Well, I'm back and I ended up getting the MVP Anode in the Neutron plastic. I was glad to find that the plastic was stiffer in the neutron than the proton. They only had 175 and I can see myself going lighter in the further outside of 30-35 feet.
Here's my review after putting with my practice basket for about 2 hours.
Look - I know this doesn't really matter to most but I'm an artist/designer by trade and I really like the design of the opaque neutron disks. They just look really sick.
Feel - I really liked how it felt in my hand. I was worried they would not be stiff enough for my liking but they were almost as firm as a S Wizard I was looking at. I was pleasantly surprised. Small bead was nice and I really liked the size. Seems smallish in my hands.
Function - I made my first throw from five feet so that was a good start. I can't start out a new putter with a miss. Bad juju. I then marked off 10ft, 15ft, 20ft, 25ft, 30ft. I threw 5 putts from each mark and didn't miss until my 2nd throw from 25. I end up missing 2 from 25 and 3 from 30. But that was actually slightly better than I usually do.
The biggest thing I found was that with other stuff I've thrown if i get nose down from more than 10-15 feet it's trouble because the disc will drop so quick. I'm bad about releasing it nose down but this disc seemed to compensate for it more than the average disc and traveled a good 5 feet farther than I was used to with a slight nose down angle.
I also found that if I torque my wrist a bit when i first start my upward swing on the putt it gives it a tiny bit more spin, keeps the nose up easier and wow, I was getting flat laser like shots from 35-40 feet. Usually when I'm that far out I have to get a ton of height on my push putts. I little longer swing back between my legs and I could get even more distance. The disc still travels in an up and down motion to the basket. When i miss it's still off the top of the basket or hitting the front.
IMHO, it flies with the glide of a magic or lighter disc but fights the winds and feels like the control of a heavier disk. My magic was so fluttery when I putted with some aggression. I had to use the right touch on it. With this Anode I can snap it hard on the putt and it takes it and uses that power and speed in getting to the chains without freaking out. By freaking out I mean excessive flutter, extreme hyzer, going 15 feet up or general things that happen when you put a little extra humph on a disc.
Now I'm aware I could just be in my beginning love phase of getting a new disk and time will tell if it's the real deal for me but I'm really happy and pretty confident with the disc so far.
I thought I'd add a few comments on disc I felt up in the store but didn't convince me to buy them instead of the Anode.
KC Pro and Yeti Aviar - Granted the store only had a few of each (go figure) and they felt a lot softer then I thought they should for pitch putting. My thumb would easily press down the faceplate with very little pressure and they just felt cheap in my hand. They might be the greatest disc in the world but I just wasn't impressed handling them in the store.
Pure - A few weeks ago I was really close to getting one of these. I'm glad I didn't. I loved the plastic and the feel but holy crap these things were domey. Probably something I could get used to but it was just something that I'm not used to in a putter. They also seemed really big. Like buzzes.
I wanted to try a new McPro but they didn't have any.
