CFG Update

I haven't written here in awhile. My Flippin Discs hat and my CFG hat have commingled and kept me very busy this year. So I decided to cross streams again with a recap of sorts and an update...kind of.

What a long, strange trip it's been

As we approach the holiday season, I wanted to give you an update, and I apologize in advance for a long post with no pictures. First, we’d like to thank our local players as well as any visitors to the area who have supported us during a very long 2020 and what has been an expedited 2021. I didn’t have time to do a mid-year update on sales as I had planned, but I might try to get to that during the next week or so. Here’s where we’re at, and what’s coming for the remainder of the year from us, and your favorite brands.

Innova

We order every other week from Innova. The East Coast warehouse limit is 25 discs per mold available (lately, about 4 different molds in one type of plastic.) The last delivery included a Champion I-Dye selection that was simply an assortment of whatever they had produced and decided to send, based on the quantity we ordered (max allowed.) The West Coast warehouse takes longer to get here and we’re limited by total disc count, which we have maxed out to the best of our ability from what is available.

We have supplemented gaps and continued to add special editions from Innova Factory Store. While these do cost a few dollars more, it is less expensive when compared to shipping cost individually, and often you would not be able to select a color like you can in our store. We’ve prepped for glow season by ordering anything we can get our hands on, and our selection is solid a present.

Discraft

We’ve completed cycle 9 (not including the Tour Series shipment) and we’re still receiving whatever 100 discs that Discraft ships to us every 2-3 weeks. I never have any notice of what will arrive, although I have been getting about a half-day or day’s hint from time to time when a new disc might appear. New discs, like the First Run Scorch and Big Z Malta, did not count against our 100, so we weren’t shorted any regular stock runs at the expense of getting the new stuff.

Normally, we’re ordering the Halloween Buzzzs this time of year, but we’ll be at the mercy of Discraft for whatever they have planned for us. Overall, despite the new process, it’s at least helped us to maintain sales of the brand even though we couldn’t order outside of a couple of shipments of accessories. We won’t do any more live “Retail Mystery Box” openings for now, but we’ll still go live on Facebook, after we’ve stocked the rack.

MVP/Axiom/Streamline

We’ve run the gamut of pre-orders, limits, some unlimited disc orders and restock dumps throughout the year. MVP also opened up the Pro Shop for stores, which allowed us to order a dealer pack of the Bendy James Volt, which was great for all of you and us in being able to provide that opportunity. We’re still waiting on several orders to ship, including GYROpolooza Player Packs with a couple of exclusives only available through this pack, and Eclipse Insanity SE for Halloween, plus more goodies.

Dynamic Discs/Latitude 64/Westside

We’ve really gone after whatever discs become available from Dynamic. Westside, which was anemic for quite some time, has a nice selection of molds on the rack for us now. We’ve bulked up where possible and haven’t encountered any real limit restrictions that would hamper our ability to get plastic for you. New releases, special editions, Tour Series…if it was made available to us, we got it. We have some glow plastic and will get more soon as we prepare for the off-season.

Those restocks dropping at what was supposed to be 6 am Central and turned out to be available at 6 am Eastern, really worked me pretty hard. I’m not a morning person, but I want stuff and you want stuff, and not every shot hits the fairway, so you have to be ready to scramble when necessary. You can stay tuned to Dynamic Discs Release Calendar to see what’s coming next from them…and us.

Discmania

They’ve emerged from Innova’s shadow, pairing with Yikun and Latitude 64 for the Active and Evolution Lines, respectively, to provide some great discs for lots of players. The partnership with Latitude 64 has been particularly fruitful, helping them establish their own production facility which ultimately led to the P2 finally becoming available once again (which we still have a few of.)

While Discmania has only made many special editions and Primal run discs available through their own online store, we’ve been encouraged by their engagement with dealers throughout this process. The Tilt was amazing. New discs from Perkins, Montgomery and others may not be available locally, but we hold out hope that the next Razor Claw may be something we can have again. By the way, the new MD3s should be coming soon.

Prodigy

The new website for dealers has made it easier to navigate for ordering, but availability of some discs has been less than what we had hoped given what other manufacturers have done. The rack remains full as we went after Signature Series discs and Ace Line molds (including glow.) We’re committed to finding whatever you want to throw, working every day to make that happen.

AGL (Above Ground Level Discs)

When the rack became sparse during the onset of the Pandemic, we looked for more options, willing to try something new. With sponsorship of several players in the Carolinas, we established ourselves with AGL Discs (produced by Gateway.) While the restocks have been small and ordering has been highly competitive, we will work to get more of this product for you to check out. Their customer service rivals Dynamic and they are very friendly, with a unique perspective.

Zuca, Bushnell, and Grip Eq, Birdie!?

As Disc Golf exploded and in-store events ceased, we took full advantage of our space to give you a showroom for lots of Backpacks…and Zuca carts. The end goal is to move toward special orders and maintain a couple Transit Carts and LG Backpacks Carts in the building for those “grab-and-go” opportunities. Accessories for those products will continue on our packed out accessories wall. Feel free to message us or talk to staff if you are looking for something particular. We’re checking inventory constantly so you don’t have to sit in front a computer every day waiting for items to restock.

Adding the Bushnell Rangefinder (and Bluetooth Speakers) was a no-brainer to accentuate the disc golf game of our local players. Getting set up was another story, as emails and phone contacts took 6 months to get those in the display case up front. We have pull cards on the accessories wall and hopefully will have enough to get through the holidays.

Grip Eq also had issues with maintaining inventory. Recently, they revamped their dealer program which is similar to what Discraft is doing, with more transparency. We normally don’t stock a ton of their backpacks, ordering for the holidays, and then a few bags linger. Be looking for the New Grip Eq products coming soon, but given supply chain concerns, if you see it, you better grab it, especially if you want it before Christmas.

We backed Birdie! The Disc Golf Board Game on Kickstarter. Backed the expansion too, with 2 more courses to play the game. Birdie! 2.0 is in the works, so be on the lookout for that one.

Wrap-up

That’s what has been going on here in a nutshell. I will follow-up with my usual restock posts on Facebook through our Cape Fear Games Disc Golf group. I don’t always post everything, but I do focus on restocks if we had run out or if the delivery is something fresh. I will try to highlight items for Glow Season, as it approaches quickly.

I will also try to give some more advance notice about things that are coming with each brand. Given shipping concerns during this time (boxes split on deliveries within the same shipment, missing items, out of stocks when our order is pulled and delayed releases, or whatever) I only feel confident when I have items in hand and everything has been verified. So, if you think that I spring these wonderful things on you, I apologize, but I would rather you be excited than disappointed…like ending up with me as your doubles partner. You know who you all are.

I want to take this time to thank all of the amazing management and staff here at CFG, who let me do my thing and allow me to make disc golf my focus. It’s a teamwork thing. And our team is more visible than it has ever been in the disc golf community, not just in the store, but on the course, playing alongside you in tournaments, monthlies, and winning the Leland Open or something like that. (Right. Like I wasn’t going to work that in to see if you were paying attention.) There are more staff who play the game as well. So they understand your excitement, and sometimes, frustration. But we’re all here for you.

Grab some friends. Go play. Grow the sport. Come see us at Cape Fear Games!