Poof Ball?

[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]

Originally Posted by Sgt_Pepper

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

Link

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

[Ricky Q.]

Originally Posted by GW (Greg) Ross

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 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 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 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]

Originally Posted by DCA Fan

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]

Originally Posted by atomikitten

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]

Originally Posted by GW (Greg) Ross

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

$7.50 now.

http://www.playchild.com/catalog/pro...oducts_id=1714

Originally Posted by 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.

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

Originally Posted by atomikitten

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]

Originally Posted by dhitchco

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!!!