BallReviews

Equipment Boards => Ebonite => Topic started by: TheDude on December 01, 2010, 12:29:10 AM

Title: Discontinued balls?!
Post by: TheDude on December 01, 2010, 12:29:10 AM: i guess some summer releases in the EBI brands were slow sellers and have been dropped.

Columbia:
Complete Bedlam
Total Bedlam( was discon about 2 months ago)

Ebonite
Vital Sign
Game Plan

Hammer
Hardcore Grind( this doesnt surprise me, at trade shows this summer no one seemed excited about it)

Track 920A

Brunswick has also discontinued a larger number of releases. All being older than 8 months, but ebonite's policy of run hard if it doesnt stick dump makes there products so dangerous to stock.
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Timothy @Juniors Pro-Shops
LaSalle, Quebec-Located inside Pont Mercier Lanes.
Keep them honest!

Ebay store updated very often: http://stores.ebay.com/gumby3170?refid+store
Title: Re: Discontinued balls?!
Post by: cheech on December 01, 2010, 12:31:55 PM: im surprised about the vital sign not selling. ive seen more than a few guys do well with it. house and sport pattens.

my opinion on summer releases is that most of them arent bad balls they just dont sell because no one knows they are released except the higher level players that bowl year round. announce and release them in august instead of june/july
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Title: Re: Discontinued balls?!
Post by: TheDude on December 01, 2010, 01:06:30 PM: usually the summer releases hit distributors in may or even april for bowl expo. when product sits for an additional 2 or 3 months it just makes it go bad faster.

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Timothy @Juniors Pro-Shops
LaSalle, Quebec-Located inside Pont Mercier Lanes.
Keep them honest!

Ebay store updated very often: http://stores.ebay.com/gumby3170?refid+store
Title: Re: Discontinued balls?!
Post by: coco3085 on December 02, 2010, 09:39:18 AM: I understand why summer releases don't do so well, but I am disappointed to hear the game plan is going away. This is the ball I use almost every night. It can hook the lane or go up the 10 board depending upon how I throw it. I may have to pick up a couple of more, as this is the best ball I've thrown in a few years.
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203 league average 3 leagues
c-system 2.5 LE
Magic action
Game Plan
Cherry vibe
clear ebonite ball W/ebonite bowling pin inside
Title: Re: Discontinued balls?!
Post by: ambi1 on December 02, 2010, 11:29:26 AM: Over here in Manila, to me it seems like there is hardly enough time to breathe before the next ball comes out. The vital seems to be a good ball, but the mission was a tough act to follow. Most bowlers bought the Mission, and the wallet may not have recovered yet.

I'm wondering if this could be likely over there.

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DARK BEER IT IS THEN!
Title: Re: Discontinued balls?!
Post by: Krumpy300 on December 02, 2010, 07:56:02 PM: Talked to a person at Ebonite today, Vital Sign is not disco'd, minimum wholesale price has been dropped.
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Repetition is everything..
BOWL TO WIN
Title: Re: Discontinued balls?!
Post by: Effybowler on December 02, 2010, 08:12:29 PM: Where do you get your info about what balls have been discontinued? The columbia website still shows the Complete and Total Bedlam, and they are usually pretty current with their website about what has been discontinued or not.
Title: Re: Discontinued balls?!
Post by: TheDude on December 06, 2010, 06:08:26 AM: The total i can be sure is discontinued, the complete likely is being moved at lower than original price.
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Timothy @Juniors Pro-Shops
LaSalle, Quebec-Located inside Pont Mercier Lanes.
Keep them honest!

Ebay store updated very often: http://stores.ebay.com/gumby3170?refid+store
Title: Re: Discontinued balls?!
Post by: kidlost2000 on December 06, 2010, 06:16:37 AM: They were discontinued 3 to 4 weeks ago.

Not much shelf life at all these days.
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Be good, or be good at it.
Title: Re: Discontinued balls?!
Post by: nmbr1sun99 on December 06, 2010, 06:28:46 AM: Ebo seems to oversaturate the market and does not give the pro shops enough time to move their product. By the time a shop receives their product, Ebo is announcing a new ball or line. How is a shop supposed to sell a ball that will be replaced in a month? I am not saying Ebo is the only company that is doing this, but they are the biggest player doing it.
Title: Re: Discontinued balls?!
Post by: Brickguy221 on December 06, 2010, 10:41:32 AM: I hope the Vital Sign isn't or doesn't get discontnued as I am considering buying one along with definitely a Mission shortly after Christmas.
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"Whenever I feel the urge to exercise I lie down until the feeling passes away."

Brick
Title: Re: Discontinued balls?!
Post by: Bigbowler on December 06, 2010, 04:51:02 PM: Thats the problem new balls released over summer and by middle of October we have new releases. Market is saturated with equipment.
Title: Re: Discontinued balls?!
Post by: BK on December 06, 2010, 04:57:57 PM: they should released those balls before the end of May or June so we could buy it and use it for the Usbc national.

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www.sweeteethai.com
Title: Re: Discontinued balls?!
Post by: bowlingnut76 on December 06, 2010, 06:05:09 PM: i think they all should come out between may and august and advertise a ton to sell thier balls....economy is still down also lower prices and offer more assentives to buy one or 2 balls....they could give away see-saw towels, small bottle of cleaner...some do like legends and lanemasters and visionary....or make smaller quantity of product,,,if it sells out great next things on they way i believe this sounds like a better business model then flooding the market because it gets very overwhelming to buy a ball...just my 2 cents
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Nothing hits like a hammer
Buddies pro shop...The place all bowlers shop
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Title: Re: Discontinued balls?!
Post by: JustRico on December 06, 2010, 07:10:24 PM: Manufacturers have budgets they have to hit....and it is generally a flow rate...how many bowling balls the plant disperses.
The whole industry anymore does not allow a ball to breathe...you look at the Virtual Gravity & HyRoad, when was the last time a ball was in the line 3 years.
EBI is probably the worst right now...4 balls in 8 days in Nov, 2 more in Dec and 2 in Jan....not easy to stock or shelve a ball right now and trust that they will be around in 6 months.....
As a whole, there were either 11 or 12 balls in Nov and 3 in Dec with 5 more in Jan....
The flood is not working
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Formerly BrunsRico
Title: Re: Discontinued balls?!
Post by: jls on December 07, 2010, 09:02:41 AM: quote:
Manufacturers have budgets they have to hit....and it is generally a flow rate...how many bowling balls the plant disperses.
The whole industry anymore does not allow a ball to breathe...you look at the Virtual Gravity & HyRoad, when was the last time a ball was in the line 3 years.
EBI is probably the worst right now...4 balls in 8 days in Nov, 2 more in Dec and 2 in Jan....not easy to stock or shelve a ball right now and trust that they will be around in 6 months.....
As a whole, there were either 11 or 12 balls in Nov and 3 in Dec with 5 more in Jan....
The flood is not working
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Formerly BrunsRico

So true Rico, but just because a ball is DQ, doesn't mean it's dead...

If a pro shop watches their inventory, they should be prepared for this...And since SO MANY pro shops stock so little, what's the real problem here...

Example, once we found out about the Ransom line, we made sure we cleared out all Bedlems... And we did... Of course we didn't have too many in the first place...The same thing with the Trap, now that "Taboo" is coming...

In fact, a person that bought a Complete Bedlem a month ago, liked the ball so much he wanted a Total... So we had to special order him one...

The point, just because a ball is DQ, does not mean the ball is no good or can't be sold....

Sure sometimes a pro shop must mark it down a few bucks in order to sell the last one... But that should not be a big deal, when MOST of the time, when said ball was first released, pro shops might have bought some on a early bird program and got a few bucks off...

So to me, it kinda sorta balances out...

Now when one says Ebonite DQ to many balls, one must remember, they are doing this with four companies... Not one...

And once again, with so many Broom closet pro shops basically ordering a ball as they sell it, What really is the problem...

Like I said, very few pro shops stock in depth... Now we do, but we also realize that once a ball is out for a couple of months, unless the ball has HUGE numbers like a Mission or a Virtual Gravity had, one must cut back on them, knowing that a new model is right around the corner...

Now, Rico, I heard through the Golf Grapevine that Pro V1's are now selling well in the major pro shops... In fact I heard that most of the so called $42-$45 per dozen models are not doing well... Hows things out there...

You all have a great day...

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jls
Title: Re: Discontinued balls?!
Post by: abrown on December 07, 2010, 12:10:47 PM: vital sign may not be on that list as a friend of mine went to a ebonite days this past weekend and threw it
Title: Re: Discontinued balls?!
Post by: jls on December 07, 2010, 02:48:52 PM: Weebs, not you, no need for you to Book a room or a flight...

You already live there...

Now recess is almost over child, go pee pee on the toy toy, and make sure you wash your hands after you pee on them... Still sucking your thumb? Right boy...

And then join your little friends at Vise that love to bash other companies using lowlifes like you ...

Your a total loser...

And as we all can now plainly see, your a stalker, in addition to being a total loser...

Oh and BTW Weebs / Bexley / Beast... I see that thread just got deleted...

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jls

Edited on 12/7/2010 4:54 PM
Title: Re: Discontinued balls?!
Post by: charlest on December 07, 2010, 03:58:45 PM: quote:
Talked to a person at Ebonite today, Vital Sign is not disco'd, minimum wholesale price has been dropped.
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Repetition is everything..
BOWL TO WIN

The Vital Sign was $134.95 at Buddies. Now, 12/7/10, it's $124.95.
http://www.buddiesproshop.com/product/7519/Ebonite_Vital_Sign_Bowling_Ball_.htm
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