86 softie

[Dave Walters]

There is an old timer from Peru, IN that still uses one.

Like at tournaments when aces are not hit they usually have a ctp throw off for the ace fund money.
Well he always pulls out his old 86 mold. usually parks the hole and takes the money.
I have seen it on several occasions.

Sonny Arwood is the man.
http://www.pdga.com/player-stats?PDGANum=4294&year=2010

 

[Jay Dub]

5 of my 86 softies came from World Champ Steve Wisecup. He gave me all he had in a trade once he got a sponsor from Discraft I think it was. Before that they were all he used to putt with.

 

[Three Putt]

The 86 was my first golf disc back in '83. My golfing buddy and I used to throw fastbacks, he laughed at me when I bought one and couldn't throw it past 60' before it dove left. Then another player told me about gripping it firm and throwing it flat and that was the end of throwing lids. Haven't thrown it in ages and there's no temptation to break it out, the rim is so deep it's not a comfortable grip when compared to anAviar.

This was always the thing about 86's for me...they came out AFTER the Aviar. The Aviar is a much, much easier disc to throw, both for distance and for putting. You had the have this masochistic urge to drive yourself crazy to choose the 86 over the Aviar.

 

[Jay Dub]

I used Aviar and an 86, still do.

 

[Three Putt]

I used Aviar and an 86, still do.

That's something I wouldn't do. I pick my best disc for short drives and approaches and putt with it. I don't like to have a lot of overlapping discs in my bag. When I did use 86's I ended up approaching with the Spitfire a lot since the 86 was so unreliable for me as an approach disc and I wasn't carrying another putter to compensate for that. Once I switched back to the Aviar it took care of that problem so I could stop throwing approach shots with a mid.

I suppose if I had used the 86 as a situational disc I might have found a use for it, but as a workhorse putt and approach disc it caused me more problems than it solved.

 

[tmahan]

This was always the thing about 86's for me...they came out AFTER the Aviar. The Aviar is a much, much easier disc to throw, both for distance and for putting. You had the have this masochistic urge to drive yourself crazy to choose the 86 over the Aviar.

Mine isn't the Softie, it's the original 86, I got it before I got my patent pending Aero and the old hard P-38 Lightning which I think was before the Aviars came out. Would have been '83-84.

 

[Three Putt]

Mine isn't the Softie, it's the original 86, I got it before I got my patent pending Aero and the old hard P-38 Lightning which I think was before the Aviars came out. Would have been '83-84.

The Aviar was at least approved before both the 86 mold and the P-38. They all were approved in '84. The Aero was approved in '83. Which one you saw first would have depended on where you were, as none of those companies had great distribution at that point. It would probably be more accurate to say that the Avair, 86 and P-38 basically came out at the same time.

 

[tmahan]

The Aviar was at least approved before both the 86 mold and the P-38. They all were approved in '84. The Aero was approved in '83. Which one you saw first would have depended on where you were, as none of those companies had great distribution at that point. It would probably be more accurate to say that the Avair, 86 and P-38 basically came out at the same time.

D@mn good Three Putt, I just looked them up, the Aviar, 86 and P-38 were all approved 1-1-84 according to the PDGA. The Aero was listed at 1-1-83, so was the Phantom which surprised me a little, though Phantoms were some first golf discs I recall seeing. They were what all the cool kids were throwing. So it it was '83 when I started seeing 'real' golf discs and probably the middle of '84 before I bought the 86 at a Bradlees store. I got the Aero shortly afterwards in a time-honored tradition (out of somebody's trunk), I think I won the P-38 at one or the early Duck Golf tournaments. This was all at Burke Lake in Fairfax VA, thanks for helping me put a timeframe around this.

 

[Three Putt]

D@mn good Three Putt, I just looked them up, the Aviar, 86 and P-38 were all approved 1-1-84 according to the PDGA. The Aero was listed at 1-1-83, so was the Phantom which surprised me a little, though Phantoms were some first golf discs I recall seeing. They were what all the cool kids were throwing. So it it was '83 when I started seeing 'real' golf discs and probably the middle of '84 before I bought the 86 at a Bradlees store. I got the Aero shortly afterwards in a time-honored tradition (out of somebody's trunk), I think I won the P-38 at one or the early Duck Golf tournaments. This was all at Burke Lake in Fairfax VA, thanks for helping me put a timeframe around this.

Yeah, they didn't keep approval dates back then so all the discs approved in that year say 1-1-84. If you look at their certification numbers the Aviar is 84-1, the 86 is 84-3 and the P-38 is 84-9, so that might tell you the order in which they were approved.

I say might becasue today that tells you the order that they were approved, but back then who knows what it told you. If you use "numbers in chronological order" logic the Phantom appears to have been approved after the Eagle but before the Aero, but I've never heard anyone say the Phantom was out before the Aero. So the numbering might be Fubar.

 

[Jay Dub]

Not that it matters but to clarify, the 86s I'm talking about in this thread is the original 86 Softie, they were first black discs, the original 86 that I remember were yellow and deeper than the original 86 softie.

That's how I recall it and know I could be wrong with my memory or how it happened in my area compared to how it happened with the disc manuf.

 

[tmahan]

Not that it matters but to clarify, the 86s I'm talking about in this thread is the original 86 Softie, they were first black discs, the original 86 that I remember were yellow and deeper than the original 86 softie.

That's how I recall it and know I could be wrong with my memory or how it happened in my area compared to how it happened with the disc manuf.

My 86 is white, I think you're correct that it's deeper. I believe some of the early Phantoms were black, they were either black or white (I have a white one).

 

[Jay Dub]

The phantoms were black or white, then they had the Phantom plus and Phantom lite. At the time, in my area anyway, the Phantom plus was a real distance disc. el oh el

I have a black phantom with the 88 worlds stamp.

 

[Three Putt]

One of the guys in my league putted with the old black Softies. We always finished after dark, and he always used that damn black Softie. They never did make a glow Softie that we could find. If they had we would have taken up a collection and bought him a few.

 

[Three Putt]

The phantoms were black or white, then they had the Phantom plus and Phantom lite. At the time, in my area anyway, the Phantom plus was a real distance disc. el oh el

I have a black phantom with the 88 worlds stamp.

We used to just call them Phantoms, but 99% of the Phantoms I saw were Phantom +'s. Even up to the late 90's they were very common discs at the pitch and putt I hung out at. They were super durable, so if you had one in the bag it lasted for a long, long time.

 

[Jay Dub]

Pitch and putt was all we had at that time, compared to courses today, and yeah all the Phantom's were real durable. The first golfer in the Cincinnati area that started cashing regularly in pro tournaments (late 80s, early 90s) had almost all Phantom + in his bag. He did finally switch to mostly Innova after a couple years.

 

[BuckeyeMike]

I just found one of these, on the Disc golf course.
I think it is basically a small version of the regular Frisbee.
I would say the lip is like a more rounded version of the Discraft Rattler.

 

[atl scott]

It's a touch disc. You can't put any power behind it or it flips like a 15 year-old Romanian girl on uneven bars. The slight breeze caused by a butterfly gliding by will blow it off course causing a need for you to alter your throw in some way to accommodate. It's a very true disc in that it's all you. The disc is not stable enough to cover any of your mistakes. The subtle nuances of the 86 creates a complex dance that floats seemingly aimlessly toward your target. If you have the time and talent to master these subtle nuances, the 86 will perform admirably.

However, if you have the talent to master the subtle nuances of an 86, you could probably beat me throwing a trash can lid. It's for the advanced old-school Frisbee freaks who can control a doggie-toy understable flight and make it do beautiful things.

So if you want to get all old-school hippie-dippy Frisbee zen and begin your trip toward floaty lid Nirvana, the 86 Softie is a great place to start. If you just want to play golf and nut on your putter like all of your other golf discs, skip it.

I officially nominate this for post of the year.

 

[discpicable]

I officially nominate this for post of the year.

That quote is from '09.

 

[John Rock]

So, who's got a few Softies they would like to sell or trade? I'm in need of a few more due to throwing too low over the chicken coop the other day. I've got a LOT of old stuff that's never been thrown, plus some that have been thrown a little.

PLEASE?

 

[sweeper]

I have a few 86s and two 86 softees I'd be willing to trade or whatever.

Send me a pm if ya want.