Re: Source for Orbit Ball
 

Haha, the only balls I could find were hidden and mislabeled in the back storage of a WalMart 80 miles north of me in the mountains.

What a debacle.

Re: Source for Orbit Ball
 

http://www.logoloc.com/first/

top right corner of webpage

Re: Source for Orbit Ball
 

The first clue was a moon fish.

The leak would have been "FIRST announces commitment to buy 28000 POOF Orbit balls".

We already had a 50/50 bet that it would be something to do with balls this year. That would have narrowed it down the manipulation to do something with a ton of holes in it.

Either way: I'll say it again- Give me the opportunity to 'pre-buy' game pieces, tell me how many, don't tell me what they are, and let me give you a CC to ship them out. I'll spend an extra 100$ if it means I don't have to waste 3 hours calling and driving all over God's Country to find something that was made in China and sold at our local WalMart.

Re: Source for Orbit Ball
 

Team 2102 has managed to obtain 18 so far target seems to have them but they are never on the selves walmart can't keep track of there items and i refuse to go to anymore walmarts. we wenty to a total of 10 just to find the ones we did.
*gets down on his knees and thanks the gods for the "Wild Time Orbit Balls" they found*

Re: Source for Orbit Ball
 

i knew first was going to be working on this... btw umm karen in canada seems to be doing a bulk order i guess when they are available. I just got my teacher to make a call to her and see wether or not we can get them from her... cus nowhere down here in toronto has them so far...

Re: Source for Orbit Ball
 

To all First competitors,

I would like to take this opportunity to clarify many of the rumors regarding the Blip Toys Orbit Ball. At this time Blip Toys does not have any stock of the Orbit Ball to sell to competitors directly. First has purchased extra units for the competition and has informed us additional balls we will be sold via their website in the next 24 hours. To date Walmart has been the only retailer to carry the Orbit Ball and has elected to not purchase the ball for the upcoming spring season. All remaining orbit balls through Walmart are available in their stores and are being sold on clearance. They were not offered by Walmart via their website or in any other countries. Our analysis shows around 14,000 pieces throughout their stores across the U.S.

Customer Service
Blip Toys

Re: Source for Orbit Ball
 

After searching about 4 walmarts, 2 targets and a toys r us, we found 3. Between 1468 and 353 there are now 5 orbit balls. After calling Blip and FIRST this is what we've found out. Blip is not selling them to stores right now to stock up for FIRST. If you check out the FIRST e-mail blast it mentions a Q&A on wednesday at noon. THAT is where the info will be released on how to get these balls. FIRST will be selling them and it will be possible to get more than the 2-3 many of us have been finding. :D

Source for Orbit Ball, WallMart SKU
 

I found one at a local WallMart....

Manager did a SKU check and found me a bunch at a few other local stores...

SKU is 6583 8282 040 call customer service and ask them to do a check...

A lot of them were broken on the shelf, got them for $5 each...


tom lafleur
mentor team 812

Re: Source for Orbit Ball
 

This shows that maybe with FIRST expanding into more countries the game designers need to check that playing pieces / field parts are available in all competing countries.

We don't have Walmarts in New Zealand. Also a google search failed to show anyone in NZ selling the field material. There maybe an equivalent but it will take a lot of time to find a suitable one.

So maybe in the future once the GDC have worked out what is needed for the field and pieces they could contact a FIRST rep in each country to confirm the item or exact equivalent is available. So on kickoff day a list of all equivalent parts are in the manual. The FIRST rep would have to be signed to a confidentiality clause.

How are the teams in Israel / England / Germany doing at getting the field floor and game ball?

Some years depending on the game it might not be so critical but the field for this year definitely is.

Any thoughts?

Re: Source for Orbit Ball
 

Make your own game pieces (white paper comming soon in another thread)

drive on some slick plastic that you have in your bathrooms or commercial kitchens or any other slick surface

other then that good luck,

Re: Source for Orbit Ball
 

I feel for you. I sense that this problem has been consistently overlooked in the past few years.

Re: Source for Orbit Ball
 

Well, we have multiple problems this year.

1. The crater flooring is a problem. if we would have gotten a sample in the kit we would know if we have anything compatible here, but we didn't.
   (just got off the phone with our regional director, she ordered a sample and will find a solution for the Israeli teams <-- she's awesome if you didn't notice :) )
2. Orbit balls are a problem. the poof balls were available for purchase online in 2006 so that the shipping was a killer, but at least we had balls. we're looking into where to get these as well, because we don't think FIRST is going around wallmarts and buying up 5 or 6 at a time for the regionals.
3. Bimba cylinders were also a problem, but our regional director solved that a long time ago: she contacted bimba and made sure that they pool all the israeli orders and ship them once a week. she takes care of customs and distributing to the teams. (did I mention she's awesome?)
4. Any team can do an AndyMark order on their own if they want to, but again shipping and customs are a hassle and time wasters. we pool andymark orders twice a week and Alisha (our regional director) takes care of that as well.
5. In the past IFI orders were also pooled.
6. Also FIRST has special rules in place for international teams which in general state that if you can not get the exact part which is allowed in the KOP you are allowed an identical part from a different manufacturer. I think this mostly applies to pneumatic cylinders which have the same dimensions across multiple manufacturers, and yet teams are restricted to bimba cylinders.

It isn't as easy as it is in the states - but we don't do this stuff because it's easy...

That's all I can think of at the moment. let me know if there is something else you had in mind.

-Leav

Re: Source for Orbit Ball
 

After searching all the major toy shops in London and outside, we have found nothing.:mad: We're getting some shipped over from the states by our former mentor and we will be buying from FIRSt when it is available. For the flooring, we've order some PTFE sheets as it's the closest thing we could find. We're gonna wrap some old wheels with teflon tape as our KOP has not arrived yet.:mad:

Re: Source for Orbit Ball
 

I'm just wondering if melamine sheets would be close to what the surface is like? or is that what people are meaning when they say the stuff on the walls in bathrooms? if so there seems to be plenty of suppliers in New Zealand selling the stuff. Also yea by the looks of it we can easily make the balls out of polycarbonate and access to a table saw which I'm sure everyone here will be able to get access to. (i already have a stockpile of polycarbonate that will be perfect for making the balls lying around at home) :)

Tim

Re: Source for Orbit Ball
 

FYI, if you're referring to the "2009 Game Kits" link, then you are mistaken, since that is for the FTC competition, not FRC.
I'm sure when Orbit balls are available, they will have a nice big Orbit ball picture on the main page with a link to how to get them.