I received my Black "Eagle Edition" (You'll understand the "" later) Mystery Box today. I thought I'd post a quick comparison between it an my Black Friday Box along with some general thoughts. I think we all knew it was going to be a strange year given the general lack of DM inventory and diversity, I have my own feelings but I am curious to hear yours.
Red (Black Friday) Box:
- MD1, Neo Tactic, Vapor Method, Vapor Instinct, Base Shogun, Neo Enigma, X-out CD2, Premium Genius, Misprint Exo Hard Method
- Thoughts: Stoked for the MD1, Tactic, Vapor Method, Vapor Instint, and Enigma. Never thrown a CD2 or Genius Before. Overall I felt that I got my $100 value back plus some. Cool stamps were a bonus and this box actually filled a lot of what I am already bagging. I was definitely not stoked for the Genius and Shogun. I have not thrown any active line and don't see myself using any of these discs. The Genius might become a lender discs for newer players that I take out.
Black "Eagle Edition" Box:
- Vapor Essence, Exo Soft Origin, X-out DD3, Forge Instinct, Base Sensei, Premium Mentor, Premium Astronaut, Rainmaker x2
- Thoughts: Very excited for the rainmakers. These feel like great putters and I am excited to give them a shot. Essence is a staple in my bag so I am excited to have it in the Vapor plastic, although obviously not something I can replace if lost. The Forge instinct seems great as well. I am just getting used to throwing them (I am somewhat new) and will be curious to see how it compares to the Vapor and Neo plastics. The origin is interesting, the Origin was one of my first discs and I love it, but for me it is incredibly flippy and becoming less and less useful. Not sure if the exo soft will get a ton of use. I am excited to give the Astronaut a try, but disappointed with the Sensei and Mentor. Aside from the pin and the Rainmakers this box does NOT have an Eagle Edition theme. It would have been cool to see some Eagle stamps thrown in, that would have really increased value in my opinion.
Overall: I feel that I at least got my $200 investment back from the two boxes, so that is satisfying. That being said, neither box was a "Mystery" to me. I got the exact same box as a large number of people and was not "Surprised" by anything except the X-outs. DM needs to find a work around for this next year.
I am both excited and a little hesitant to get too used to the evolution line "Special Edition" discs because they are not replaceable if I happen to fall in love and then lose a disc (This is one of DM's major flaws with the Evolution line right now in my opinion). Same thing goes for the X-outs - Cool, but what is the point of working them into the bag? The MD1 and rainmakers seem Epic. I am very excited to DM ramp up production of both of these, great inclusions. The Active Line....... I get that DM is going to include these molds, I really do get it, but I really have to fight back my disappointment with these discs. I am just not going to throw any of them except perhaps for the Astronaut.
Suggestion: I'd really like DM to take a "Trading Card" approach to the mystery boxes. In this model there are tiers of discs - Base, Silver, Gold, Etc. It would be neat to see every box get say 4 base, 2-3 silver, and 1-2 gold level discs in a box rather than everyone getting pretty much an identical box. I think DM needs to be more transparent about the boxes next year because I am not 100% sure that I'd buy one right now unless they are more upfront.
What are your thoughts?