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[Innova] ching rocs and aviars.

For anyone that read through that and is interested. 2 types of Ching
1-A company that makes and sells discs in different molds and plastics.

2-A stamping process used by Innova Discs from ~1997-2008/9. The process allows a full color stamp to be applied. The process was mostly done on DX plastic discs but was occasionally done on other plastics. The stamping process to apply the Ching stamp flattened the discs giving them a unique flight characteristic.

The company that provided the chemicals to make the stamps went out of business, however Innova still has the press that was used to apply the stamps, they make special runs using the stamping process and mark the discs as "Flat Top"

: ) :
 
Wow. Just wow.

Ching is a company. I think they are in North Carolina. When they started they had a relationship with Innova and Innova made their discs. The Sniper was a modified Panther, the Tank was a small bead Rhyno, the Bomb was the Banshee L mold and the Stinger I think was some variation of the Puma. The Skillshot basket was originally sold by Ching, I have an old one with the Ching logo on it. They also marketed the full-color stamped discs (most commonly Aviars and Rocs) so those discs became known as "Ching Rocs" and "Ching Aviars."

At some point Ching and Innova went their separate ways. Ching is still around and sells a variety of discs that are not made by Innova, and all of the old original Ching products like the Skillshot are sold by Innova if they are still produced.

The story I heard about the full-color Ching stamps was that they could no longer get the pigment the machine used and switched to another process several years ago.

The actual Ching Rocs and Ching Aviars were just regular white DX plastic so far as I know. That was what I was always told, and it didn't feel any different to me at the time so I believe that to be true.
 
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All the players I played with back in the day referred to it as ching plastic. I was always told it was ching plastic. They feel different and I doubt it's because of any stamping process. That makes no sense.
 
Back before there was Champ, Star, Pro, etc., I remember people that preferred the Ching plastic. It was different from normal (DX) Innova plastic.
 
Back before there was Champ, Star, Pro, etc., I remember people that preferred the Ching plastic. It was different from normal (DX) Innova plastic.
It's not. People just thought it was. It's like everything else in disc golf, some guy between Busch #10 and Busch #11 told some other guys in the park that there was this new Ching plastic and those guys told some other guys and before you knew it, BOOM. Ching plastic.

BTW, Ching Rocs came out way after Millennium discs, Discraft Elite Pro discs and the KC Pro discs. If people really wanted better plastic at that time, that was what they threw.

I think part of the idea that the Ching stamped discs were a different sort of plastic had to do with the fact that they came out at the time when new plastics suddenly started showing up. Since there were a lot of new plastics, people assumed the Ching stuff was as well.

Anyway, I went back through my catalogs and stuff from when I sold discs. It covers this time and has the early Ching stamped discs. There is no mention of it being a new plastic, just the full-color stamp. If it was a better plastic, don't you think they would have advertised that?
 
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Yeah those Ching Rocs/Aviars feel to me pretty darn similar to old DX.

I've got a Bar Stamp SMRD Roc that feels almost the same as my buddy's Ching Roc. The only difference is the flatter top and the multicolor stamp.

EDIT: Also-

Wow. Just wow.

Ching is a company. I think they are in North Carolina. When they started they had a relationship with Innova and Innova made their discs. The Sniper was a modified Panther, the Tank was a small bead Rhyno, the Bomb was the Banshee L mold and the Stinger I think was some variation of the Puma. The Skillshot basket was originally sold by Ching, I have an old one with the Ching logo on it. They also marketed the full-color stamped discs (most commonly Aviars and Rocs) so those discs became known as "Ching Rocs" and "Ching Aviars."

Banshee L? I want this.
 
It'd also the process of how they were made. They used a hot stamped and smashed it down on the center of the disc which made it more flat naturally so they are more desirable. I have two ching Rocs and they are by far my favorite discs in my bag.
 
Ching is a brand. Innova used to mold their discs for them, similar to the way that the currently do for Discmania. About 2007, they broke away from Innova and started designing their own discs (not sure who molds them). Due to the shape and size of the stamp, I could see the Rocs being flattened when they were stamped. As far as the plastic is concerned, I'm pretty sure that if you compare it to DX plastic from the same time period, it will be the same. Current DX plastic is not the same as DX plastic from 5 years ago (they are constantly "adjusting" the blend). That's why older DX is preferred by many players.
 
Ching is a brand. Innova used to mold their discs for them, similar to the way that the currently do for Discmania. About 2007, they broke away from Innova and started designing their own discs (not sure who molds them). Due to the shape and size of the stamp, I could see the Rocs being flattened when they were stamped. As far as the plastic is concerned, I'm pretty sure that if you compare it to DX plastic from the same time period, it will be the same. Current DX plastic is not the same as DX plastic from 5 years ago (they are constantly "adjusting" the blend). That's why older DX is preferred by many players.
I think they split way before 2007.

The Sniper was a modified Panther, but after a few runs they added a bead to it to make it more stable. When Ching and Innova split, Innova renamed the mold and sold it as the Gremlin. The Gremlin was in production in 2003 when the Pro Line discs were released. It was actually OOP by the time it was approved in 2007 (Innova forgot to submit it for approval, probably because the Sniper was already approved.)

The Ching Juju and Velocity were around in '04-'05.

Based off of those factors I'd guess the Ching/Innova split came earlier, more like '02.
 
I think they split way before 2007.

The Sniper was a modified Panther, but after a few runs they added a bead to it to make it more stable. When Ching and Innova split, Innova renamed the mold and sold it as the Gremlin. The Gremlin was in production in 2003 when the Pro Line discs were released. It was actually OOP by the time it was approved in 2007 (Innova forgot to submit it for approval, probably because the Sniper was already approved.)

The Ching Juju and Velocity were around in '04-'05.

Based off of those factors I'd guess the Ching/Innova split came earlier, more like '02.
You're probably right. I've only been playing a little over a year, so my knowledge is not that extensive. The Gremlin ( which is an awesome disc) is still available under the Discmania brand.
 
Yeah, the Gremlin is the disc that won't die. Even when it was out of production it was in the Innova CFR program.
 
the "ching" process is what is commonly known as dye sublimation... more or less a heat transfer which actually imbeds the color into the disc. it's used on thousands of products in the plastic industry. it was introduced for disc golf by a guy named mike holgate who established a relationship with innova at the time. innova also produced some ching branded discs out of normal innova plastics at the time as threeputt said.

mike later split with innova (three putt's 2002 date closer to correct than 2007). innova continued using the technology until the materials were no longer readily available.

"ching" has since then had their own discs produced elsewhere.
 
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