I'm kinda bummed

[gdisney]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We all get the "band kids have money" but what about drum corps fans who came to a drum corps show to see drum corps and then want to buy a t-shirt/pin/hat/something with their favorite/former drum corps logo or name on it?

I'm hardly one of those drum corps is dying kind of people but it is sad to see that something even the corps themselves lose sight of things.

Blue Knights did have plenty of stuff with their name/logo on it as well.

[Piper]

I wouldn't buy that crap if Hoppy himself gave me the money.

[Matt_S]

I just thought I would let you know that you can buy BK merchandise online at http://www.bknights.org. You do have to be using Internet Explorer for it to work.

Thanks for supporting the Blue Knights!

And it's quality stuff, too! The dots T-shirt I bought is as good as any other T that I own. Highly recommended!

[corpsreps]

A note of explination:

BK farms their souvie operation out to Music-T's of Midlothain, TX (Paul Proctor's company) Crown did the same thing from 2001-2004, but took it back in-house last summer. Music t's sells the corps mercendise and their own, and have an agreement with the corps (BK) insofar as $$.

Keep in mind alot of the spectators at DC shows are band kids, and they have $$ to spend. It makes sense to serve thier needs.

I thought that was the case but wasn't sure. Thanks for the clarification.

Even corps that don't contract out their souvies still have to carry generic gear. You see this a lot at the II/III level. I know for myself that I'm not likely to buy and wear something that says "Blue Knights" while my son is marching with a competitor. But I will often buy a flute shirt for my daughter from Crown or generic percussion shirt for me to wear at band camp from Colts or a stuffed animal or keychain from BK for my other daughter. I think it is a smart move for these corps to carry this merchandise and I find a lot of it very nice.

The other thing to keep in mind is that early in the season many corps are still stocking up on corps merchandise. They might not have everything in yet.

[SCVhopeful07]

Here's a beef I had. At Lexington, I decided to buy a Bluecoats hat - 15$. Then my friend went and bought a t-shirt and the woman told him that since he bought a shirt, he could buy a hat for only 8$. Why didn't she tell me about that deal? I would have gladly bought a shirt to go along with my hat, or at the very least my friend and I could have saved a little money and bought our hat and shirt together. But in the end, it goes to a great cause, so I chose not to say anything at the time and instead get on here and complain :P

Edited July 3, 2006 by SCVhopeful07

[SassyMama]

The cost of producing corps specific merchandise is outrageous. Anyone that has tried to get a patch or pins know how expensive it can be. That being said, most of corps carry generic and non-generic items just to try and break even. The 'cades souvie trailer broke down (hmm, I think in 04), and I think last summer didn't even have souvies available. One of the smartest things that I saw, was in Orlando where The Cavalier's had clear plain rain ponchos available for purchase (at very reasonable prices) - they sold a mint of them!!

The "I want it now" feeling is also real strong at a show. Most people don't want to see a show, then come home and get on the internet, find the souvie page for a particular corps and then go through the online stores and then wait for the item to arrive. You also can't actually hold up an item to see how it is going to fit - there are a lot of us out here that only fit into a Size 2 when we were in Elementary school.

^0^

[drumcat]

I have five words for you...

$ $ $ $ $

[dbc03]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. We all get the "band kids have money" but what about drum corps fans who came to a drum corps show to see drum corps and then want to buy a t-shirt/pin/hat/something with their favorite/former drum corps logo or name on it?

I'm hardly one of those drum corps is dying kind of people but it is sad to see that something even the corps themselves lose sight of things.

If drum corps fans bought as much as band kids then we wouldn't be having this discussion. Apparently, they feel that the band kids are their primary buyers, and they are probably making decent money from all the band shirts.

[Michael Boo]

Yes, it's nice to have corps-branded items to buy, and from the booths I've seen, every corps has at least something (or a few things) with their corps' name on them.

Ultimately, though, recognizing that band students have a lot of disposable income to spend (perhaps because they aren't saving for tour fees?), anything that gets them to spend it TO HELP KEEP OUR CORPS ON THE ROAD is a good thing.

[yellowbusredux]

I waited a long time for the Blue Knights to come out west so I could buy a Blue Knights patch for my jacket or even an alumni patch. I get to thier souvie booth and all they had were souvies geared towards flute, trumbones and saxophones. They had a shirt that said "you wouldn't understand it's a band thing". What's up with that? I don't play sax. If that organization has been around since the 70's that means there are 1000's of alumni that might want a patch or something. They had a million little rubber bracelets with flutes and such. Look at me getting all upset over all this band shwag. Trav

I think I know what might help sales at souvie booths: Fireworks. Yes, fireworks. Roman Candles, M-80's, Sparklers, Picolo Petes, Spinning Flowers, Bottle Rockets. "umm, i'd like the 2006 tour shirt, the brass shirt, a tour patch, oh and throw in 2 packs of sparklers, a roman candle and a few bottle rockets. thanks."

Yup.