hey, just thought I'd do a little photo post of some footbags...
this first one is the footbag dogpile from the first night of partying at glass, we all just took our bags and dumped them on the floor, this is what we got... notice the huge purple people eater
there's some good ones in there...
and next, a little photo tour of Matt's Footbags: Bunk and Busted
Going left to right, top to bottom... the first is a Patty Sczceniowska bag that her and I stitched together at Worlds. it broke pretty quickly afterwards, but I take responsibility for that, because I was not really paying attention to my part of the stitching. It has an M in the panels, for Matt. and if you turn it up side down, it's a W for worlds.
Next is a busted open Lonn Irish bag with rasta stripes. I got this bag in trade from Peter Irish for a pair of Adidas LM 3.5's. He told me that he requested the color and pattern himself. this bag served the RFA and I very well until it got a hole in it. then I ripped it open to use the filler and check out the stitching. RIP.
Next over is a patched up Carol that I retired around early-2001. I received it as a gift from Steve Goldberg to replace the Carol bag of his that I lost while tripping in the woods at a festival... Steve and I used to be tight. I used it at the last session of the last sunday of Worlds 2000 outside the host hotel in Vancouver with Yacine, Sebastien, Jon Schneider, and myself. It was my bag in college for a while, but it got so torn up and ripped at Worlds that it wasn't usable for much longer.
Next is a SWEET Jeremy Mirken bag that I got in the summer of 03, the day before Funtastik. I remember walking up our LONG driveway in Rome and grabbing it from the mailbox. This bag lasted much longer than many of my other bags, going well over a year without a hole or any other problem. This was my choicest, favoritest bag for a long time, but now it's lost a lot of filler. it only has one hole, but it's a little floppy for my current tastes, which currently lean towards crisper footbags. It could easily come out of retirement, with a little filler and a patch, though.
Starting row 2 is a bunk Mike Wilson bag. it was one of the first he made, and the material sucks balls. so stiff and crunchy, and the bag was too light. luckily, he made me a replacement that lasted me a long while before being stolen from me at work one day. Once I got the replacement, and bought some more for my club, we were in the golden age of Mike Wilson footbags... soon after that, they started getting holes immediately, and he stopped responding to emails. C'est la vie.
Next over is a mini Abshire that I bought from Wicked when he was selling them for $25 last year. It played well, but I didn't find it heavy enough. Nice, soft material, but a little big for a mini. I retired it some time this past spring / summer. This one could also be taken out of retirement with some patching and filler, but, like the Mirken, it's style isn't for me any more.
3rd in the row, in red and green, is the most disappointing bag of the whole lot. It's a Carol I bought some time this past fall from Jim Jansen for $25, unplayed and in perfect condition. Within 2 weeks of play time, with no toe scuffing, it had a ridiculous hole in one of the red patches. I patched it with some super tape that Carol sent me, but soon after, the whole thing started to get holes. I just don't understand it. I'm going to have a hard time buying a Carol again, after that experience, which is a really sad thing for me to say. Oh well, plenty of other stitchers to go to...
Next is a 5-color Lonn bag. I bought it at the 20th Anniversary East Coast Championships in 2003, right from Lonn. I was lucky enough to have first choice at the bags, but unfortunately, I chose the wrong one. This one has a tendency to get flat in the air, and not kick or set very truly. No holes, very little pilling, no busted seams, it just doesn't want to cooperate. Maybe it could use a little more fill... Since I bought this bag, I have requested that my bags be of the standard 2 color soccer ball pattern, for consistency's sake.
Finally, there's a James Hermey bag that I bought at East Coasts 2004. I have 2 more recent Hermey bags that I really like, but this one was also uncooperative, like the Lonn. I think the metal balls he used for filler have left some residue around the inside of the footbag that has made it a bit crunchy and not prone to sitting well for a delay.
I think I may give those last two another shot at some point, but as of now we're retired.
So, this has been Matt's Footbags: Bunk and Busted. Hope you enjoyed. I'll do another one of these in 5 years or so, when I've got a whole new plethora of dead and deadbeat footbags to post about
TWISTED FLUX SMILEY FACE INSERTION!
, and I just spent the last day modding her new lavers, as well as her friend's lavers.
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