So the unboxing video from Sweets for the new V21 Custom series just dropped. During the video Sweets himself said that their V series customs will now be painted overseas at the Honrui factory but will still be cushion cleared at the Sweets Shop. This tracks with what I heard from Christian Fraser the day after NAKO (he also mentioned that they will only be doing cushion clear iirc). What do you guys think about Sweets no longer painting the tamas themselves in house. On one hand it lets them be more creative with the tama designs (the V21s being a prime example) and they have been short handed on painters from what I’ve heard so this seems like a natural move for them to make. On the other hand, them painting their own damas (at the very least limited run customs and HGs) in their own shop did set them apart from other well known brands, though they will still be cushion clearing in house as mentioned above.
If it makes business sense that's what they need to do. All brands have to cater to their clientele but at the end of the day if you can't pay your bills . . . I still miss aTack and haven't gotten a chance to try Pro Clear but I'm just one guy out of limited market and a business needs numbers. I get the impression a number of companies are having to focus more on the business aspects rather than just the "cool" of years previous. Also technology marches on and where they might have originally had to fill the gap between their concepts and actual product by their own hand it would seem that production overseas has developed enough to lift some of that burden from their shoulders. Shifting things around might also bring even better things to the players in the future. Most have heard the old saying "innovate or die" and it takes money and dedicated people to make it happen and that's what businesses do, bring it all together. Of course I'm a bit company biased since I'm also in business trying to figure it all out myself. Just my 2 cents, yen, pesos.
To me it doesn't make much difference tbh. Seeing them bring the boost shape and maple to customs feels super exciting. As a player, I haven't felt super incentivized to pick up a custom recently due to the fact that there are better shapes in better woods out there for a lower price. I'm happy to hear they'll still be applying cushion at the shop, but it doesn't matter much to me where the pain is applied.
I was a little sad to hear that Sweets is not painting as much in house, since that has been their distinguishing feature over the years. It makes biz sense though, and the overseas production can do some really cool stuff (the card-inspired V21 is sick!). Interested to see what comes next!
I got to play the Blackjack V21 model with the playing card graphics and the cushion clear and thought it was very nice. It had a super sharp, “porcelain”-like sound when spiked - one of the nicest clacks I have heard in a while. A bit expensive at $50 for a “made in China” wooden toy, though.