Forward Momentum (Day 2 of 365)

I promise these blogs won't always be as long as the last one. 

(edit: ok scratch that. this thing got long on me...)

Today we will discuss the item that bridges 2024 and 2025 for Mint.

The Salamander is here.

A common question I get is, "What is your favorite Mint Disc?".

The short answer? It will always be the Mustang. This was a dream midrange for me. We gave the factory some feedback on what we needed. Gave them a few models to get inspired by. It probably helped that they used to read my "In the bag" posts on Disc Golf Review. They definitely knew what we were after.

In fact, the Bobcat was the first attempt at this flight and oh boy was it BEEF.

Copying a flight is not an easy thing to get right. There is a reason no one has made a better Destroyer yet.

Before we started Mint, my all-time favorite disc was the QMS from Millennium. I carried a lot of them.

For newer players, the CE QMS is the best midrange that you have never thrown. Please go try one, especially if you can find an old one before they changed the mold. The news ones are basically an MD2/MD3 and it's still a great disc, but it's just nothing compared to that OG CE QMS.

We view the Mustang as a modern homage to that original CE QMS flight. Every version of it has a place in my bag. It is just that good. If I am ever not with Mint, I will still have 5 Mustangs in the bag. 

But the Salamander...might be my 2nd favorite disc.

It's at least competing with the UFO right now for that slot. I love fairways and mids. Always have. You can do so much more with them than a distance driver.

There is a feeling every disc golfer knows...

That first time you throw a new disc and it absolutely clicks. It's like you've had it in your bag for a decade. It is now your favorite disc. Nothing will replace it. You tell everyone to throw one. You become the Salamander guy in your club.

For me, I have hit lines with the Salamander at Sprinkle Valley that I could not before with Jackalope and Lobster. Somehow it fit perfectly between both those discs.

Hole 2 at Sprinkle? I can get to the road. Hole 4? Parks it. Hole 11? Easy mode around the corner.

You want accuracy and distance control? Grab the Salamander.

When the Jackalope flips too fast? Grab the Salamander. 

When the Lobster won't have enough distance? Grab the Salamander.

Can't find one? Most stores that carry Mint nationwide should be receiving their orders this week. Check in with them!

If you can't find one yet...we have some news for you.

The 2024 Mystery Box aka the Eternal Flex Salamander.

Can you guess what is my favorite Salamander? Yeah it's the Eternal Flex.

They seem to have a little bit more stability and can hold tight anhyzers really well.

We have kept this plastic pretty quiet until now. This blend and disc were chosen as the 2024 Mystery Box.

For those unaware, the Mystery Box concept started out as a joke on April Fools in 2022. This was when disc golf was hitting it's absolute peak from the covid boom. Every brand was selling boxes of whatever they could get their hands on. 

Getting a disc PDGA approved is an interesting process. Just because you have a name on their register, doesn't mean they will stop other brands from using it. There aren't really any things they will stop you from doing with the name you want to use.

So we decided to have some fun with the PDGA approval process.

Somehow we came up with the idea of PDGA approving a disc as "Mystery Box" and then we would sell it inside a Mystery Box. To add to that we would  continue to do it every year until you had a bag full of different discs called "Mystery Box".

The original terms of sale were also intentionally mysterious, vague and a little bit of a troll. It was April Fools after all. We don't tell you when it ships or what will be in it. You just have to wait for it.

The problem with that? The joke only lasts so long. Eventually it's just an item. Only so many customers can keep up with that weird idea.

So when the 2024 Mystery Box(Salamanders) were ready to go and we could ship the boxes out, we still had one big issue to address...

We had printed some information cards to insert into each box. These stated that your box would contain the following:

• (3) Salamanders (instead of 2)
• (1) Cooling Towel
• (1) Salamander Bottle Opener
• (1) Marker

Unfortunately the marker order got cancelled on us at the last second.

They weren't going to be ready in time, so we had to come up with a solution. We went with some black sunglasses that we could get in time.

We still had a problem thought, the insert cards said you were getting a marker, not sunglasses. We didn't want to reprint these.

So we came up with another idea. Let's keep the joke going. Evolve it.

If you ordered a 2024 Mystery Box, consider that missing marker a promise from us to replace that sharpie with something better in 2025. We will reach out to these Mystery Box customers sometime in 2025 in private. You will be given details and instructions on what will happen next.

We can't say more right now, but it will hopefully be worth the wait.

The Eternal Flex Salamanders will release on 1/7 at 7pm cst

See that cool stamp in the banner? You can thank ZAMdesign for that insanely great idea.

The catch? We are only going to sell this stamp once in 2025. There will be no restocks and only one way to get it.

It will be available in boxes of (5) discs for $100 on Eternal Flex Salamanders.

We will provide as much foil, weight and stamp variety as possible in each box. Once they are sold out, this stamp will be done until 2026 or later.

For those looking to buy singles or get some other Salamanders, we will have a limited amount of Glow, Apex and Sublime also available on 1/7 with other Salamander stamps. This is mainly leftover inventory from the pre-order sales.

Again, when they are gone, they will be gone. 

Why is Mint so limited on new releases?

For the most part we have always been focused on releasing discs in batches. This is what works best with our Serial # system. As we grew, we made more and more, but each run started to mean less. We were going to fast. Making too much. Not focused in on what was special about each run.

For most of 2025 you can expect us to operate more like a Comic Book or Card company again. Each run will have meaning and focus. We aim to advertise our release plans weeks to months ahead of time. 

I will have a blog coming later this month that covers this change in direction in better detail.

I am mentioning it now because I want everyone to know that our focus going into 2025 is to improve communication. This blog is an example of that shift.

For example, we want you to be able to know when the next run of Bullets are coming.

I think that is a fair thing to deliver when it can take us years between year run. Being in the dark is not fun for anyone.

With that, I'll end it there.

Until tomorrow!

Upcoming Blog Topics:

• 1/3: Team Mint 2024 Recap and 2025 Team News
• 1/4: Stamp Party & Hot Foils
• 1/5: Team Tryout Recap
• 1/6: MYSTERY TOPIC!!!
• 1/7: Salamander Flight Ratings by plastic.
• 1/8: The Bullet...