DRUMANDSTAGE FORUM

All 150th Anniversary gear has been released. It stood to reason without confirmation, BUT there were delays with the releases, so one could only hope there was something that would appeal to the masses.

May the 175th with have something we all can (and want) to grab.

The Categories/Forums have been updated.

This has actually negatively affected my perception of them as a company

krusher74 wrote: Sun Feb 08, 2026 11:24 am

This has actually negatively affected my perception of them as a company

I recorded Coffee with Jules last night and it comes out tomorrow, and in that I explain that there is a bit of a vacuum for me. Last year started off strong with Todd Sucherman coming back and the initial releases of the 150th stuff. From there, it just went flat for me. I kept thinking that they were going to kit me with something I just couldn't live without, but nope.

Jules wrote: Sun Feb 08, 2026 11:28 am

I kept thinking that they were going to kit me with something I just couldn't live without, but nope.

I think that's exactly what they did, but for halo products and their associated buyers. From a brand point of view, luxury goods are often marketed that way.

When I saw the 150th snare I knew I'd do everything short of murder to have one. I don't have the luxury goods, aspirational kind of spare money, so there was a gap there which needed to be closed, but the effect on me was exactly what you describe Jules.

And they did release the AQ2 150th kit for those with more humble pockets...

But I think they approached a halo anniversary as a world-leading manufacturer of luxury goods and released and marketed it exactly as other brands in the same space would.

Ferrari and Porsche have hundreds of thousands of people saying they don't make cars for them, they have current customers complaining they can't afford to buy their insert model here , and they keep putting out top end stuff in limited numbers and it's not hurting them in the slightest.

Jules wrote: Sun Feb 08, 2026 11:28 am

krusher74 wrote: Sun Feb 08, 2026 11:24 am

This has actually negatively affected my perception of them as a company

I recorded Coffee with Jules last night and it comes out tomorrow, and in that I explain that there is a bit of a vacuum for me. Last year started off strong with Todd Sucherman coming back and the initial releases of the 150th stuff. From there, it just went flat for me. I kept thinking that they were going to kit me with something I just couldn't live without, but nope.

I can't say I shared your optimism; any sensible market campaign should have had sub $500 items in the hands of dealers in the first quarter of last year and built to the higher price items in the second.

The Farrarri model does not work if you aren't running that business model all the time; if you suddenly try it for one year, your customer base isn't that interested, it only worked with the snare and failed with everything else.