Lightning discs? What happened here?

[Plaztik]

a bit larger then i intended but im going to roll with it. these are in a very nice upscale glow urethane plastic that is extremely rubbery. i do indeed bag the dirty one. it will stick to any hillside and i love it for upshots. i wasnt going to bag it until i stumbled on the backup then i thought screw it ill just be the only guy on the planet that throws lightning discs. im glad someone else admitted it first

 

[Bultx1215]

Lightning Glow was a great plastic. I still have several used and new P-38's in glow. Got them all in Dallas around 84-85. They still glow just as well as when they were new. And a LOT brighter than any of the new glow stuff except for Vibram.

 

[markmcc]

I spent last summer as a campground volunteer at Farragut State Park in northern Idaho (four DG courses). They had more Lightning discs in their "pro shop" than I'd ever seen before, and they actually sold quite well. Lots of new disc golfers who had no notion that Lightning was an "off" brand.

I'm back this summer, and the stock is much lower, but the DG manager told me that he had a big re-order in. Next time I see him I'll ask if he knows anything.

 

[Three Putt]

I bag an Upshot. I used to think throwing a lid would qualify me as a disc golf hipster, but then all of a sudden a whole buncha Polecat throwers came out of the woodwork. So now I bag a Lightning lid; out-hipster THAT, ya buncha Polecat-throwing wannabes!

 

[THUGNIFICENT763]

^ :clap:

 

[Three Putt]

The sad thing for Steve is that disc golf is blowing up right now. He sold discs for years when there were almost none of us, supported clubs by doing custom stamps for no set up fees, and set up an amazing network of selling discs in head shops all over the country. Now there are tons of disc golfers to sell discs to and Lightning is gone.

 

[Three Putt]

This was my All-Lightning bag back in the day:

Putter.


MIdrange. It was kinda Sharkish in flight.


Workhorse driver: It was kinda between a Roc and a Gazelle. It was a sort of driver wing/midrange top hybrid disc that was probably the best disc they ever made. Plus it floats!


Turnover disc.


Meathook disc.

 

[Three Putt]

Distance driver. It flew a lot like a Leopard.

 

[Three Putt]

I honestly couldn't stand the Rubber Putter, it had a sharp wing like and Aero or Dart and I preferred the rounded wing of an Aviar. When I used these discs together, I usually putted with an 86 Softie. It was more of a "Not Innova" bag than an all-Lightning bag.

I threw a lot of Lightning becasue we threw a lot of glow rounds, and finding Innova glow discs was hard. They cost more and places didn't carry them. The Lightning glow discs would just be on the rack with the other discs; they glowed strong and didn't cost any more. In the league I played in I used to switch bags when we got by the parking lot near dusk to get all the glow Lightning discs, then I decided the Lightning discs were fine and I just threw them all round. For a regular rec player like me, the Lightning discs worked great.

 

[The Hammer]

My first ace was with a B-25 Mitchell at Fountain Hills back in the early 90's. I loved Lightning discs back then, but really wasn't aware of any other options. That was a long time ago, before I even knew that disc golf was played by anyone other than me and my buddies. I wish I would have seen some other people playing back then to keep me interested.

 

[Three Putt]

I sold TONS of Lightning discs after they changed stamps. Rec players loved looking at the stamp and seeing what the disc was supposed to fly like right on the stamp; they didn't have to know what overtable or understable meant.

Of course I had a lot of "I want my money back. This disc says it will go right and it dives left" conversations. Sadly, a disc stamp can't make your low-power nose-up weaksauce drive turn over. :|

 

[The Hammer]

I sold TONS of Lightning discs after they changed stamps. Rec players loved looking at the stamp and seeing what the disc was supposed to fly like right on the stamp; they didn't have to know what overtable or understable meant.

Of course I had a lot of "I want my money back. This disc says it will go right and it dives left" conversations. Sadly, a disc stamp can't make your low-power nose-up weaksauce drive turn over. :|

HAHA!!! That was totally me. I bought one of the anhyzer discs and a roller, but didn't know anything about throwing. I just tried throwing it like a beach frisbee and they didn't fly like advertised (duh!). I was so mad that the discs were "defective".

 

[specsman]

From their facebook page:

Lightning Golf Discs Fighter plane series from the late 80's and early 90's, when political correctness wasn't such a big deal. A rare find. Good job. Looks like Steve Howle's handwriting- creator of Lightning Golf Discs. The great sport of disc golf will miss Steve and his innovative designs as the company has sold out to some other company and is no longer manufacturing. Stay tuned to more information on this.
Like · Reply · October 13 at 7:41am

https://www.facebook.com/Lightning-Golf-Discs-1477184765835150/

Guess its official, I wonder who bought it. It's about all I have in my bag since that's what I started with (gift starter bag) and simply upgraded to their prostyle plastics as I went. I wonder if the new owner will restart manufacturing them...

 

[thrembo]

Of course I've thrown a few Lightning discs over the years, and have always liked the airplane themed stamps. They haven't been relevant for awhile now though, which is fine as this makes room for new companies, and Lightning discs could become sought after collectibles in the coming years.

 

[Glide]

I am not sure, but have a hunch that Gotta Go Gotta Throw acquired Lightning because we received an email from GGGT a month or two ago pushing some Lightning and it stated that they were the exclusive distributor.

 

[lyleoross]

I think part of their failure was an inability to commit. The local distributor here in Houston, Rick's Darts and Games, said he had real trouble getting a hold of them when he needed an order filled and would often have to wait months. It was like the guy would disappear then reappear. I'd love to see someone pick them up and restart the brand again. I don't think the PC police would mind the different lines, I loved their airplane themes. The biggest problem at this point is the focus on drivers. Everyone forgets that the meat of the game is the midrange and putter game. They dropped out of the big fast driver game in the mid 2000 to 2005 period.

 

[THUGNIFICENT763]

I wanna see some classic Lightning molds in a modern premium polymer blend!

Champion #1 Driver! :thmbup:

 

[DanJon]

I am not sure, but have a hunch that Gotta Go Gotta Throw acquired Lightning because we received an email from GGGT a month or two ago pushing some Lightning and it stated that they were the exclusive distributor.

I can only assume you went ahead and ordered 200.

 

[ThrowBot]

Interesting thread to read. I've only ever found Lightning discs (while searching for my errant throws); never actually seen them for sale anywhere.

 

[Bultx1215]

I'd love a P-38 in a super primo plastic just for giggles. Just because of this thread, I may have to get one off the rack and throw it a time or two. :thmbup: A D-1 at the very least.