pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

I can already tell that by week six, there will be more chewed balls than clean balls...

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

Cool. Does anyone if there is any place to buy these basketballs besides through the manufacturer?

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

We are expecting this to happen also. Due to this it was nice that we received 3 balls in the KOP. Although because they will get trashed easily we have already ordered 6 extra balls though AndyMark.

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

If you look at the manufacturer's website it actually says they have none in stock currently. We ordered them about an hour ago from AndyMark.

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

They are about the same price too. Does anyone think these specific ones will be available locally in stores like Wal-Mart, Dick's Sporting Goods, etc.?

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

In Aim High our initial shooter designs shredded balls like crazy. When FIRST insisted that shredding balls was not allowed, I thought it would be impossible to shoot balls.

We kept working at it, however, and by using the right wheels and compression factor, came up with a full pan/tilt turret design that could hit from half court without harming the balls.

I don't expect much ball shredding this year... but will add that while we were very pleased with having a full pan/tilt turrent, we got our butts whipped by teams with simpler designs that could score rapdily at shorter ranges.

Were I playing this game I would look at keeping the shooter mechanism fairly simple and taking the time to work on the ball pickup/feeding process to make it 100% reliable.

Cool game!

Jason

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

We have already checked local Target and Wal-Mart stores with no luck. So we just broke down and ordered them through AM.

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

Seems like the only place to find them is through AM and the company itself.

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

Yeah, that's what we have been looking for, and it seems these 2 places are the only places we can find them.

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

A question aside from pricing/ordering...

What are the comparisons from the poof balls in 2006? From the picture I can tell a size difference, but how about weight, compression, stiffness, durability differences?

(I know durability is probably not going to be able to be known on day 1)

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

I still have boxes of brand new Poof balls in the shrink wrap.
When compared with used Poof balls from 2006, the used ones are considerably smaller due to shrinkage from age.

It irritates me to no end that FIRST repeatedly chooses game balls that are hard to find in the US and IMPOSSIBLE to get overseas. Why can't they stick to commonly available balls? We should not all be dependent on AndyMark, and in our case on international express delivery.

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

I just bought 2 direct from the manufacturer's website. $18.96with a flat rate of $5 shipping included in that. Hoping they are the same ones, just without the FIRST & Foot Locker Foundation Logo.


Edit: Just realized the manual actually specifies the ball type.
http://www.gophersport.com/products/...5_f0107_205 6

Currently in stock!

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

Interesting. I ordered about 30 minutes after the kickoff broadcast and it said something like "In Stock Soon" I wouldn't have expected it to change over the weekend. I wonder how many they really have.