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Maxfli - Dead Man Walking


Onebulldogs

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RIP - to a good brand
For those of us who have enjoyed the Maxfli brand (and benefited from their idiotic marketing strategies), I am sad to report Taylor Made has decided to basically kill off the Maxfli Brand. As per Golfweek (sorry, I read the magazine and cannot find an online link), TM has decided the Maxfli brand is to far gone and cannot be saved. In particular, they feel the Noodle success inadvertantly devalued the brand in the premium category.

Going forward:
TM will have the TP Red/Black/Burner and the Burner balls.
Noodle will be marketed without the Maxfli name.
Maxfli will discontinue all ball brands and have only the "Powermax" ball for places like Walmart. Basically, range balls with paint.

Fairwell to my friends:
The Noodel - who gave me 15 yards when an injury stole it;
Revolution Tour - for 2 years, I played a tour quality ball for under $20 per ball.

BTW - if you want a good deal and you like the Fire balls, I have seen them on sale 2 for one at Dick's Sporting Goods.
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That f'ing sucks...

Farewell Black Max...
Farewell Original Revolution...

TM sure ruined such a good brand...

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Sad to see.

Dunlop did a better job of marketing the Maxfli sub-brand than Taylor Made have done since they took over.

Back as a junior player, I played the DDH HT over a Titleist, despite Titleist handing out free balls, since I felt it was a superior ball. In later years the Revolution balls were played by some big name players, and Maxfli garnered some major wins for the balls with several high profile players.

Aside from the balls, they also made some pretty good clubs too. Woosnam became about the best player in the world in '87 with a set of old Pro Specials, and they used to have a good contingent of staff players on all the main tours.

Since Taylor Made took over, they've basically become a junk-producing novelty brand (apart from the Noodle, which was a sucess story) with one player sporting a comedy orange bag - with no Maxfli clubs in it.

Oh dear.

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[quote name='Onebulldogs' post='837874' date='Dec 26 2007, 10:29 PM']For those of us who have enjoyed the Maxfli brand (and benefited from their idiotic marketing strategies), I am sad to report Taylor Made has decided to basically kill off the Maxfli Brand. As per Golfweek (sorry, I read the magazine and cannot find an online link), TM has decided the Maxfli brand is to far gone and cannot be saved. In particular, they feel the Noodle success inadvertantly devalued the brand in the premium category.

Going forward:
TM will have the TP Red/Black/Burner and the Burner balls.
Noodle will be marketed without the Maxfli name.
Maxfli will discontinue all ball brands and have only the "Powermax" ball for places like Walmart. Basically, range balls with paint.

Fairwell to my friends:
The Noodel - who gave me 15 yards when an injury stole it;
Revolution Tour - for 2 years, I played a tour quality ball for under $20 per ball.

BTW - if you want a good deal and you like the Fire balls, I have seen them on sale 2 for one at Dick's Sporting Goods.[/quote]

I guess TM can't shove their balls down the store owners throats, plus they cannot come out with 12 new ball models a year.

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I picked up 5 dozen Tour Fire balls. They feel Just like the Black Max.

It is sad to see, but maybe the burner will be similar.

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I don't get the reaction I am reading from people here. Maxfli, as a semi standalone under various Dunlop relationships, was beyond all hope from a business standpoint when TMAG purchased the assets of the company. It had long since began digging its own grave. While TMAG did little or nothing to help that matter, to place the blame squarely on TMAG for killing the brand is ignorant.

While a small cross section of the golf community raved about the Revolution black irons and the resurgance of the Australian blade nameplate to a blade type iron, clearly TM was not going to have Maxfli continue to produce brands that competed directly with some of its products. And anyone who has ever played the original, true Australian blade will tell you that the model pictured above was far and away an inferior product, almost an insult to the reputation of the real, forged, model. From a business standpoint it made no sense for Maxfli to continue to produce equipment.

As for the ball business, Maxfli[s most valuable asset was its patents. With the ball business a focus for TMAG, clearly the newest and most promising technology that Maxfli had developed was going to end up with a Taylor Made logo and name on it. That's just a reality of business. TMAG could have easily killed the Maxfli name right there, the day they bought the company. It would have been understandable, logical and a sound business decision. If TMAG is guilty of anything, its trying to hard to save a brand name that was DOA in terms of its value as a premium golf ball name, the minute it arrived on a store shelf. TMAG pushed the Maxfli Noodle harder than any company has ever pushed a ball. If you look at the advertising budgets that TMAG spent on that ball, its staggering. They ate margain like crazy. Still, despite a million efforts, some misguided, some not, the Maxfli name just didn't have any equity in the ball market in terms of its ability to sell premium balls, much less a mid level, non premium ball.

If you want to blame TMAG for anything, blame it for not pulling the plug on the Maxfli name earlier.

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[quote name='Milosh' post='838211' date='Dec 27 2007, 09:52 AM']Funny how Top-Flite is being re-invigorated by Callaway (new balls, new clubs, etc.) that Maxfli is dying on the vine by TM.[/quote]

Different set of circumstances. Top Flite has had a long and loyal following among high handicappers for a long time. There was far more equity in the Top Flite name than in the Maxfli name.

The reason for Top Flite's resurgance under the Callaway name was a return to its roots. Top Flite tried to nudge its way into the premium ball and club market and it was nearly the death of them. Inspite of the Strata's success and popularity, it lost its focus on the lower end market, where its brand name was the king of balls for the higher handicap player. Top Flite was in a similar position to Maxfli in terms of the fact its most valuable asset was its patents and technology in terms of ball development, but it had more brand name equity than Maxfli had when TMAG purchased it. It was far less of a stretch for Callaway to return Top Flite to its roots than it was for TMAG with Maxfli.

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The Maxfli A10 was one of the best balls ever!

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Glad I still have 40 original Revolution balls. Soft feel and great distance, excellent for chipping and delicate shots and solid off the driver. May have to play my next 18 with Revs.

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maxfli clubs and balls are still on sale in england at JJB sports..
the clubs are very cheap and are advertised on TV here by john daly..
not sure what balls are still for sale but prices also look cheap ..

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i think it would be fair to say that the mantle of quality products, certainly in the UK, that was part of the old Dunlop/Slazenger/Maxfli mantra passed to Srixon when they decided to go it alone( i beleive that they are essentially Dunlop Japan and as such have the size to continue to innovate). its areal pity as growing up i played Slazenger TPM blades and the 420 wound or Maxfli CD/HT ball and like wilson they were a true golfers company making quality prioducts for all players. its sad that here in the Uk especially many of the great brands have died and become a by word for some gimmicky rubbish when so many of us remember them as top class alternatives. the business practices behind TM's are sound and extremely valid but sometinmes it would be nice to see quality product baring the name Dunlop/MaxFli/Slazenger/Ben Sayers/John Letters out there giving us a real option rather than just having to stick with the sheep following certain brands

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Couldn't agree more.

I also grew up playing a Maxfli ball, and seeing the green, red and yellow bags on tour; and latterly the red, white and gold ones. Maxfli was a premium brand, and regardless of the sound business strategy behind letting the brand die, it's still a shame when a respected manufacturer is allowed to slide and disappear.

When I see the junk that Slazenger are pedalling now, it's hard to believe that they once made a top grade balata ball and some of the finest blades around in the Seve signature model.

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Seve, Sandy and Woosie all hit the peaks with Dunlop/Maxfli/Slazenger. My TPM gold Sw was so good i sought a stack of them to keep me going. Makes you wonder what the suits did wrong to let it all go, they had Tad Moore doing some good wedges and putters, some innovate engineering with revolution and even took Ping on with the XTC/Max 357 without even going into some of the most consistent/durable and best performing ball lines going. They must have really F%$@ed the relationship with Japan to have lost everything they way they have. im looking to get a club pros deal with Srixon for next year and almost feels like goping back to the old days playing an alternative rather than following the sheep to Titleist or callaway

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As I remember, in the space of 4 years Maxfli/Slazenger clubs garnered two Open Championships and a USPGA title, plus a banner year for Woosie which included a World Matchplay title and a few other wins besides.

The balls in the same period were the only real competition to the Titleist ball and made Sandy Lyle (arguably) the best player in the world in 1988.

I agree, the blame for letting the Maxfli brand die out isn't solely at TMAG's door; it goes back further than that. But it's still a shame.

And what happened to Slazenger? Some of the biggest names in the game have played Slazenger at one time or another - and for them to now be relegated to hawking those F.A.S.T. irons on the old 'Zhay Zhay Bee' infomercials featuring Scunthorpe's favorite son - Shhony 'James Cagney' Zhhacklin - is tragic.

Apologies to Scunthorpe-resident WRX members in advance.. :busted2:

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I am fortunately old enough to have played persimmon woods with a Maxfli HT balata. Nothing ever will feel that sweet as a pured shot with that combo.
Fond memories of the Revolution tour and the A-10 as well.
Thank GOd my best friend has some Aussie blades i get to hit every now and then, I have First DIBS if he ever gets rid of them.

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What a shame. I played my lowest round ever with one (1) Maxfli HT-100 ball. Shot 74 on the Willow Lakes Golf Club at Pope AFB in Fayetteville, NC. Wasn't a mark on it when I got done either. I played the CD-100, HT-100, original Revolution, Tour Patriot, and even tried the Noodle. Maxfli made some great balls over the years, my favorite probably was the Tour Patriot. Great price point, it would spin around the greens, and you could kill it off the tee. All that and it was a three piece ball. Since I've played Pro V1 & V1x, Callaway HX Red, HX Tour, TF Strata Tour Ace. The only ones I liked consistently were HX Red and HX Tour and both of them were dropped/improved by Callaway. Now I'm back with Pro V1x until they mess with it again. There ought to be a law that says "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

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