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Date: 23 Dec 2006 19:48:39
From:
Subject: So I'm reading this months edition of Bowlers Journal
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and I see an ad on the inside cover of the front page.
Buy an Elite Blue Alien ball and get another ball from another
manufacturer free from Bowlersparadise.com
Ok..kewl I say to myself. I can get an Alien *and*, say..an Ebonite
Infinite One?
Yup.
Only one catch.
A freakin Blue Alien is $285! *before* drilling!
Holy Brunswick Quantum Batman!
Thanks, no thanks. I don't even know anyone who's thrown
an Alien..much less a blue one for $285. *snort*.
The full details of their offer is here:
www.bowlersparadise.com
So here's the specific page where the, (pardon the pun), Alien Balls
are displayed:
http://www.bowlersparadise.com/shop/balls/elite/
-aki
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Date: 27 Dec 2006 19:16:53
From: Mark
Subject: Re: So I'm reading this months edition of Bowlers Journal
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max@dontspam.me wrote:
> that's as bad as then Brunswick's Quantums when they thought they
> could force the market to pay a higher standard price for high end
> equipment.
>
> Didn't work then, isn't working now.
Actually, It did work but probably not as well as B*wick wanted it to.
With the Quantums, Brunswick created the "premium" ball niche, a second
brand for their balls and demonstrated that some portion of the market
would pay higher prices for bowling balls if there was a perceived
performance advantage. I say perceived because I threw all of the early
Quantums when they came out (brown, blue, green) and while they were
good, they were not worth the price differential. The result, however,
is we now have ball prices spread from high two digits into the 250
range. Before Quantums (BQ) there was really only one price level for
top equipment.
The other thing Quantums did was push prices up in general for high
quality balls. When the Quantums first appeared you could get a teal
rhino or equivalent for about $80 wholesale. Not long After Quantums
(AQ) the wholesale prices for balls like the rhinos started pushing
$100. When the Zones came out a few years later prices were up in the
$110 range. Cost of goods to the manufacturer did not change at the
same rate at that time so it was pure profit.
Let me offer a second example of where premium pricing works...sort of.
Lane #1 equipment was made by Brunswick for years and is currently
being produced by C300. If you go online to any of the big resellers
and sort their offerings by price you'll find Lane #1 equipment priced
$30 - $50 more than premimum equipment from the big manufacturers.
There is nothing special about Lane#1 but plenty of folks believe that
Lane #1 stuff is worth a premium over equipment from the majors and pay
that premium to throw this gear. The Alien guys were trying the same
trick but I don't think it's working out as I've yet to see one in use.
Having drilled, sold and personally used equipment from pretty much
every manufacturer in the 1990s, I believe that all the majors do a
great job designing and producing bowling balls. It's not rocket
science but it is interesting physics and chemistry. Presently I throw
Roto Grip which comes out of the Storm factory. While Roto has a few
premium balls available, the majority of their gear sells for 80-100
bucks. It's as good as anything else out there and offers excellent
performance for the dollar. Most all of the majors offer similar high
quality mid-cost gear but Roto really has nailed this segment IMO. Only
thing that will get me to throw something else (and perhaps pay a bit
more) is the next black Hammer, Hammer 3D offset or Brunswick Axiom
type event where for a brief period of time one company has a real
performace advantage over everyone else. Until then I'll stick with the
lower priced gear from the majors and will probably score just as well
as the next guy.
And with all that, I still like the Alien logo :-)
Mark
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Date: 27 Dec 2006 10:11:12
From: Mark
Subject: Re: So I'm reading this months edition of Bowlers Journal
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max@dontspam.me wrote:
> oooooOOOooo! I didn't see that! Then I'll get two. Ain't nothin'
> worse than one ball in a pouch I always say.
Aki, I can think of at least one thing that would be worse...
Back on topic, Alien was a concept that people would over pay for balls
designed for the various PBA conditions. Exactly why Joe League Bowler
(aka guys like us) would over pay for balls designed to be used on
patterns we never see I do not understand. Now, if they had one
designed for a THS they'd be on to something. The logo is cool. Not as
good as the Phantom but pretty good.
Mark
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Date: 27 Dec 2006 19:09:55
From:
Subject: Re: So I'm reading this months edition of Bowlers Journal
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On 27 Dec 2006 10:11:12 -0800, "Mark" <twobowlers@aol.com > graced this
newsgroup with:
>
>max@dontspam.me wrote:
>> oooooOOOooo! I didn't see that! Then I'll get two. Ain't nothin'
>> worse than one ball in a pouch I always say.
>
>Aki, I can think of at least one thing that would be worse...
yeah..NO ball in a pouch..ouch.
>
>Back on topic, Alien was a concept that people would over pay for balls
>designed for the various PBA conditions. Exactly why Joe League Bowler
>(aka guys like us) would over pay for balls designed to be used on
>patterns we never see I do not understand. Now, if they had one
>designed for a THS they'd be on to something. The logo is cool. Not as
>good as the Phantom but pretty good.
>
>Mark
that's as bad as then Brunswick's Quantums when they thought they
could
force the market to pay a higher standard price for high end
equipment.
Didn't work then, isn't working now.
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Date: 24 Dec 2006 11:03:00
From: Mark
Subject: Re: So I'm reading this months edition of Bowlers Journal
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max@dontspam.me wrote:
> Thanks, no thanks.
The price does include a spiffy Alien/Elite ball pouch.
Mark
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Date: 24 Dec 2006 16:23:51
From:
Subject: Re: So I'm reading this months edition of Bowlers Journal
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On 24 Dec 2006 11:03:00 -0800, "Mark" <twobowlers@aol.com > graced this
newsgroup with:
>
>max@dontspam.me wrote:
>> Thanks, no thanks.
>
>The price does include a spiffy Alien/Elite ball pouch.
>
>Mark
oooooOOOooo! I didn't see that! Then I'll get two. Ain't nothin'
worse than one ball in a pouch I always say.
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Date: 24 Dec 2006 02:28:50
From: Kingpin
Subject: Re: So I'm reading this months edition of Bowlers Journal
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Wow! I hope that could be an error!!!
I've seen the other elite balls, and the price is 189$....
Ciao! ----- > Vitto <-----
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