

I think it's VERY regional. Here in East Tn there is a bunch of Prodigy throwers. There is, of course, a ton of Innova & a good amount of Trilogy. Legacy & Discraft basically have zero following around here & MVP/Axiom you'll see some every now & then but not very much.

 

[Reniger]

I never had a problem with the groove in the M5, either. It's more of a crease than an actual groove like the atrocity in the Innova Groove and Monarch.

As to the overall thread, I love seeing the different business models and how they work in this field. IMHO Prodigy started off by bringing in pros and then offering some really good looking plastics in good, professional-looking discs. They do need something to keep themselves in the top-tier, though, and I'm not sure what they'll do to keep the momentum going. Getting into the PIASs would help a lot.

My local PIAS in Grand Rapids, MI stocks Prodigy and can't keep 'em on the shelf most of the summer. This winter, they had some of the base plastic fairways and some D5s they couldn't move (no shock) but otherwise, they move quite well.

I love Prodigy, personally. Part of that is just me always rooting for the underdog, but a big part is just how nice their premium plastic blends feel. They have some big misses in my book (H-Series - I like the feel for forehand throws, but the flight isn't the best BH or FH)

Being a rather small company in Tenn, it's not so easy to get them in the north, and plenty of players who don't pay attention to pros, tours, or DG news have never even heard of Prodigy, or only know them in passing.

As someone else said, I'd like to see where they're at when they hit the 10 year mark...

 

[ilmcgee]

Similar to the Discraft Deuce.
M5 is the only Prodigy disc I bag, and the groove in the rim has never been an issue to me. It's a good understable mid.

I never had a problem with the groove in the M5, either. It's more of a crease than an actual groove like the atrocity in the Innova Groove and Monarch.

As to the overall thread, I love seeing the different business models and how they work in this field. IMHO Prodigy started off by bringing in pros and then offering some really good looking plastics in good, professional-looking discs. They do need something to keep themselves in the top-tier, though, and I'm not sure what they'll do to keep the momentum going. Getting into the PIASs would help a lot.

I brought up the M5 because my first time seeing more than a handful of Prodigy, I saw this disc. It doesn't conform to the usual disc standards. A disc like this can be a turn on or off to new potential customers. To me I like the look and feel of their plastic and I picked up a M5 and stopped looking. I'm glad that there is the market share for more than the big two and a couple others. More companies breeds competitiveness which leads to better products.

 

[MrGlass01]

its very regional. here they would be 5th or lower on the list at the local shop. innova is king trilogy second mvp/axiom is third then vibram/prodigy and legacy. Prodigy has some killer plastic that is for certain. I don't see it on the course too often. lately I've noticed more and more mvp/axiom around here and trilogy is all over the place as well.

 

[dorseymatt]

Here in Baltimore, I'd put Innova the clear and overwhelmingly most-thrown plastic, followed by a clear number 2 in Trilogy. Number 3 is probably Discraft. After that, a huge dropoff. MVP 4th. Another dropoff. Prodigy 5th (see it occasionally, not exactly rare, but not frequent). Another big dropoff. Vibram every now and again, but pretty rare. Then, anything else is extremely rare. I don't know that I've ever seen someone throw Legacy, for example.

Actually, hold on -- Gateway might actually be number 3 just based on how many people use their putters, myself included. Probably see more Gateway putters than all Discraft discs combined.

 

[Aim For The Chains]

To me Prodigy has been on a decline after their first year in existance. We like a lot of other retailers bought into them right away and caught the initial wave of sales coming from everybody wanting to get their hands on the new plastic but since that time we have since cut all ties with prodigy and dont sell their products anymore. We did one full order with them years ago and it took us over a year to sell half of those discs. In that time we had constant nagging on the side of Prodigy and some of their sponsored players to keep ordering more plastic because its so amazing and everybody loves it, even though we could show that that was not the case. It is most likely because it is a regional thing and here in the midwest we dont see too many prodigy throwers out there.

4 rill... Prodigy wut?

 

[kw83028]

When I became a dealer for Prodigy a 2.5 years ago, I bought a 75 disc initial order. It took me 18 months to sell 30 of those discs. I was on the verge of dropping them completely since they just gathered dust. In the last year, though, they have picked up steam and I'm selling 10-15 per month now. It's the putters that are selling really good, then the drivers, then fairways. The M mids still pretty much do not sell. I've shipped Prodigy to all 50 states and 3 countries other than the US in the last year

 

[frasnow]

Of course, there have always been the two titans of disc golf, Innova and Discraft who started it all and as the sport grew, so did the amount of disc golf manufacturers. The one I can't figure out is Prodigy. They've only been in the picture for maybe 4-5 years now (I remember seeing the first release of Prodigy in my local leagues relatively recently) and they've got- and have had- a full line up of top touring pros, a full line of molds, baskets, bags, and apparel, but they're youngins in the disc golf world. I'm not totally up on companies and the marketing side of dg, but how did they grow so big so quickly? I just realized how young the company is recently and was curious how it happened.

Easy, it was money and lots of it. They obviously bought off most of the top pros initially, built the brand, and then lowered many of the top pros' salaries. Now many of those pros are getting out.

Oh and they way overhyped their initial plastic. With all the top pros going to them, people assumed it must be spectacular.

 

[curveball4]

My local PIAS in Grand Rapids, MI stocks Prodigy and can't keep 'em on the shelf most of the summer. This winter, they had some of the base plastic fairways and some D5s they couldn't move (no shock) but otherwise, they move quite well.

I love Prodigy, personally. Part of that is just me always rooting for the underdog, but a big part is just how nice their premium plastic blends feel. They have some big misses in my book (H-Series - I like the feel for forehand throws, but the flight isn't the best BH or FH)

Being a rather small company in Tenn, it's not so easy to get them in the north, and plenty of players who don't pay attention to pros, tours, or DG news have never even heard of Prodigy, or only know them in passing.

As someone else said, I'd like to see where they're at when they hit the 10 year mark...

Georgia

 

[cwild]

I think it's VERY regional. Here in East Tn there is a bunch of Prodigy throwers. There is, of course, a ton of Innova & a good amount of Trilogy. Legacy & Discraft basically have zero following around here & MVP/Axiom you'll see some every now & then but not very much.

I've tried showing everyone the greatness of the Comet (and Pred/Buzzz) but no one listens.

More for me!

 

[blackcatsmith]

AZ has a lot of Prodigy. A lot.

 

[OB Four]

its very regional. here they would be 5th or lower on the list at the local shop. innova is king trilogy second mvp/axiom is third then vibram/prodigy and legacy. Prodigy has some killer plastic that is for certain. I don't see it on the course too often. lately I've noticed more and more mvp/axiom around here and trilogy is all over the place as well.

This.

I've rarely ever seen anyone throw Prodigy. Trilogy is the brand I see blowing up everywhere. In Texas it's probably Innova and Trilogy as the top thrown brands these days.

 

[Martin Dewgarita]

Back in my day, I remember when there was only like 5 companies to choose from and I could recognize all of the disc names available. Now I walk past the merch table and I'm that crotchety old man "pshht all these new fangled discs with their crazy names and technology" and I'm not very old and "my day" is only 5 years ago...

 

[SD86]

My local PIAS in Grand Rapids, MI stocks Prodigy and can't keep 'em on the shelf most of the summer. This winter, they had some of the base plastic fairways and some D5s they couldn't move (no shock) but otherwise, they move quite well.

I saw a relatively good bit of Prodigy in one PIAS store in the metro Atlanta area, but not in the others (there are six of them, IIRC), and I'd like to see that change for the better. I don't know Prodigy's business model, but I'd be happy to see more of them in the Academy Sports/Dicks Sporting Goods, as well.

 

[DatRedDude]

There are quite a few prodigy throwers in the Indianapolis area. With that being said from a club standpoint, not enough people throw it for us to stock their disc.

I did just buy one of their practice bags from a street team member. I can now do away with my pampers box filled with disc. Although diaper boxes are perfect for disc.

 

[Shamis]

Prodigy has some of the grippiest plastic around. I'm not a huge fan of their discs, but the plastic itself is amazing.

I'm more impressed with how quickly Dynamic Discs has taken over in my area. I see more people switching to full trilogy bags every month, and DD in particular. I think maybe they have a good program of reaching out to local pros (not necessarily touring pros) and that has led to some really strong grass roots marketing. (or it could just be in my area).

 

[Hampstead]

at first i had problems with their names as well. but i think it's far more intelligent than anything else. m is a midrange, where m1 is the most stable, m2 a bit less, and so on. m5 is really understable mid. same system for drivers: d1 most (over)stable, d2 a bit less,… etc. so what are the flightcharacteristics of a prodigy f1 and f7? yep, f1 is the most stable fairway they have and f7 the most understable.
while not perfect their names are way more informative than calling discs atoms, pigs and leopards.

Yep, their alpha numeric naming system is as clear as mud. You want a driver, pick up something from the D line. What's that, you don't like high speed drivers and the D's are all 13 speeds? Well, how about a slower driver from the H line. Oh, you like high speed but want something beefy? How about an X driver. It's all so simple really. (Don't get me started on how they boxed themselves into a corner by insisting that 1 is the most overstable, that is until they make something even more OS and have to make up a new category for it)

 

[Emaxxy]

I don't see much prodigy in my area of Illinois. Innova is the most popular. My local liquor store does also sell discs though and they have quite a bit of Prodigy as innova and discraft. Trilogy is getting popular too. I'm probably one of the few Discraft throwers here

 

[KDFrosty]

The only reason Prodigy is even around in our state, NM, is because they sponsored the State Coordinator who's also the state's top pro. He's done a good job of getting the Prodigy product in to players hands by making them take it in players packs, payouts, requiring their putters at putting leagues, and other events.
Had that pro been sponsored by Lightning everyone here would be running around throwing Hookshot #1s.

Cue said top pro in 3, 2, 1....

 

[Buiscutboy]

There's one store here that sells a few discs, and they have Innova, Prodigy, and Discraft, in that order of quantity.

Do they sell? Dunno. They still have at least one proto M3. The one that's actually an M2.