TOP TWENTY TUESDAY – NOVEMBER 13TH 2018

Top Twenty Tuesday for NOVEMBER 13th, 2018

We’re big fans of data here at Infinite Discs. We enjoy looking at sales trends and comparing what is moving in the disc golf market. One of the best ways to evaluate which discs are most loved by players is to look at which discs sell the most, because honestly, people purchase discs that they use and love. Sometimes the sales figures get a bump from special editions or new releases. But as the sales figures are measured over the long-term, we can see which discs enjoy momentary spikes, and which ones are always near the top.
Keep in mind that these sales figures are from Infinite Discs, and as one of the largest online disc retailers, we feel that they reflect the tastes of the most avid disc golfers. But they do not represent the entire market. If a brand has their own retail store, it is likely that they draw some of those avid fans directly to their own store and that would have some effect on our totals. We also don’t know about sales trends at big box stores which cater to casual or new players.
The Buzzz is always riding at or near the top position when it comes to sales, with the Roc3 and Mako3 coming close behind. Other consistently charting mid-range discs are the Roc, the Emac Truth, and the MD3. There are other popular mid-range discs that sell more in waves, depending on special editions, pro support stamps, etc.
We’re going to take a look at four charts, each representing a different period. We’ll start with the most recent and go backward to see which mid-range discs have had momentary spikes, and which ones have held strong for the long term.
This more recent data (red chart) shows that the Discraft Buzzz has a strong lead as the number one, best-selling mid-range disc. The Roc3 and Mako3 by Innova are also consistent contenders. The MVP Deflector has a strong showing on this chart because it was a new release during this 6-month sales period, and it really was the overstable mid-range that MVP fans had been waiting for. The Anubis by Infinite Discs was also a new release during this period, so it made a strong showing in the 10th position.
Going back six months to late 2017 and early 2018 (blue chart), we can see the that top three were strong in that period as well. The Buzzz, Roc3, and Mako3 sold well, with the HyzerBomb Mortar coming in a strong 4th as it had a much anticipated restock run and fans were able to get their hands on it again. The Emac Truth holds a steady position in the middle of the pack as it did in the more recent chart. The Innova Rat came out as a new release and jumped in at the #9 spot.
Now let’s go back a full year to summer and fall of 2017 (green chart) and we can see that the Roc3 had outsold the Buzzz during that period. Again, the Emac Truth was holding strongly in the middle of the pack. The Discraft Comet made a good showing. The Innova Stingray had a good showing, primarily as a popular pro signature disc that year, and the Innova RocX3 was a new disc that made a good splash.
Let’s go all the way back to late 2016 and early 2017 (orange chart). The Buzzz was still the top-seller. We can tell by the longer term track record that the Buzzz, Roc3, Mako3, and Roc have always been handing on to the top spots. The MD3 and MD4 by Discmania have popped in a couple of times. The Emac Truth has been hanging out in the middle the entire time. It is also interesting to see that two years ago, the Verdict, Justice, and Truth by Dynamic Discs joined the Emac Truth to take four spots out of the top 10, with Latitude 64 making a showing with the Compass.
We all heard the big announcement yesterday. Paul McBeth and Innova have parted ways for the 2019 season. Where will he go? It has not been confirmed yet, but the biggest speculation out there is that he will join the ranks of Team Discraft.
But, how does this effect sales? Let’s take a look! We snagged the sales data over the past week for Star Destroyers and the entire brand of Discraft to take a look. Let’s start off with Star Destroyers. (Like always, we cannot disclose exact sales numbers, but can show trends.)
Star Destroyer sales rocketed through the roof on Halloween after Innova’s announcement. People are stocking up on the McBeth stamped discs. We also saw higher trends in Roc3s, Thunderbirds, Novas, and even Kraits. While it is unknown how many of these discs remain at Innova’s warehouse, people aren’t taking any risks. Some people see these discs as an investment, and others as a piece of history.
Now let’s take a look at the Discraft sales for the week, just for fun.
Discraft did have a bump in sales after Halloween’s announcement, but not nearly as massive as the Star Destroyers. This is likely because it is not confirmed where McBeth will make his new home. However the rumors and speculation most often place him with Discraft.
Will these trends change going forward? We will see!
Infinite Discs is happy to welcome newcomer, STORM Disc Golf, to the disc brand market!
Storm has recently introduced their first three discs which include a distance driver, a Mid-Range, and a Putter. Let’s take a quick look at those three discs…
The first distance driver by Storm Disc Golf is the Jet Stream which features a relatively wide 2.3 cm rim width which places it around a “speed 12” flight rating. When thrown with power, it has a little turn to the understable side, but then finishes with a steady fade. When thrown with less power, it will be a consistently overstable driver. The flight numbers are comparable to the very popular Destroyer by Innova, so it has the potential to be a very popular driver for experienced players.
The Eye refers to the “Eye of the Storm” and is a basic, dependable mid-range disc for all short range drives and approaches on the fairway. It is a wide diameter mid-range, and should feel comfortable for players of all experience levels. It has a slight dome and a low profile rim height, so it slides easily out of the hand. It is design for very straight, precision flight.
The Crater is a very unique putter to introduce to the market. When it comes to putters, there are a lot of them on the market, and it helps to stand out. The Crater features a thumb track on the top of the disc, which already puts in into a unique category, but the top isn’t just flat– it is a bit of a puddle-top which makes it even more unique. That means that the center of the disc is lower than the rim. It has an overstable finish, so it is more of a “into the wind” putter and short-range approach disc. Or, if you like power putting at the chains, this may be the disc for you.
It will be fun to watch and see what Storm Disc Golf comes up with next. Give them a try and let us know what you think!
We’re back again with more Disc Data! This time we take a look at the top selling molds from Dynamic Discs, Latitude 64, and Westside Discs. (Aka: Trilogy). We’re going to break it down by brand first, and then show them all compared together. Plus, at the end we will look at a summary of the three brand sales compared to each other.
Let’s kick it off with Dynamic Discs:
Right off we see that three putters, the Judge, Warden, and Deputy take the top three spots. To me this isn’t too surprising, as these putters have always sold well. The Deputy is the newest of the three and has climbed it’s way up the ranks since it’s release. Nothing else too crazy here, just cool data.
From Latitude 64 we see that another putter, the Pure takes first place by a good margin. The River follows up in second place. This isn’t too surprising, as this is a super popular disc for beginners and lower arm speeds. The Dagger has taken a fall though- it used to be the best seller of Latitude a couple of years ago due to Ricky Wysocki’s growing popularity. Recently the Dagger has slowed down a little bit, but still remains the third highest selling Latitude 64 disc, which is nothing to scoff at.
Wow. The Harp has truly shown it’s dominance this year by holding that number one spot and beating the Destiny by about triple. The best sellers drop off fast here, and then remain fairly steady throughout the rest of the molds. People really love the Harp, what more can be said?
But what do these sales look like against each other? Let’s take a look at all of the brands compared side by side:
Here we see that putters capture the top 5 spots of all three brands. The Judge still squeaks ahead of the Harp for the top spot! Do you see anything that intrigues you? Let me know in the comments!
Finally, let’s look at the brand sales compared to each other.
I thought this data was interesting. We start off with discs sold by brand. This is the total number of units sold by brand compared to each other. (Sorry, can’t reveal exact figures.) The second graph shows how many molds each brand has in production. A mold was counted if we sold any of it during the last year. So some OOP molds may still be counted if we still have remaining inventory to be sold.
The last graph represents the average number of discs sold per mold. We took the number of discs sold over the last year and divided it by the number of molds this brand produces.
This data shows some interesting things. First of all, Dynamic Discs holds 42.2% of the sales of the three Trilogy brands. However, Latitude 64 has 56 molds as compared to 32 and 31 from Dynamic and Westside. With nearly double the molds, but only a third of the molds sold, this shows as Latitude has the lowest average number of discs sold per mold. Westside Discs overtakes in this final category, proving that its few molds still hold a lot of power. This could be due to the Harp alone, or because of their unique stamps.
Do you notice anything else interesting? Let me know! Hope you’ve enjoyed this weeks’ Disc Data!