New Brands

[BillFleming]

RPM names their discs after New Zealand animals....might be all flying animals, I'm not sure. I haven't tried any of their discs, but almost got one. We were supposed to get one in a Player's Pack....but they got stuck off shore and another disc replaced it. I'm hoping a local disc store starts carrying them so I can check them out.

 

[WD09]

If I were playing with someone and asked them what disk they threw and they said "Piwakawaka", I'd either think they were mocking me or they didn't know how to socialize with others. And I wouldn't try to talk to them again.

I think if someone said "C-line 400G H3V2max" I would think they were an alien doing a poor job in their attempt to mimic human conversation and I would back away slowly.

 

[pjhayes7]

Went to Infinite Discs tonight to poke around. They certainly sell from a large number of manufacturers.

These are the ones I'd never heard of until tonight. No offense intended to these companies, not the DG geek I once was.

Above Ground Level
Aqua Flight
Arsenal Discs
Birdie Disc Golf Supply
Cheengz
Crosslap
Disctroyer
Divergent Discs
Elevation
Finish Line Discs
Fourth Circle Discs
Full Turn
Galaxy
Guru
Kaufinator
Launch
Lone Star
Momentum
Mite Ize
Sky Quest
Storm
Sune
Terminal Velocity
XCom

Lots of discs. Some other countries. I used to want to have a feel for most of the discs out there, no longer possible.

The sport has been grown. Wonder how many brands the sport can support.

Not that many, that is for sure.

 

[rhatton1]

Launch Disc Golf checking in Thanks Moose!

Some of you probably know me from here, DGR back in the day and R/discgolf . I've been around a bit....

We're a UK based manufacturer, with a different model to the rest. Disc Golf UK started with course installations in 2014 in 2019 we started the Disc Golf UK brand of discs to produce hire discs locally for the courses we are installing. Players liked the first prototypes so they launched into four different molds and a starter set which are now the most widely used discs in the UK by some margin. It all then ties back into new courses which we bought down from costing 10's of thousands of pounds to a couple of thousand over the last few years by producing all our own course materials and have been giving away full courses for free to grow the sport quicker.

Launch Disc Golf is our other brand looking outside of the UK, we've got a full line up of discs on the way with another 6 to release this year alongside the four already in production - Code X, Lander, Code and Cipher which have had very positive feedback so far. Alongside this we've got a number of other products, baskets, glow bags, bags, etc. and this range is also expanding. All proceeds from sales help us put more back into our core focus which is producing courses especially into schools and grass roots levels and to try and drag Disc Golf into the mainstream consciousness over here.

Former World Record holder Ken Jarvis throws the Baron (DGUK putter) and Lander and designs courses for us over in Ireland. I'm hoping to get him out on the European Tour circuit at some point again as well, he's pushing it in years now but till has the most beautiful form to watch.

Anyone have any questions? Hit me.

 

[Moose33]

If I'm being pragmatic here, I think there are 4 brands from this list that have serious potential, while others may gain a small niche or fade away in a few years;

Lone Star- three great plastic blends, injection molding experience from other industries and willingness to grow their mold count quickly. They have already announced 2 new ones this year and the quality is very good. More consistent branding and they could take off. Also have signed a highly visible if not yet highly ranked FPO player(and me but who cares).

Launch- super nice quality discs in their assortment so far, and should get attention for their full color stamps and glow plastic. They have a growing UK audience and the three molds I've thrown could stack up against the top brands.

Divergent- their starter packs and silicone putter in my experience are ideal for kids and any very low powered player and the names like the Kraken should appeal to youth. Quality is solid as well, made is South Asia so pricing is good.

Disctroyer- they are in Estonia where DG is growing and have a decent product marketed to people who are new to the sport, but they aren't a bunch of flippy discs. With the right placement they could supplement the Swedish giants in that region to the local players.

 

[Puckstopper]

All these new brands need a lesson on brand naming.. Terrible names besides the Texas company.

And yet they're literally ALL better than "Thought Space Athletics"... Possibly the stupidest and most pretentious name I've ever heard anywhere.

 

[DiscJunkie]

Realistically, how many discs do you need to sell to make a profit?
Material cost per disc is probably less than a dollar, 3d printing allows testing without a mold, and machining the mold is not prohibitively expensive (especially if you have capability to do it in house).

With the sport growing at its present explosive rate, it seems like a great business to start up or expand into…

 

[DeanMoriarty]

And yet they're literally ALL better than "Thought Space Athletics"... Possibly the stupidest and most pretentious name I've ever heard anywhere.

Are you insinuating I'm a TSA fan or something because I posted in a TSA thread asking about why they are so expensive?

Sorry I insulted one of your favorite brand's crappy names pal

 

[biscoe]

Realistically, how many discs do you need to sell to make a profit?
Material cost per disc is probably less than a dollar, 3d printing allows testing without a mold, and machining the mold is not prohibitively expensive (especially if you have capability to do it in house).

With the sport growing at its present explosive rate, it seems like a great business to start up or expand into…

I was talking to someone about this the other day and we reached the conclusion that it would be tough to lose a lot of money at this time with any sort of realistic, measured startup. Making a lot of money is a different thing though.

 

[jakebake91]

Realistically, how many discs do you need to sell to make a profit?
Material cost per disc is probably less than a dollar, 3d printing allows testing without a mold, and machining the mold is not prohibitively expensive (especially if you have capability to do it in house).

With the sport growing at its present explosive rate, it seems like a great business to start up or expand into…

Machining the mold "in house" is only happening if you have a regular toolroom in house. Getting a mold actually function is not something just anyone with a mill is pulling off. Nobody really understands what a genuinely complex assembly an injection mold is.

Not to mention a molding press capable of squeezing out a disc are rather expensive. And fairly complicated to get up.and running, even more so without previous industry knowledge.

There is so much more to injection molding than most people realize. They see videos like Trash Pandas and think it's something anyone can do.

 

[Moose33]

Machining the mold "in house" is only happening if you have a regular toolroom in house. Getting a mold actually function is not something just anyone with a mill is pulling off. Nobody really understands what a genuinely complex assembly an injection mold is.

Not to mention a molding press capable of squeezing out a disc are rather expensive. And fairly complicated to get up.and running, even more so without previous industry knowledge.

There is so much more to injection molding than most people realize. They see videos like Trash Pandas and think it's something anyone can do.

I got to see a machine making molds for generic iPhone cases and it was crazy intricate. Pretty cool stuff to see, but way more complex than some realize.

 

[rhatton1]

There is so much more to injection molding than most people realize. They see videos like Trash Pandas and think it's something anyone can do.

This^

The coowner of Launch/DGUK is an experienced machine setter as part of a family business going back years across loads of different product types.

To get where we are now took hundreds of hours of R and D work, basically trial and error on the machines to perfect blends and create consistency. We wanted to get the quality to a level above all but the top guys (Latitude and MVP are the best in the business from a pure injection molding perspective) This was done in spare down time on the machines because it's fun for him (crazy engineer type). There are infinite variables to play with on an injection molding machine. It took this long for someone very experienced to get it right.
This is also after we have taken a gamble on expensive molds that may or may not work, fortunately with in house tools and experienced operators it was less of a gamble as we could mill out some molds when changes needed to be made. For a good steel mold made out of house you could be looking $20k plus per mold.

To pay someone to get us where we are as a start up would have been exorbitantly expensive, as it was it was just expensive but we already had a market we had created for the products through the courses so risk was nullified.

Next steps with distribution/warehousing/advertising etc is a heck of a lot easier going alongside a business with those parts in place already. With good shipping rates already negotiated in and out with forwarders based on large volumes from the other businesses. Doing it as stand alone would again be difficult and expensive to get going.

As for 3d testing of molds. That's a no in the real world, it's of no help at all.

 

[IndyTyler]

Before buying a disc from a "new" brand on Infinite, check if it is approved or not. For example, they sell Dino Discs. Those are made mainly by ABC and Gateway, but are super lightweight (100 to 120 grams I believe) and are not PDGA approved. But they are intended to help get kids into the sport.

There may be others listed that are not actually PDGA approved discs. I don't think the ones with lights built-in are approved, or at least not for regular tournament play.

Dino Discs are molded from ABC Discs molds by Zing Mini in Indianapolis, IN

 

[jakebake91]

I got to see a machine making molds for generic iPhone cases and it was crazy intricate. Pretty cool stuff to see, but way more complex than some realize.

I used to build and maintain injection molds for a pretty decent sized molding facility. People being cavalier about the complexity or the skill levels of those involved have always been a "trigger" for me. Unless you've seen it, you just don't realize.

My current bosses favorite quote:

"Ya don't know what ya don't know"

 

[Hyzer Ale]

I know some things about many of these could be helpful;


Lone Star- my sponsor! Making high quality discs in Houston, they do other injection molding and got into DG a couple of years ago. Pretty strong growing lineup.

So Lone Star manufactures their own discs? I was under the impression that they had their discs made for them. I really need to check them out. How does a Mad Cat fly compared to a PD or thunderbird?

 

[chevis]

So Lone Star manufactures their own discs? I was under the impression that they had their discs made for them. I really need to check them out. How does a Mad Cat fly compared to a PD or thunderbird?

https://www.dgcoursereview.com/forums/showthread.php?t=139049&page=4

 

[BillFleming]

Dino Discs are molded from ABC Discs molds by Zing Mini in Indianapolis, IN

Some, but not all. The Anklyosaurus (I love that name and want one for myself) and some others are Gateway molds.

But the only ones currently in stock are the ones provided by ABC Discs.

 

[Countchunkula]

I used to build and maintain injection molds for a pretty decent sized molding facility. People being cavalier about the complexity or the skill levels of those involved have always been a "trigger" for me. Unless you've seen it, you just don't realize.

My current bosses favorite quote:

"Ya don't know what ya don't know"

Even just operating the molding machines is a skilled task. The company I work for used to have a plant in the Chicago area. All of the workers on the floor (with the exception of the mold room) were temps making minimum wage or close too it. Some of those temps were doing basic assembly, but some were operating complex machinery. The 4 operators in the mold room were permanent employees making good money. If they could have replaced those guys with temps, they would have.

Designing and machining the mold is a whole different story. We had a full tool room, with a CNC among other equipment, and still farmed out mold repairs. While we would have saved money upfront by making/repairing molds in house, it would have come back to bite us in a big way.

 

[Three Putt]

Dino Discs are molded from ABC Discs molds by Zing Mini in Indianapolis, IN

Do you know if anyone has any plans to do anything with ABC since Dan passed away?

 

[Moose33]

So Lone Star manufactures their own discs? I was under the impression that they had their discs made for them. I really need to check them out. How does a Mad Cat fly compared to a PD or thunderbird?

I think it compares favorably to a PD and feels more like on than a thunderbird.

I actually did a video on that exact topic a while ago. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wzNJKGRqWkA