Update on the Orbit Balls

[John Keyzer]

Here is a link to Bill's Blog for those who haven't read it yet.

http://frcdirector.blogspot.com/

Not very encouraging I must say!

[Brandon Holley]

i have to agree...not very encouraging words

with the amount of these that will be on the field during a game, its very disappointing to know we may only have 5 or less to practice with for the entire season.

[rees2001]

Originally Posted by john.keyzer@lz9

Not very encouraging I must say!

Nice catch & thanks for posting.

You would think that somebody would check with the company that makes these & the company that sells these to ensure that there will be enough to cover the teams.

Sounds like a pretty big ooops to me.

[wilsonmw04]

Just to piggy back on this post:
I had a parent do a little checking about the game pieces and here is what she has reported:

I just spoke with a Blip representative and she told me FIRST was going to have something on their website within the next 24 hours in regard to the balls. She also told me they are not discontinued and they are still manufacturing them. She also told me the only store carrying them right now is WalMart. Unfortunately they do not sell them directly to the public.

So I think Bill's Blog is the info on the web. Being an Ex Wal-Mart employee, their ordering system is very streamlined. An employee can order an item and have it in the store in two days if it is stored in the local warehouse. From what I've been told, this item has been removed from their current line of products and cannot be restocked at your local Wal-Mart. This is a big setback to the teams that haven't been lucky enough to grab the last few off the shelves. It's going to be extremely hard to prototype with only one ball. With a supply being 2 weeks out ,(1 week for the site to come up and the 2nd for shipping) I hope a little GP shines through and those lucky enough to have a supply will share with those who don't.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by rees2001

Nice catch & thanks for posting.

You would think that somebody would check with the company that makes these & the company that sells these to ensure that there will be enough to cover the teams.

Sounds like a pretty big ooops to me.

Sounds like an opportunity for others for fundraising for enterprising teams.

[JohnBoucher]

87.77 balls per store. Hmmmmmmm

We only found 4 at 5 different stores. Is that 28,000 number after FIRST has secured enough for competitions?????

[Dave Flowerday]

Originally Posted by JohnBoucher

87.77 balls per store. Hmmmmmmm

We only found 4 at 5 different stores. Is that 28,000 number after FIRST has secured enough for competitions?????

My guess is that Wal-Mart might have 28,000, but probably most of them are in warehouses. I can't imagine these things are normally popular enough to take up the necessary shelf space to have 100 per store.

Sounds like FIRST contacted Wal-Mart and verified the total # available but failed to ask how many are normally kept on-hand in a store.

Also, it's possible they may have a smaller quantity in-store now than they would have in the summertime.

[Rich Kressly]

Originally Posted by JohnBoucher

87.77 balls per store. Hmmmmmmm

We only found 4 at 5 different stores. Is that 28,000 number after FIRST has secured enough for competitions?????

I'd doubt it John. Five Walmarts for our team - we found two balls, but one of them was so broken it wasn't even worth purchasing. I'm still waiting to hear back from a few other Philly area teams, but the report isn't great. We have two balls total and I don't anticipate finding any more before we might get our hands on a few from FIRST.

[BandChick]

The Cokeley family, on their drive home from Manchester, stopped at EVERY Walmart between Massachusetts and Connecticut - and found ZERO balls.

We, at our local Walmart, however, found 6. Being gracious, we bought 3, and saved 3 for our neighboring Allentown team. We also made sure to leave the chance of balls at the Hamilton Walmart for the teams out there in Hamilton.

I hope teams who come across this will remember to have the same principles!

[JohnBoucher]

Originally Posted by Rich Kressly

I'd doubt it John. Five Walmarts for our team - we found two balls, but one of them was so broken it wasn't even worth purchasing. I'm still waiting to hear back from a few other Philly area teams, but the report isn't great. We have two balls total and I don't anticipate finding any more before we might gets our hands on a few from FIRST.

Exactly my point. There must be a few Walmarts with quite a few. Once we find them, teams can get them.

FYI We bought the broken ones also. I predict that the majority of balls on the field will have one or more hoops broken.

[Ryan Albright]

You are also forgetting overhead. Have to account the ones that were stolen by customers/employees and the ones that are broken in store and thrown away without being accounted for.

[Elgin Clock]

Originally Posted by JohnBoucher

Exactly my point. There must be a few Walmarts with quite a few. Once we find them, teams can get them.

A friend told me Wyoming Walmarts had more than a fair share of them in stock.
Road trip???

Btw, I hate that Bill used blogspot, since that site is blocked at work.
Can someone copy/paste the contents of the message here?

[BandChick]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

Can someone copy/paste the contents of the message here?

Here you are Señor.

Direct from Bill's Blog:
http://frcdirector.blogspot.com/2009...oure-busy.html

Originally Posted by Bill's Blog

Monday, January 5, 2009
I know you're busy
Good Morning Teams,

We had a successful Kickoff and I know you’re busy with robot design, but there are two quick items I want to bring to your attention.

The game pieces were chosen this year with the expectation that they would be readily available to teams from WalMart. Unfortunately we recently learned that WalMart only has this item in limited quantities. We’ve been told there are 28,000 pieces available in 319 WalMart stores, but it would be a good idea to go check the shelves of your local store sooner rather than later as these will probably go quickly. WalMart calls the game pieces “Orbit Balls” and unfortunately, they’re not available on the WalMart website. FIRST headquarters plans to have some available for sale, hopefully by next week. I’ll share the details as soon as they are firm.

Also, I suggested in an earlier blog post that you apply hook tape to the bottom of your operator console. Now I can explain why. There’s a good chance this year that robots will slide into the driver station wall hard enough to knock your operator console to the floor. We’ve installed loop tape on the driver station shelf to help you keep your equipment secure.

52 days until the Regional Events begin
See you then!

[JohnBoucher]

Originally Posted by Elgin Clock

A friend told me Wyoming Walmarts had more than a fair share of them in stock.
Road trip???

Btw, I hate that Bill used blogspot, since that site is blocked at work.
Can someone copy/paste the contents of the message here?

That's a start. If you cannot find any call Walmart in Wyoming.

[Rich Kressly]

Originally Posted by Dave Flowerday

My guess is that Wal-Mart might have 28,000, but probably most of them are in warehouses. I can't imagine these things are normally popular enough to take up the necessary shelf space to have 100 per store.

Sounds like FIRST contacted Wal-Mart and verified the total # available but failed to ask how many are normally kept on-hand in a store.

Also, it's possible they may have a smaller quantity in-store now than they would have in the summertime.

Interesting point. Here's some info on Walmart's distribution centers:
http://walmartstores.com/AboutUs/779...FQZqswodMDorDQ

I can't find a list of those centers, however. Can anyone find a link I can't find? Is there a nice/sane/proper way of finding out/shaking loose any product that might be in these places?