The state of 8-Bit Disc Golf

[throwfromthewoods]

I hope everyone enjoyed 2012. I had a great time with the "experiment" of creating 8-Bit Disc Golf. It's definitely something I'm happy that I went forward with. To know that there are so many players out there who enjoyed my concept of melding old-school gaming with disc golf was an extremely rewarding experience.

I use the term "experiment" because that is what it was. I do not have the start up capital to create a full-on launch of 8-Bit. I knew that going in. What I did, however, was sell nearly all of my stock of the initial 4 designs. That's an inspiring thing, for me.

There are some who have asked me about what's going on in the future. And I wanted to take the time to layout the current state of the still-fledgling idea that is 8-Bit Disc Golf. Currently, I have 10 designs finished. I have a few more that I'm tinkering with. These designs can be put on just about anything. Hoodies, dri-fits, even hats and patches. That's the glory of working in pixel designs, lol.

But, the reality is still that 8-Bit was a hobby for me. I love doing it, but it was never going to be an attempt at a career. You have all seen the small DG companies that go out of business or fade off into obscurity. It's a tough sport to get a slice of the economic pie. But I am not ready to abandon my ideas. So, there are currently two options I will be pursuing.

The first is that I will be reaching out to the various online vendors and retailers to try and sell 8-Bit Disc Golf. I don't have the time, space, or money to keep hundreds of shirts here at my home. I can only sell my product so far on my own, though. If you know of a vendor that you'd like to see carry 8-Bit Disc Golf, tell them. Fan support is a big currency in this sport.

Now, if that avenue doesn't pan out, then I will be going a more exclusive route. Each year (or twice a year, depending on its popularity), I will do very limited releases of a single design. I would open a preorder option for anyone who wants to guarantee a size, but otherwise you'd have to take a chance on it. I'm talking about only 50 of any design ever existing. Sprinkled through those releases would be a small number of hats, patches, maybe a towel, etc. These items would be even more exclusive.

I would love to have a more widespread availablity for 8-Bit Disc Golf. But I'm also not willing to toss in the towel, either. I love making old-school gaming designs. And I love seeing people all over the country (plus Canada, Sweden, and Australia! big thumbs up to my international customers) showing off their gaming roots out on the courses. I hope to stick around for awhile, even if it's a snail's pace to keep 8-Bit running.

Thanks again to everyone who has supported this idea through 2012 and I can't wait to get new designs out to you this year! And remember, if your disc isn't working...just blow in it.

 

[joshuajames]

And remember, if your disc isn't working...just blow in it.

Love your stuff man, and I wear my 8-bit basket proudly!

My new sig if that's cool!:clap:

 

[AndyJB]

I rock my 8-Bit proudly on the reg! best of luck from one of your biggest supporters...and I put in the good word at Infinite Discs for you!

 

[thugjitsu]

I would be interested in carrying in my local shop, would like to know what wholesale would be to retailers. Let me know.

 

[Royal Hill]

Throw,

There is still an avenue for you to consider

Print on demand webshops with royalty. Yeah, like zazzle or whatever equivalent you like.

Yeah, I know... its no business model, but... you can get a small royalty and have ZERO inventory RISK, which is what you can't do now.

Set up your designs on their site mocked up on a few (or many) different shirts, hoodies and post for public sale in a public marketplace. Add the searchable attributes you want and set up your royalty level. 10%, 15, 20... whatever. You know it'll net you little each sale, but again... no inventory risk or carrying costs.

The user either goes to your page from your marketing, (or linked from your sig here on DGCR) or they drift in on their own, they pick out the design they like, maybe switch out the shirt for a long sleeve or whatever they really wanted in the first place and they buy-it from the site. Clean transaction. You get an email that you just made $2 on a shirt sale. "Cool" you think... "I was just sitting here and did nothing and one of my designs sold"

Load in as many designs as you want, no risk associated with adding more. You have four designs out now, but likely you had to weigh the appeal and merits of each to justify carrying inventory. Well, thats off your shoulders, so design away! Sometimes the craziest stuff you come up with can sell the best...who knows.

I got an email the other day that a shirt I designed five years ago (a kayak paddling event design I made for myself) was sold to someone who paid in Brazillian currency. Crazy! I made like $1.50 at the lowest royalty level I had it set to.

Who knows, maybe you'll be able to pick up and re-enter the wholesale, retailing yourself game, or maybe not. But maybe you can make a few bucks along the way and the experience will tell you more about what designs people really purchase. Maybe consider it a market research experiment.

And by using Print on demand, they won't be the cheapest shirts out there (custom never is - its custom!) so that if you do enter the wholesale, retail game later you'll still have a competitive advantage of price control/margin.

Check it out, see if it might fill the void.

 

[throwfromthewoods]

Love your stuff man, and I wear my 8-bit basket proudly!

My new sig if that's cool!:clap:

Of course, none of my witty repartee is trademarked, lol.

I rock my 8-Bit proudly on the reg! best of luck from one of your biggest supporters...and I put in the good word at Infinite Discs for you!

Thanks! I'll shoot them an e-mail introducing myself.

I would be interested in carrying in my local shop, would like to know what wholesale would be to retailers. Let me know.

I'll be happy to touch base with you on what I have currently. I did have a couple questions for you from a vendor standpoint.

Throw,

There is still an avenue for you to consider

Print on demand webshops with royalty. Yeah, like zazzle or whatever equivalent you like.

Check it out, see if it might fill the void.

Sadly, I have. And I do see the purpose of their existence. I did do research into them back when I was first looking to make the shirts. The bottom line of Zazzle, CustomInk, Cafe Press and the like is this: They use cheaper shirts and lower quality printing and charge more. Right at the outset I made a promise to myself that I would not skimp on quality for the sake of ease. I would find a different way to get my stuff out there. And I don't want this to sound self-congratulating or cliche. But I make sure the shirts I put out are ones that I would be proud to wear out myself. The couple that I did find that even offered dri-fit shirts would cost you guys like $30.00. Otherwise you'd be rocking cheap Gildan cotton shirts. The one advantage I saw was that I pick one shirt color to print designs on, whereas these places you could choose if you wanted a different one.

 

[rakamkram]

Seeing this thread, I just visited your website for the first time...gotta say, I love that Zelda themed shirt!

 

[throwfromthewoods]

On further thought, I have created an elusive "Plan C." I am indeed going to only release one new design a year (or semi-annually depending on its popularity). However, instead of handling the stock myself, I will look to sell full orders of the shirts to online vendors. This way there will be multiple options for you to buy from (hopefully). And I can (again, hopefully) get more than just 50 shirts out for each design. I have the 2013 design picked out already, but in the future I may do a poll to decide the new release.

So if you bought one of my initial runs, feel special because who knows when/if those designs will be made available again!

Stay tuned!

 

[joshuajames]

I'm glad I got 2 of your initial designs!

Your work is great, especially for someone from the 8-bit generation.

 

[B3NDER]

You know I'm on board for MOAR dri-fits and other 8-bit stuff. *ahem* like a Patch or a sweet towel.

 

[nawanda37]

There is another option, but it definitely has an element of risk to it, since you'd have to trust your customers. You could sell very high quality versions of your designs (in a printing happy filetype) to people digitally and let them print their own things with them, with a promise of keeping the designs private. Paypal for collecting money.
I did this for a design I did a few years ago. Since it wasn't a business thing for me at all, it didn't present a stressful situation for me, like it likely would for you...I just thought I'd throw it out there.

Here's a sweatshirt I made with mine:

 

[Uncle Dougie]

The 8bit concept can work for you. You need like 50 more designs ready to go. As an artist and graphic designer myself, I learned that to make any artistic venture like this work you need a TON of material ready to go. Build the demand for it and then you'll find the capital. Come up with more illustrated 8bit material. The full on 8bit source material is cool too. I'm a big fan of 8bit art myself and I have done a few paintings in that style. Hope to see your idea re-emerge someday.

 

[throwfromthewoods]

I appreciate the input. But honestly, this is just a hobby for me. I do it because I enjoy it, and not to make money. Honestly, I barely pull anything as far as profit. It's not even a supplementary income for me. I just like being able to put my stuff out there and let other like-minded DGers enjoy it as well. It's never going to be anything so lofty as a full-blown artistic venture.

 

[throwfromthewoods]

Here is the 2013 released design for 8-Bit Disc Golf. I will shortly be contacting any online vendors I can to see if they are interested in stocking an order of these. Size and shirt color will be decided by the store who orders. So if you want one of these super snazzy badboys, you let your preferred vendor that you're a guaranteed sale.