[Discraft] The Great Discraft Magnet

[Three Putt]

Oh, that disc has a story. 1996 I'm running an Ice Bowl out of what used to be an ice rink warming room that was abandoned in the basement of a community center. It had an office area and I had a bunch of discs for sale in there. At some point somebody looks at the grey Magnet and hands it back to me, I set it aside on the window sill. Two months later it's time for league to start so I go back down to the warming room to take registrations and walk past the window...freaking Magnet is sitting there. Warped. :\

I bought it because I ruined it. The warp did a weird thing to the flight, it was the most damn stable Magnet I've owned. The heating/cooling from sitting in the window made the plastic feel different from other Magnets I'd owned. It was really grippy. The flight plate sunk and was a bit concave. I really liked that one Magnet. I still have it. It's still warped. :\

 

[Three Putt]

I can think of a few options out in the 1990's that were a amazing putting putter other then the Aviar or Magent. Aero and counterpart from Lighting Rubber putter were not bad and probably the most used option, with the Aero being the more used option as it was more easily found.

Aero was OOP for a long time. It was retooled into the Phenix in '88 (according to the approved discs list) and didn't come back into production with a re-created mold until '96ish.

Old Aero:

Re created "Classic" Aero:

So when I started playing, the Aero was OOP and not an option.

Of course when I started playing the Magnet didn't exist, either. Ah, but there was always the 86 Softie...

 

[Casey 1988]

Oh, that disc has a story. 1996 I'm running an Ice Bowl out of what used to be an ice rink warming room that was abandoned in the basement of a community center. It had an office area and I had a bunch of discs for sale in there. At some point somebody looks at the grey Magnet and hands it back to me, I set it aside on the window sill. Two months later it's time for league to start so I go back down to the warming room to take registrations and walk past the window...freaking Magnet is sitting there. Warped. :\

I bought it because I ruined it. The warp did a weird thing to the flight, it was the most damn stable Magnet I've owned. The heating/cooling from sitting in the window made the plastic feel different from other Magnets I'd owned. It was really grippy. The flight plate sunk and was a bit concave. I really liked that one Magnet. I still have it. It's still warped. :\

I should have given you my one I hit the tree with last year in 2017. That disc was warped like it is in the beginning stages of twisting like a rubber band powered Balsa toy airplane getting ready to get powerd up. when I tryied putting with the disc it automatically came out like one messed up on release with wobble they did not want, and it would automatically on any putt more then 14 feet away just drop and hit the outer basket part. Even a tall floaty putt the disc would drop sooner then one wants in the arc and hit the outer basket part. Needless to say the disc went into the recycling bin, one from a company that recycles more then you would think.

 

[Casey 1988]

Aero was OOP for a long time. It was retooled into the Phenix in '88 (according to the approved discs list) and didn't come back into production with a re-created mold until '96ish.

Old Aero:

Re created "Classic" Aero:

So when I started playing, the Aero was OOP and not an option.

Of course when I started playing the Magnet didn't exist, either. Ah, but there was always the 86 Softie...

So then the Rubber Putter until 1995-1996 was the third main choice, the others were lid style that I can think of.

Always thought in 1992 or 1993 the new Aero came out.

 

[Casey 1988]

I should have given you my one I hit the tree with last year in 2017. That disc was warped like it is in the beginning stages of twisting like a rubber band powered Balsa toy airplane getting ready to get powerd up. when I tryied putting with the disc it automatically came out like one messed up on release with wobble they did not want, and it would automatically on any putt more then 14 feet away just drop and hit the outer basket part. Even a tall floaty putt the disc would drop sooner then one wants in the arc and hit the outer basket part. Needless to say the disc went into the recycling bin, one from a company that recycles more then you would think.

By the end of the use with the 2006 Magnet it was becoming almost like a Soft Magnet when New.

Now for a grippy disc I was practice putting into a metal pole in the back yard today and my Jawbreaker Magnets I have were getting so grippy and sticky I almost could not release the disc. Only disc I have used that was like that was my dads Supreme Juju on one of the hottest days in the summer, it was so sticky it was like trying to grip a Aerobie Dogobie in the summer on most days.

 

[Three Putt]

So then the Rubber Putter until 1995-1996 was the third main choice, the others were lid style that I can think of.

Always thought in 1992 or 1993 the new Aero came out.

Sorry, long off-topic post. The Rubber Putter just wasn't the disc you think it was.

The Rubber Putter came out later as well; '94-'95-ish. It was right at the beginning of the switch from airplane stamps to number stamps. Lightning had a succession of airplane putters they kept retooling before that. None of them caught on.

Basically you had the Aviar in the 80's/early 90's. If you didn't like the Aviar you could putt with a Super Puppy or an 86 Softie or something like that. The Magnet came out in '93. It was the first serious Aviar-type beveled putter that was a viable option for Aviar users. Those two were #1 and #2 amongst putters for the next decade. When the Rubber Putter came out it was like the 86 Softie; it was on the market and you could use it. It wasn't anywhere close to the Aviar or Magnet in sales, though. The only putter that made a dent in the Aviar/Magnet market was the Omega, which in reality was just an Aviar. The Rhyno hit a niche market and was the #4 putter. The Rubber Putter was on down the list somewhere.

Once the patent expired you had the Wizard out and soon the Challenger was out. It's not until then (around '03) that you actually have multiple viable putter options. The Rubber Putter (like all Lightning discs) had faded into the background by then.

So the Rubber Putter is a putter that was made in the 90's, but it is revisionist history to try to make it sound like it was a serious option for players. Not very many people used it. In the 90's, putters were Aviars and Magnets.

Anecdotally? Yes, everybody knew somebody who putted with something else. My doubles partner used Super Puppies. A guy in our league used black 150 class 86 Softies. Another guy in league putted with a Birdie that was so beat it wasn't even round anymore. There was a dude who subbed sometimes that putted with a Piranha. I used a glow Rubber Putter for glow rounds because I'm cheap and there was no upcharge for Lightning glow plastic. On any given night at league there were probably 10 guys taking putts with something other than an Aviar or Magnet.

There were 60 guys in league, though. 35 guys putting Aviars, 15 guys putting Magnets and then 10 guys using something random with maybe one of those randoms being a Rubber Putter.

That was the reality. I realize that you are related to a random Rubber Putter user so it makes it seem to you like it was a regularly used disc. It wasn't though.

 

[jjmiller]

Sorry, long off-topic post. The Rubber Putter just wasn't the disc you think it was.

The Rubber Putter came out later as well; '94-'95-ish. It was right at the beginning of the switch from airplane stamps to number stamps. Lightning had a succession of airplane putters they kept retooling before that. None of them caught on.

Basically you had the Aviar in the 80's/early 90's. If you didn't like the Aviar you could putt with a Super Puppy or an 86 Softie or something like that. The Magnet came out in '93. It was the first serious Aviar-type beveled putter that was a viable option for Aviar users. Those two were #1 and #2 amongst putters for the next decade. When the Rubber Putter came out it was like the 86 Softie; it was on the market and you could use it. It wasn't anywhere close to the Aviar or Magnet in sales, though. The only putter that made a dent in the Aviar/Magnet market was the Omega, which in reality was just an Aviar. The Rhyno hit a niche market and was the #4 putter. The Rubber Putter was on down the list somewhere.

Once the patent expired you had the Wizard out and soon the Challenger was out. It's not until then (around '03) that you actually have multiple viable putter options. The Rubber Putter (like all Lightning discs) had faded into the background by then.

So the Rubber Putter is a putter that was made in the 90's, but it is revisionist history to try to make it sound like it was a serious option for players. Not very many people used it. In the 90's, putters were Aviars and Magnets.

Anecdotally? Yes, everybody knew somebody who putted with something else. My doubles partner used Super Puppies. A guy in our league used black 150 class 86 Softies. Another guy in league putted with a Birdie that was so beat it wasn't even round anymore. There was a dude who subbed sometimes that putted with a Piranha. I used a glow Rubber Putter for glow rounds because I'm cheap and there was no upcharge for Lightning glow plastic. On any given night at league there were probably 10 guys taking putts with something other than an Aviar or Magnet.

There were 60 guys in league, though. 35 guys putting Aviars, 15 guys putting Magnets and then 10 guys using something random with maybe one of those randoms being a Rubber Putter.

That was the reality. I realize that you are related to a random Rubber Putter user so it makes it seem to you like it was a regularly used disc. It wasn't though.

As someone who didn't even know disc golf existed until about 5 years ago, I always appreciate your history lessons. Wish you had a series in a sticky thread that I could reference...

 

[Streets]

As someone who didn't even know disc golf existed until about 5 years ago, I always appreciate your history lessons. Wish you had a series in a sticky thread that I could reference...

He should start a podcast

 

[ru4por]

My putter for quite a few years.

 

[Three Putt]

I had one of those as well. Those were awesome because they didn't break. The plastic was super durable. A few guys I knew used those early in the 90's used those. I was never 100% clear why they retooled/messed with that disc. Both the Phantom + and the original P-38 were discs that a lot of people used for putt/approach shots, but they both went out of production too quickly.

 

[t.A.T.u]

Well, I putted with DGA Gumbutt at 80's. If my memory serves me right, that disc came out 1986. Very good disc!

 

[t.A.T.u]

^ DGA Gumbputt

 

[Three Putt]

I was holding a blunt Gumbputt in a store last night. Those were always weird. You could putt with it, though. Not very many people did, but you could.

 

[t.A.T.u]

I was holding a blunt Gumbputt in a store last night. Those were always weird. You could putt with it, though. Not very many people did, but you could.

Those were perfect. I just couldn't stand Aviar's feel in my hand. I stopped to use those Gumbputts at '95. I ran out of them.

 

[Three Putt]

They still make them. The plastic is floppy now, I don't remember them being as soft and floppy back in the day. Like I said, I had one in my hand last night. I would have bought it, but it was like $14 for a Blunt Gumbputt. Who is going to pay $14 for that?

 

[Casey 1988]

He should start a podcast

I would listen or if he did a Video Cast, on YouTube to show the old discs he has too.

 

[Casey 1988]

They still make them. The plastic is floppy now, I don't remember them being as soft and floppy back in the day. Like I said, I had one in my hand last night. I would have bought it, but it was like $14 for a Blunt Gumbputt. Who is going to pay $14 for that?

Yes they were not as floppy until the 2000's when they came out again with the discs. A friend who uses them got new ones in the 2000's. The one they made that is not that floppy is one of the Blowfly models I think the more blunt model. He has both as well as the midrange lid from Ching with the thumbprints as his windy putter. Yes it was a low profile lid low enough it is not really a putter more a putter like midrange. The Steady Plastic disc are good putters just not for me as wind takes that putter as one of the worst besides lightweight Sonic's or 150 class lid style discs. I would have gotten one online as a putter for uphill and downhill putting if the wind was not the major issue.

That friend would pay $14 for those discs, he payed $12 for his in the 2000's which is about the equivalent of $14 today. My dad payed $30 in late 2004 for a Ching Juju 174 or 178 grams in Supreme plastic. That is a disc that is nearly as floppy as the Discs in the Steady Plastic.

Floppiest putter I have seen is the new Champion like plastic 10 meter brick in 2016. That thing is like gripping a Aerobie Dogobie or the toy version of nearly same Aerobie disc. The New 10 Meter Brick I picked up in that Disc sports store was so floppy even the Steady Plastic discs were usable for disc golf compared to the floppy 10 meter brick. I thought I had by mistake a Aerobie Dogobie it was that useless of a disc until I read the nearly illegible writing on the disc.

 

[Casey 1988]

I had one of those as well. Those were awesome because they didn't break. The plastic was super durable. A few guys I knew used those early in the 90's used those. I was never 100% clear why they retooled/messed with that disc. Both the Phantom + and the original P-38 were discs that a lot of people used for putt/approach shots, but they both went out of production too quickly.

I wish Discraft would come out with the Phantom and the Phantom+. I bet if the Phantom is made in a better plastic like FLX Z it could work as a disc with its stiffness problems. Also Wish DGA remade the disc they had a midrange or short fairway disc that Originally Discraft made that could float on water though when DGA made the disc they did not advertise the disc did so.

A interesting Looking Variant of the Magnet just taller and flies Slower is the Titanic from DGA which average Disc Golf people forget or do not know is a side brand of Discraft. I might get one to see if the baseline feels better then the one from Discraft for the current Magnet. Taller might be interesting too like more stiff lid style that I wanted the Putt'er to be or that a lid of the same top to edge to be made but with the Magnet style Rim.

 

[SonicGuy]

80's putters I have used:

XD, Ace, Duece, Hammer, Coupe

 

[Casey 1988]

80's putters I have used:

XD, Ace, Duece, Hammer, Coupe

Only 1980's putter I have used a few times is a small Dome DX Classic ROC from the tail end of production run in the 2000's. Maybe a XD once, but they are all XD+ now. Apparently to Innova The disc name on the Approval chart is the Aviar XD though Innova calls them XD. As for 1970's putters I have used a Jr Super Pro when first starting out, yes it is PDGA approved under its mold name. 1990's putters I have used are the Magnet approved in 1993 and the Rubber putter approved 1994 and the 168 gram orange one I had was from 1998, My Uncle knew the guy whose Rubber putter he found yet the guy never claimed it when Uncle called him.