Bauer Performance Sports acquires Combat Sports

[AIREAYE 248]

It's hard to fight the big brands for shelf space. Stores forecast and book based on how much and what they think they can sell. Very few customers will be willing to take a chance on a lesser known brand in the same price range as the big boys. Off topic a bit but I like CCM/Reebok's current tactics into getting as many LHS staff to try their gear; which will hopefully translate into increased sales.

As for Sande, they've been gone for a while. They should've just stuck with gloves. They diluted their brand and went astray when they began to stamp their name on Chinese pants and sticks.

The pro deal thing is very welcome, and a good marketing tactic imo.

I don't understand what you mean by Chinese pants and sticks. How is a pair of Chinese pants different than a pair of American pants? Are they narrower? Are Chinese sticks shorter on average due to the shorter height of an average Chinese male vs an American male (according to Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_height)?

Cooper?

That was a different scenario then; you had a consortium of hockey brands (Canstar) which then conglomerated with Nike and fell all under Bauer.

Was Jock Plus a standalone company? Or under Itech?

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

mickz means that Sande got into categories that they didn't necessarily need to get into; for a brand whose niche was a Canadian-made glove, to outsource pants and sticks just to have them didn't make sense; I understand what he's trying to say.

Um, I don't remember. May have been a brand Itech bought, or they just named it, but yes, it was an Itech offering for years.

[AIREAYE 248]

Haha I know what he was trying to say. My comment was tongue-in-cheek for those who like to generalize that Chinese made = poorer quality.

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

Well, mickz is Asian too, so...

[AIREAYE 248]

LOL, that's cool, never mattered what background they are.

A google search of Jock Plus seems to show a self-branded product : http://www.thehockeyshop.com/jock-plus-compression-senior-jock-shorts.html

Perhaps it's an indication that they were standalone, then was under Itech, then under Bauer to account for a need for underprotective.

[jdksaves 56]

Actually, Sande started to get gloves made in china. Every brand has to have aspirations to grow into other categories. That along with being made in china didn't lead to Sande's demise.

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

Well, other than the fact that Gary was, well...I'll leave it at that.

[GiffhipcheckNH 5]

I'm sure someone else could fill us in if correction is needed, but I think the situation was that Christian used them as an OEM but never patented the concept, which allowed Easton to go ahead and make it themselves then shut them out.

correct Christian 1000, Canadien 9001 and a CCM clone I can't remember the name/model of were oem Easton 7001 shafts. Granted this is 25+ years ago now but as I remember it Easton employed a similar strategy in archery too (my first experience with them outside of baseball), bringing the new technology into established brands before eventually entering the market directly

[Chadd 916]

I don't recall if Mission purchased Jock Plus prior to the Itech merger or if it came later.

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

If I remember correctly, they had them before, then Jock-Plus went on their own, then they got picked up again.

[AlphaSierra 1]

Interesting read which goes back over the years. Quick question, why is the Cooper brand still sold in Canada (Canadian Tire) and not in the States? Just curious

Of note, I happened to find a hidden my last custom Christian blade from my competitive days and slapped it in a shaft. It will be interesting to see if it even lasts a period! If I remember correctly, a dozen blades for 120!

[HockeySavants 5]

Cooper?

That was a different scenario then; you had a consortium of hockey brands (Canstar) which then conglomerated with Nike and fell all under Bauer.

Referring to throughout the years. Considering the helmets and 4-Rolls have their origins

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

Interesting read which goes back over the years. Quick question, why is the Cooper brand still sold in Canada (Canadian Tire) and not in the States? Just curious

Of note, I happened to find a hidden my last custom Christian blade from my competitive days and slapped it in a shaft. It will be interesting to see if it even lasts a period! If I remember correctly, a dozen blades for 120!

Because CTC in recent years have bought and have released product under older name brands.

...you said acquired, which was not the case with Cooper. When Nike bought Canstar, they killed off all brands and kept one; Bauer. Micron Mega skates became a 2nd line for Bauer, and Cooper and Flak protective became Bauer as well.

Referring to throughout the years. Considering the helmets and 4-Rolls have their origins

[dsjunior1388 81]

Because CTC in recent years have bought and have released product under older name brands.

...you said acquired, which was not the case with Cooper. When Nike bought Canstar, they killed off all brands and kept one; Bauer. Micron Mega skates became a 2nd line for Bauer, and Cooper and Flak protective became Bauer as well.

Hazarding a guess here, did the Micron become the Vapor? Timeline seems to be close.

[DarkStar50 679]

^, not at all.

Cooper Baseball -> -> -> Combat Baseball. What goes around is all around.

[GiffhipcheckNH 5]

Remember here also that having established but retired brands that you own the rights to gives you flexibility should an important partner at the retail side want something concession wise on a pricepoint you don't want the main line product to go down. Some box store wants to increase its hockey footprint but is really targeting only entry level gear, but Bauer doesn't want Bauer labeled product at those pricepoints for fear of pissing off other channels that support the higher end (and higher margin) products. Bauer could now go to the vault and dust off Cooper, Flak, or Itech for protective and Micron, Daoust, or Roos (forgot about them i bet, I'm assuming once Cooper bought them the brand name is still in the Bauer vault through all of the CanStar-Nike/Bauer changes of ownership) for skates, etc. They sell to said box store, might even with the tag line of "by Bauer" and although other channel partners will bitch (since they always do anyway), you can go to the well with a differnt brand for another channel if they are willing to write a check with enough 0's to the left of the decimel point. The other thing these brands can do is generate cash if need be. Some dumbass in his 40's or early 50's that has now hit it big in something that they are actually good at decides to make a small fortune in the hockey equipment biz by starting out with a large one, reasons that instead of creating a brand from scratch why not buy a brand that other people of his generation will at least recognize and have some instant recognition. Someone who is now 35-50 would probably have their attention caught if a say a Micron Mega 20-90 or say a Daoust 601 came out just because most of us are nostalgic about our youth.

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

Hazarding a guess here, did the Micron become the Vapor? Timeline seems to be close.

No, it became the Bauer Air.

[mack 44]

^, not at all.

Cooper Baseball -> -> -> Combat Baseball. What goes around is all around.

Ugh, reminded me of Clemens's old glove:

[DarkStar50 679]

Some historical housekeeping is in order regarding my Cooper baseball comment. I believe it was irwin Sports that had Cooper Baseball, not Canstar. I am looking forward to BaseballMonkey, Baseball Giant, Pure Baseball, and Total Baseball in the future.

[mack 44]

I remember there being a Home Run Monkey site that Hockey Monkey had. They had maybe 13 items in-stock at any given time.

[JR Boucicaut 3804]

Some historical housekeeping is in order regarding my Cooper baseball comment. I believe it was irwin Sports that had Cooper Baseball, not Canstar. I am looking forward to BaseballMonkey, Baseball Giant, Pure Baseball, and Total Baseball in the future.

Irwin Toys - they had Cooper baseball and WinnWell hockey in the 90s.

Yep...I have a brand new Cooper 1B that I haven't broken in.

[Chadd 916]

Damn, you guys are really firing up the "way back" machine, I had a cooper catchers mitt when I played Little League

[DarkStar50 679]

http://www.homerunmonkey.com/ already exists.

Yup, now there is much more...

Every sport's major vendors need a close out dealer!

[hrbekroenick 0]

^, not at all.

Cooper Baseball -> -> -> Combat Baseball. What goes around is all around.

Thanks Ricky. Nice TPB reference :-)

I have been a Combat slowpitch (fat guy) softball bat user for years now. I used to be Easton, and only Easton. Now I prefer Combat or Miken, but my Combat Virus is my gamer, with a Miken Psycho as a backup. I hope it survives the season until I have to get one with the new stamps!

[Scotty 8]

Can anyone confirm if some of Combat's recent hockey stick offerings will still be available in the near future? I've attempted contacting Combat via several methods and can't talk to anyone or get a response.