- jamie373 wrote:
- i've read a few times about a players dart changing in small way i.e one or more rings . i this due to the player or the manufacturer wanting to sell more darts to fans or a bit of both?
Bit of both in my experience. A certain Unicorn official has gone on record as saying that whilst they don't put pressure on players to change any contracted pro is free to ask for modifications or new darts at any time. Also that the engineering and production costs,advertising,disposal of old stock etc is high so that it is not a huge benefit for a company like Unicorn to come up with a new model. Personally, whilst i accept the costs issue i would expect future sales of the new design to more than offset any major investment.
Most pro's and amateur players are not like Tony O'Shea in that they play with exactly the same model for 20+ years (had Datadart and Target produce replica darts for general sale but still actually plays with Harrows Bristow) Look at Phil Taylor as a classic example. He's used many different arrows from the likes of Silvertrim and Harrows Bristow in his early career right through to his Unicorn Phase series in the modern era. Some of those have involved slight changes eg barrel length or more rings and some have been pretty major such as swapping from a straight barrel to a more shaped version.
Specifically on your point about the various versions of the same dart, it can be down to the player asking for modifications but i would say that is largely more down to making money. A company know that if they only produce the exact model a pro throws with in 2 or 3 weights they are limiting sales to fans of that player,collectors and a minority of darters who can throw accurately with the said style of barrel. Produce the same in brass,gold titanium,knurled version,different barrel lengths and styles etc and you have now widened your target sales area. Good example of this was Durro back in the day...
They started off producing Bristow darts but only in 3 weights. By the 80s and in the midst of Crafty Cockney domination they eventually produced the dart in 6 weights and at least 6 different barrel patterns (short barrel,standard,knurled band,knurled barrel etc). All of a sudden, people who liked Bristow but couldn't throw with Eric's personal choice of 16 ring straight barrel in 22g now had a much wider choice of his endorsed product and there was something there for far more people. It also meant hardcore fans and collectors would shell out more dosh on the Durro brand. Unicorn have reproduced this in modern times by capitalising on the popularity of Taylor - much of the branded produce on offer has never been used by him but it sells if you put his name on!
thats some collection you've got , really nice darts
