[Other] 1989-2019 photo archive of PDGA-approved discs

[hummer1025]

You must like the Daredevil Discs way of one mold with a different plastic equals a unique name and approved certification! I guess Innova/Discraft would run out of names and it looks like it's not easy to maintain exactly the same plastic characteristics overtime.

It would be nice, but that ship has long since sailed!

 

[hummer1025]

By way of introduction for those unfamiliar with my background in disc golf and disc sports in general since the 1970s, click here: https://sites.google.com/site/okpdga/oklahoma-hall-of-fame/jeffrey-homburg

 

[rusch_bag]

Man did quest pump out a ton of discs in the late 2000s.

 

[Kiekko_FIN]

There is no image of the MVP Entropy that has been recently approved.

 

[hummer1025]

There is no image of the MVP Entropy that has been recently approved.

If you want the latest photos, check for announcements on the PDGA website. Please note that manufacturers often pick the date for that announcement. The Entropy is one of the last five discs I approved on 2-27-19 that are not yet on the Google Drive. FYI for future reference, my wife takes photos in a light box of the top, bottom, and profile shots only every couple of months or so, enough time for ~20-30 discs to accumulate instead of doing than for every single disc right after I finish the testing.

 

[Casey 1988]

Why are those 1999 discs (Eagle, Teebird, Leo, JLS) all so flat-top? Were all of them flat-top back then? I rather would have thought that flat-top discs are a rather newish style and they had usually more dome back then ...

They were more flat top until sometime in 2000's when the molds got dome in new plastic and in the DX/baseline for Millennium had went from a stiff plastic to a less stiff with the exception of the Dragon as that was a R-DX from day one.

 

[Casey 1988]

Man did quest pump out a ton of discs in the late 2000s.

Yeah and sad part it looks most of these discs are now made in a poor quality Z/Champion/ other like plastic along with a new disc, the Turbo Putt II one that the company keeps trying to get PDGA approval for.

 

[Casey 1988]

Well, we've gone from six companies making discs when I started (Wham-O, DGA, Destiny/Dynamic -- the original Dynamic -- , Discraft, Innova-Champion, and Lightning in the U.S only when I started testing discs in 1990, to now with 76 companies (perhaps a couple of dozen of these or so now out of business) in 11 different countries.

Ching is gone, so is the original Destiny Discs. The Whitler discs is gone. Lighting got bought when original owner died all discs and molds for making discs by Gotta Go Gotta Throw who if they were to make the discs would more them likely make them under the Lighting name. DGA discs are now made by Discraft factories under DGA since the 1990's. Aerobie still makes discs though not sure on the Sharpeshooter Series that might be gone now. The British company that made Quarter K discs failed quickly. Element Discs has stopped making its own molds but does stamps now as they were mad about the unavailability on the plastic pellets the types they used. Gateway has stopped its side working with Quest AT on a disc or two after Quest AT moved to near the Illinois Wisconsin border. The brand that came out in 2016 from Long Island may have stopped making the one 21.7 cm diameter putter that they made.

Not sure if I have missed any but these are the ones I know of and all but Destiny Discs stopped production during the time I have played or known about Disc Golf since Later in 2003.

 

[Rol6566]

This might win post of the year!

Very cool stuff! Thanks for posting

 

[hummer1025]

Ching is gone, so is the original Destiny Discs. The Whitler discs is gone. Lighting got bought when original owner died all discs and molds for making discs by Gotta Go Gotta Throw who if they were to make the discs would more them likely make them under the Lighting name. DGA discs are now made by Discraft factories under DGA since the 1990's. Aerobie still makes discs though not sure on the Sharpeshooter Series that might be gone now. The British company that made Quarter K discs failed quickly. Element Discs has stopped making its own molds but does stamps now as they were mad about the unavailability on the plastic pellets the types they used. Gateway has stopped its side working with Quest AT on a disc or two after Quest AT moved to near the Illinois Wisconsin border. The brand that came out in 2016 from Long Island may have stopped making the one 21.7 cm diameter putter that they made.

Not sure if I have missed any but these are the ones I know of and all but Destiny Discs stopped production during the time I have played or known about Disc Golf since Later in 2003.

There are quite a few more companies out of business than that, especially ones with less than three or four discs that you may not be familiar with.

I'd like to have a complete list of companies no longer making PDGA-approved discs. Any volunteers here want to work on that project? Here's a complete list of companies by year:

1978
1 Wham-O

1979
2 Destiny/Dynamic (original Dynamic)
2 Discraft

1982
4 DGA

1983
5 Innova

1984
6 Lightning

1995
7 Millennium

1998
8 CHING
8 Gateway

2001
10 Plastic Para.

2003
11 Aerobie

2005
12 Discwing

2006
13 Discmania
13 Latitude 64
13 Pacific Cycle
13 Quest
13 RPM/Aotearoa
13 Snap

2007
19 1080
19 Daredevil

2009
21 Hero Leports
21 MVP
21 Vibram
21 Westside

2010
25 ABC
25 DKG
25 Prodiscus

2011
28 Crosslap
28 Ferris State
28 Legacy
28 Rip
28 Skyiron
28 Skyquest

2012
34 Dynamic
34 EMSCO
34 Eurodisc

2013
37 DMI
37 Kastaplast
37 Prodigy
37 Salient
37 UB
37 Yikun

2014
43 Axiom
43 Deity
43 Essential
43 HOLE19
43 Obsidian
43 Paradigm
43 Reptilian

2015
50 AquaFlight
50 Element
50 Fly High
50 Las Aves
50 Ozone
50 TOBU

2916
56 Black Zombie
56 Disc King
56 Full Turn
56 Guru Disc
56 Plastic Add.
56 Viking

2017
62 Above GL
62 Arsenal
62 Best
62 Galaxy
62 MINT
62 Sportme
62 Streamline

2018
69 ACE
69 Albatross
69 FLYTEC
69 Fourth Circle
69 Infinite
69 Kestrel
69 Storm

2019
76 Disc Golf UK

 

[hummer1025]

Here's a list of companies with the most to the least number of PDGA-approved discs:

Innova - 148
Discraft - 103
DGA - 61
Wham-O - 57
Latitude 64 - 55
Gateway - 53
Prodigy - 50
Lightning - 43
Westside - 42
MVP - 37
Dynamic - 36
Discmania - 29
Millennium - 27
Quest AT - 27
CHING -26
Daredevil - 24
Legacy - 23
Vibram - 21
Axiom - 20
Yikun - 19
Prodiscus - 13
Kastaplast - 11
Viking - 11
Infinite - 10
RPM/Aotearoa - 10
Albatrossdiscs - 8
DKG - 8
Discwing - 7
Fly High - 7
Reptilian - 7
ABC Discs - 6
Aerobie - 6
Element - 6
Eurodisc - 6
Full Turn - 6
AquaFlight - 5
Arsenal - 5
Destiny/Dynamic - 5
Galaxy - 5
Guru - 5
Obsidian - 5
Salient - 5
Streamline - 5
Above GL - 4
ACE - 4
Ozone - 4
Skyquest - 4
Black Zombie - 3
DMI - 3
EMSCO - 3
FLYTEC - 3
Kestrel - 3
Pacific Cycles - 3
Paradigm - 3
Rip - 3
Sportme - 3
Storm - 3
UB -3
Crosslap - 2
Las Aves - 2
MINT - 2
Plastic Addicts - 2
Plastic Paradise - 2
Snap - 2
TOBU - 2
1080 - 1
Best - 1
Deity - 1
Disc Golf UK - 1
Disc King - 1
Essential - 1
Ferris State - 1
Fourth Circle - 1
Hero Leports - 1
HOLE19 sarl - 1
Skyiron - 1

 

[hummer1025]

This bar graph shows all 25 companies with 10+ PDGA-approved discs.

 

[hummer1025]

This graph shows companies with the greatest time span for making PDGA-approved discs.

 

[hummer1025]

Kjell Söderholm, a very knowledgeable collector of golf discs who lives in Sweden, thinks the following companies (listed in their order from 1 to 76 for when they started making PDGA-approved discs) are either out of business (OOB) or no longer make PDGA-approved discs. There are probably others, but more exhaustive research is needed to find out.

13 Quest AT doesn´t make discs anymore
15 CHING, probably OOB
18 Vibram doesn't make discs anymore
26 DKG probably OOB
28 Discwing OOB
31 ABC Discs probably OOB
36 Destiny/Dynamic OOB
36 Salient OOB
48 Paradigm OOB
48 Rip Disc Golf probably OOB
48 UB Disc Golf OOB
59 Crosslap probably OOB
59 Las Aves probably OOB
59 Plastic Paradisc OOB
59 Snap OOB
66 1080 doesn´t make discs anymore
66 Deity OOB
66 Skyiron OOB

 

[Casey 1988]

There are quite a few more companies out of business than that, especially ones with less than three or four discs that you may not be familiar with.

I'd like to have a complete list of companies no longer making PDGA-approved discs. Any volunteers here want to work on that project? Here's a complete list of companies by year:

1978
1 Wham-O/DTW and another Chinese company that bought Wham-O who was making actual Disc Golf Discs though they now only make the starter set.

1979
2 Destiny/Dynamic (original Dynamic)*
2 Discraft

1982
4 DGA

1983
5 Innova

1984
6 Lightning Almost dead Gotta Go Gotta throw owns them and molds, right company they had the bags made for Lightning.

1995
7 Millennium

1998
8 CHING*
8 Gateway

2001
10 Plastic Para. Not sure

2003
11 Aerobie

2005
12 Discwing* one of the fastest ever deaths to a company that actually made discs.

2006
13 Discmania
13 Latitude 64
13 Pacific Cycle Yes those really bad discs with Pluto driver, Saturn midrange, and Mercury putter. brother was given some from a friend and he threw them one time and had disc warping, often come with a Disc Basket by same company.
13 Quest AT, yep still making discs in a Champion/Z Like plastic with the 10 Meter Brick as floppy as a Aerobie Dogobie.
13 RPM/Aotearoa
13 Snap* I think so they are dead? Only disc I remeber they made was the Whittler.

2007
19 1080 These can be found but it takes work to find them.
19 Daredevil

2009
21 Hero Leports Not sure as it is a European only company
21 MVP
21 Vibram* even most of the 5 finger shoes are not being made anymore (Lawsuit).
21 Westside

2010
25 ABC
25 DKG
25 Prodiscus

2011
28 Crosslap*, they made discs? well the company is gone they do not make the cart anymore or have a way to contact company.
28 Ferris State, they make a disc I think?
28 Legacy
28 Rip
28 Skyiron
28 Skyquest

2012
34 Dynamic
34 EMSCO
34 Eurodisc Still does, even a putter that is too stiff for PDGA but not a Disc Golf Europe thing separate from PDGA.

2013
37 DMI
37 Kastaplast
37 Prodigy
37 Salient*second fastest death of a disc golf company after Discwing.
37 UB
37 Yikun

2014
43 Axiom
43 Deity
43 Essential
43 HOLE19
43 Obsidian
43 Paradigm
43 Reptilian

2015
50 AquaFlight I think they still do? I find the discs selling out as they are all water discs
50 Element* the owner has just put out a statement saying he has since 2017 bin making stamps only for other companies discs, they just ran out of original discs well most popular disc that fat putter.
50 Fly High* I though they never made it off the ground and only had the old approach Wizard mold at minimum quantity?
50 Las Aves
50 Ozone
50 TOBU

2916
56 Black Zombie
56 Disc King* Yes dead they had the 21.7 cm Diameter putter hat could be up to 180 grams.
56 Full Turn
56 Guru Disc
56 Plastic Add.
56 Viking

2017
62 Above GL
62 Arsenal
62 Best
62 Galaxy
62 MINT* Might be gone or they only make a single mold still.
62 Sportme
62 Streamline

2018
69 ACE
69 Albatross
69 FLYTEC
69 Fourth Circle
69 Infinite
69 Kestrel They make both a set in a Champion/Z like plastic and a Baseline.
69 Storm

2019
76 Disc Golf UK

I will put a * next to the dead companies I know of.

Forgot ESP discs a company that makes discs in only a beginner 3 disc set. Otherwise the discs are saying they are PDGA approved without being so.

 

[Meillo]

59 Crosslap probably OOB

Doesn't look like OOB to me: http://www.crosslap-discs.de/index.html

Maybe just the impression from outside of Germany.

 

[hummer1025]

Doesn't look like OOB to me: http://www.crosslap-discs.de/index.html

Maybe just the impression from outside of Germany.

Thanks for the heads up. I never claimed they are OOB, just passed on Kjell's guess that they were probably OOB.

 

[Casey 1988]

I will put a * next to the dead companies I know of.

Forgot ESP discs a company that makes discs in only a beginner 3 disc set. Otherwise the discs are saying they are PDGA approved without being so.

link to discs below and you will find out they are the Emsco Group who is selling the ESP line.

https://www.amazon.com/ESP-Disc-Gol...sc+golf+discs&qid=1552629004&s=gateway&sr=8-3

Also make a crappy disc golf basket. https://www.amazon.com/stores/page/...b805-f260071bc89e&ref_=bl_dp_s_web_2591290011

 

[Alexplz]

snip

Hey Hummer, I really appreciate this information. One thing I noticed is that over the last couple years they profile pic in each of the approved mold folders is taken at a bit of an oblique angle, so you can't quite see the contours of the actual rim shape or dome, which are very important to me when checking out new discs online.

If I had to make a suggestion it would be to PLEASE include a pic at a perfect right angle side view. I don't know why but it's rare to see a company include a profile pic with a new release.

 

[hummer1025]

Hey Hummer, I really appreciate this information. One thing I noticed is that over the last couple years they profile pic in each of the approved mold folders is taken at a bit of an oblique angle, so you can't quite see the contours of the actual rim shape or dome, which are very important to me when checking out new discs online.

If I had to make a suggestion it would be to PLEASE include a pic at a perfect right angle side view. I don't know why but it's rare to see a company include a profile pic with a new release.

I agree that more photos would be nice, and what you're suggesting is something I've had on my wish list. We are happy to provide such photos in the PDGA announcements, but such profile shots depend on what the manufacturers want to supply. Realistically, we (really my wife) don't have time for taking profile shots more often than every couple of months or so. FYI, my wife spent about 600-700 hours over a couple of years to take all of the photos and editing them for the disc archive we put together. She's now too busy to take on a new project of photos at oblique angles. I'd be interested in a volunteer to take that on for the 1,000+ discs that I've approved since 1989, however, here in Tucson. Failing that, I hope to take that on some day when I have more free time.