Members spbubba Posted February 13, 2014 Members Posted February 13, 2014 Where are the original wart molds now ? Could someone sell enough to purchase the molds and start making the baits again ?
Mitch f Posted February 13, 2014 Posted February 13, 2014 Where are the original wart molds now ? Could someone sell enough to purchase the molds and start making the baits again ? I scanned them a couple of years ago. I don't ask questions when I get work because I'm bound to an NDA. "Honor is a man's gift to himself" Rob Roy McGregor
kjackson Posted February 13, 2014 Posted February 13, 2014 Where are the original wart molds now ? Could someone sell enough to purchase the molds and start making the baits again ? Rapala says that the "origiinal" Wiggle Warts it is now selling are made using the old Storm molds. The difference in action, if there is any, is supposed to be due to the use of a different plastic--or so I read somewhere. Having toured the Rapala plant and after meeting some of the engineers, I'd guess that the original series now made by Rapala also doesn't leak, uses sonic welding or comparable other system to glue parts together and in general isn't as erratic in manufacturing process as was the case before the purchase. As for the possibility of obtaining old molds and selling enough to make it worthwhile, I dunno. Currently, the competition is Rapala with its two series, Brad's Baits, Yakima Bait's FatFish, and the Luck-E-Strike version. Then, if you add in the new wart-action baits, such as the Koppers' HFC craw, I'd say the competition is pretty stiff.
dtrs5kprs Posted February 13, 2014 Author Posted February 13, 2014 Rapala says that the "origiinal" Wiggle Warts it is now selling are made using the old Storm molds. The difference in action, if there is any, is supposed to be due to the use of a different plastic--or so I read somewhere. Having toured the Rapala plant and after meeting some of the engineers, I'd guess that the original series now made by Rapala also doesn't leak, uses sonic welding or comparable other system to glue parts together and in general isn't as erratic in manufacturing process as was the case before the purchase. That is the whole problem in a nut shell. Up North guys wanted a more consistent bait, good old boys wanted a bait that would grind rocks as before. I have thrown old warts out b/c they were simply not tune friendly, but the good ones...nothing like them yet. By making them "better" they created the issue. Good example of where a company should have spent a little more time in market research, and a little less time listening to the guys with calculators and protractors.
Mitch f Posted February 13, 2014 Posted February 13, 2014 That is the whole problem in a nut shell. Up North guys wanted a more consistent bait, good old boys wanted a bait that would grind rocks as before. I have thrown old warts out b/c they were simply not tune friendly, but the good ones...nothing like them yet. By making them "better" they created the issue. Good example of where a company should have spent a little more time in market research, and a little less time listening to the guys with calculators and protractors. Good point....IMHumbleO, every crank bait, every jerk bait, every topwater, is just one tune job away from a real fish catcher. That goes for a BPS cheapy, or an expensive Japanese lure. A file job here, a lead dot there, a lighter line...... You get the picture "Honor is a man's gift to himself" Rob Roy McGregor
kjackson Posted February 13, 2014 Posted February 13, 2014 That is the whole problem in a nut shell. Up North guys wanted a more consistent bait, good old boys wanted a bait that would grind rocks as before. I have thrown old warts out b/c they were simply not tune friendly, but the good ones...nothing like them yet. By making them "better" they created the issue. Good example of where a company should have spent a little more time in market research, and a little less time listening to the guys with calculators and protractors. I don't think it was a matter of guys "up North" so much as Finnish engineers. They wanted to make lures that were consistently the same--with no leakers, none that didn't run correctly out of the box, etc. What they didn't realize, IMO, is that the erratic action was what made the baits so good.
troutgnat Posted February 14, 2014 Posted February 14, 2014 Somebody needs to find Jim Morton(I hope I have his name right). He was the main Storm rep/pro staffer back in the day when the whole change over took place. At the time I was the MINK states Rapala rep and had worked a number of events with Jim. He taught me a lot about the wiggle wart and in fact gave me one of his own SP-90's from his stash. If I knew any better at the time and wasn't so foolish I would have pounded Jim for every ounce of information he could muster. MAYBE JIM KNOWS WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ORIGINAL MOLD??? I was never told. I was just a newbie rep at the time and deemed non-important Darren Sadler "Fishing is an Education...Often the fish 'school' me, yet I do not complain. I just keep going to class!"
dtrs5kprs Posted February 14, 2014 Author Posted February 14, 2014 I think Finnish engineers count as Up North types.
Quillback Posted February 14, 2014 Posted February 14, 2014 I think Finnish engineers count as Up North types. Yeah, they're pretty far north.
dtrs5kprs Posted February 14, 2014 Author Posted February 14, 2014 It should be noted I was in fact an Up North type, but after close to 18 years am recovering quite nicely. Probably could not have been a worse company to buy an OK company than Rapala.
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