Top 10 What's Hot for Umpires in 2010

After reviewing your collective purchases for January, this is our current Top 10 "What's Hot" List for Umpires in 2010:

1. Reebok Umpire Plate Shoes
   As expected, umpires like Reebok's new lower weight and cosmetic changes. The New Balance is still our top selling plate shoe, but the Reeboks are doing much better than the Reebok styles of last year.
   
   
2. Diamond Featherweight Mask
   It's a little nerve-wracking, to be honest, to take your best selling mask and make a change to it. If ain't broke, don't fix it. Right? But that's what we did. We put our "Official" or "Umpire" shield logo in the center of the chin. And the response has been great. Whew!
   
   
3. Wilson Shock FX 2.0 Titanium Helmet
   Umpires are really digging the new features. Can I still say "digging" in 2010? Please someone correct me if not. We recently took photos of this worn from different angles - very sharp (should be up next week). The improvements we've been talking about are truly resulting in a great response.
   
   
4. Wilson Charcoal (A3217) Chest Protector
   I have been pushing this chest protector for some time. It's almost as protective as the other Wilson chest protectors at a much better price plus it has bicep protectors if you want them (removable if not). Maybe the message is starting to sink in.
   
   
5. Smitty Long Sleeve Umpire Shirts
   What a difference a price change makes (or maybe it's the weather?). We recently dropped the price of these $7, I think, maybe a little too much as these are really moving. So much, we will likely raise the price back up a few dollars. At this pace, we'll be out a lot sooner than we'd like. Ah, the economics of supply and demand. So the insider scoop is to order now before the increase.
   
   
6. Ultimate Umpire Ball Bags
   Can't be more happy with the reception of these bags over the last year. Mentioning them in our last 2 Referee Magazine ads hasn't hurt either.
   
   
7. Diamond Featherweight Shin Guards
   Honestly was a slow starter, but these have really taken off after we've been showing them off at meetings and after being named the top low profile shin guards in a Midwest Umpire Blog review.
   
   
8. Shock Doctor Long Compression Tights
   This is one of those products that arose directly from of the discussion boards. When I started reading on them about umpires buying these tights from Hockey websites, I was like, "Hey, we can get these!" We did and had Shock Doctor make a minor change of taking the Velcro off the thighs that hockey players use to keep their long socks up.
   
   
9. Diamond Hotsport Loose Fit Shirts
   If I had to put my finger on a reason, it's the reviews given by those at Umpire-Empire.com on these. Seriously, why buy Under Armour - not at somewhere at half the price used as an undershirt? I wear a few of these shirts for general wear and have had them for over a year, and they have held up very well.
   
   
10. Champro 4 Dial Optic Indicator
    I guess when you are the only balls-first 4-dial indicator on the market, things happen. We have sold so many of these, we are considering a special order to have our logo placed on them for 2011.

Note that there are a lot of honorable mentions in there as well including new Ultimate Umpire Shirts, All-Black Padding Titanium Mask and some others, but the above really stuck out as the top 10.

What's Hot Criteria: 80% sales increase or more compared to last January or new products that are selling at top or close to it in their categories.

Special 2010 Umpire Items in Limited Quantities

As a retailer who warehouses a large amount of inventory, one key to business success is not to have either too little nor too much of any items, especially higher ticketed ones. Too little and you lose sales. Too much and you basically stick too much cash in your inventory for longer than you'd like.

It's much easier to keep the right amount of something in stock if you have a supplier who can quickly replace depleting stock levels. Most of our products fall under this category, but this year several will not and will be available in only limited quantities.

Wilson MLB Titanium Umpire Mask with All Black Padding
In all honesty, this standard profile mask is the one we wanted Wilson to make when it first launched the Titanium mask in the late summer of 2008 in a lower profile with two-tone padding.

For 2010, we requested a special order that required a minimum purchase quantity. They just arrived today! Once these are sold out this season, there will most likely be no more until 2011. Looking at pre-orders, my estimate is that these will sell out somewhere between late April to mid May.

All Reebok Plate and Base Umpire Shoes
With shoe companies such as New Balance, you can always order umpire shoes anytime you want and schedule shipments many months in advance. But with our short experience working with Reebok, that is opposite the case.

We ordered as much as thought we could sell given space constraints to last us as long as possible of Reebok shoes. Currently, we have stock on most of their shoe items/sizes now with the rest expected early February. But with it being virtually impossible to get fill in orders from Reebok if sizes run out, my expectation, despite ordering double the Reebok shoes we did last year, is that some sizes could start running out of a Reebok shoe style or another as early as mid-April.

So whether it's the Wilson Titanium Mask or Reebok shoes, if you want any or all, order early to insure you get your hands on what you need.

New Diamond's Named Best Low Profile Shin Guards

When I ran into Pete Reiser, author of the Midwest Umpire Blog, in Dallas, Texas at the NCAA Umpire Clinic this month, he told me he was putting together a review of umpire shin guards with the hopes of finding the best available lower profile shin guards. By that I mean, ones that are less bulky and visible under your pants.

I was excited to hear that considering we are carrying the new Diamond Featherweight Umpire Shin Guards this year that were made with those very thoughts in mind. I showed him my sample pair to consider in the mix, so new he had not seen them, and passed them on to him on the spot to use in his review.

Just 3 days ago, he posted his Consumer Reports style review. It was another thorough one, just as he has done in the past with umpire gear such as masks and shirts, where he graded 5 shin guards on comfort, protection, dimensions and weight. Shin guards tested also included the DaviShins and hockey officials' shin guards.

The winner I'm happy to say are the very Diamond shin guards I gave to him in Dallas, which is another positive to add to that trip.

About the new diamond leg guards, the lightest of the bunch he tested, he reveals that "the small size also looks good under the plate pants" and "the knee cap is deep and recessed, so your knee fits comfortably in the space".

You can read his full review on his blog here.

It's nice to see shin guards getting some attention these days through our recent blog post on "How Much Do Umpire Shin Guards Weigh?" and now this review.

It's also nice to see these shin guards, which ultimately replaced the Gerry Davis shin guards in our selection as a strapless single-knee design, to be so well-received. Such accolades validates even more my decision not to add the DaviShins that we do have access to from Wilson, and designed by a competitor, by providing something similar at a much lower price point.

Blow the (Pink) Whistle on Breast Cancer

The girls at Ump-Attire, Jeanne, Anessa and Sherry wanted us to do something for breast cancer awareness and suggested we purchase pink whistles for resale. "Great idea!", I thought. I decided to go a little bit further by also giving away part of the proceeds to cancer research.

$2 Donation for Every Pink Whistle Sold
So as of this week, with your purchase of a Fox 40 Pink Whistle we will donate $2 to the to the Susan G. Komen Cancer Foundation.

As the whistle is $1 more than the classic black whistle the donation amounts to $1 from you and a matching $1 from us.

We hope to raise $2,000 toward this effort in 2010. Can you help? Spread the word by sending a link to this article or whistle to your association, group and your colleagues. Your support is appreciated.

Breast Cancer Awareness
So what does it mean to be aware of breast cancer?

I think it's an important issue not only for women and women officials but for men as well. I'm speaking specifically to you men officials out there as you have some significant female other whether it is your sister, wife, mother or good friend.

So read this and become even more aware of breast cancer, because if you are like me you probably haven't paid as much as attention to the cancer awareness of breasts as you have the breasts themselves.

Some Quick Facts

• Fewer than one in five eligible women get the lifesaving breast cancer screening and treatment they need.
• Breast cancer is the second-most common cancer among women in the United States.
• With mammography, it can be found early when the chances of surviving it are high.

For Women to Do

• If you are 40 or older, be sure to get a yearly mammogram.
• Help reduce your risk of having breast cancer with regular physical activity, maintaining a healthy weight, and limiting the amount of alcohol you drink.

For Men to Do

• Encourage all the important women 40 and over in your life to get yearly mammograms.
• Send a link of this article to the women you care about and make a big difference off the court or field.

More Links and Information
Sign Yourself or Others Up for Yearly Mammogram Reminders
Susan G. Komen Foundation
National Breast Cancer Awareness Foundation
Women's Basketball Coaches' Association Pink Zone

How Much Do Umpire Shin Guards Weigh?

I was updating our shin guards buying guide today now that we have added the Diamond Featherweight Umpire Shin Guards to our selection and noticed weights were missing on our shin guard comparison chart.

I've been including weights of masks for a long time and discussed in a past blog post that others, manufacturers and retailers alike, have historically skirted the subject.

So I had Paul, our warehouse manager, do a quick project to share with us how much each set of shin guards weighed.

So what did we find? First of all, it is obvious that our most protective shin guards, ones from Wilson, with thicker foam padding and hard shell ankle plates weighed the most.


However, I was struck by how stark this contrast was between our lightest and heaviest. For instance, our lightest shin guards in the new Diamond featherweights weighed in at an almost zero gravity 1.6 pounds (yes, that's both together) and the heaviest were the Wilson's West Vest Professional Umpire Shin Guards at 5.2 or 5.6 pounds depending on size.

To view all weights of shin guards, you can view our comparison chart here.

For more information on choosing umpire shin guards that are right for you, you can, with caution, read our comprehensive umpire shin guards buying guide. Even after being updated today it remains still, perhaps, the driest umpire shin guards buying guide you will ever read.

(Note: Pro Nine's LGUs were not available at time of writing to weigh and will be added when stock arrives in the next few weeks).

Protective Gear Return Rates Improve in 2009

Each year, I look at each item's return rate. We want to weed out any products that have a return rate that stands out as that indicates less satisfaction with a product, to educate on particular sizes that have issues and praise those products that have the lowest so you feel more confident in buying them should you not be sure.

Overall, return rates by category were very good. An interesting stat that may or may not surprise you: for every 33 main protective gear items sold, only 1 is returned. I would say those numbers rival bricks-and-mortar stores.

For 2009, here are the highlights:

• Umpire shin guards return rates dropped from 7% (2008) to 4.7%, a very nice improvement.
  I attribute this to educating customers to size up when in doubt and showing return rates on multiple sizes on each product page where there is a difference.
  
  
• Umpire masks return rates dropped from 2.3% to 1.8%, excellent.
  
  
• Umpire chest protectors return rates were up slightly from 3% to 3.4%.
  
  
• Overall, smaller sizes continue to be returned at a larger rate than bigger sizes although that gap is thankfully getting smaller.
  For instance, in 2008, the return rate on the smaller 10.75" Wilson Platinum chest protector was a high 20%. For '09, the return rate was a much lower 7.5% after we talked about it here and on its product page.

So which items have the lowest return rates per category?

• Masks: Diamond Featherweight with Silver Frame
  Less than 1%
  
  
• Chest Protectors: Diamond iX3
  1.4%
  
  
• Shin Guards: Wilson A3417 Charcoal
  3%

We will be updating each product's page soon with these new percentages as well as continuing to share popularity numbers in relation to their respective categories.

Hopefully, all this inside information that you won't find elsewhere will continue to help you make the best choices when deciding on which umpire gear is right for you.

Quality Not Quantity at Dallas NCAA Umpire Clinic

I had high expectations for the NCAA Umpire Clinic in Dallas that I attended this past weekend, especially after attending our first clinic a year ago in Chicago that went so very well. There I estimate I saw over 400 umpires. In Dallas? Less than 40.

Was it less than I had expected to see? Absolutely.

So what happened? The problem was a major communication snafu between the NCAA and the Sheraton Downtown Hotel and Convention Center. The Sheraton (very nice place BTW) took the NCAA's request to not have vendors parked right outside meeting rooms and took it a little too literally by placing the 5 retailers that were there two floors away. Combined with a schedule that allowed for shorter breaks for umpires in attendance and/or meetings that went longer than scheduled, it made for not a very good combination from a quantity perspective.


From a quality point of view, it went very well! I enjoyed seeing again those who I met for the first time in Chicago last year. I enjoyed hearing some very positive comments from some very good customers as well as showing them and some potential ones many of our newest items in our 2010 umpire gear selection.

I also enjoyed meeting Pete Reiser of the Midwest Umpire Blog and talking with him extensively about gear, trends and safety issues (more on that very good multi-part conversation in a separate post).

Regardless, I got the sense that those who really wanted to see us made a point to hike up 2 escalators and down the hall to stop in. So I made the most of not-the-best-of-setups.

Several of the vendors were very vocal in their level of discontent about the lack of umpires who made it. Me? What could I do? At least it was equal across the board. And at least I didn't bring oodles and oodles of boxes of umpire gear and clothing to sell - as typical at such events - filled with expectations of money to be made and requiring much too much labor, set up time and shipping costs to be profitable if you ask me.

You know me. I was looking to establish some relationships, educate on some newer items that I brought and garner some good feedback. So we accomplished some of that.

So, it could have been better. But all in all, not too bad, considering the quality of interaction I had while also taking the opportunity to come a day earlier and visit with Dalco, one of our suppliers, who is located less than 20 miles outside of Dallas in Garland, Texas. (Thanks to Mike Carter and Gene Feil for their hospitality while there.)

Note: To anyone attending the Atlanta clinic this coming weekend, we are told we will have 2 tables just outside your meeting rooms. If so, we'll see you and, hopefully many more of you, there.

2010 Wilson Umpire Gear: What's New, What's In

We were very excited to see our first shipment of Wilson come in 2 days ago for 2 reasons. For one, we had some new things on order and were eager to make them available to you.

Secondly, our Wilson inventory quickly dissipated for more items than we would have liked in December.

WHAT'S NEW THAT'S IN

• The New Shock FX 2.0 Umpire Helmet
  In both titanium and steel frame options, the one we've been talking about for some time with the multi-featured improvements. If you missed it, there's a great blog post on Wilson's engineer discussing the improvements.
  
  Our backorders for the titatinum cage took up our first shipment but we have more on the way the week of January 11th.
  
  
• MLB Logo Replacement Mask Harness
  Yes, that's right. You can order a replacement harness for your Wilson or other brand mask with the MLB logo on the back without having to buy an entire mask. I believe we are one of only a few stores currently with this option available. (Note: Edited 1/11/10)
  
  
• Shock FX Helmet Replacement Padding
  A new item from Wilson this year, it's the same doeskin padding at forehead and chin to replace any worn ones you might have on your helmet now (fits any original or new Shock FX 2.0 helmets).
  

WHAT'S NEW AND LAUNCHING IN FEBRUARY

• Wilson MLB Titanium Umpire Mask with Black Padding
  A special order we're very excited about provides you with that sleek silver on black look, similar to the Nike Titanium Catcher's Mask that started this shift toward silver frames. And yes, it is in a standard profile with the Wilson wrap around padding.
  
  So now, if you want the best umpire mask on the market and you want it with black padding, then we have it. I don't see anyone else as of yet carrying this this year except for us. So enjoy.
  

• Two-tone replacement padding
  Now giving us all 3 Wilson colors/combinations instead of just doeskin replacements.
  

WHAT'S DIFFERENT

• The popular A3019WV Dyna Lite West Vest Umpire Mask's logo is changing. Instead of an embroidered gold "W" logo, the logo is a screenprinted "W" logo on a red square - not as sharp but padding and frame remain the same still making it the best value mask for overall protection and price.
  

WHAT'S IN (STOCK)
We have great stock of the following:

• All Wilson Umpire Mask including two-tone padding titanium masks*, standard two-tone mask* and the A3019/A3017 mask*
  
  
• All Wilson Chest Protectors including Gold* and Platinum
  
  
• All Wilson Shin Guards - Charcoal Double and Pro Triple-Knee
  
  
• MLB Umpire Equipment Bag*
  
  
• All Non-New Accessories - Plastic plate brushes, throat protectors and doeskin replacement padding*

*Denotes items that were previously out of stock

WHAT'S OUT

• Wilson is discontinuing the popular A9775 gear bag.
  
  
• We will no longer choose to carry any Davis models by Wilson as the new styles do not fit into our price points/protection levels/product mix very well, especially considering the competition factor of their retail store against ours. We still do as of writing have 3 15" umpire shin guards remaining at a great price.
  

3 Basketball Items Designated Customer Choice

If you are new to us, we review our products to find which customers prefer in their categories.

So when something sticks out as more popular, has lower return rates and receives more positive reviews than others in their respective categories, we will designate that product as a customer choice product. You can find all customer choice products by sport here:

• Basketball/Wrestling
• Baseball/Softball
• Football/Lacrosse

Here are 3 items to recently receive that distinction for basketball/wrestling.

Reebok Breezy Referee Shoes
One of our most popular pair of court shoes (Official Footwear Ultimate Patent Shoes is most popular), the only thing bad about these shoes is we can't keep them in stock. We ran out in '08-'09 season early and bought a multiple of more of them for this season. Reebok has been out for months now.

Ultimate Grey V-Neck Referee Shirt
Typically, a lower cost item similar to another of a higher price. When the higher priced one outsells the lower cost one by a significant amount, as in this case with the Ultimate Grey Referee Shirt, then you know you have a winner.

Women's Ultimate Referee Shirt
With this shirt, the side panel shirt and football referee shirts we introduced this year, we now have the widest selection of shirts anywhere for women officials. We are getting there ladies. Keep buying, as you have with this shirt, and we'll keep adding items.

Champro Pro-Plus Magnessium Umpire Mask Arrives

In the last few years, Wilson and Diamond started the trend of using alternative metals to steel in order to build a lighter mask that still maintained a high level of strength.

While these 2 companies were getting all the attention, Champro came in late this past spring with an even lighter mask, 15.5 ounces using a magnesium alloy - of all things - passing up both its Wilson and Diamond competitors in the lightest umpire mask on the market category.

We placed a limited quantity on order in the late summer, and they just arrived today.

REVIEWS AND THOUGHTS
Since our order, the mask was named the best traditional umpire mask 2009 by Midwest Umpire Blog.

My feeling is the Wilson MLB Titanium Umpire Mask in a Standard Profile is the best mask on the market, especially because of its wrap around pad system.

And the Diamond Featherweight black or silver frame umpire masks are the best value in a lightweight frame around 1 pound.

The mask discussed here from Champro is going to serve some middle ground between the two, lighter than both but with thicker padding is more protective than those offered by Diamond.

MORE FROM CHAMPRO
In addition, we'll be offering Champro's Optic Yellow 4 Dial Indicator with Balls first as well as a starter kit that will include a standard mask, Pro-Plus chest protector and shin guards. The latter of which should be available by mid-January.

Note: We'll have more images for the magnesium beyond the one supplied by Champro within the next several weeks.

See Us at the 2010 NCAA Umpire Clinics

I will be attending 3 of 4 NCAA Umpire Clinics this month in Dallas, Atlanta and Los Angeles. If you are going to be there please stop by our area.

We will be bringing may of our specialty and newest items for you to review as well as providing some give-a-ways and handouts. Orders can be taken on any items we bring or shipped from our warehouse.

Would love to see and talk with you there whether you are a current customer or a potential one.