by Crazy Ivan
I've written about this phenomenon before and I've gone through it plenty in my near-decade as a Myachi Master, but that doesn't make it any easier. The question that I'm asking myself now is one that many a Myachi collector has asked themselves over and over again. To jam or not to jam?
The subjects of this question right now are two brand new belts, one black and one green. One of the advantages to being married to the woman who controls the Myachi vault is that I get all the newest releases on the day of their release. I should mention here that as awesome a person as Pinky is, this is only one of an unfathomably large number of advantages to being married to her. But that's kind of off subject...
So back to these two pristine Belts that are sitting on my coffee table. They're in little plastic baggies that protect them from all the harmful elements in the room (mostly my cats) and have been for about a couple of weeks. I've taken them out a couple of times to get a feel for the fabric and I jammed with the green belt for a few seconds to get a taste of the fabric, but with those exceptions, they haven't been outside their baggies.
In a sense, that seems criminal. By now I could have both of them nice and yummy and well on their way to SUMPOY. I've jammed with two of the new Black Belts that were completely broken in and they were as delicious as any Pakisack I've ever jammed with, so I know what the potential is here. But despite that, I still haven't jammed with them.
The reason is obvious to any collector. These Myachis are mad rare. We made fewer than 100 of each so I'm not going to get a chance to get any more. I still have mint condition samples of all three of the old Belts in my collection (along with a mint Golden Nugget) and when I add in these two, I will probably have the only collection of all 5 Belts in mint condition anywhere in the world. So how could I jam with them?
I should admit that for me, this question isn't as pressing as it is for some. I've got hundreds and hundreds of Myachis in my collection so I've got plenty of other really broken-in sacks to jam with whenever I want. I even have a second old-school Black Belt that is yummy beyond belief. So there's no real need to break these in, despite the temptations to the contrary. But I know that many others with smaller but still respectable collections are currently dealing with this same issue. And for them there isn't an option to just jam with their other broken in Black Belt.
To a certain degree, every Myachi collector deals with this every time they add a new Myachi to their collection. Ideally, my collection would consist of two of everything so I could keep one in mint condition and have another one that was insanely yummy. But even a Myachi Master can't realistically pull that off.
In the end, I'll be keeping my Belts in their bags and as criminal as it seems to keep such incredible potential locked up, it's easy for me to justify. I remember when the old Belts were the new Belts. Back then I was faced with this same dilemma and I chose not to break in my set. I did get a hold of another Black Belt along the way, but even if I hadn't, I wouldn't regret the decision. Not many people in the game today have ever seen a mint condition White Belt unless they've seen mine.
Showing posts with label collecting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label collecting. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Monday, April 9, 2012
Where Can I Buy Rare Myachis?
by Crazy Ivan
First, let me throw out a quick apology to my regular readers. I won't be presenting much in the way of new information in this particular post, so if you've been reading this blog for a while, I'm just going to spend the next few paragraphs telling you stuff that you already know.
My goal with this post is actually to draw in new readers. My hope is that this blog will show up near the top of the page whenever people Google "Where can I find rare Myachis?" or "Where can I buy rare Myachis?". This is, after all, the single most common question on our Facebook page, our forum, my in-box, my private messages and on Twitter. People always want to know where they can find rare Myachis.
Of course, there are really only two reliable places; E-Bay and Myachi Maniacs. Maniacs will often have tradable rare and semi-rare sacks and when old collectors whittle down their collections, they usually offer a few up on E-Bay. These are the only consistent ways to find rare Myachis. But generally, the people who ask this question aren't satisfied by that answer.
There is another option, of course, but it's difficult, time-consuming and has no guarantee of success. I'll get to that in a minute, but before I do, let me present two facts that will seem stupidly self-evident, but which still must be addressed:
#1) Rare Myachis are rare.
#2) The rarer a Myachi is, the rarer that Myachi is.
Again, I apologize if it seems like I'm being silly or pedantic, but that it seems that a lot of people don't fully understand that. The term "rare Myachi" gets throw around as though it were simply a type of Myachi, rather than a distinction of availability.
The point is that if there were some website where one could simply go and purchase rare Myachis, they wouldn't be rare. They would be currently available on some website. If there was a store that sold rare Myachis, they wouldn't really be rare... they would be available at that store.
Rare Myachis are rare specifically because there isn't a store or a website where you can buy them. And if you're lucky enough to find a website that has retired Myachis, odds are pretty good that they'll be, at best, semi-rare.
All Myachis are made in limited editions. For example, in the current 5.2 series, there are exactly 4,200 of each type of Myachi. There are 4,200 Gr8ful Shred Blacks, 4,200 Comic Cammos, 4,200 Red Dragons, etc. There are 12 types of Myachi in the series, which means that in total , there are 50,400 Myachis in the series.
Once all those sell out, they're gone. We won't make any more 5.2s so if you didn't get a Comic Cammo then, you're not going to easily find one.
Of course, once Myachi sells out of the 5.2s, they won't automatically become rare. We sell most of our Myachis to stores rather than to individual collectors, so after Myachi runs out as a company, there will still be hundreds of stores all over the world that still have 5.2s for sale. Depending on how quickly Myachis sell out of each store, they might still be available for 3-6 months after we're sold out on our website.
After that, the 5.2 series will be "Semi-rare". That's a distinction we put on a series that is, for the most part, sold out in all stores. But it is still widely available to collectors because pretty much everyone has one in their collection and it's not old enough to be a prized sack. So if you want, for example, a Hot Lava Yellow, you'll probably still be able to get one even if most stores have sold it out.
But if you fast forward a couple of years, it will be a heck of a lot harder to find that particular Myachi. The Hot Lava Yellow would have sold out of stores years earlier and the only ones that would still be around would be sitting in people's collections. By then it would be a pretty rare Myachi so Maniacs wouldn't want to give it up for nothing. If you had your heart set on a Hot Lava Yellow in 2015, your only real options would be to find a collector with one he or she would trade or sell, or keep a close eye on auction sites with hopes that one will come available.
So if you look backwards along the Myachi timeline, you can see sacks at all different strata of rarity. If you want a Night Rider (a 5.0), you're going to have some trouble finding it. It's already sold out of stores, but there might be one available through some online retailer that hasn't been selling a lot of Myachis lately. Heck, there might even be some stores in less Myachi-dense areas that still have the whole 5.0 series available.
If you're desire was a Rolling Thunder (a 4.2), it's probably too late to happen upon it in a store or on a website. This series was sold out years ago and now the only ones in existence are probably the ones in people's collections. Keep in mind that for non-collectors, Myachis get lost constantly. You toss one too high, it gets caught in a tree and you're out of luck. The older a Myachi is, the more of them that will have been lost to trees, gutters, elevator shafts, dogs, really messy bedrooms, rooftops, large bodies of water and other various booby traps that litter the world when you play a lot of Myachi.
The further back you go, of course, the harder each sack is to find. And everybody who is looking for rare Myachis is looking for really rare Myachis. People are always coming in asking me where they can find a White Belt or a Slick Black Leather or a Hunter Green Paper Tag. And I have to simply shrug. There were only 85 White Belts ever made and that was in 2006. It's estimated that by now only about 50 or 60 of them are still around and virtually all of those are in the hands of pretty serious Myachi collectors. There is absolutely no chance that you will ever find a White Belt for sale in a store. And odds are pretty good that if anybody has decided to sell one, it's somebody who knows exactly how rare it is.
So to bring this whole thing full circle, rare Myachis are rare and extremely rare Myachis are extremely rare. There is no easy way to find a particular rare Myachi you're looking for and there's probably no cheap way to buy it.
But there are two other ways one can obtain rare Myachis. One is to hunt. The hunt can be fun, but it takes a lot of time. There are a few small stores that buy Myachis once at a trade show or something then take them home to some town where nobody knows what a Myachi is. These stores will sit on them for a really long time. Now, most stores won't let anything sit on their shelves for years. So if the Myachis don't sell for a long enough period, they'll give them away as a "free gift with purchase" or they'll donate them to a Christmas Toy Drive or something like that. But every once in a while, they'll hold on to them. And every once in a while you can find those stores.
The odds are overwhelmingly against you. You can pick through our store locator and try to find some of the older entries. You can call around and research locally owned stores online. You can focus in on historic Myachi hot-spots like Virginia Beach; Ocean City, Maryland; Gatlinburg, Tennessee; Cocoa Beach, Florida; Dallas, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia and, of course, New York, New York. You can keep your eyes peeled every time you travel and go into as many independent toy and hobby stores you can find and eventually, with a lot of persistence and a little luck, you may come across an absolute gem.
Of course, it's more likely that you'll come across a bunch of semi-rare sacks from a few series ago, but picking up a bunch of those will give you great trade material to pick up an even older sack from a collector. Two 4.2s could probably net you a 4.0 and a 4.0 plus two more 4.2s will likely earn you a 3.1. So if you decide to go the hunting route, it's best to be ready to pick up whatever you find. Don't go looking specifically for a Red Beard, but rather, get to know your series and simply look for older Myachis.
There's a second method that requires a lot more time and a lot less effort. I only mention it because when I explain how difficult it is to build a collection of rare Myachis, people always want to know how I managed it. After all, I have one of the biggest collections of old Myachis in the world. How did I get all my rare Myachis? Simple. I just got them when they were common.
The second method is simple patience. Any Myachi you get will be rare in time.
First, let me throw out a quick apology to my regular readers. I won't be presenting much in the way of new information in this particular post, so if you've been reading this blog for a while, I'm just going to spend the next few paragraphs telling you stuff that you already know.
My goal with this post is actually to draw in new readers. My hope is that this blog will show up near the top of the page whenever people Google "Where can I find rare Myachis?" or "Where can I buy rare Myachis?". This is, after all, the single most common question on our Facebook page, our forum, my in-box, my private messages and on Twitter. People always want to know where they can find rare Myachis.
Of course, there are really only two reliable places; E-Bay and Myachi Maniacs. Maniacs will often have tradable rare and semi-rare sacks and when old collectors whittle down their collections, they usually offer a few up on E-Bay. These are the only consistent ways to find rare Myachis. But generally, the people who ask this question aren't satisfied by that answer.
There is another option, of course, but it's difficult, time-consuming and has no guarantee of success. I'll get to that in a minute, but before I do, let me present two facts that will seem stupidly self-evident, but which still must be addressed:
#1) Rare Myachis are rare.
#2) The rarer a Myachi is, the rarer that Myachi is.
Again, I apologize if it seems like I'm being silly or pedantic, but that it seems that a lot of people don't fully understand that. The term "rare Myachi" gets throw around as though it were simply a type of Myachi, rather than a distinction of availability.
The point is that if there were some website where one could simply go and purchase rare Myachis, they wouldn't be rare. They would be currently available on some website. If there was a store that sold rare Myachis, they wouldn't really be rare... they would be available at that store.
Rare Myachis are rare specifically because there isn't a store or a website where you can buy them. And if you're lucky enough to find a website that has retired Myachis, odds are pretty good that they'll be, at best, semi-rare.
All Myachis are made in limited editions. For example, in the current 5.2 series, there are exactly 4,200 of each type of Myachi. There are 4,200 Gr8ful Shred Blacks, 4,200 Comic Cammos, 4,200 Red Dragons, etc. There are 12 types of Myachi in the series, which means that in total , there are 50,400 Myachis in the series.
Once all those sell out, they're gone. We won't make any more 5.2s so if you didn't get a Comic Cammo then, you're not going to easily find one.
Of course, once Myachi sells out of the 5.2s, they won't automatically become rare. We sell most of our Myachis to stores rather than to individual collectors, so after Myachi runs out as a company, there will still be hundreds of stores all over the world that still have 5.2s for sale. Depending on how quickly Myachis sell out of each store, they might still be available for 3-6 months after we're sold out on our website.
After that, the 5.2 series will be "Semi-rare". That's a distinction we put on a series that is, for the most part, sold out in all stores. But it is still widely available to collectors because pretty much everyone has one in their collection and it's not old enough to be a prized sack. So if you want, for example, a Hot Lava Yellow, you'll probably still be able to get one even if most stores have sold it out.
But if you fast forward a couple of years, it will be a heck of a lot harder to find that particular Myachi. The Hot Lava Yellow would have sold out of stores years earlier and the only ones that would still be around would be sitting in people's collections. By then it would be a pretty rare Myachi so Maniacs wouldn't want to give it up for nothing. If you had your heart set on a Hot Lava Yellow in 2015, your only real options would be to find a collector with one he or she would trade or sell, or keep a close eye on auction sites with hopes that one will come available.
So if you look backwards along the Myachi timeline, you can see sacks at all different strata of rarity. If you want a Night Rider (a 5.0), you're going to have some trouble finding it. It's already sold out of stores, but there might be one available through some online retailer that hasn't been selling a lot of Myachis lately. Heck, there might even be some stores in less Myachi-dense areas that still have the whole 5.0 series available.
If you're desire was a Rolling Thunder (a 4.2), it's probably too late to happen upon it in a store or on a website. This series was sold out years ago and now the only ones in existence are probably the ones in people's collections. Keep in mind that for non-collectors, Myachis get lost constantly. You toss one too high, it gets caught in a tree and you're out of luck. The older a Myachi is, the more of them that will have been lost to trees, gutters, elevator shafts, dogs, really messy bedrooms, rooftops, large bodies of water and other various booby traps that litter the world when you play a lot of Myachi.
The further back you go, of course, the harder each sack is to find. And everybody who is looking for rare Myachis is looking for really rare Myachis. People are always coming in asking me where they can find a White Belt or a Slick Black Leather or a Hunter Green Paper Tag. And I have to simply shrug. There were only 85 White Belts ever made and that was in 2006. It's estimated that by now only about 50 or 60 of them are still around and virtually all of those are in the hands of pretty serious Myachi collectors. There is absolutely no chance that you will ever find a White Belt for sale in a store. And odds are pretty good that if anybody has decided to sell one, it's somebody who knows exactly how rare it is.
So to bring this whole thing full circle, rare Myachis are rare and extremely rare Myachis are extremely rare. There is no easy way to find a particular rare Myachi you're looking for and there's probably no cheap way to buy it.
But there are two other ways one can obtain rare Myachis. One is to hunt. The hunt can be fun, but it takes a lot of time. There are a few small stores that buy Myachis once at a trade show or something then take them home to some town where nobody knows what a Myachi is. These stores will sit on them for a really long time. Now, most stores won't let anything sit on their shelves for years. So if the Myachis don't sell for a long enough period, they'll give them away as a "free gift with purchase" or they'll donate them to a Christmas Toy Drive or something like that. But every once in a while, they'll hold on to them. And every once in a while you can find those stores.
The odds are overwhelmingly against you. You can pick through our store locator and try to find some of the older entries. You can call around and research locally owned stores online. You can focus in on historic Myachi hot-spots like Virginia Beach; Ocean City, Maryland; Gatlinburg, Tennessee; Cocoa Beach, Florida; Dallas, Texas; Atlanta, Georgia and, of course, New York, New York. You can keep your eyes peeled every time you travel and go into as many independent toy and hobby stores you can find and eventually, with a lot of persistence and a little luck, you may come across an absolute gem.
Of course, it's more likely that you'll come across a bunch of semi-rare sacks from a few series ago, but picking up a bunch of those will give you great trade material to pick up an even older sack from a collector. Two 4.2s could probably net you a 4.0 and a 4.0 plus two more 4.2s will likely earn you a 3.1. So if you decide to go the hunting route, it's best to be ready to pick up whatever you find. Don't go looking specifically for a Red Beard, but rather, get to know your series and simply look for older Myachis.
There's a second method that requires a lot more time and a lot less effort. I only mention it because when I explain how difficult it is to build a collection of rare Myachis, people always want to know how I managed it. After all, I have one of the biggest collections of old Myachis in the world. How did I get all my rare Myachis? Simple. I just got them when they were common.
The second method is simple patience. Any Myachi you get will be rare in time.
Monday, March 26, 2012
What Happened to 5.2X?
by Crazy Ivan
If you're new to Myachi, you probably saw series 5.1 and 5.1X come out together and thought you understood what was going on. And then 5.2 came out alongside 5.3X and you were perplexed. You decided that you probably had it wrong to begin with and are now confused.
And if you're not as new to Myachi, you probably just laughed inwardly when you saw 5.3X and said, "There goes Myachi Man again..."
You see, there's never really been a "method behind the madness" when it comes to series numbers in Myachi. There have been trends to be sure, but things are never as neat and tidy as one might expect. There aren't any hard and fast rules that we follow except that, by and large, the series numbers have been consecutive.
So first, a little history lesson. In the earliest days of Myachi, the series weren't exactly numbered and they weren't as distinct as they are now. Myachis didn't come in individual cardboard packs back then, but rather they came with instruction books clipped to the tags in large boxes. The boxes would contain 36 sacks divided into a number of different colors. Usually there would be 3 each of 12 designs, but occasionally it would be 4 each of 9 designs or even a mishmash of 3 of some and 4 of others.
What retailers were getting at that point was what we had. And that might be a few of the slower sellers from one series mixed in with all the newer sacks. At that point, a series didn't change over as much as it evolved. There weren't clear lines that separated the series the way there are now.
When you check the sackthology, you'll find that many older sacks are series "0.1" or "0.3" or whatever, but those are artificial distinctions that were made long after the fact. They're paired together with other sacks that were manufactured around the same time, but there was never a time when all the Myachi retailers were selling just the 0.4 series.
The real series numbers begin in 2003 with series 1.0. This marked the first time that Myachis were offered in the now familiar "Blister Pack", where each sack has a cardboard backing and a little plastic blister that contains the sack. From that point forward there would be no mixed bag, in-between series. The package denoted the series so there would be no confusion of what was a 1.0 and what was a 2.0.
Except that there still was. Once a sack was removed from the pack, there was no way to definitively say what series it was from. I mean, sure, if you knew your Myachis, you would know that a Leopard Lime was a 1.0 so when you saw one, you wouldn't need to see the packaging to know which series it came from. But back then we did a lot more repeat sacks so only a minority of Myachis would be offered in only a single series. Eventually we would add the series number to the tag on the sack itself so even repeats could be distinguished from one another.
Ultimately we would solve one problem by creating another one. The series numbers helped everyone to keep track of which sacks came out when and which were older and thus more valuable. But in so doing we would create a whole new source of confusion. Namely, the series numbers themselves.
The first series was 1.0 and even before we moved on to 1.1, there were already some head scratchers. 1.0 had two distinct releases. It was made twice and the second time around 3 of the sacks had changed. This forced us to internally refer to series 1.05 when talking about this brief reissue of series 1.0. Then we moved on to series 1.1, but that one was pretty confusing too. At that point we were still offering the mixed box variety (POP or point of purchase) of display to some retailers so this time we decided to make one series to be offered in the blister packs and a different series in the POP boxes. Unfortunately, there were no tag numbers at that time so we had two series both being called 1.1. This forced us to refer to one of them as 1.1 (the Blister series) and the other as 1.15 (the POP series). And then we came out with 1.2 and that one was far less confusing.
But then we moved on to series 2.0. We never did a series 1.3, but instead released a 2.0 then a 2.1 and 2.2. There was a POP series hidden in there somewhere as well that never got a number (but is often referred to as series 1.9, 2.05 or simply "the Lost Series"). Then we skipped ahead to series 3.0. This was followed by series 3.1, 3.2 and 3.2X (which was only a slight departure from series 3.2). And then we moved on to series 4.0.
By then, people thought they saw a pattern emerging. We would do three series in each number... a #.0, a #.1 and a #.2 and then move on to the next number. So when series 4.0 was followed by series 4.1 and then series 4.2, this fit with everyone's expectations. Then series 4.3 came along.
Everyone was a bit confused, but they embraced it. 4.4 came out next and then 4.5 and everyone once again thought they saw a pattern emerging. Once again, everyone felt like they had it all figured out. And then 5.0 came out and everyone was left perplexed once again. Where was series 4.6?
Keep in mind that to keep things from getting too hairy, I've left out series XM7, 5B, 5BPOP, FMX and TRF. I don't want to intimidate anyone, after all. But the point is there nonetheless: Myachi series numbers have never really fit into a consistent pattern. They've always been a little odd.
The logical question is why, but I'm not going to try to answer that one. All I can do is embrace it and thank Myachi Man's slightly crazy numerical tendencies for giving me endless things to blog about.
So where is series 5.2X? Who knows. Perhaps the next series will be 5.3 and 5.2X. Maybe it will be series 5.4 and 5.4X, but maybe it'll be series 5.3X1a and 5.3X1b. Who knows? I wouldn't be all that surprised if the next series was numbered using some fraction of pi. All I know is that just when I think I know what's coming, I get a surprise. And I like surprises.
If you're new to Myachi, you probably saw series 5.1 and 5.1X come out together and thought you understood what was going on. And then 5.2 came out alongside 5.3X and you were perplexed. You decided that you probably had it wrong to begin with and are now confused.
And if you're not as new to Myachi, you probably just laughed inwardly when you saw 5.3X and said, "There goes Myachi Man again..."
You see, there's never really been a "method behind the madness" when it comes to series numbers in Myachi. There have been trends to be sure, but things are never as neat and tidy as one might expect. There aren't any hard and fast rules that we follow except that, by and large, the series numbers have been consecutive.
So first, a little history lesson. In the earliest days of Myachi, the series weren't exactly numbered and they weren't as distinct as they are now. Myachis didn't come in individual cardboard packs back then, but rather they came with instruction books clipped to the tags in large boxes. The boxes would contain 36 sacks divided into a number of different colors. Usually there would be 3 each of 12 designs, but occasionally it would be 4 each of 9 designs or even a mishmash of 3 of some and 4 of others.
What retailers were getting at that point was what we had. And that might be a few of the slower sellers from one series mixed in with all the newer sacks. At that point, a series didn't change over as much as it evolved. There weren't clear lines that separated the series the way there are now.
When you check the sackthology, you'll find that many older sacks are series "0.1" or "0.3" or whatever, but those are artificial distinctions that were made long after the fact. They're paired together with other sacks that were manufactured around the same time, but there was never a time when all the Myachi retailers were selling just the 0.4 series.
The real series numbers begin in 2003 with series 1.0. This marked the first time that Myachis were offered in the now familiar "Blister Pack", where each sack has a cardboard backing and a little plastic blister that contains the sack. From that point forward there would be no mixed bag, in-between series. The package denoted the series so there would be no confusion of what was a 1.0 and what was a 2.0.
Except that there still was. Once a sack was removed from the pack, there was no way to definitively say what series it was from. I mean, sure, if you knew your Myachis, you would know that a Leopard Lime was a 1.0 so when you saw one, you wouldn't need to see the packaging to know which series it came from. But back then we did a lot more repeat sacks so only a minority of Myachis would be offered in only a single series. Eventually we would add the series number to the tag on the sack itself so even repeats could be distinguished from one another.
Ultimately we would solve one problem by creating another one. The series numbers helped everyone to keep track of which sacks came out when and which were older and thus more valuable. But in so doing we would create a whole new source of confusion. Namely, the series numbers themselves.
The first series was 1.0 and even before we moved on to 1.1, there were already some head scratchers. 1.0 had two distinct releases. It was made twice and the second time around 3 of the sacks had changed. This forced us to internally refer to series 1.05 when talking about this brief reissue of series 1.0. Then we moved on to series 1.1, but that one was pretty confusing too. At that point we were still offering the mixed box variety (POP or point of purchase) of display to some retailers so this time we decided to make one series to be offered in the blister packs and a different series in the POP boxes. Unfortunately, there were no tag numbers at that time so we had two series both being called 1.1. This forced us to refer to one of them as 1.1 (the Blister series) and the other as 1.15 (the POP series). And then we came out with 1.2 and that one was far less confusing.
But then we moved on to series 2.0. We never did a series 1.3, but instead released a 2.0 then a 2.1 and 2.2. There was a POP series hidden in there somewhere as well that never got a number (but is often referred to as series 1.9, 2.05 or simply "the Lost Series"). Then we skipped ahead to series 3.0. This was followed by series 3.1, 3.2 and 3.2X (which was only a slight departure from series 3.2). And then we moved on to series 4.0.
By then, people thought they saw a pattern emerging. We would do three series in each number... a #.0, a #.1 and a #.2 and then move on to the next number. So when series 4.0 was followed by series 4.1 and then series 4.2, this fit with everyone's expectations. Then series 4.3 came along.
Everyone was a bit confused, but they embraced it. 4.4 came out next and then 4.5 and everyone once again thought they saw a pattern emerging. Once again, everyone felt like they had it all figured out. And then 5.0 came out and everyone was left perplexed once again. Where was series 4.6?
Keep in mind that to keep things from getting too hairy, I've left out series XM7, 5B, 5BPOP, FMX and TRF. I don't want to intimidate anyone, after all. But the point is there nonetheless: Myachi series numbers have never really fit into a consistent pattern. They've always been a little odd.
The logical question is why, but I'm not going to try to answer that one. All I can do is embrace it and thank Myachi Man's slightly crazy numerical tendencies for giving me endless things to blog about.
So where is series 5.2X? Who knows. Perhaps the next series will be 5.3 and 5.2X. Maybe it will be series 5.4 and 5.4X, but maybe it'll be series 5.3X1a and 5.3X1b. Who knows? I wouldn't be all that surprised if the next series was numbered using some fraction of pi. All I know is that just when I think I know what's coming, I get a surprise. And I like surprises.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
5.3X Series Review
by Crazy Ivan
I remember a time when Myachi Maniacs had to settle for only one new series per year. Back then even the one series was nothing compared with the series of today. 9, 7 or even a scant 6 new Myachis would pop up once or twice a year and but for a few promotional and special event sacks, there was very little new meat for the collector.
But long gone are those days. Already this year we've seen 24 new series sacks and based on the speed they're selling through, it won't be long before we start seeing some new ones. It's gotten to the point that I hardly have time to jam with all the new sacks and break them in enough to review before the new series is popping up and ready to go.
So quick, before it's been antiquated, let me get in my reviews of the 12 sacks that make up the 5.3X series.
#1) Aztec Orange and Special Ops
This set is the go-to double pack for collectors. It includes the most recent in the ever-popular Aztec line along with one of the most jammable camouflage Myachis ever produced. As a double pack, it's a great introduction for beginning freestylers, as it contains both a horizontal and vertical corduroy.
The Aztec Orange isn't the most striking Aztec sack we've made so far and compared to the vibrant color of the Aztec Red, one could even say that it is muted. It's a great understated jammer and while I haven't seen any of them wideboarding yet, they break in quickly and throgoughly.
The Special Ops, on the other hand, might be the best sack in the 5.3X series once it is fully broken in. It takes a bit more time than it's partner, but once you get it as jam-worthy as it gets, you'll find it well worth the effort. Like most camouflage Myachis, it's a big seller. As an individual sack, it might well lead the series in sales, but given the double pack nature of 5.3X, it's been relegated to a slower selling position. This generally means it will have added value to collectors in the future because fewer Myachi Maniacs will already have one in their collection.
#2) Bag Pipe Red and Lumber Jack Blue
Drawing on the popularity of the 5.1X Lumber Jack Black, Lumber Jack Red combo pack, this duo was destined to be the best seller in the series. We just can't seem to make enough plaid sacks to keep the collectors happy but we keep trying.
The Bag Pipe Red is a dark plaid with a great contrast and breaks in quickly. The horizontal corduroy gives it about a 50/50 chance of slight wide-boarding as it breaks in and though the color tends to be a little too dark in shady jamming spots, it is a fantastic day-jammer and acts as a spectacular contrast sack in many 2 Myachi shreds.
The Lumber Jack Blue is certainly the more vibrant of the two. It stands out enough to make it easy to jam, but it isn't an overstated eye-catcher like the Gang Green or the Agent Orange. It'll be easy enough for you to see during a jam, but it won't be so overpowering that your audience will lose track of the other sacks in a multi-Myachi shred. This is also a great gift sack for a new Myachi player as it is neutral in color and a sick jammer. Anyone looking to buy a two pack but only intending to keep one of them should take a long look at this combo.
#3) The Watermelon and Hot Lava Pink
If there was a measurement for how cool a Myachi looks during a jam versus how cool it looks sitting still, these two sacks would combine for the highest such rating of any two Myachis ever paired together before. Both sacks are cool enough on their own, but take on a whole new life once they start spinning and flipping.
The Watermelon has been called the "most appropriately named" Myachi of all time. We debated with the name "Lady Bug" for it, but ultimately decided that as cool as lady bugs are, watermelons are delicious and therefore better things to name a Myachi after. The pattern of spots gives the Myachi a unique look depending on what axis you spin it on so a Watermelon in a shove-it spin actually looks significantly different than a Watermelon in a kick-flip. The visibility and break in speed make this an ideal Myachi for younger players and newbies.
The Hot Lava Pink lacks the pop of it's sister sack, the Hot Lava Yellow. The pink is plenty bright, but doesn't exactly jump off the Myachi the way the popular 5.2 sack does. But that being said, as long as you're not comparing it with the most visible sack we've produced in 5 series, the Hot Lava Pink scores pretty high marks. I would rate their break in time as pretty middle-of-the-road. Not fast and not slow. They continue to break in for a pretty long while even once they're yummy so it's a sack that rewards persistence.
#4) The White Stripes and Red Medallion
If we wanted, we could speculate endlessly about which of these sacks would be the best seller if they were all offered individually. But there's no need for speculation in the question of which pair sells the best. This combination of sacks offers pretty much everything you can ask for. Two very cool understated corduroys that look great whether they're in a jam or sitting in a collection.
The White Stripes is possibly the best jammer in the series. It breaks in almost instantly and the soft corduroy gives it a nearly microsuede feel, but it still breaks in like a traditional corduroy. The contrast of the stripes makes it a superb show-jammer. While it isn't the best for solitary practice where one might prefer a brighter overall color, the stripes make it extraordinarily eye-catching to an audience.
The Red Medallion isn't quite as good a jammer as its partner but it is still a very solid jammer. It doesn't break in as thoroughly as some of the other sacks in the 5.3X and from what I've seen so far it isn't quite as good a jammer as its sister sack, the Black Medallion, but what it lacks in jammability it makes up for in visibility. I'd recommend it more to veterans than beginners, but all that being said, it still breaks in quicker than 90% of the Myachis we made before 2007.
#5) The Gate Keeper and Gr8ful Shred Blue
When we first saw these sacks paired together, many of the Myachi Masters were a bit worried. They both seemed like really sick designs, but they were dark and understated and they got lost next to sacks like the Gr8ful Shred Purple, the Red Medallion and the Hot Lava Pink. We were a bit concerned that these sacks would get overlooked and under-perform.
Luckily, Myachi buyers are a bit more savvy than we sometimes give them credit for and this has quickly become one of the top selling offerings in the 5.3X.
The Gate Keeper is a bit darker than we expected such that the design almost gets lost on it. That makes it a pretty hip sack to have in virtually any well-lit environment, but as soon as the sun goes down, this one gets really tough to jam with. It's a shame, really, because it is a spectacular jammer and it breaks in far better than most horizontal corduroys.
The Gr8ful Shred Blue seems to be grabbing a lot more of the attention in this combo pack. It is a striking fractal design that appeals to a pretty wide-range of Myachi buyers and depending on the cut of the fabric it can be awesome or it can be ridiculously awesome. Luckily, this is not one of those times that you have to trade off cool for jammable. The Gr8ful Shred Blue breaks in quick and jams great right away. It is a bit dark for low-light jamming but when you pair it with its sister sack from 5.2, it makes for some of the coolest 2 Myachi jams ever seen.
#6) The Blackout and Gr8ful Shred Purple
This combination pack offers not only the best contrast of this series, but possibly the best contrast of any series including any two randomly selected sacks from non-double pack series. These two in a doubles shred is a thing of beauty. We find it to be a popular brother/sister combo pack in retail, but most collectors, regardless of gender, are going out of their way to get both of these Myachis.
The Blackout is obviously the sister sack to the Power Grid from series 5.1, but in a lot of ways it is more reminiscent of the family of black&whites that include the Finish Line, the Static Cling and the Hounds Tooth. It is a phenomenal jammer but it does take a bit of effort to really break it in. So if you think you've got your Blackout broken in all the way, keep working. You might be pleasantly surprised.
The Gr8ful Shred Purple is unlike any sack ever produced. To be perfectly honest, there has been a dearth of cool purple sacks for quite some time. The Power Grid was awesome, but to get a truly sick purple sack before that, you really had to go back to series 1.0 and the Purple Haze. Luckily, we seem to be in the process of changing that. This sack jams well, looks good and breaks in quickly, so it pretty much has everything. While this probably means nothing in the real world, this one is my personal favorite of the series by a pretty wide margin.
I remember a time when Myachi Maniacs had to settle for only one new series per year. Back then even the one series was nothing compared with the series of today. 9, 7 or even a scant 6 new Myachis would pop up once or twice a year and but for a few promotional and special event sacks, there was very little new meat for the collector.
But long gone are those days. Already this year we've seen 24 new series sacks and based on the speed they're selling through, it won't be long before we start seeing some new ones. It's gotten to the point that I hardly have time to jam with all the new sacks and break them in enough to review before the new series is popping up and ready to go.
So quick, before it's been antiquated, let me get in my reviews of the 12 sacks that make up the 5.3X series.
#1) Aztec Orange and Special Ops
The Aztec Orange isn't the most striking Aztec sack we've made so far and compared to the vibrant color of the Aztec Red, one could even say that it is muted. It's a great understated jammer and while I haven't seen any of them wideboarding yet, they break in quickly and throgoughly.
The Special Ops, on the other hand, might be the best sack in the 5.3X series once it is fully broken in. It takes a bit more time than it's partner, but once you get it as jam-worthy as it gets, you'll find it well worth the effort. Like most camouflage Myachis, it's a big seller. As an individual sack, it might well lead the series in sales, but given the double pack nature of 5.3X, it's been relegated to a slower selling position. This generally means it will have added value to collectors in the future because fewer Myachi Maniacs will already have one in their collection.
#2) Bag Pipe Red and Lumber Jack Blue
The Bag Pipe Red is a dark plaid with a great contrast and breaks in quickly. The horizontal corduroy gives it about a 50/50 chance of slight wide-boarding as it breaks in and though the color tends to be a little too dark in shady jamming spots, it is a fantastic day-jammer and acts as a spectacular contrast sack in many 2 Myachi shreds.
The Lumber Jack Blue is certainly the more vibrant of the two. It stands out enough to make it easy to jam, but it isn't an overstated eye-catcher like the Gang Green or the Agent Orange. It'll be easy enough for you to see during a jam, but it won't be so overpowering that your audience will lose track of the other sacks in a multi-Myachi shred. This is also a great gift sack for a new Myachi player as it is neutral in color and a sick jammer. Anyone looking to buy a two pack but only intending to keep one of them should take a long look at this combo.
#3) The Watermelon and Hot Lava Pink
The Watermelon has been called the "most appropriately named" Myachi of all time. We debated with the name "Lady Bug" for it, but ultimately decided that as cool as lady bugs are, watermelons are delicious and therefore better things to name a Myachi after. The pattern of spots gives the Myachi a unique look depending on what axis you spin it on so a Watermelon in a shove-it spin actually looks significantly different than a Watermelon in a kick-flip. The visibility and break in speed make this an ideal Myachi for younger players and newbies.
The Hot Lava Pink lacks the pop of it's sister sack, the Hot Lava Yellow. The pink is plenty bright, but doesn't exactly jump off the Myachi the way the popular 5.2 sack does. But that being said, as long as you're not comparing it with the most visible sack we've produced in 5 series, the Hot Lava Pink scores pretty high marks. I would rate their break in time as pretty middle-of-the-road. Not fast and not slow. They continue to break in for a pretty long while even once they're yummy so it's a sack that rewards persistence.
#4) The White Stripes and Red Medallion
The White Stripes is possibly the best jammer in the series. It breaks in almost instantly and the soft corduroy gives it a nearly microsuede feel, but it still breaks in like a traditional corduroy. The contrast of the stripes makes it a superb show-jammer. While it isn't the best for solitary practice where one might prefer a brighter overall color, the stripes make it extraordinarily eye-catching to an audience.
The Red Medallion isn't quite as good a jammer as its partner but it is still a very solid jammer. It doesn't break in as thoroughly as some of the other sacks in the 5.3X and from what I've seen so far it isn't quite as good a jammer as its sister sack, the Black Medallion, but what it lacks in jammability it makes up for in visibility. I'd recommend it more to veterans than beginners, but all that being said, it still breaks in quicker than 90% of the Myachis we made before 2007.
#5) The Gate Keeper and Gr8ful Shred Blue
Luckily, Myachi buyers are a bit more savvy than we sometimes give them credit for and this has quickly become one of the top selling offerings in the 5.3X.
The Gate Keeper is a bit darker than we expected such that the design almost gets lost on it. That makes it a pretty hip sack to have in virtually any well-lit environment, but as soon as the sun goes down, this one gets really tough to jam with. It's a shame, really, because it is a spectacular jammer and it breaks in far better than most horizontal corduroys.
The Gr8ful Shred Blue seems to be grabbing a lot more of the attention in this combo pack. It is a striking fractal design that appeals to a pretty wide-range of Myachi buyers and depending on the cut of the fabric it can be awesome or it can be ridiculously awesome. Luckily, this is not one of those times that you have to trade off cool for jammable. The Gr8ful Shred Blue breaks in quick and jams great right away. It is a bit dark for low-light jamming but when you pair it with its sister sack from 5.2, it makes for some of the coolest 2 Myachi jams ever seen.
#6) The Blackout and Gr8ful Shred Purple
The Blackout is obviously the sister sack to the Power Grid from series 5.1, but in a lot of ways it is more reminiscent of the family of black&whites that include the Finish Line, the Static Cling and the Hounds Tooth. It is a phenomenal jammer but it does take a bit of effort to really break it in. So if you think you've got your Blackout broken in all the way, keep working. You might be pleasantly surprised.
The Gr8ful Shred Purple is unlike any sack ever produced. To be perfectly honest, there has been a dearth of cool purple sacks for quite some time. The Power Grid was awesome, but to get a truly sick purple sack before that, you really had to go back to series 1.0 and the Purple Haze. Luckily, we seem to be in the process of changing that. This sack jams well, looks good and breaks in quickly, so it pretty much has everything. While this probably means nothing in the real world, this one is my personal favorite of the series by a pretty wide margin.
-----
And of course, we're interested in your opinions on these suckers as well. If you'd like to add something to the review, please leave a comment or head over to our forum and join the discussion there.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
The Least Popular Myachi
by Crazy Ivan
One of the consequences of doing Myachis in series is that no matter how good we do in terms of color selection, no matter how tirelessly we toil over our choices, no matter how long we debate the potential fabrics and names, no matter what we do, one fabric will, by necessity, be the least popular. Even if every sack in the series was awesome, one would be the most awesome and one would be the least awesome.
We often don't know which will be the least popular, but we find out pretty quickly in the stores. Even a slight preference for other sacks becomes pretty obvious as you restock. You start with an equal number of each Myachi. Each series has 12 fabrics, each master carton contains 72 Myachis so in each box, you have 6 of each color.
So let's say we put 360 Myachis on the display and every time we sell 72 of them, we put up 72 more. Well, we start with 30 of each color (6 in each box and 5 boxes on display), but when we sell the first 72, it's not going to be by selling 6 of each color. One color will sell really well, so 20 of the 72 might all be that color. Another will sell better than most and that one will account for 15 of the sales. 10 more will come from another popular color and six other colors will sell, let's say 4 each. The other 3 colors are less popular, so let's say each of them only sold 1.
That's 72 Myachis sold, so we have to put up another box that contains 6 of each color. That means that while there are only 16 of the most popular seller on the whole display (the 30 we started with minus the 20 we sold plus the 6 we restocked) while there are 35 of the less popular colors still hanging out (the 30 we started with minus the 1 we sold plus the 6 we restocked).
It doesn't seem like much after the first restocking, but pretty soon a few less popular colors are going to start stacking up as the more popular colors sell out. Again, this will happen no matter how good the series is. Even in the 3.1 series (which seems to be the consensus "best series of all time"), this occurred. The Blackbeards and Crimson Tigers sold out right away and the Wavy Oranges and Calvins started stacking up. The Calvins! The single greatest series sack ever produced and it was the "dud" of the series.
Luckily, we have a solution to the problem. Every few months we'll just retire the old colors and come up with a new series. This way the less popular colors from the old series get mixed in with the new series and even if they continue to sell slowly, they aren't being replenished any more. That means that pretty soon these sacks, which we call "carry overs" sell out completely just as the less popular colors from the previous series start stacking up.
Right now, in fact, we're replacing the 5.1 sacks with the 5.2s at some of our biggest retail locations. The "Carry Over" sacks from series 5.1 were the Green Shredders, the Fishbone Orange and the Crimson Houndstooth. Note that the consensus best jammer of the series (the Crimson Houndstooth) is probably the slowest seller of them all so you shouldn't mistake the slow seller for the worst Myachi.
The slowest seller in the 5.0 series was the Push Pop Orange and in some locations we're actually seeing double carry over. The Push Pop Oranges that carried over into the 5.1s didn't sell out completely before the 5.2s came out so there are still two or three of them hanging out on the shelves.
And this leads to an obvious question. What was the least popular Myachi of all time? After all, if we see this phenomenon, we must have noticed one sack that beat out all the others, right?
Well it turns out that this is a much harder question to answer than you think for several reasons. After doing the math, you might think that all you'd have to do is name the Myachi that carried over the longest, right? The one that made it's way the furthest through successive series before selling out completely. There is such a sack. The Zoot Suit Blurple, which was last produced in the 3.2x series, was still lingering on shelves in major retail locations when we debuted the 4.4!
But was the Zoot Suit Blurple really the least popular Myachi ever? Well, if you look a bit closer, you'll notice that compared to the series before and after it, the 3.2x was an ENORMOUS series. We made a ton of them. So whichever was the least popular in this series was bound to carry over more than the carry overs in previous series. It's not fair to single out the Zoot Suit among other "least popular" sacks just because it was the least popular sack in the largest series that was produced at that point?
Another strange contender could be the Purple Reign. This incredibly cool and exquisitely jammable sack really started stacking up toward the end of the XM7 run and carried over for quite a while. But that was an unusually narrow series, offering only 6 colors. We'd done 6 color series before, sure, but when we did we'd released 2 of them simultaneously so there were really 12 choices on the shelf. But with the XM7 there were only 6 choices and 4 of them were incredibly cool, even compared to a Purple Reign. No surprise then, that this abnormally cool sack which would have been the 6th best seller in a series of 12 sacks, was the least popular in a series of 6.
So we can't really pin the "least popular" on that one either. Perhaps we can find the answer by looking at it in another way. Instead of looking at which sack carried over the longest, what if we look at which stacked up the most? In other words, every sack starts off as 8.33% of the total (1 in 12), but as more popular ones sell out, they become a smaller % of the total and the less popular ones start filling in. So in a series like the 3.2X, the extremely popular Finish Line might be only 2% of the Myachis on display, but a less popular sack like a Zoot Suit or a Delta Force Blue would account for, say 16% of the total.
If we look at all the past series and do some estimations, we would find that the Bazooka Joe was the least popular sack by that measure. At the time of it's release (the simultaneous release of the 2.1 and 2.2 series), there were 12 sacks available and this plain-Jane pink sack eventually accounted for some 45% of the shelf space. It was the slowest seller of the series, but it was also a slower seller than any other sack in any other series before it or since.
So we have our answer right? The Bazooka Joe was the least popular, right?
Not so fast. There's one other interesting phenomenon to look at before we pass judgement. And one interesting fact. Let's start with the phenomenon.
In the 1.0 series, the Royal Tiger was the clear winner. It sold out so fast that we could hardly put them up on the pegs before they were at the register. It sold some 5 to 1 over the next best seller (the Black Butter). So we brought it back in the 1.1 series, and guess what? It was the least popular sack in the series and started stacking up.
But why? Well, as it turns out, the other sacks available in a series make a huge difference when it comes to what's going to be popular. The 1.0 series had a lot of plain colors. Of the 9 sacks available, 6 were solid colors (the Dawg Diggity, the Purple Haze, the Red Stripe, the Black Butter, the Dawg Diggity and the Calvin). Only 3 had patterns. One was the Leopard Lime, which was a bright green, and the other was the Eye of the Dragon, which was gold and black and kind of weird.
The Royal Tiger was the king of this field because it simply stood out from the others. It was brightly colored and had a cool pattern. But when it was coupled with sacks like Punk Pink Leopard, the Flame Thrower and the Commando, it quickly became the least impressive patterned sack. What's more, the sacks that were solid colors were in the minority so now they stood out. To make matters worse, one of those solid colors was the Blue Crush, which is a strikingly sapphire blue color. So the Royal Tiger wasn't even the only blue sack.
So what does this have to do with the Bazooka Joe? Well, that leads us to the interesting fact. Like I said, the Bazooka Joe was part of a 2 series co-release and it was a plain pink Myachi. Contained in the series that it was co-released with (the 2.1), was the Bubbalicious, which was also a plain pink Myachi, except with a grippier fabric. So when there were 2 plain pink Myachis to choose from, one of them was obviously going to stack up on the shelves (our bad!).
So where does all that leave us? Can we really pin down the "least popular" Myachi of all time? The truth lies, as it often does, in some gray area that is wide open to personal interpretation. It might be the Zoot Suit Blurple, it might be the Purple Reign (although that's hard to imagine), it might be the Bazooka Joe and it might be something else entirely. Perhaps the least popular Myachi is yet to come.
As we often do on this blog, we'll just have to leave this as an open question. Maybe we'll revisit it again some time and when we do, I promise that there'll be less math.
One of the consequences of doing Myachis in series is that no matter how good we do in terms of color selection, no matter how tirelessly we toil over our choices, no matter how long we debate the potential fabrics and names, no matter what we do, one fabric will, by necessity, be the least popular. Even if every sack in the series was awesome, one would be the most awesome and one would be the least awesome.
We often don't know which will be the least popular, but we find out pretty quickly in the stores. Even a slight preference for other sacks becomes pretty obvious as you restock. You start with an equal number of each Myachi. Each series has 12 fabrics, each master carton contains 72 Myachis so in each box, you have 6 of each color.
So let's say we put 360 Myachis on the display and every time we sell 72 of them, we put up 72 more. Well, we start with 30 of each color (6 in each box and 5 boxes on display), but when we sell the first 72, it's not going to be by selling 6 of each color. One color will sell really well, so 20 of the 72 might all be that color. Another will sell better than most and that one will account for 15 of the sales. 10 more will come from another popular color and six other colors will sell, let's say 4 each. The other 3 colors are less popular, so let's say each of them only sold 1.
That's 72 Myachis sold, so we have to put up another box that contains 6 of each color. That means that while there are only 16 of the most popular seller on the whole display (the 30 we started with minus the 20 we sold plus the 6 we restocked) while there are 35 of the less popular colors still hanging out (the 30 we started with minus the 1 we sold plus the 6 we restocked).
It doesn't seem like much after the first restocking, but pretty soon a few less popular colors are going to start stacking up as the more popular colors sell out. Again, this will happen no matter how good the series is. Even in the 3.1 series (which seems to be the consensus "best series of all time"), this occurred. The Blackbeards and Crimson Tigers sold out right away and the Wavy Oranges and Calvins started stacking up. The Calvins! The single greatest series sack ever produced and it was the "dud" of the series.
 |
| I'm sorry I called you a dud... |
Luckily, we have a solution to the problem. Every few months we'll just retire the old colors and come up with a new series. This way the less popular colors from the old series get mixed in with the new series and even if they continue to sell slowly, they aren't being replenished any more. That means that pretty soon these sacks, which we call "carry overs" sell out completely just as the less popular colors from the previous series start stacking up.
Right now, in fact, we're replacing the 5.1 sacks with the 5.2s at some of our biggest retail locations. The "Carry Over" sacks from series 5.1 were the Green Shredders, the Fishbone Orange and the Crimson Houndstooth. Note that the consensus best jammer of the series (the Crimson Houndstooth) is probably the slowest seller of them all so you shouldn't mistake the slow seller for the worst Myachi.
The slowest seller in the 5.0 series was the Push Pop Orange and in some locations we're actually seeing double carry over. The Push Pop Oranges that carried over into the 5.1s didn't sell out completely before the 5.2s came out so there are still two or three of them hanging out on the shelves.
And this leads to an obvious question. What was the least popular Myachi of all time? After all, if we see this phenomenon, we must have noticed one sack that beat out all the others, right?
Well it turns out that this is a much harder question to answer than you think for several reasons. After doing the math, you might think that all you'd have to do is name the Myachi that carried over the longest, right? The one that made it's way the furthest through successive series before selling out completely. There is such a sack. The Zoot Suit Blurple, which was last produced in the 3.2x series, was still lingering on shelves in major retail locations when we debuted the 4.4!
 |
| Shown here lingering. |
But was the Zoot Suit Blurple really the least popular Myachi ever? Well, if you look a bit closer, you'll notice that compared to the series before and after it, the 3.2x was an ENORMOUS series. We made a ton of them. So whichever was the least popular in this series was bound to carry over more than the carry overs in previous series. It's not fair to single out the Zoot Suit among other "least popular" sacks just because it was the least popular sack in the largest series that was produced at that point?
Another strange contender could be the Purple Reign. This incredibly cool and exquisitely jammable sack really started stacking up toward the end of the XM7 run and carried over for quite a while. But that was an unusually narrow series, offering only 6 colors. We'd done 6 color series before, sure, but when we did we'd released 2 of them simultaneously so there were really 12 choices on the shelf. But with the XM7 there were only 6 choices and 4 of them were incredibly cool, even compared to a Purple Reign. No surprise then, that this abnormally cool sack which would have been the 6th best seller in a series of 12 sacks, was the least popular in a series of 6.
 |
| This picture clearly doesn't belong in a discussion of the least popular anythings ever. |
If we look at all the past series and do some estimations, we would find that the Bazooka Joe was the least popular sack by that measure. At the time of it's release (the simultaneous release of the 2.1 and 2.2 series), there were 12 sacks available and this plain-Jane pink sack eventually accounted for some 45% of the shelf space. It was the slowest seller of the series, but it was also a slower seller than any other sack in any other series before it or since.
So we have our answer right? The Bazooka Joe was the least popular, right?
 |
| Grab your pitchforks! |
In the 1.0 series, the Royal Tiger was the clear winner. It sold out so fast that we could hardly put them up on the pegs before they were at the register. It sold some 5 to 1 over the next best seller (the Black Butter). So we brought it back in the 1.1 series, and guess what? It was the least popular sack in the series and started stacking up.
But why? Well, as it turns out, the other sacks available in a series make a huge difference when it comes to what's going to be popular. The 1.0 series had a lot of plain colors. Of the 9 sacks available, 6 were solid colors (the Dawg Diggity, the Purple Haze, the Red Stripe, the Black Butter, the Dawg Diggity and the Calvin). Only 3 had patterns. One was the Leopard Lime, which was a bright green, and the other was the Eye of the Dragon, which was gold and black and kind of weird.
The Royal Tiger was the king of this field because it simply stood out from the others. It was brightly colored and had a cool pattern. But when it was coupled with sacks like Punk Pink Leopard, the Flame Thrower and the Commando, it quickly became the least impressive patterned sack. What's more, the sacks that were solid colors were in the minority so now they stood out. To make matters worse, one of those solid colors was the Blue Crush, which is a strikingly sapphire blue color. So the Royal Tiger wasn't even the only blue sack.
So what does this have to do with the Bazooka Joe? Well, that leads us to the interesting fact. Like I said, the Bazooka Joe was part of a 2 series co-release and it was a plain pink Myachi. Contained in the series that it was co-released with (the 2.1), was the Bubbalicious, which was also a plain pink Myachi, except with a grippier fabric. So when there were 2 plain pink Myachis to choose from, one of them was obviously going to stack up on the shelves (our bad!).
So where does all that leave us? Can we really pin down the "least popular" Myachi of all time? The truth lies, as it often does, in some gray area that is wide open to personal interpretation. It might be the Zoot Suit Blurple, it might be the Purple Reign (although that's hard to imagine), it might be the Bazooka Joe and it might be something else entirely. Perhaps the least popular Myachi is yet to come.
As we often do on this blog, we'll just have to leave this as an open question. Maybe we'll revisit it again some time and when we do, I promise that there'll be less math.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Why's It Called the "Page Six"?
by Crazy Ivan
As a general rule, any time I hear the same Myachi related question 3 times, I write a blog about it. I just figure that if there are three people curious enough to seek me out and ask me about it, there must be a few more who are at least curious.
So this one comes to us from the recently extensively reviewed series 5.2. Among the sacks offered in the series is the one pictured below, known as the "Page Six". So the question, as you've probably guessed since it's the title of the blog entry, is why did we choose that name?
Well, it all started over the summer at the Cabin of Skills. It might surprise some people to know that we actually start setting up the new series that early, but we were already choosing colors for this series in June of last year. By late July we'd finalized the colors and fabrics, but we were still debating names.
Myachi Man had swung out to Gatlinburg where Pinky, Bones, Rush, Kore, Lucky, Bamboo and I were staying during our Dollywood gig and we start going over the various prototypes and trying to select names. Some of them were easy (the Red Dragon, for example) and some of them were hard, but the Page Six up there was giving us the most trouble.
We were down to the wire on this because they were going to start printing the packaging a few hours later and Myachi Man had to finalize the back. So we debated. We've done a lot of plaids in the past and they were all named "Highlander something" or "Tartan something" or "Lumberjack something" or "Braveheart something". So the obvious choice would be to do the same with this one. But what color is it? There's no dominant color on it, so it couldn't be the "Highlander White" or the "Lumberjack Red" or anything like that.
We knew we had to go a new direction here so as we're discussing it allowed I say, "So what's black and white and red?"
For those of you who know that old joke, you'll see where I'm going right away. For those that don't let me take a full paragraph to explain a stupid joke that isn't even funny.
The joke is "What's black and white and read all over?" and the answer is a newspaper. Because it's black and white and people read it. But when you say it allowed you hear "Black and white and red all over" instead of "read all over". So you think I'm talking about a color. And I'm actually cleverly sneaking in a past-tense verb.
For some reason, despite not being funny, that joke persists enough that more than half the people reading this are familiar with it. So when I asked that, we all got it right away and started trying to think of newspaper related names to give it. If we called it, for example, the Herald or the Post, people could ask why and we could say "because it's black and white and red all over", and if they knew the old joke, they could not laugh (because it's not funny).
But then as we talked, the joke kind of got lost and Myachi Man settled on the Page Six because of the coloration of Page Six in the NY Post, which is black and white and red. We kind of end in a spot that's twice removed from the joke so there's really no reason to stammer through it in the explanation, but I figured if I just said, "because page six is black and white and red", you'd be no closer to understanding why we chose it.
Of course, if I wanted to abridge the story, I could have just as well said, "because we only had three hours left to get the names in"...
As a general rule, any time I hear the same Myachi related question 3 times, I write a blog about it. I just figure that if there are three people curious enough to seek me out and ask me about it, there must be a few more who are at least curious.
So this one comes to us from the recently extensively reviewed series 5.2. Among the sacks offered in the series is the one pictured below, known as the "Page Six". So the question, as you've probably guessed since it's the title of the blog entry, is why did we choose that name?
 |
| Pages 1 through 5 not pictured. |
Myachi Man had swung out to Gatlinburg where Pinky, Bones, Rush, Kore, Lucky, Bamboo and I were staying during our Dollywood gig and we start going over the various prototypes and trying to select names. Some of them were easy (the Red Dragon, for example) and some of them were hard, but the Page Six up there was giving us the most trouble.
We were down to the wire on this because they were going to start printing the packaging a few hours later and Myachi Man had to finalize the back. So we debated. We've done a lot of plaids in the past and they were all named "Highlander something" or "Tartan something" or "Lumberjack something" or "Braveheart something". So the obvious choice would be to do the same with this one. But what color is it? There's no dominant color on it, so it couldn't be the "Highlander White" or the "Lumberjack Red" or anything like that.
We knew we had to go a new direction here so as we're discussing it allowed I say, "So what's black and white and red?"
For those of you who know that old joke, you'll see where I'm going right away. For those that don't let me take a full paragraph to explain a stupid joke that isn't even funny.
The joke is "What's black and white and read all over?" and the answer is a newspaper. Because it's black and white and people read it. But when you say it allowed you hear "Black and white and red all over" instead of "read all over". So you think I'm talking about a color. And I'm actually cleverly sneaking in a past-tense verb.
For some reason, despite not being funny, that joke persists enough that more than half the people reading this are familiar with it. So when I asked that, we all got it right away and started trying to think of newspaper related names to give it. If we called it, for example, the Herald or the Post, people could ask why and we could say "because it's black and white and red all over", and if they knew the old joke, they could not laugh (because it's not funny).
But then as we talked, the joke kind of got lost and Myachi Man settled on the Page Six because of the coloration of Page Six in the NY Post, which is black and white and red. We kind of end in a spot that's twice removed from the joke so there's really no reason to stammer through it in the explanation, but I figured if I just said, "because page six is black and white and red", you'd be no closer to understanding why we chose it.
Of course, if I wanted to abridge the story, I could have just as well said, "because we only had three hours left to get the names in"...
Friday, March 9, 2012
5.2 Series Review
by Crazy Ivan
Finally, enough time has elapsed for me to offer an honest and meaningful review of the 5.2 series. I always try to offer some quick commentary on the sacks (the stuff you read when you click on them on the website) based on my first impressions, but as any Myachi Maniac knows, your first impressions of a Myachi can be deceiving. I wasn't too impressed with the Calvin the first time I jammed with it and now it's my favorite.
So I usually reserve judgment until I've met all the following criteria:
Finally, enough time has elapsed for me to offer an honest and meaningful review of the 5.2 series. I always try to offer some quick commentary on the sacks (the stuff you read when you click on them on the website) based on my first impressions, but as any Myachi Maniac knows, your first impressions of a Myachi can be deceiving. I wasn't too impressed with the Calvin the first time I jammed with it and now it's my favorite.
So I usually reserve judgment until I've met all the following criteria:
- I've jammed with every sack in the series extensively,
- I've jammed with them new and broken in,
- I've jammed with more than one of each sack and
- I've talked with others who have jammed with each one.
Having finally met all these prerequisites, I now offer my thoughts on all the sacks available in 5.2:
#1) Page Six
This one was an early favorite for me. I loved the look of it and while we've done a ton of plaid patterns in the past, we've never done one that looked like this. Like all the sacks in the series, it's a corduroy, but there are some serious variations within the cords. This one doesn't seem to widen as easily as some of the others, so if you like a wide-boarder, this might not be the sack for you.
That being said, they do tend to yummy up pretty quickly. They stay thin and tight, but the fabric offers great grip right away and they start to get that broken in bend pretty soon after you start jamming with them. They look great in action and they're good contrast sacks for 2 Myachi work since they'll stand out from pretty much anything you pair them with.
#2) Comic Camo
This was the House of Skills consensus pick to be the best seller in the series, though early indications might be that we underestimated the Red Dragon and the Hot Lava Yellow. That being said, camouflage Myachis have always proven to be huge sellers and this one is no exception.
The addition of the little comic lettering has been a boon for this one, though it has caused some distress for our online customers. Because some cuts of the fabric don't have as cool a sampling of the lettering (or sometimes none at all), the one they get might not be as cool as they expected. This isn't a problem for the majority of our customers, of course, since they see them as they're buying them at the store and know exactly what it will look like.
As for the technicals, the jammability on this sack is definitely up to par. It's a solid jammer than breaks in quickly, though the darker hues on the cammo can make it tough to shred with in low light.
#3) Smarty Pants
Sistering up nicely with the Lottie Dottie and a few other polka-dotted favorites in the past, this one offers the multi colored dots over a solid black background and gives it a Lottie-Dottie meets Dippin' Dot kind of a feel. This gives it great visuals as you get into spin tricks and grinds.
It doesn't break in as quickly as some of the other sacks in the series (in my limited experience), but once you get it there it is very worth the wait. It has the feel of a sack that will go under-appreciated until after it is retired, but it's too early to say with any certainty.
#4) Red Dragon
The long awaited reprisal of the Dragon line comes in a way that nobody expected. As much as we'd all love to see a red and black version of the original Blue Dragon fabric, no such fabric exists and even if it did, it would make for a pretty rough jammer... the kind of thing you wouldn't want to spring on an unsuspecting jammer. So we finally found a solid jam-fabric with a design that would earn the name.
So obviously it looks really cool. Not only do you have the whole dragon thing going on, but it's a really eye catching red color so it looks great in a jam, even from a distance. Add to that the fact that it breaks in quickly and jams really well right away and you have what might be the hands down best sack of the series.
#5) Aztec Blue
This is the closest thing you have to a repeat in the 5.2 series and even it isn't an exact repeat. The Aztec Blue was first offered in an exclusive POP release of the 5B series. It was never offered in a blister pack at all and you could only get it in a chain of stores called "Five Below" that (a) is only in a couple of states and (b) doesn't sell online. So it was a really hard sack to get. Even those of us in the company had trouble getting a hold of those ones.
But we've flipped the pattern for the re-release so now instead of running horizontally across the sack, the stripe pattern now runs vertically. It makes a significant difference on the look of the sack and it brings it more into line with it's sister sack, the Aztec Red. This long time favorite among collectors was offered in multiple series in both a horizontal and vertical form.
This sack seems to vary quite a bit when it comes to break in time. I've seen some that break in super fast and others that take their time, but it is a very jam worthy sack once you get it broken in. Visually it just reminds us all why the Aztec line was so popular to begin with.
#6) Tight Rope
This is a pretty understated sack in a series that contains such outstanding patterns as the Gr8ful Shreds, the Comic Camo and the Red Dragon, but this is sack has a really classy look to it and a solid grip to match. I've probably had the least experience jamming with this one, but from what I've seen (and felt) it looks like it will be one of the best pure jammers in the series.
The pattern isn't flashy, but it's a very effective way to get a dark sack that is still visible enough for every occasion jamming so it's definitely one that will appeal more to the players than the collectors, but it's upscale enough to hold it's own in a collectors box as well.
#7) Bag Pipe Green
I'll be the first to admit that this sack came back to us a bit darker than I expected. The idea of a green and blue plaid really excited me and when I saw it, it was so dark and understated that I was a bit disappointed. From a distance it almost looks black and that has led it to go almost unnoticed amid such a striking series.
It's definitely a descent enough jammer. Some of the Bag Pipe's I've jammed with have been a bit tight and I've yet to see one wideboard at all, but they break in quick. I wouldn't recommend it as much for a beginner just because of the dark color and overall break in time, but it'll compliment any other plaid sack nicely in a two Myachi shred.
#8) Green Spectrum
Alright, so it's not as flashy as it's sister sack, the Blue Spectrum, but how could we not be excited about this one? The Blue Spectrum was the best jammer in its series so odds were good on this one. We had pretty high expectations for the Green Spectrum, which makes it all the more impressive that it lived up to them.
Very likely the best jammer in the series and if it's not, it's only because something else proves to be ridiculously awesome, not through any fault of the Green Spectrum. It has a pretty dull look, but the contrast is great for such a dark colored sack making it ideal for a jammer who wants the focus on the skills, not the sack.
#9) Hot Lava Yellow
I'm ready to say that this is the most underestimated sack in the series. We thought it would be a slower seller and it is selling in the top 3 everywhere we offer it. We thought it would be a humdrum jammer and it's turning out to jam like a champ. We thought it would be a boring pattern but the yellow just leaps off the sack and adds flair to every trick in the lexicon.
So yeah, I give this one a pretty ringing endorsement. We don't make yellow Myachis very often because, honestly, they don't usually sell very well. But this one is making us rethink things a bit. The contrast of the yellow on purple makes this a perfect sack for fast-hands shredding and foot work and at the same time it's making your shreds look cooler, it's also making your tough tricks easier by being so eye-catching.
The one drawback, of course, is that bright colors like yellows and whites get dirty easily and dull up pretty quick if you shred outdoors or drop a lot (there's no shame in it! You're not learning unless you're dropping!). If you make this one your primary jammer, expect to wash it regularly. And as a word of warning, if you get one of these, you will be very tempted to make it your primary jammer.
#10) The Guatemalan Blue
The Guatemalan Black was an extraordinarily cool Myachi, there's no question about that. It was a good jammer that broke in quickly and looked cool. If there was any mark on the Guatemalan Black's record, it was that it wasn't super-visible. It had good contrasts, but no bright colors.
So enter the Guatemalan Blue. Everything you loved about the Guatemalan Black except now it's tinted with fluorescent blue stripes and markings so it becomes way easier to see. The fabric is even reoriented to make the new contrast all the more striking. Already proving itself as a really popular sack just based on it's look, it won't disappoint you when it comes to jamming either.
#11) Gr8ful Shred Black
This crazy family of psychedelic fractal patterns is long overdue. As soon as we saw the selections come in, we knew we had to have them. Normally we're a bit hesitant about bringing in completely new patterns and we do so one at a time so that we can gauge their popularity. But once in a while you see something that's so cool you just know people will embrace it.
The Gr8ful Shred Black is admittedly getting outshined a bit by it's sister sacks (keep in mind that the 5.3X series is selling along side it). As cool as it is and as much as it would stand out in virtually any other series, it's kind of getting lost in the shuffle. It's a solid, middle-of-the-road jammer but the pattern does kind of get lost once the sack is in motion. This is definitely not a problem its sister sacks are prone to.
#12) Gr8ful Shred Red
An extraordinarily cool sack that manages to look every bit as cool in motion as it does standing still, the Red Shred (okay, so there's already a sack with that nickname, sue me) is proving to be an early favorite among the Myachi Masters. It's one of the few that I've seen everyone jamming with at this point.
It's a solid jammer and I've already seen a few of them wideboard, but even the ones that don't seem to yummy up like they're in a hurry to be your favorite. Add to that the groovy pattern and you've got a Myachi that is a must whether your a jammer, a collector or more of a paddle/sport player.
----
We'd love to hear more opinions on the matter. Feel free to continue the conversation below or head over to our forum and let your voice be heard over there.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Myachis That Changed the World: Number 3
by Crazy Ivan
It's been a pretty long road, working our way through the 10 most influential Myachis of all time. We started this countdown at the end of September and still we haven't made our way to the top spot. A few long hiatuses and a few tangents have gotten us off course here and there, but still we're creeping ever closer to the big reveal, the number one, most earth-shattering Myachi ever made.
But we're not there yet. We're close enough that any Myachi I mention at this point has to be a game-changer. It would have to be something that not only achieved legendary status within the Myachi community, but also something that marked the turning of a corner; a significant step forward for Myachi. Luckily, I know just the sack...
It's been a pretty long road, working our way through the 10 most influential Myachis of all time. We started this countdown at the end of September and still we haven't made our way to the top spot. A few long hiatuses and a few tangents have gotten us off course here and there, but still we're creeping ever closer to the big reveal, the number one, most earth-shattering Myachi ever made.
But we're not there yet. We're close enough that any Myachi I mention at this point has to be a game-changer. It would have to be something that not only achieved legendary status within the Myachi community, but also something that marked the turning of a corner; a significant step forward for Myachi. Luckily, I know just the sack...
#3) The Sobe '02
Known as the "Sobe Lovebus", the "Drain the Lizard" and the "Sobe '02", this sack represented the single largest production run in Myachi history. In many ways, it could have earned the #1 spot on this list because in so many ways, this Myachi was a "proof of concept". To understand what that means, we have to go way back to the earliest days of Myachi.
Before he had even taken the name "Myachi Man", Steven Ochs was trying to start a crazy company with a crazy idea. Like any company, he needed start up capital. He was hand sewing the Myachis at that point so the costs were low, but trade show space, travel, fabric, gas, web design, marketing, shipping and office overhead all added up after a while. And that doesn't include any of the Myachi Mobile related costs.
He was able to start the company with essentially the money in his pockets, but if he wanted it to grow, he was going to have to prove that the whole idea could be made to work. Sure, he could show people how much fun it was to play Myachi and they would buy a Myachi from him. But could he convince an investor to help him take things to the next level?
The short answer back in the early days was "no". Even if they saw how fun the game was and saw the little buying frenzies that Myachi Man could whip up just by teaching a few random people to play, that wasn't enough to convince anyone to put down serious dollars or give us a chance in a truly big venue. They wanted to see dollars and cents. They wanted to see orders and invoices. They wanted to see profit, and that, Myachi Man could not yet show them.
And then along came the Sobe '02. This would be the first major production run of a promotional Myachi. This would mark the first time a company made a serious investment in Myachis as a give-away. This would mark the first time a company gave us some serious cash to show up at events and help promote their product. This would also mark the largest order of Myachis in the companies brief history to that point. To that point, Myachi Man had already fulfilled a few orders in the tens of thousands and we were already getting the manufacturing done overseas. But this would be the first time he filled an order for over a hundred thousand sacks.
So financially, this changed everything. But there's more earning the Sobe '02 its spot than mere accounting. The other big difference was the venue. Up to this point, Myachi had been focused on college students and people in their early twenties as our target market. It made sense that the demographic that was most interested in Hacky Sack would be the one to sell the "Hand Hacky Sack" to.
But Sobe took us to a different demographic altogether. They took us to the extreme sports crowd and while plenty of them were college aged, the majority were between 10 and 15. We had, of course, sold to plenty of 10 to 15 year olds by then, but we'd never really focused on them as a target market before. So at these Sobe events (which included the X-Games and Gravity Games), we saw something for the first time, and it was something that really did change the world.
We saw Myachi Mania.
This would be the birthplace of the Myachi collector. This would be the birthplace of the Myachi cartoon character concept. This would be the birth of virtually every marketing decision we made over the next 10 years. This would mark the first time that Myachi figured out where it belonged.
That was the real legacy of the Sobe '02. Sure, it proved to the pencil-pushers that Myachi could make money and it allowed us to have our first truly profitable year, but that seems like a footnote compared to introducing Myachi to the Myachi Maniacs. We transformed as a company in light of what happened there and in a sense, we matured by getting younger.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have the sudden craving for a Sobe...
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Myachis That Changed the World: Number 4
by Crazy Ivan
It's been a long time, I know, but now that we've reached the end of this record smashing Christmas season, the blog shall rise again. Sorry that there was such a long hiatus and that no information was provided about when the blog would reappear, but we're back and you'll be seeing daily doses of the Myachi Blog once again beginning today.
I can't thank you all enough for sticking with us for so long and being so patient with me during this extended blog-black-out, and all I can say is I hope I can repay your patience with fun, insightful and interesting content in the new year. It's been a crazy couple of months and things are looking better than ever for Myachi so there should be no shortage of topics.
And now, by popular request, the next installment of our stalled series on the Myachis that changed the world:
In the last installment of this series, we talked about the Black Belt and it's nearly incomparable influence on the future of jammability. Even now, the wideboarded Pakisacks we equate with the Black Belt are considered the pinnacle in yumminess to many a Myachi Maniac. Many have expressed disbelief that the remaining Myachis on this list can outdo the sacks already highlighted.
And at first glance, that might appear true. But I must again draw everyone's attention to the fact that in this list we're concerning ourselves only with the impact that each Myachi would have on future Myachis. This isn't a list of the best jammers or of the most valued collectibles, though sacks belonging on both lists have thus far appeared in the series. So despite the fact that on the surface, the following Myachi might seem an odd choice to outrank the Black Belt, but with a little explanation, I'm sure you'll understand.
The Fire Flower has a lot going for it. Many people prize it for it's cool look. Floral patterns aren't usually really popular in the Myachi world, but this is one of the few that makes the exception. Other notables are the Black Rose and the Blue Dragon, which incorporated Chinese dragons into the floral print to make it far more dragony than flowery.
Others prize this Myachi for its grip. They start off as good jammers and quickly surpass good and get off at the exit for "spectacular". They break in quickly and evenly and within a week of dedicated jamming they are some of the best production jammers to ever come out of China. At the time they were made, they would have easily ranked in the top 10 all time jammers.
Still others prize the Fire Flower for its incredible rarity. Among the rarest Myachis ever produced in China, this sack was created in an exceedingly small run of prototypes in an effort to test new fabrics. Keeping in mind that a Myachi is considered extremely rare if we've made only 150 of them, there were only 25 Fire Flowers manufactured in all. This was back in 2007 and they've steadily gotten more and more difficult to acquire.
The story of the series itself is rather unique. Over the years Myachi has grown exponentially in volume. Back in the earlier days, it was easy to be experimental with Myachi fabrics. We were only making a couple hundred of any given fabric so even if it wasn't a great jammer or didn't look as good as we expected, we could still sell through the sacks by counting on collectors to pick up the slack from the jammers.
But by 2007 we were making Myachis by the thousands and there was a much greater risk in getting creative with untested fabrics. The 3.2 series demonstrated that in the worst way when we committed to a huge run of Zoot Suits and Delta Forces, creating a massive series where a full third of the sacks were really tough to break in.
The series that the Fire Flower came in, often called the HF series (the initials of the Myachi Maniac who selected the fabrics) or the "Quarter" series because there were 25 of each of four fabrics for a total of one hundred sacks. They were all experimental. The Pig Skin was a tough leather that took a lot of effort to break in but eventually made it all worth while. The Very Jerry had great grip and broke in quickly, but started getting pretty flimsy after a few weeks of jamming. The Aztec had a great design and jammed pretty good right out of the gate, but it didn't break in very much and even after using it for a while, it still felt pretty "fresh-from-the-pack".
But the Fire Flower was the resounding success we were hoping to find in the series. It was durable, jammable and abundant. It had great grip and came in a wide variety of designs and vibrant colors. It was a fabric that was destined from the first jam to replace the microsuede as the standard throughout Myachidom. The Fire Flower was a lot of things, but the one we're concerned with here is a simple one: It was the first modern corduroy.
I have to say "modern", because it was not the first corduroy sack. Some early examples of the fabric showed up along the way in Myachi history. The Fudge Stripe, for example, predated the Fire Flower by more than a year and even that wasn't the "first" corduroy Myachi. But the Fire Flower was made from a very specific type of corduroy with a thin, tough lining and narrow, shallow grooves. It is an extremely common fabric so it's a wonder we hadn't made Myachis out of it before, but as soon as we jammed with it, we knew we would be making up for it.
The first series selected after the Fire Flower was series 3.0, largely considered to be the greatest series of all time. Of course, since the 3.1 series was released at the same time and since together the two series contained only 12 sacks, in fairness these two series should be considered together. This only enhances the status of that series as the best we've ever done.
One reason was the long awaited re-release of two extraordinarily popular Myachis that have already made their way on to this list (the Black Butter and the Calvin), but even more important was the introduction of 4 sacks of the same corduroy as the Fire Flower; the Highlander Blue, the Highlander Black, the Red Beard and the Black Beard.
If you need any evidence of the popularity of those four sacks, consider this. Since then we've released two more sacks in the Beard line and at least 7 more in the Highlander line. It has become the most commonly used Myachi fabric in the history of the game in the intervening years. Consider that. We were making Myachis for 8 years before we made the first sack out of this fabric. Now, in only 4 years it has surpassed all the other fabrics that had so big a head start.
When it comes to influential fabrics, no Myachi compares to the Fire Flower. That being said, there are still 3 more Myachis that we consider to be even more world changing. You might have already guessed one or two of them, but to find out, you'll have to keep checking back with us for the next installment.
It's been a long time, I know, but now that we've reached the end of this record smashing Christmas season, the blog shall rise again. Sorry that there was such a long hiatus and that no information was provided about when the blog would reappear, but we're back and you'll be seeing daily doses of the Myachi Blog once again beginning today.
I can't thank you all enough for sticking with us for so long and being so patient with me during this extended blog-black-out, and all I can say is I hope I can repay your patience with fun, insightful and interesting content in the new year. It's been a crazy couple of months and things are looking better than ever for Myachi so there should be no shortage of topics.
And now, by popular request, the next installment of our stalled series on the Myachis that changed the world:
----------------
In the last installment of this series, we talked about the Black Belt and it's nearly incomparable influence on the future of jammability. Even now, the wideboarded Pakisacks we equate with the Black Belt are considered the pinnacle in yumminess to many a Myachi Maniac. Many have expressed disbelief that the remaining Myachis on this list can outdo the sacks already highlighted.
And at first glance, that might appear true. But I must again draw everyone's attention to the fact that in this list we're concerning ourselves only with the impact that each Myachi would have on future Myachis. This isn't a list of the best jammers or of the most valued collectibles, though sacks belonging on both lists have thus far appeared in the series. So despite the fact that on the surface, the following Myachi might seem an odd choice to outrank the Black Belt, but with a little explanation, I'm sure you'll understand.
#4) The Fire Flower
The Fire Flower has a lot going for it. Many people prize it for it's cool look. Floral patterns aren't usually really popular in the Myachi world, but this is one of the few that makes the exception. Other notables are the Black Rose and the Blue Dragon, which incorporated Chinese dragons into the floral print to make it far more dragony than flowery.
Others prize this Myachi for its grip. They start off as good jammers and quickly surpass good and get off at the exit for "spectacular". They break in quickly and evenly and within a week of dedicated jamming they are some of the best production jammers to ever come out of China. At the time they were made, they would have easily ranked in the top 10 all time jammers.
Still others prize the Fire Flower for its incredible rarity. Among the rarest Myachis ever produced in China, this sack was created in an exceedingly small run of prototypes in an effort to test new fabrics. Keeping in mind that a Myachi is considered extremely rare if we've made only 150 of them, there were only 25 Fire Flowers manufactured in all. This was back in 2007 and they've steadily gotten more and more difficult to acquire.
The story of the series itself is rather unique. Over the years Myachi has grown exponentially in volume. Back in the earlier days, it was easy to be experimental with Myachi fabrics. We were only making a couple hundred of any given fabric so even if it wasn't a great jammer or didn't look as good as we expected, we could still sell through the sacks by counting on collectors to pick up the slack from the jammers.
But by 2007 we were making Myachis by the thousands and there was a much greater risk in getting creative with untested fabrics. The 3.2 series demonstrated that in the worst way when we committed to a huge run of Zoot Suits and Delta Forces, creating a massive series where a full third of the sacks were really tough to break in.
The series that the Fire Flower came in, often called the HF series (the initials of the Myachi Maniac who selected the fabrics) or the "Quarter" series because there were 25 of each of four fabrics for a total of one hundred sacks. They were all experimental. The Pig Skin was a tough leather that took a lot of effort to break in but eventually made it all worth while. The Very Jerry had great grip and broke in quickly, but started getting pretty flimsy after a few weeks of jamming. The Aztec had a great design and jammed pretty good right out of the gate, but it didn't break in very much and even after using it for a while, it still felt pretty "fresh-from-the-pack".
But the Fire Flower was the resounding success we were hoping to find in the series. It was durable, jammable and abundant. It had great grip and came in a wide variety of designs and vibrant colors. It was a fabric that was destined from the first jam to replace the microsuede as the standard throughout Myachidom. The Fire Flower was a lot of things, but the one we're concerned with here is a simple one: It was the first modern corduroy.
I have to say "modern", because it was not the first corduroy sack. Some early examples of the fabric showed up along the way in Myachi history. The Fudge Stripe, for example, predated the Fire Flower by more than a year and even that wasn't the "first" corduroy Myachi. But the Fire Flower was made from a very specific type of corduroy with a thin, tough lining and narrow, shallow grooves. It is an extremely common fabric so it's a wonder we hadn't made Myachis out of it before, but as soon as we jammed with it, we knew we would be making up for it.
The first series selected after the Fire Flower was series 3.0, largely considered to be the greatest series of all time. Of course, since the 3.1 series was released at the same time and since together the two series contained only 12 sacks, in fairness these two series should be considered together. This only enhances the status of that series as the best we've ever done.
One reason was the long awaited re-release of two extraordinarily popular Myachis that have already made their way on to this list (the Black Butter and the Calvin), but even more important was the introduction of 4 sacks of the same corduroy as the Fire Flower; the Highlander Blue, the Highlander Black, the Red Beard and the Black Beard.
If you need any evidence of the popularity of those four sacks, consider this. Since then we've released two more sacks in the Beard line and at least 7 more in the Highlander line. It has become the most commonly used Myachi fabric in the history of the game in the intervening years. Consider that. We were making Myachis for 8 years before we made the first sack out of this fabric. Now, in only 4 years it has surpassed all the other fabrics that had so big a head start.
When it comes to influential fabrics, no Myachi compares to the Fire Flower. That being said, there are still 3 more Myachis that we consider to be even more world changing. You might have already guessed one or two of them, but to find out, you'll have to keep checking back with us for the next installment.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Myachis That Changed the World: Number 5
by Crazy Ivan
So far in this series we examined the Calvin and how it changed our concepts of "yummy", we talked about the Cherry Red and how it changed our concepts of fabric choice, we talked about the Tune in With Taylor and how it changed our concepts about marketing Myachis, we talked about the Green Sponge and how it changed our concept of the family of Myachis and, most recently, we talked about the Black Butter and how it changed our concept of what a Myachi should be.
But now we're moving on to the second level of earth-shattering. If we were simply compiling a list of awesome Myachis, it would be hard to find five that outdo the five we've already discussed, but since our focus here is on the most "game changing" Myachis, the ones that made the biggest impact on future Myachis, there are five very deserving candidates, beginning with one you might have seen coming.
For those who have been in the game for a while, just glancing over the glorious simplicity of the Black Belt evokes images of perfection and desire; this sack is at once rare, unique, classic, simple and unparalleled in jammability. It is a Myachi for all people, regardless of their interest in the game. For the collector it is a 1 of 121 and one of only three officially sanctioned Myachis ever released without a tag. For the freestyler it is unrivaled once broken in... and not too shabby along the way either. Heck, even for people outside the game entirely, the very name "Black Belt" suggests that this sack sits upon the apex of a distinguished pyramid.
And as many great things as I could say about the Black Belt, only one of them is truly pertinent for the purposes of this article. Sure, it was the best jamming Myachi of all time when it was released. Sure, it was a prototype from a very small run that was never released in stores. Sure, fewer than 10% of the Black Belts made were ever actually sold. Sure, more world Myachi records have been set with this sack than any other by a ratio of at least 3 to 1. But none of those are the reason that this sack earned such a high spot on this list. What achievement could possibly outshine the ones listed above?
The Black Belt was the first Myachi ever made in Pakistan.
It wasn't intended to be a world-changer. Heck, it wasn't even supposed to be a sack that many people would ever hear about. We met a manufacturer from Pakistan at a trade show and he said he could make Myachis for us. Of course, we already had a manufacturer that we were happy with so we thanked him politely, but he was quite insistent. So we discussed it a bit deeper.
The one drawback to the manufacturer we were using up to that point was volume. It was a pretty big factory and they weren't interested in doing our small runs. They would only accept orders for 1,000 pieces or more. Now, that was rarely a problem. We were always making way more than 1,000 at a time when we made our series sacks and companies like Dodge, Dunkin Donuts and Sobe were more than happy to order by the thousands.
But that left a big segment of our potential customer base out of the game. This manufacturer was able to make orders of as few as 150 Myachis so all of a sudden we would have a viable option for small run orders; the kind of orders we could get from private events, bar mitzvahs, school fund raisers, church groups, charity organizations and local businesses. It would open the door to a whole new market for us... a market that had been knocking on our doors for years.
Of course, before we broke out the champagne bottles, we had to make sure that this dude could deliver on what he was promising. After a little negotiation, he agreed to make 36 Myachis as a sample to show us his work. Since we were thinking about this as an option for custom Myachis, we had him put the Myachi logo on the front to see how that would work out.
We didn't provide him with the tags and we told him not to bother with the loops on this first run. We just wanted to see if he could make a quality, jammable Myachi for the price he was promising. A few weeks later we got the shipment in and our hopes were raised a notch or two. They were a little bit too small and a bit overstuffed, but they were well stitched and the fabric was awesome.
But Myachi Man is a cautious guy and he wanted to see it on a bigger scale. Before we offered these sacks to one of our customers, we had to be positive that we would be giving them the best possible quality. We asked for a few corrections and placed our first order. Since this was still just considered prototyping, we still didn't bother sending any tags. This time he offered to split it up between three colors so we got 85 Black, 85 Blue and 85 White. This time they got the dimensions perfect and crafted some of the best Myachis we'd seen to date.
With sacks that were so cool looking and so incredibly jammable, it was only a matter of time before a few made their way into the wider world of Myachidom. We hooked up a few long time maniacs with the condition that they break them in and report back to us. Soon after that they were being talked about on the forum and a few were being shown around a couple of the big Myachi schools. Soon after we were inundated with calls asking if we had any Belts left.
Today, more than half of the different types of promotional Myachis ever made were manufactured in Pakistan. We've made countless Myachis for maniacs, birthday parties... heck, we ever made a Myachi to commemorate our long running online forum, designed and paid for by the members of the forum. This one small step in our supply chain has had a long echoing effect that is still being felt today.
Believe it or not, there are still four Myachis on this list that rank higher than the Black Belt for the impact they've had on the movement. To find out what they are, keep checking back with us...
So far in this series we examined the Calvin and how it changed our concepts of "yummy", we talked about the Cherry Red and how it changed our concepts of fabric choice, we talked about the Tune in With Taylor and how it changed our concepts about marketing Myachis, we talked about the Green Sponge and how it changed our concept of the family of Myachis and, most recently, we talked about the Black Butter and how it changed our concept of what a Myachi should be.
But now we're moving on to the second level of earth-shattering. If we were simply compiling a list of awesome Myachis, it would be hard to find five that outdo the five we've already discussed, but since our focus here is on the most "game changing" Myachis, the ones that made the biggest impact on future Myachis, there are five very deserving candidates, beginning with one you might have seen coming.
#5) The Black Belt
For those who have been in the game for a while, just glancing over the glorious simplicity of the Black Belt evokes images of perfection and desire; this sack is at once rare, unique, classic, simple and unparalleled in jammability. It is a Myachi for all people, regardless of their interest in the game. For the collector it is a 1 of 121 and one of only three officially sanctioned Myachis ever released without a tag. For the freestyler it is unrivaled once broken in... and not too shabby along the way either. Heck, even for people outside the game entirely, the very name "Black Belt" suggests that this sack sits upon the apex of a distinguished pyramid.
And as many great things as I could say about the Black Belt, only one of them is truly pertinent for the purposes of this article. Sure, it was the best jamming Myachi of all time when it was released. Sure, it was a prototype from a very small run that was never released in stores. Sure, fewer than 10% of the Black Belts made were ever actually sold. Sure, more world Myachi records have been set with this sack than any other by a ratio of at least 3 to 1. But none of those are the reason that this sack earned such a high spot on this list. What achievement could possibly outshine the ones listed above?
The Black Belt was the first Myachi ever made in Pakistan.
It wasn't intended to be a world-changer. Heck, it wasn't even supposed to be a sack that many people would ever hear about. We met a manufacturer from Pakistan at a trade show and he said he could make Myachis for us. Of course, we already had a manufacturer that we were happy with so we thanked him politely, but he was quite insistent. So we discussed it a bit deeper.
The one drawback to the manufacturer we were using up to that point was volume. It was a pretty big factory and they weren't interested in doing our small runs. They would only accept orders for 1,000 pieces or more. Now, that was rarely a problem. We were always making way more than 1,000 at a time when we made our series sacks and companies like Dodge, Dunkin Donuts and Sobe were more than happy to order by the thousands.
But that left a big segment of our potential customer base out of the game. This manufacturer was able to make orders of as few as 150 Myachis so all of a sudden we would have a viable option for small run orders; the kind of orders we could get from private events, bar mitzvahs, school fund raisers, church groups, charity organizations and local businesses. It would open the door to a whole new market for us... a market that had been knocking on our doors for years.
Of course, before we broke out the champagne bottles, we had to make sure that this dude could deliver on what he was promising. After a little negotiation, he agreed to make 36 Myachis as a sample to show us his work. Since we were thinking about this as an option for custom Myachis, we had him put the Myachi logo on the front to see how that would work out.
We didn't provide him with the tags and we told him not to bother with the loops on this first run. We just wanted to see if he could make a quality, jammable Myachi for the price he was promising. A few weeks later we got the shipment in and our hopes were raised a notch or two. They were a little bit too small and a bit overstuffed, but they were well stitched and the fabric was awesome.
But Myachi Man is a cautious guy and he wanted to see it on a bigger scale. Before we offered these sacks to one of our customers, we had to be positive that we would be giving them the best possible quality. We asked for a few corrections and placed our first order. Since this was still just considered prototyping, we still didn't bother sending any tags. This time he offered to split it up between three colors so we got 85 Black, 85 Blue and 85 White. This time they got the dimensions perfect and crafted some of the best Myachis we'd seen to date.
With sacks that were so cool looking and so incredibly jammable, it was only a matter of time before a few made their way into the wider world of Myachidom. We hooked up a few long time maniacs with the condition that they break them in and report back to us. Soon after that they were being talked about on the forum and a few were being shown around a couple of the big Myachi schools. Soon after we were inundated with calls asking if we had any Belts left.
Today, more than half of the different types of promotional Myachis ever made were manufactured in Pakistan. We've made countless Myachis for maniacs, birthday parties... heck, we ever made a Myachi to commemorate our long running online forum, designed and paid for by the members of the forum. This one small step in our supply chain has had a long echoing effect that is still being felt today.
Believe it or not, there are still four Myachis on this list that rank higher than the Black Belt for the impact they've had on the movement. To find out what they are, keep checking back with us...
Monday, October 17, 2011
Myachis That Changed the World: Number 6
by Crazy Ivan
As we work our way further and further down the list of the most influential Myachis of all time, there are a few sacks that you expect to see. Some Myachis have reached such an iconic status within the movement that they are bound to show up on a list like this.
In fact, I'm willing to wager that as the bona fide Myachi Maniac read through the first four entries in this series, they were probably listing Myachis in their head that they knew would show up on the list somewhere. While I doubt that anyone had predicted the Cherry Red, the Tune in With Taylor or the Green Sponge as contenders, I have little doubt that many of our loyal readers have been thinking for a week now, "I wonder where Black Butter will fall?"
In many ways, the Black Butter could be considered the definitive Myachi. It is the most popular Myachi of all time, having been released in no fewer than 10 different series. In addition to the more than 22,000 Black Butters that have been released in various series over the years, the same fabric has lent itself to a number of popular promotional sacks like the Dunkin Donuts, the Alana Grace, the Dodge, the Mileage Club and the Shamrock Shuffle.
The first iteration of this sack actually came long before the Black Butter itself. The Black Velveteen of series 0.4 was a remarkably similar sack with exquisite jammability and grip. It was fast to break in and its neutral color made it a favorite among early jammers. But that fabric quickly became unavailable and a series of not-quite-as-good substitutes plagued the Myachi Movement for the years following.
But then along came the Black Butter. It was superior in grip and the fabric was widely available so there was no danger of our manufacturer running out. What's more is that we found virtually everyone loved the solid black. It was rarely anyone's favorite in a series, but it was always a suitable second choice if the most popular sack was gone.
The Black Butter was extremely popular and is even today considered by many to be the most perfect Myachi ever constructed. But that, by itself, does not earn it a place on this list. We're not compiling a list of the most popular Myachis ever made, after all; this is a list of the Myachis that changed the world... or, more accurately, Myachis that changed the world of Myachi.
To understand the impact of the Black Butter, we must examine a slow, undulating trend that has existed in the Myachi Movement since the beginning. It is the tidal flux of Myachi, the eternal ebb and flow of collecting and jamming.
At first, of course, Myachi was all about jamming. The game can't start with collectors, as there would be nothing to collect. Jamming was all there was to Myachi at the time; solo shredding, tossing back and forth with your friends, creating new tricks and thinking up new Myachi games. The only reason people got more than one Myachi was to hedge their bets against losing one and later to learn two and three Myachi tricks.
But it didn't take very long for the collecting aspect to materialize. As soon as a few jammers glanced at their pile of four or five Myachis, it started looking like a collection waiting to happen. The various fabrics all in a uniform size and cut just beg to be augmented with ever more colors and patterns. Within only a few series, collecting started to dominate the market.
It makes sense if you think about it. Keep in mind that we're talking about the earliest days of the Myachi Movement where at best there were a few thousand people that owned Myachis. Jammers, by and large, buy two or three Myachis and eventually develop a collection over years. Collectors, on the other hand, by ten, twelve or twenty Myachis. So even if there are ten times as many jammers as there are collectors, the collectors are still buying more Myachis overall.
As a company, we have little choice in the whole supply and demand thing. It's kind of an immutable law of business so when the biggest segment of our customer base started begging for ever more exotic fabrics to add to their collections, we obliged. We scoured the world for cool looking, unusual fabrics to use in upcoming series.
This led to an interesting era in Myachi that is still relished by collectors. Sacks like the Snake Skin Tie-Dye, the Orange Wetsuit, the Yellow Cat and the Red and Purple Swirls dominated each new series. These sacks were clearly there for collectors. They were stiff, unaccommodating jammers but they looked spectacularly cool. Inevitably, of course, this trend went too far.
The sack that most perfectly encapsulates the ridiculous end that we went to trying new fabrics is the infamous Neo, the waterproof neoprene yellow beast that has all the jammability of a soaped up iPhone. Designed to be jammed with in pools and on beaches, the Neo was a decent jammer when it was soaking wet and all but useless the rest of the time.
The Black Butter showed up at about the same time (actually a few series before) and represented our continuing commitment to the freestylers and skill-players. Sure, the majority of sacks were produced for the collector that was demanding more colors, patterns and feels, but we never lost focus on the importance of having a few great jammers in every series as well.
For a number of reasons, the trend toward exotic Myachis started to recede around series 1.1 or so. Part of this was due to the ease of manufacture of some fabrics, some was due to the shifting zeitgeist of the movement back toward freestyle but an awful lot of it can be credited directly to the Black Butter. Despite being offered in a series alongside such visually striking sacks as the Blue Dragon, the Royal Tiger, the Leopard Lime, the Tie Dye Snakeskin and the Fireball, the Black Butter consistently remained toward the top of the sales numbers. Sure, we sold out the Royal Tigers a bit faster, but everyone was willing to settle for a Black Butter if they didn't get their first choice.
The Black Butter was a turning point for the company and for the game. It said that we didn't need gimmicky fabrics to make it work. The fun of the game itself was enough even if the Myachi wasn't visually striking. The quality fabric and the intrinsic yumminess of the Black Butter was enough to help reverse the trend. Of course, today we've found ways to couple superior jammability with awesome patterns, but this best-of-both-worlds approach never would have been possible if it weren't for this simple Myachi.
----
We'll be breaking into the top half of our list in the next installment, so be sure to keep checking back with us to see if your favorite Myachi made the list of the top 5 Myachis that changed the world.
As we work our way further and further down the list of the most influential Myachis of all time, there are a few sacks that you expect to see. Some Myachis have reached such an iconic status within the movement that they are bound to show up on a list like this.
In fact, I'm willing to wager that as the bona fide Myachi Maniac read through the first four entries in this series, they were probably listing Myachis in their head that they knew would show up on the list somewhere. While I doubt that anyone had predicted the Cherry Red, the Tune in With Taylor or the Green Sponge as contenders, I have little doubt that many of our loyal readers have been thinking for a week now, "I wonder where Black Butter will fall?"
#6) The Black Butter
In many ways, the Black Butter could be considered the definitive Myachi. It is the most popular Myachi of all time, having been released in no fewer than 10 different series. In addition to the more than 22,000 Black Butters that have been released in various series over the years, the same fabric has lent itself to a number of popular promotional sacks like the Dunkin Donuts, the Alana Grace, the Dodge, the Mileage Club and the Shamrock Shuffle.
The first iteration of this sack actually came long before the Black Butter itself. The Black Velveteen of series 0.4 was a remarkably similar sack with exquisite jammability and grip. It was fast to break in and its neutral color made it a favorite among early jammers. But that fabric quickly became unavailable and a series of not-quite-as-good substitutes plagued the Myachi Movement for the years following.
But then along came the Black Butter. It was superior in grip and the fabric was widely available so there was no danger of our manufacturer running out. What's more is that we found virtually everyone loved the solid black. It was rarely anyone's favorite in a series, but it was always a suitable second choice if the most popular sack was gone.
The Black Butter was extremely popular and is even today considered by many to be the most perfect Myachi ever constructed. But that, by itself, does not earn it a place on this list. We're not compiling a list of the most popular Myachis ever made, after all; this is a list of the Myachis that changed the world... or, more accurately, Myachis that changed the world of Myachi.
To understand the impact of the Black Butter, we must examine a slow, undulating trend that has existed in the Myachi Movement since the beginning. It is the tidal flux of Myachi, the eternal ebb and flow of collecting and jamming.
At first, of course, Myachi was all about jamming. The game can't start with collectors, as there would be nothing to collect. Jamming was all there was to Myachi at the time; solo shredding, tossing back and forth with your friends, creating new tricks and thinking up new Myachi games. The only reason people got more than one Myachi was to hedge their bets against losing one and later to learn two and three Myachi tricks.
But it didn't take very long for the collecting aspect to materialize. As soon as a few jammers glanced at their pile of four or five Myachis, it started looking like a collection waiting to happen. The various fabrics all in a uniform size and cut just beg to be augmented with ever more colors and patterns. Within only a few series, collecting started to dominate the market.
It makes sense if you think about it. Keep in mind that we're talking about the earliest days of the Myachi Movement where at best there were a few thousand people that owned Myachis. Jammers, by and large, buy two or three Myachis and eventually develop a collection over years. Collectors, on the other hand, by ten, twelve or twenty Myachis. So even if there are ten times as many jammers as there are collectors, the collectors are still buying more Myachis overall.
As a company, we have little choice in the whole supply and demand thing. It's kind of an immutable law of business so when the biggest segment of our customer base started begging for ever more exotic fabrics to add to their collections, we obliged. We scoured the world for cool looking, unusual fabrics to use in upcoming series.
This led to an interesting era in Myachi that is still relished by collectors. Sacks like the Snake Skin Tie-Dye, the Orange Wetsuit, the Yellow Cat and the Red and Purple Swirls dominated each new series. These sacks were clearly there for collectors. They were stiff, unaccommodating jammers but they looked spectacularly cool. Inevitably, of course, this trend went too far.
The sack that most perfectly encapsulates the ridiculous end that we went to trying new fabrics is the infamous Neo, the waterproof neoprene yellow beast that has all the jammability of a soaped up iPhone. Designed to be jammed with in pools and on beaches, the Neo was a decent jammer when it was soaking wet and all but useless the rest of the time.
The Black Butter showed up at about the same time (actually a few series before) and represented our continuing commitment to the freestylers and skill-players. Sure, the majority of sacks were produced for the collector that was demanding more colors, patterns and feels, but we never lost focus on the importance of having a few great jammers in every series as well.
For a number of reasons, the trend toward exotic Myachis started to recede around series 1.1 or so. Part of this was due to the ease of manufacture of some fabrics, some was due to the shifting zeitgeist of the movement back toward freestyle but an awful lot of it can be credited directly to the Black Butter. Despite being offered in a series alongside such visually striking sacks as the Blue Dragon, the Royal Tiger, the Leopard Lime, the Tie Dye Snakeskin and the Fireball, the Black Butter consistently remained toward the top of the sales numbers. Sure, we sold out the Royal Tigers a bit faster, but everyone was willing to settle for a Black Butter if they didn't get their first choice.
The Black Butter was a turning point for the company and for the game. It said that we didn't need gimmicky fabrics to make it work. The fun of the game itself was enough even if the Myachi wasn't visually striking. The quality fabric and the intrinsic yumminess of the Black Butter was enough to help reverse the trend. Of course, today we've found ways to couple superior jammability with awesome patterns, but this best-of-both-worlds approach never would have been possible if it weren't for this simple Myachi.
----
We'll be breaking into the top half of our list in the next installment, so be sure to keep checking back with us to see if your favorite Myachi made the list of the top 5 Myachis that changed the world.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)