Poof Ball?

[Chussey85]

Does anyone know where i can find a place to purchase the POOF 7 inch ball

[Ricky Q.]

Best deal I have found so far:

PlayChild.com $3.95 each

[Greg Marra]

[edit]

I am told I had the wrong kind of ball. These (http://www.poof-slinky.com/catalog/catalog.asp?org=4&prodid=92&catid=42&start=6&action=prov&) are the correct balls.

[taggartbg]

I was just about to post this!

Link (http://www.playchild.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1714)

[Ian Curtis]

Hmm, I never thought it would be this hard to come by these. At my local toy shops (and WalMart) they only have the unskinned kind. Gargh!

[taggartbg]

$3.95 at PlayChild.com - best deal i've seen

Link (http://www.playchild.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1714)

[Sscamatt]

I have already check 3 wal-marts (they carry a lot of other poof balls), Toys R Us, and Target, nobody seems to carry them.

[DCA Fan]

I have a feeling that we're about to deprive the world of Poof balls for a while.

[JulieA]

http://www.toys2wish4.com/prominfoamba.html

One more supplier courtesy of Froogle.com

-E

This is for the 4" inch basketball, not the 7".

[slickguy2007]

Does anyone know how much they weigh?

GO 1403!!!

[Stephen P]

Playchild.com appears to be sold out of poofballs already. They should restock and we should recieve them by the time we need them though. p.s. playchild ships free over 49 bucks, so order at least 13!

[Andy A.]

Poof is a popular low cost supplier to replace Nerf. Lots of small, locally owned toyshops carry poof products, where as larger retailers may still have contracts with Nerf that limit their inventory.

I suggest that you go to a local toy store, and if they carry poof products, inquire about their ability to buy the right ball for you, perhaps at wholesale cost for you.

-Andy A.

[pludodog]

Anyone else notice it's #4 on the playchild.com best seller's list, and rising?

[Stephen P]

hahaha I was on playchild.com and refreshed....it shot from #4 to #2. Also it seems like people are buying the 7" soccer ball as well, its at #3 (hope its a legit substitute). What concerns me is that the 4" poof ball is also rising on the list, meaning people are ordering the wrong ball :eek:

[Ian Curtis]

playchild.com is out of 7" Poof balls, I repeat out of 7" Poof balls! :(

[Jeff Pahl]

KBAcoach.com seems to have them for 6/$37.50 (12 for $75), or at least they did not tell me my order was backordered.

http://store.yahoo.com/kbacoach/poofbal.html

Good Luck!!

-Jeff

[DUCKIE]

Despite their website & customer service center telling me otherwise when I called... I managed to find two at Toys'r'us (Said they had no more in the backroom. Not sure whether or not to trust that either...)

But we now have atleast 3 to play with till our online order comes in.

[Heretic121]

tonight we talked to a management at a local walmart and they are hoping to get a mass amount of these specific balls *NO. 850" the 7" foam basketballs... and retail price for the 7" SOFT foams balls *not same density or skinned* for 2.97$/ea so we are hoping to get around the same low price...

*if you are in CT and are looking for these balls we are hoping to find out by monday at the latest about these... so send me a PM and ill reply as soon as i know...

[Gary Dillard]

Playchild.com shows the price at $5.95 now

[BoyWithCape195]

It seems as if due to the instant popularity of the poof balls, play child has increased the price!

http://www.playchild.com/catalog/product_info.php?pName=7-mini-basketball

[Elgin Clock]

It seems as if due to the instant popularity of the poof balls, play child has increased the price!

http://www.playchild.com/catalog/product_info.php?pName=7-mini-basketball

Can you say price gouging?? I say someone report them to the Better Business Bureau.

[Sscamatt]

Despite their website & customer service center telling me otherwise when I called... I managed to find two at Toys'r'us (Said they had no more in the backroom. Not sure whether or not to trust that either...)

But we now have atleast 3 to play with till our online order comes in.

How much did they cost at Toys R Us?

[George A.]

I bought one at Toys "R" Us earlier today, they were 4.05+tax

[cbudrecki]

anything is better than poof-toys.com - 8.99 -- except for shop.com - 9.45

[cbudrecki]

we tried 10 stores on our journey home: 3 wal-marts, 2 Toys'r'us, Sports Authority, Modells, (nickname for Rick)'s Sporting Goods, Target, and KB Toys, not one of them had the proper ball.

I have to say, any of the prices above are better than: poof-toys.com - 8.99 or shop.com - 9.45

[David Brinza]

I was hoping to get a quantity price break, so I looked at wholesale options and found OneDollarMall.com ( purchase for non-profit or educational qualifies for them).

If you buy a case (48), the mark-down is substantial ($5.46/ea vs. $8.99 suggested retail price - about 40%). However, they are currently SOLD OUT :( . See the attachment for details.

I did request the notification e-mail from OneDollarMall, asking for an anticipated availability date. I'll post this when I receive a response.

[Gary Dillard]

Can you say price gouging?? I say someone report them to the Better Business Bureau.

I would guess that their price increased as their cost went up when they discovered they would need to suddenly acquire a bazillion balls to meet demand. At $3.95 they were probably trying to get rid of these balls they had sitting around that noone wanted.

[Jonathan Norris]

Just for the Canadian teams, POOf does not sell their balls in Canada and we had to contact them directly to get some :o. The local stores like toys r us do not stock them. Just a heads up ;)

[nuggetsyl]

Just an idea for next year but can first add links to there website where we can get the right balls (or what ever they use) for a good price.

shaun

[Kyle Fenton]

I contacted a few stores, and said they have sold that ball in the past but they don't get them until the summer/spring season.

[Bethany Mc.]

http://www.toys2wish4.com/7foamball.html


just google poof they are $4.98

[KTorak]

http://www.toys2wish4.com/7foamball.html


just google poof they are $4.98

The site says they are out of stock :/

[Goaliexam]

I was at Genuardi's supermarket today and saw a bunch of Poof sports ball on one of those stacks that sit in the middle of aisles. They are sold in boxes of two, with one football and one junior basketball (our 7" Poof Ball :)). They were $12.99/box, but with my Genuardi's card it was down to only about $3.99/box. So I did some switching of box contents to get 3 boxes of two balls and one box of a ball and a football. So 7 balls total for about $16.

I checked out another local Genuardi's and they didn't even sell them, so I can't guarantee that a Genuardi's store near you will have them, but I would recommend checking it out if you are having issues finding these balls.

[robotraj111]

KBAcoach.com seems to have them for 6/$37.50 (12 for $75), or at least they did not tell me my order was backordered.

http://store.yahoo.com/kbacoach/poofbal.html

Good Luck!!

-Jeff

r u sure those are the right balls because it doesnt seem to be multi colored and it doesnt say 7"?

[Sscamatt]

http://www.toys2wish4.com/7foamball.html


just google poof they are $4.98

Those are the incorrect balls, they do not have the skin. (I think they may be lighter too)

[Alex Burman]

http://www.poof-slinky.com (http://www.poof-slinky.com/catalog/catalog.asp?org=4&prodid=92&catid=42&start=6&action=prov&)
the company that makes them. $8.99 each 40 costs you $359.60, over night shipping is $30. They seem to have it because it was letting me check out.

[Donut]

Did anyone else notice that at playchild.com, for every ball you added to the inventory, the total weight increased by 1 lb.? I'm guessing they're estimating, but they practically gave us the weight of this year's ball.

I'm sure we'll be out searching for poof balls this week.

[Arkorobotics]

Just ordered 5 poof balls from toys2wish4 w00t!

Edit: NM! I accedentally ordered the 4" poof balls! DARN!

[Jay Trzaskos]

http://www.atafa.com/sports/product_info.php?cPath=1_4_1225_1228_1244&products_id=8449

$6.96 a piece, coming in for a cool $74 and change for 9 :ahh:

JT
229

[Sscamatt]

http://www.atafa.com/sports/product_info.php?cPath=1_4_1225_1228_1244&products_id=8449

$6.96 a piece, coming in for a cool $74 and change for 9 :ahh:

JT
229

Those don't seem to be genuine poof balls.

[Jeff Pahl]

KBAcoach.com seems to have them for 6/$37.50 (12 for $75), or at least they did not tell me my order was backordered.

http://store.yahoo.com/kbacoach/poofbal.html

Good Luck!!

-Jeff

r u sure those are the right balls because it doesnt seem to be multi colored and it doesnt say 7"?

The top item on the page is part number P-850, which matches the part number on the genuine Poof ball wrapper I have sitting here on my desk. The picture is a generic picture of lots of different products. I'm trusting the part number information. One thing I have learned over the years is never trust the pictures in the catalog...

I guess I'll know for sure on Thursday, the vendor just sent me the shipment tracking info. That means they probably have some more if anyone is willing to assume the part number is right. Still not as good a deal as $4 each for 48, but if you only want 12...

[Arkorobotics]

http://www.poof-slinky.com/catalog/catalog.asp?org=4&prodid=92&catid=42&start=6&action=prov&

Are these the right ones?

[Sscamatt]

http://www.poof-slinky.com/catalog/catalog.asp?org=4&prodid=92&catid=42&start=6&action=prov&

Are these the right ones?

Yes.

[kaszeta]

I would guess that their price increased as their cost went up when they discovered they would need to suddenly acquire a bazillion balls to meet demand. At $3.95 they were probably trying to get rid of these balls they had sitting around that noone wanted.

Probably, but when I placed (at 1pm EST) and had them confirm anorder at $3.95 a ball (at 2 pm EST), only to get an email today saying that they can't sell them to me unless I buy in quantities of 12 at $6.50 a ball, that's a little dishonest (don't confirm orders unless you have the inventory in place).

Yes, they probably got slammed pretty bad with orders, and I can't fault them too much for increasing their price, but their behavior seems to be a bit unethical.

[Rick TYler]

The Washington state FIRST teams are a friendly bunch. Someone found out the correct part number for the balls in advance and ordered a case of 12 balls for all the teams in our state at $58 a case. We didn't know that we were ordering balls, by the way, but the one person who knew ordered a case for each team who wanted to buy the $58 "mystery item." We picked them up with the KOP at the kick-off in Bellevue. Thanks, TRC, Team 492!

My son and I found the balls at Fred Meyer yesterday for about $6.50 each. The store in Redmond still has one (1). We bought the rest. Unfortunately, Fred Meyer does not have an online store.

I went to google.com, and the clicked on "Froogle." Searching on "poof basketball" returns lots of hits. I haven't checked the availability or pricing, but there appear to be lots of sources online. Good luck.

[Andy A.]

To clear some things up-

A small retailer can buy these balls in cases of 12 for $48 dollars. 'Keystone' pricing is normal, so looking at $8-9 balls each isn't at all out of the norm. What we are seeing for prices isn't surprising me.

Like I said, try to find a small toystore and convince them to order the balls for you at cost and consider it a donation. $4 a ball is not to shabby.

-Andy A.

[Greg Ross]

$3.95 at PlayChild.com - best deal i've seen

Link (http://www.playchild.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1714)
Supply and demand at work: They're now $6.50 on PlayChild!

[Ricky Q.]

Supply and demand at work: They're now $6.50 on PlayChild!

So much for a good deal. I just got this email.

"I just spoke with the sales manager at Poof-Slinky. There was a
miscommunication with the Robotics organization and you may not be
aware of
your options for purchasing the 7" foam balls.

If you can order at least 48 balls (orders must be in 12 ball
increments)
you can purchase the balls at wholesale ($4 each plus shipping) by
calling
Peggy at Poof-Slinky 800-329-8697.

Orders less than that can be ordered directly from Poof-Slinky online
at
www.poof-slinky.com (http://www.poof-slinky.com) for $8.99 each plus shipping. These balls come
individually boxed, so they cost more.

We have a small quantity being sent to us to arrive on Thursday.
We can
fill a handful orders (orders must be in 12 ball increments) at $6.50
plus
shipping. We'll take them on a first-come, first-served basis. We'll
calculate the shipping offline and contact you.

Sorry for the inconvenience. We'll do our best to help you with your
robotics project.

Good luck in your competition."

Looks like we'll be ordering 48 from Poof.

[Kirk]

I just got off the phone with Poof. You can buy 48 balls for $4 each (min order). The person I talked to is Shelly. This is by far the best price I have seen anywhere. $192 for 48 balls is cheap. Phone # is 1-800-329-8697.

Let the calling begin...

[dhitchco]

I just got off the phone with official Poof-Slinky factory in Michigan

1) Orders MUST be in case-quantities of 12
2) Unit price is US$4.00 plus shipping (they do take credit cards)
3) FedEx seems to be their preferred US shipper; don't know about outside U.S.
4) They are "scrambling" to produce more inventory as US FIRST didn't give them advance warning that over 1,000 high schools would be descending on them to order this week.
5) Smaller orders can be done via their web site

Too bad I didn't buy their stock last week!

I've also asked the folks at FIRST (via a different thread) if there's a way to facilitate procuring (US funds) and shipping the balls to foreign teams...stay tuned. As Quint said in "Jaws"....."Captain, I think ya need a bigger boat"!

[Conor Ryan]

We managed to pull together over 40 balls, so I guess we can reveal the location that we found that a ton of balls (it required a bit of travel and multiple stores) But we found the store chain Five Below (http://www.fivebelow.com/) to carry the 7" POOF Foam Basketballs, the price? Under 5 Dollars,

Five Below Stores however are only located in 47 locations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, and Virgina. So use their Store Locator (http://www.fivebelow.com/storeFinder.html) to find the one closest to you. (We raided 3 in South East PA) And all of them had better deals than any internet site I've seen. The best part? No shipping wait time or fee.

Good Luck

[Mike Betts]

The following FIRST Email Blast is now going out to all teams:

Greetings Teams:

Poof-Slinky has offered the following option for teams:

For a minimum order of 48 balls, teams can call customer service (800) 329-8697 with a credit card and order the #850 Basketball at the wholesale price of $4 each plus FedEx Ground shipping.

**Important** - in order to get the discounted price, you cannot place the order on-line; you must call the number above.

Go Teams!

So the message is that both FIRST and the supplier are trying to remedy the situation... Let's all step back and take a breath.

There are 1100+ teams out there with the same problems and quite a few frustrated mentors and students... Everyone posting that they are upset will not resolve the issue any quicker...

JMHO,

Mike

[Don Knight]

If you really what the "correct" Poof 7" Junior Basketball here is the best place I've found to buy them.

Poof-Slinky -- Not off the website
CALL 1-800-329-8697 and ask for Shelly, Extension 110

You can buy them for $4.00 each but you need to place a order off at least $200.00 dollars (50 balls). If teams get together this is probably the best place to get them. All the other vendors will have to be getting them from Poof-Slinky too! Save time and money, order here.

Poof does make another "7 inch ball so make sure you are getting the correct on no matter where you get it from. 7" Poof "Junior" Basketball

UPDATE: You only need to order 48 balls to get the discount!

[atomikitten]

I have a feeling that we're about to deprive the world of Poof balls for a while.
Once this competition is over, we should donate all of these Poof balls to daycares, elementary schools, neighbors; all the little kids. It would make us look good like, "Here's our Toys for Toddlers gift from us upstanding citizens. And we build robots."

[AndrewJRivera]

The Mitty team ran into our supply of poof balls at a safeway, for a couple dollars for each at most, maybe 3.75 max. Just out there to help, didnt think we would run into them at a safeway, but there they were right by the entrance of the store.

[spamified88]

Once this competition is over, we should donate all of these Poof balls to daycares, elementary schools, neighbors; all the little kids. It would make us look good like, "Here's our Toys for Toddlers gift from us upstanding citizens. And we build robots."
That's a great idea. If we tried hard enough we could probably build a daycare center out of those poof balls! LOL!

[KTorak]

Supply and demand at work: They're now $6.50 on PlayChild!

$7.50 now.

http://www.playchild.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1714

[Cpt_Dave_Lister]

The Washington state FIRST teams are a friendly bunch. Someone found out the correct part number for the balls in advance and ordered a case of 12 balls for all the teams in our state at $58 a case. We didn't know that we were ordering balls, by the way, but the one person who knew ordered a case for each team who wanted to buy the $58 "mystery item." We picked them up with the KOP at the kick-off in Bellevue. Thanks, TRC, Team 492!

My son and I found the balls at Fred Meyer yesterday for about $6.50 each. The store in Redmond still has one (1). We bought the rest. Unfortunately, Fred Meyer does not have an online store.

I went to google.com, and the clicked on "Froogle." Searching on "poof basketball" returns lots of hits. I haven't checked the availability or pricing, but there appear to be lots of sources online. Good luck.


hehe i was one of the teams who got the mystery items! Saved a bunch of time & moolah!!

[Cpt_Dave_Lister]

Once this competition is over, we should donate all of these Poof balls to daycares, elementary schools, neighbors; all the little kids. It would make us look good like, "Here's our Toys for Toddlers gift from us upstanding citizens. And we build robots."

That would be a great idea!

[GeorgeTheEng]

4) They are "scrambling" to produce more inventory as US FIRST didn't give them advance warning that over 1,000 high schools would be descending on them to order this week.


This is something we shouldn't have to deal with. FIRST should have already warned the supplier months ago when they decided on those balls. This is one of those things where FIRST really seems to fall short. It's the same every year. There is a piece somewhere in the goal/field setup that becomes hard or impossible to buy.

On another note, I had ordered from KBAcoach.com on Sunday but yesterday afternoon they told me they had run out. Now to me, 36 hrs to confirm inventory is unacceptable. They expect them in 3 to 4 working days. And if I want express shipping... 3-Day $97, overnight $211!!!

[Cyber Punk 234]

I WANT MY POOF BALLS! :mad:

[dlavery]

This is something we shouldn't have to deal with. FIRST should have already warned the supplier months ago when they decided on those balls. This is one of those things where FIRST really seems to fall short. It's the same every year. There is a piece somewhere in the goal/field setup that becomes hard or impossible to buy.

Wrong again. Please see this post (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?p=429546#post429546) and this post (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?p=429785#post429785). <sigh> We all need to spend a little less time kvetching about the shortcomings of the FIRST organization, slow responses of the companies that donate parts to teams so we don't have to pay even more for the Kit of Parts, the poor performance of the Dow-Jones under the Bush administration, and how the universe in general is a bad place to park a mobile home. If we spend a little more time focusing on helping each other figure out how to build competitive robots, we will all be a little bit better off.

-dave

[DanTheRobotMan]

I think you can buy a poof ball at a store. :ahh:

[mgreene]

Team 1351 found a number of official poof balls at Bay Area(South Bay) Safeway stores on sale for something like $4 a ball. They're sold in 2 packs with footballs, but if you're paying $4 for a ball, think of it as free footballs.

[Rick TYler]

We found poof balls at the second store we checked, and the Dow just went above 11,000 last week...

[atomikitten]

Today, while my teammates and I were attacking each other with our one poof ball, I realized a flaw in my plan. The skin of the ball gets worn out, so at a competition, there will be pieces of foam flying everywhere. I wouldn't want to hand a child an un-pretty foam ball! On the bright side, if you push on either side of a crack in the skin, you make the ball blink :)

[Kyle Love]

Does anyone know how much they weigh?

GO 1403!!!

+-6.4 ounces

[atomikitten]

The Mitty team ran into our supply of poof balls at a safeway, for a couple dollars for each at most, maybe 3.75 max. Just out there to help, didnt think we would run into them at a safeway, but there they were right by the entrance of the store.
At a grocery store! That's pretty sweet. It made me think of cheesy poofs.
CARTMAN'S MOM: Would you like some POOF BALLS?
CARTMAN: YEAH I want POOF BALLS!!!

MR. GARRISON: OK, class, today we're gonna learn about POOF BALLS, and how Eric Cartman can't throw them anymore! All right, everyone, let's all throw POOF BALLS, and as we do that, let's all point and laugh at Eric!

CARTMAN: I wish I had some POOF BALLS right now! Then I wouldn't be so scared! Think happy thoughts, happy thoughts. You have a warm fuzzy feeling in your tummy. Pink pajamas are your friend! Warm fuzzy feeling...warm fuzzy feeling...I'm so alone and forlorn again...
warm, fuzzy feeling....

[Kyle Love]

I found this out today...60+ poof balls=garunteed dodgeball matches!

[atomikitten]

I found this out today...60+ poof balls=garunteed dodgeball matches!
Yesss... for the human player competition at IRI, one would expect a throwing contest with these poof balls. This is wrong. We should have dodgeball tournaments!

[Stephen P]

I just called Playchild and they told me that all the orders placed about a week ago (when they were 3.95 per ball) got cancelled, since they didnt have enough supply. Here is an email i received:

I just spoke with the sales manager at Poof-Slinky. There was a miscommunication with the Robotics organization and you may not be aware of your options for purchasing the 7" foam balls.

If you can order at least 48 balls (orders must be in 12 ball increments) you can purchase the balls at wholesale ($4 each plus shipping) by calling Peggy at Poof-Slinky 800-329-8697.

Orders less than that can be ordered directly from Poof-Slinky online at www.poof-slinky.com for $8.99 each plus shipping. These balls come individually boxed, so they cost more.

We have a small quantity (96) being sent to us to arrive on Thursday. We can fill a handful orders (orders must be in 12 ball increments) at $6.50 plus shipping. We'll take them on a first-come, first-served basis. We'll calculate the shipping offline and contact you.

Sorry for the inconvenience. We'll do our best to help you with your robotics project.

Good luck in your competition.

Scott Bultman
PlayChild Toys
866-407-8697
orders@playchild.com

[Jessica Boucher]

We found poof balls at the second store we checked, and the Dow just went above 11,000 last week...

It makes me want to call up Jim Cremer and ask him about the effects of Poof Balls on the Dow. Maybe he'll throw a chair or something ;)

[Windwarrior]

We ordered the Poof balls directly from Poof-Slinky at $4 per ball, with a minimum purchase of 48 balls. According to FedEx, they are on a truck and should be here Monday.

You may want to call Poof-Slinky (their number is on their web site) and order directl

According to Peggy, the FIRST liason clerk, P-S has plenty of balls, and there is no shortage.

Hope this helps. :)

[BuddyB309]

Darn! why didn't I invest into poof ball stocks before the kickoff day! (kicking self)

[Billfred]

It makes me want to call up Jim Cremer and ask him about the effects of Poof Balls on the Dow. Maybe he'll throw a chair or something ;)
BOOYAH!

(sorry, had to be said)

[neo]

http://www.poof-slinky.com/catalog/catalog.asp?org=4&prodid=92&catid=42&start=6&action=prov&

theres a notice up for FIRST teams. i'll bet poof is having lots o' fun.