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.

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

The have five fewer now....

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

Welcome teams! To the 2012 season of "FRC Game piece becomes Unobtainium for 8 weeks starting in January". We seriously need a game built around tennis balls. I can't see any other game piece (that isnt something like the 2005 tetras) that won't suffer this problem.

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

2008? you got a trackball in the kit... and it wasn't like you could wrangle more than 1...

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

They were ridiculously expensive, as teams that popped theirs found out.

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

patch kits?

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

That didnt help if you wanted to build a full practice field.

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

Getting a full practice field in the kit is asking for a bit much? They have enough for a full robot for free. Surely the practice field can wait?

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

I'm not saying in the kit, I'm saying that FRC Game Pieces for years (except 2005, and arguably 2007/8/11) have become all but impossible to obtain during build season.

In 2003, the sterilite bins were a) expensive, and b) sold out everywhere
In 2004, the balls became difficult to find
In 2005, the tetras were built by the teams from easily obtained materials
In 2006, the poof balls became unavailable
In 2007, the tubes were only available from Logoloc, and IIRC were sold out for much of build season
In 2008, the trackballs were extremely expensive
In 2009, the orbit balls were out of manufacture during build, and FRC teams bought out all of Wal-Mart's stock. It was a serious enough situation that some enterprising teams went to the trouble of building some balls of a similar construction and sold them to other teams.
In 2010, the soccer balls were sold out, worldwide.
In 2011, we had custom-made game pieces only available thru AM (IIRC), though I think they were in stock throughout build.

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

I placed an order with Gopher Sport around 12:30 PM Saturday when the balls were in stock and got this e-mail from them this afternoon (3 days later):

Has anyone else who ordered from Gopher Sport get the same reply? Looks like we're back to another game piece only available through AndyMark.

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

Not yet... And if I do I'll be very disappointed.
Not a good way to run a business if you say you have stock, then take that statement back 3 days later.

How many did you try to order?

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

We ordered 6 balls @6.98 + shipping for $49.00.

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

I got an invoice that states 5 items shipped, 0 items back ordered.

I guess I'll see if they show up in the mail.

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

I haven't gotten an invoice yet, just that order confirmation from Sunday so far... No tracking number saying they shipped my 2 yet either though.

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

For anyone else out there waiting to hear from Gopher, don't bother, they are out of stock and not getting any more. I called this morning after not hearing from them all week. I also placed my order around 12:30 on Saturday when it was listed as in stock. They got so many orders that they haven't been able to contact people that have placed orders with them to tell them that they will not be getting their supplies. My new favorite phrase is TGAM - Thank God for AndyMark!

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

It's time to start looking for bootlegs! :)

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

So the remaining question then, is can we buy out AndyMark's supply?

There's obviously a finite amount there. Is it appreciably big enough to supply the needs of all FRC teams?

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

I just called Gopher as well to verify that we weren't charged. Their e-mail stated the item was discontinued but never said they cancelled the order. Gopher verified our order had been cancelled and apologized for a "website issue" that caused the balls to show as "In Stock."

The foam basketballs are now nowhere to be found on the Gopher website.

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

I guess I won the lottery!

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

Thats amazing! I'm assuming from your previous post that you placed your order on January 9?

I find it strange that my order from January 7 was cancelled. Maybe Gopher processes their orders in backwards order? At least AndyMark still has them in stock.

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

Backwards indeed... Squirrel only ordered his 5 after I posted saying I ordered my 2, & I just TODAY got the out of stock/not sending you an order type e-mail.
Unless, as opposed to backwards fulfillment of orders, they just fulfilled larger orders to get the most money without losing out on shipping. Either way... What a bunch of.... Well, you know. :(

Re: pic: Basketball vs 2006 Poof Ball
 

Do your Gopher balls function the same as the ones included in the KOP, meaning are they the same size, density and weight? The ones that we ordered from Gopher are heavier and more dense.