Right, here goes my take on the day and the new products.
First off to the guys at Target - Garry, Steve, James, Charlene etal - big thanks to you all for allowing me the privilege of attending once again this year.
The day started off with meeting Danny at Liverpool Street station and then jumping on the train for the short 30 minute journey to Harlow Town. We met up with Kevin at Harlow and he kindly drove us to the Target base where we picked up our tags and waited outside for a short while before going in to the factory.
In attendance from the pro ranks we had, in alphabetical order - Stephen Bunting, Dave Chisnall, Keith Deller, Ricky Evans, Darryl Fitton, Colin Lloyd, Shaun Lovett, Wayne Mardle, Tony O'Shea, Ross Smith and Phil Taylor. Unfortunately absent once again was Adrian Lewis.
There were various guys and girls from the retailers in attendance - Wayne and Gary from DC, Antony from Madhouse, Paul from Darts GB, Karl from A180 (I'm not sure which one he was as I never spoke to him lol), and a few others - there was also a lovely couple from an Australian shop and someone from Australia (who I think was a shop rep). Was great to meet Darren at last and also the Cookster and Lee Taylor.
Linda Batten-Duffy was there as a rep for her trophy shop, and she also provided the trophy for the pro-am tournament (and rather nice it looked too). Also there were Sue and Wayne Williams from the BDO board, and Scott Gibling the PDC scoring official.
Dan Dawson gave a brief run down of what to expect during the day and then he handed the mike over to James Tattersall, the international sales manager for Target Darts to do the presentation.
Bang, straight in with the WOW factor of the truly limited edition Elysian darts - more about those later. This was followed up with a run down of all the other new darts and accessories that would be coming soon - the release date being in early September.
After the presentation we were each given goodie bags, and then came the prestigious pro-am tournament with calling done in style by Mr Dan Dawson. Several very good games ensued along with loads of laughs, and once again Stephen Bunting came out on top at the end of the event.
Once the afternoon was over the guys and girls from Target, several of the players, retailers and a couple others of us (ie Danny and myself lol) went over to a rather nice little pub in Harlow called the Plume of Feathers - if you are in the area I can definitely recommend it. There they had a couple of boards set up and you could mingle with everyone in a nice relaxed atmosphere. I had several pints of bombadier (many thanks once again to Target) and also had several throws with some of the new ranges in amongst mingling. I got a taxi back to the station and got on a train back to London around 10.10pm while several of the others went on for a curry. I must be doing something right as a certain 16 times World Champion commended me on my throw Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.
All in all it was a brilliant day from start to finish - big thanks once again to the guys and girls at Target for inviting me along and making me feel so welcome.
Now to the interesting part, the products. There were several new darts ranges and other accessories shown - here are my takes on them (some I got pics of and some I didn't):
The darts:
Elysian - limited to 200 sets each of steel tip and soft tip - will come to these in more detail later.
Adrian Lewis Gen3 - these will be available in both steel (21, 23, 25g) and soft tip (18g) versions. Love these, I had quite a few throws with these down the pub and I kept picking them up and putting them in my shirt pocket with the intention of taking them home - but I relented and eventually put them back on the table. I will definitely be getting a set of these.
Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.
Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.
Power 8Zero black titanium - these come in both straight (21, 23 and 25g) and scalloped (22 and 24g) versions. I didn't try the scalloped version but I did have a throw with the straight version, and also got a set of these in my goodie bag. Very nice darts (and I understand the scalloped are as well) - I can definitely recommend these
Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.
Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.
Pyro Gen2 - 16g soft tip featuring the new Vex grip. Although there wasn't a soft tip board at the launch this year I had a couple of throws with these on the normal board. I'm not sure about the grip at the back of the dart to be honest, although I reckon with a few more throws it would have grown on me - visually though I think they look rather nice.
Carrera Cortex CX3 (21 and 23g) and CX4 (22 and 24g) steel tip and CX15 (19g) soft tip. I didn't have a throw with any of these but they look rather stunning. I have one of the sets from last year and can potentially see me getting the straight CX4 range this year.
Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.
Carrera C17 (22 and 24g) and C18 (21 and 23g) steel tip and C19 (18g) soft tip. I had several throws with the C17's down the pub and again could see myself getting a set of these. A nice interesting shape similar to the Scotty Burnett darts.
Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.
Distinction Pixel D7 (18g) soft tip. Didn't have a throw of these, but again rather nice looking darts.
First off to the guys at Target - Garry, Steve, James, Charlene etal - big thanks to you all for allowing me the privilege of attending once again this year.
The day started off with meeting Danny at Liverpool Street station and then jumping on the train for the short 30 minute journey to Harlow Town. We met up with Kevin at Harlow and he kindly drove us to the Target base where we picked up our tags and waited outside for a short while before going in to the factory.
In attendance from the pro ranks we had, in alphabetical order - Stephen Bunting, Dave Chisnall, Keith Deller, Ricky Evans, Darryl Fitton, Colin Lloyd, Shaun Lovett, Wayne Mardle, Tony O'Shea, Ross Smith and Phil Taylor. Unfortunately absent once again was Adrian Lewis.
There were various guys and girls from the retailers in attendance - Wayne and Gary from DC, Antony from Madhouse, Paul from Darts GB, Karl from A180 (I'm not sure which one he was as I never spoke to him lol), and a few others - there was also a lovely couple from an Australian shop and someone from Australia (who I think was a shop rep). Was great to meet Darren at last and also the Cookster and Lee Taylor.
Linda Batten-Duffy was there as a rep for her trophy shop, and she also provided the trophy for the pro-am tournament (and rather nice it looked too). Also there were Sue and Wayne Williams from the BDO board, and Scott Gibling the PDC scoring official.
Dan Dawson gave a brief run down of what to expect during the day and then he handed the mike over to James Tattersall, the international sales manager for Target Darts to do the presentation.
Bang, straight in with the WOW factor of the truly limited edition Elysian darts - more about those later. This was followed up with a run down of all the other new darts and accessories that would be coming soon - the release date being in early September.
After the presentation we were each given goodie bags, and then came the prestigious pro-am tournament with calling done in style by Mr Dan Dawson. Several very good games ensued along with loads of laughs, and once again Stephen Bunting came out on top at the end of the event.
Once the afternoon was over the guys and girls from Target, several of the players, retailers and a couple others of us (ie Danny and myself lol) went over to a rather nice little pub in Harlow called the Plume of Feathers - if you are in the area I can definitely recommend it. There they had a couple of boards set up and you could mingle with everyone in a nice relaxed atmosphere. I had several pints of bombadier (many thanks once again to Target) and also had several throws with some of the new ranges in amongst mingling. I got a taxi back to the station and got on a train back to London around 10.10pm while several of the others went on for a curry. I must be doing something right as a certain 16 times World Champion commended me on my throw Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.
All in all it was a brilliant day from start to finish - big thanks once again to the guys and girls at Target for inviting me along and making me feel so welcome.
Now to the interesting part, the products. There were several new darts ranges and other accessories shown - here are my takes on them (some I got pics of and some I didn't):
The darts:
Elysian - limited to 200 sets each of steel tip and soft tip - will come to these in more detail later.
Adrian Lewis Gen3 - these will be available in both steel (21, 23, 25g) and soft tip (18g) versions. Love these, I had quite a few throws with these down the pub and I kept picking them up and putting them in my shirt pocket with the intention of taking them home - but I relented and eventually put them back on the table. I will definitely be getting a set of these.
Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.
Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.
Power 8Zero black titanium - these come in both straight (21, 23 and 25g) and scalloped (22 and 24g) versions. I didn't try the scalloped version but I did have a throw with the straight version, and also got a set of these in my goodie bag. Very nice darts (and I understand the scalloped are as well) - I can definitely recommend these
Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.
Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.
Pyro Gen2 - 16g soft tip featuring the new Vex grip. Although there wasn't a soft tip board at the launch this year I had a couple of throws with these on the normal board. I'm not sure about the grip at the back of the dart to be honest, although I reckon with a few more throws it would have grown on me - visually though I think they look rather nice.
Carrera Cortex CX3 (21 and 23g) and CX4 (22 and 24g) steel tip and CX15 (19g) soft tip. I didn't have a throw with any of these but they look rather stunning. I have one of the sets from last year and can potentially see me getting the straight CX4 range this year.
Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.
Carrera C17 (22 and 24g) and C18 (21 and 23g) steel tip and C19 (18g) soft tip. I had several throws with the C17's down the pub and again could see myself getting a set of these. A nice interesting shape similar to the Scotty Burnett darts.
Guests cannot see images in the messages. Please register at the forum by clicking here to see images.
Distinction Pixel D7 (18g) soft tip. Didn't have a throw of these, but again rather nice looking darts.
