[Discmania] Official Ask Discmania Thread

[seedlings]

The Astronaut has a 23mm rim which is a huge jump up from the Essence. It's rated as 12 6 -4 1. Having said that the high turn does make it a little forgiving for less powerful throwers but it flies in a huge S curve as opposed to the Essence's very straight flight. I love the Essence for that. The biggest problem with the new plastics is the inability to make discs that weigh much less than 170g. Also the Active line is transparent which makes it difficult to find your discs.

I agree, please bring back S-Line!

Once you get higher than the Essence's 8 speed, every disc fades because of the wider rim. In order to get a straight line flight from a higher speed disc, it has to be an understable disc on hyzer flip. All the under stability is used to flip the disc up (and probably over slightly) to reduce fade. The Astronaut does this, the Mentor does this. There's still more fade than the Essence because of rim width. IMO Essence is a special disc. I have a 165g that is flippier than a 174g. Both fight back at the end, but the 174 just goes straight where the 165 goes up, over, and glides in turn first.

 

[DiscT]

Once you get higher than the Essence's 8 speed, every disc fades because of the wider rim. In order to get a straight line flight from a higher speed disc, it has to be an understable disc on hyzer flip. All the under stability is used to flip the disc up (and probably over slightly) to reduce fade. The Astronaut does this, the Mentor does this. There's still more fade than the Essence because of rim width. IMO Essence is a special disc. I have a 165g that is flippier than a 174g. Both fight back at the end, but the 174 just goes straight where the 165 goes up, over, and glides in turn first.

When you say the Essence is a "special disc," do you mean more utility or more rare as in a manufacturer's lineup of under stable fairways? Or something else entirely? I was curious about that comment. I just got my first Essence in a MB so this might help me experiment with it and see what role it plays in my bag. Thanks!

 

[seedlings]

When you say the Essence is a "special disc," do you mean more utility or more rare as in a manufacturer's lineup of under stable fairways? Or something else entirely? I was curious about that comment. I just got my first Essence in a MB so this might help me experiment with it and see what role it plays in my bag. Thanks!

I mean there isn't another disc that flies like the Essence. It's not a Leopard3, not an FD, not a Saint or Underworld. Unique.

 

[Mamba Maniac]

Wish I could get my hands on a 165g Essence! I haven't seen one below 170g in ages.

 

[seedlings]

Wish I could get my hands on a 165g Essence! I haven't seen one below 170g in ages.

DiscBaron still has some blue 166g. That's where I got mine. I had a 10% coupon though. Shipping is included with the higher price.
https://www.discbaron.com/Discmania-Neo-Essence-p/db1065182.htm

 

[klodkrawler05]

Wish I could get my hands on a 165g Essence! I haven't seen one below 170g in ages.

FWIW a local shop has a few listed in the 166-168g range (this was the absolute lightest I saw at 166.7g)
https://www.discbaron.com/Discmania-Neo-Essence-p/db1065184.htm

The discmania website has some of the Nate Perkins essence left in the 165-169 range also, but those fly a tick more stable than your typical Neo essence.

 

[Flick Maniac]

The Mentor is basically an 11 speed Essence.

YMMV but what I have thrown and heard people say is not that at all. More like a 11 speed Firebird, at least in Active Premium they are notoriously overstable and not matching the flight numbers. This may or may not apply more to the first run of premium Mentors though.

 

[Agarner14]

YMMV but what I have thrown and heard people say is not that at all. More like a 11 speed Firebird, at least in Active Premium they are notoriously overstable and not matching the flight numbers. This may or may not apply more to the first run of premium Mentors though.

I had never thrown either the Astronaut or the Mentor until the Black Mystery Box came out. The astronaut might be working its way into my bag, I do think my arm speed is a little lacking to really utilize it fully. The Mentor is flying very overstable for me, maybe it is just my disc, but I'm not really digging it at all. The active premium plastic is also not super to my liking. Seems quite stiff.

I think the 10 speed slot is a sweet spot for those arms where the 7/8 speed fairway drivers are a little too slow and flippy. I have an ESP scorch that is filling this slot right now, but I'd love to have something in the Neo plastic.

 

[Jolt]

Eagle said in his "Iron Samurai 3 video" that the pink is flat and the blue is domey. . but he did not say anything about what the flat vs dome did for the flight. . do the fly the same?

 

[seedlings]

Eagle said in his "Iron Samurai 3 video" that the pink is flat and the blue is domey. . but he did not say anything about what the flat vs dome did for the flight. . do the fly the same?

Dome will be more stable with a larger cross section. Possibly also more glide.

 

[DiscJunkie]

YMMV but what I have thrown and heard people say is not that at all. More like a 11 speed Firebird, at least in Active Premium they are notoriously overstable and not matching the flight numbers. This may or may not apply more to the first run of premium Mentors though.

The Mentor had an early run in AP plastic, mine was yellow, that was board flat and is so overstable that it's just un-usable for me. Basically a round brick.

I got a pink AP Mentor for next-to-nothing a month or so back to see if it matched the Flight Numbers. It does, maybe a tick more stable than advertised, but much closer than the earlier one.

Hopefully the older one was just a freak run.

 

[Flick Maniac]

Seems to compute. Pretty sure the one I threw a way back was yellow too, and very flat.

 

[robdeforge]

Just picked up a couple of the pink iron samurais still plenty available if anybody on here forgot and is interested!

 

[DiscT]

Any theories on why there are still several IS3s still available? First glow plastic, infamous DM signature disc, Eagle. I thought they'd push.

Also, anyone have any thoughts/theories why DM has such limited color variety when it comes to their plastic? Everything has been pink and blue for quite some time. Special edition discs will yield different colors, but why?

 

[Skervoy]

Well most people maybe already bought the reg MD3 and dont need a glow version (also this glow is untested by the masses so might be that people dont like to be first)?

 

[kw83028]

Any theories on why there are still several IS3s still available? First glow plastic, infamous DM signature disc, Eagle. I thought they'd push.

Our store did not purchase any to sell. I just typed up and deleted a giant list of reasons, full of analytics, but in the end, the short answer for our store is: average shelf life for DM signature discs (minus Cloudbreaker) is measured in months, and dealer cost for these was 65% higher than any other company's signature discs. In our retailer group of 14 stores, only two bought any IS3's for their store. Ultra-Premium prices have yet to catch on to the general public. They remain ultra-niche and generally a tough sell.

 

[DiscT]

Our store did not purchase any to sell. I just typed up and deleted a giant list of reasons, full of analytics, but in the end, the short answer for our store is: average shelf life for DM signature discs (minus Cloudbreaker) is measured in months, and dealer cost for these was 65% higher than any other company's signature discs. In our retailer group of 14 stores, only two bought any IS3's for their store. Ultra-Premium prices have yet to catch on to the general public. They remain ultra-niche and generally a tough sell.

This is very insightful. Thanks for responding.

 

[ArtemisClydFr0g]

Any theories on why there are still several IS3s still available? First glow plastic, infamous DM signature disc, Eagle. I thought they'd push.

I saw between 4 and 5 thousand blues in stock on Discmania.net shortly after release. A lot of retailers I've never heard of were popping up this week too. I'm sure they made more than any run of Crowned Eagle or Iron Samurai, so that along with the price surely affected things. Scalpers are less likely to buy them for $30 each when they are risking not being able to move them. I'd say it's a win for Discmania and the fans.

Another theory - after the stock C-line came out they likely lost a percentage of original MD3 fans. It could be 2% or it could be 10%, but the bottom line is the plastic is different and some people just like what they like. Maybe they are comfortable with their stack of Innova molded discs, or maybe they moved on to an Infinite Discs mold. So that could've affected the number of people buying this release.

I personally bought a pair of the new C-lines and a pair of the IS3s just to try out, but I don't think either will kick the S-line out of my bag. If that holds true, I will probably hold off on getting any more MD3s until I can try a stock S-line when/if they come out.

 

[Agarner14]

Any theories on why there are still several IS3s still available? First glow plastic, infamous DM signature disc, Eagle. I thought they'd push.

Also, anyone have any thoughts/theories why DM has such limited color variety when it comes to their plastic? Everything has been pink and blue for quite some time. Special edition discs will yield different colors, but why?

I think there are several factors at play here:
- Disc: The new MD3 isn't the old MD3. The color glow plastic is new and unproven.
- Price: $30 dollars for a disc is pretty steep. That's almost the combined price of 2 champion/z-line type discs.

Combine uncertainty about the disc plus the price point and you've already lost some "on the fence" buyers right there. I'm surprised to see that no one is mentioning DM supply problems here. Everything is getting delayed and I imagine that some DM throwers are either beginning to or thinking about switching to other more readily available molds/plastics/brands. It is just inevitable that some of the hype and some of the demand drops off.

 

[ray1970]

I can only chime in with why I didn't buy one.

I bagged an original Iron Samurai. Even when I had it in my bag it was pretty much irreplaceable so I often found myself throwing something else if the shot was risky.

The new runs don't appeal to me because the price is a little steep and even if I loved it and threw it a lot who knows if I could find a replacement later down the road if something happened to it.

Also, I loved the original that I had in the C-line, glow, metal flake plastic. Maybe the new plastic is just as good or better but I didn't want to pay $30 to find out.

I'm all for buying a disc to support a player but it needs to be something I'll actually bag and throw and it would be nice to know I could easily replace it down the road if I wanted to.

The MD3 was (is?) a good disc but there are plenty of similar options out there that are half the price and very easy to replace.