EMSCO Discs (some new manufacturer in PA made some discs)

[Frank Delicious]

So I see there are three new discs from some company called the EMSCO. The PDGA news on it is super useful

A new disc manufacturer located in Pennsylvania called the EMSCO Group has introduced three new discs just approved for PDGA play: ESP Driver, EMS Mid-Range and ESP Putter.

From what I can tell from googling, it looks like EMSCO makes sleds and other snow toys mostly so I don't think these are gonna be ground breaking or anything. Anyone throw them or know anything about them?

 

[JR]

WHAM-O was a toy manufacturer and they made these things called Frisbees and one of the guys started manufacturing baskets for a game called disc golf. I hear it's turned to a sport for some of the players these days Don't judge a dog just based on the heritage alone. It's good for the sport to gain interest from businesses outside the sport like Vibram. I'll go back to my sand box now

 

[swel3041]

Looks like they found somethng to make in the sled off-season and likely sell them in the same stores.

 

[money 21]

if it gets more people exposed to the sport cool.

 

[juju1]

Sweet stamps!

 

[bcr123psu]

Weird. That company is 20 minutes from where I grew up (outside of Erie). But that's not what's weird. What's weird is that there isn't any quality disc golf anywhere near by. There's a super shitty nine holer that is probably 5-10 minutes away (Duck Run), and then you have to drive to Lakeshore Park in OH to get the the next course (which isn't bad) or drive an hour south to get to the courses around Slippery Rock, Grove City, Pymatuning, Moraine, or Deer Lakes.

I'll have to ask around to see if I know anybody that knows anything. Next time I visit my family, I might swing out to Girard and see if they have anything at the plant.

 

[Jesse B 707]

If it comes from PA it's bound to be garbage *trollface

 

[Dbuntu]

WHAM-O was a toy manufacturer and they made these things called Frisbees and one of the guys started manufacturing baskets for a game called disc golf. I hear it's turned to a sport for some of the players these days Don't judge a dog just based on the heritage alone. It's good for the sport to gain interest from businesses outside the sport like Vibram. I'll go back to my sand box now

Sure, but how many Wham-O discs are in your bag?

 

[JR]

That's missing the point a bit. I have thrown an 86 softie back in the day regularly as my approach disc for downhill shots because it stops well. And putted with it too.

 

[swel3041]

I doubt they will be anything special. I looked around their web site a little more and that company injection molds everything from disc sleds to snow shovels. They have like 15 different product catalogs for just about untying you can think of made with plastic. Pure speculation on my part but i would say it's one more thing they could easily make and distribute in the same stores they already deal with. I would look for them to turn up in the toy section of your local big box stores, but who knows? If they were really trying to break into the industry I think they would have some kind of marketing going and us disc nerds would have heard of them by now. The stamps alone lead me to believe these will be pushed to people who know nothing about disc golf and need the disc to keep reminding them what it does.

 

[bcr123psu]

I doubt they will be anything special. I looked around their web site a little more and that company injection molds everything from disc sleds to snow shovels. They have like 15 different product catalogs for just about untying you can think of made with plastic. Pure speculation on my part but i would say it's one more thing they could easily make and distribute in the same stores they already deal with. I would look for them to turn up in the toy section of your local big box stores, but who knows? If they were really trying to break into the industry I think they would have some kind of marketing going and us disc nerds would have heard of them by now. The stamps alone lead me to believe these will be pushed to people who know nothing about disc golf and need the disc to keep reminding them what it does.

My thoughts exactly. I expect these to be along the same lines as the Halex discs or the set that is included with an InStep basket.

 

[Spinthrift]

I wonder what Discraft thinks of an upstart calling their plastic "ESP"?

 

[Dbuntu]

That's missing the point a bit. I have thrown an 86 softie back in the day regularly as my approach disc for downhill shots because it stops well. And putted with it too.

That's almost the exact point. Wham-O may have started the game, but made a choice to produce Frisbees as toys opposed to sports equipment. As a result they have been almost completely replaced in the more serious disc sport communities. Swel really hit the nail on the head.

 

[bcr123psu]

I wonder what Discraft thinks of an upstart calling their plastic "ESP"?

ESP is the company name, not the plastic type:

Emsco
Sports
Products

 

[swel3041]

@bcr
the discs that came with my instep are the first thing I thought of when I saw them. lol

@spin
The EMSCO Sports Products (ESP) branding is already in use on all their other sport gear (snowboards ect..). Pretty smart from a marketing standpoint though. They should have found a way to put the word Nova on there somewhere too. lol! I can see kids loving these because they will look "just like dad's" and probably really cheap to buy.

@the whammo discussion
I think it's fair to say that disc golf may not be as far as it is now had whammo not made the toy frisbee a common item that almost everyone has, but they were doing that when it was all a new thing. These emsco discs look like cheaper copies of cheap discs that already exist. Again, all speculation on my part and I would love to see them prove me wrong, but I won't hold my breath on that.

emsco catalog list http://www.emscogroup.com/catalogs/

 

[bcr123psu]

My father knows the son-in-law of the EMSCO owner and my pops has reached out to his contact to reach out to the owner to get me some discs to test out.

 

[bcr123psu]

I talked to the folks at EMSCO and their business model is B2B so they primarily deal with stores like Dick's, Sports Authority, etc. Regardless, I believe I'm going to have a chance to get my hands on a set to check out. As has been suspected, these appear to be entry-level sets. Some more info & pics below.

Promotional Flyer for Retailers

 

[Mike C]

Gotta give them credit for putting "maximum control" on the putter.

 

[rdmasters]

Looking at the pdf, the cross-sections look like some of the Lightning profiles. The driver looks #1 driver-ish and the putter Upshot-like.

I would not call that ground-breaking, but those are solid beginner discs to be based off.

Not that I have thrown or seen any in the plastic ...

 

[JR]

That's missing the point a bit. I have thrown an 86 softie back in the day regularly as my approach disc for downhill shots because it stops well. And putted with it too.

That's almost the exact point. Wham-O may have started the game, but made a choice to produce Frisbees as toys opposed to sports equipment. As a result they have been almost completely replaced in the more serious disc sport communities. Swel really hit the nail on the head.

The Softie is a very golfable disc even today.