In the first part of this series, I nominated the Calvin as the 10th most earth-shattering Myachi in Myachi history. Some have accused me of playing favorites and it is a charge that I won't deny entirely. The good news is that i got my favorite Myachi out of the way early so at least I can remain relatively objective on the next 9.
My next nominee on the list is one that most people might not expect to see. It is one of the most common Myachis in the world and since it is still widely available, few people think about it as being exceptional in any way. But when it first arrived on the Myachi world, it was an instant game changer:
#9) The Cherry Red
The Cherry Red traces it's history back to the earliest days of Myachi. It was included in the first ever "Made in China" run and is still available in the old-school DVD Combo pack along with the Midnight Blue. This sack is so common that many people consider it the "generic" Myachi and on the Hall of Fame, its various iterations range in Trade Value from 10 to 99. It is also one of the few sacks that is available (to a really determined collector) with no loops, a keychain loop and a power loop.
Clearly, there are a lot of things about the Cherry Red that make it unique, but nothing I've said so far makes it influential, and that's the theme of this whole series. So rather than focusing on what makes it an unusual sack now, we need to instead go all the way back and look at what made it unusual when in first arrived on the scene back in 2002.
There were felt sacks before the Cherry Red, but their fabrics were quite a bit different. The Blue, Black and Purple Velveteen all shared a similar feel to the modern Phelvits, but they are unmistakably different. The Velveteens were more coarse and thus had better grip right away, but it also made them harder to break in and less likely to fold over even once they were totally yummified.
The Cherry Red was different. It broke in much quicker and even though it was a bit slicker on the hand and thus a bit tougher to do centrifugals with, it was far easier for aerial tricks, foot stalls, finger tricks and high body stalls. What's more, the coarser fabric we'd used before was only available in dark, muted colors. The treatment process of the fabric itself would not allow for bright, vibrant colors to be maintained.
The Phelvit fabric was a different matter altogether and thus it ushered in a whole host of new Myachis including the Midnight Blue, the Juice, the Sour Apple Green, the Eggplant and all the QSPs. The Hunter Green, which predated the Cherry Red in a paper tag and Made in Mexico form was reworked in the new Phelvit fabric as well and given a new lease on life when the older fabric became unavailable. It also became the new standard for promotional sacks and would remain so until it was overtaken by the Microsuedes (which would, in turn, be taken over by the Pakistani Suedes).
Many jammers today consider the Phelvit to be an antiquated fabric and the recent run of sacks would tend to back them up on that. We've found a number of fabrics since then that have taken the place of the Phelvits and most of the determined defenders of the Phelvits are people who have been in the game for quite some time. It's easy to underestimate the importance of the new fabric now, as we look back at it through the lens of hindsight. But in its day, the Cherry Red was a monumental step forward in the evolution of the Myachi and thus earns the ninth spot on my list of the most earth-shattering Myachis of all time.
Keep checking back with us to see the other 8 nominees...
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