what really grinds my gears?

[jgoodstein]

Using a peter griffin term, what grinds my gears:

When TNT/phantom/retail doesn't tell you time on fireworks or info is not made available for cakes and such.

I have about 15 tnt cakes and no idea how much time they run for. I called the store, the corporate office, and even tried finding the plant info to call them and nothing. How is it that this information is not ANYWHERE

(Don't go into me about purchasing retail it was a decision made not by me but by the person paying, even with warning). Some of them had videos and i timed them, but most do not.

[JoeRatman]

To make matters worse, TNT, is notorious for not having the same product from year to year. So you buy something one year and figure out its performance and duration. Next year they aren't selling that item and they have a bunch of completely "new" items. Sometimes they are selling the old item, but they just changed the name and the label so you don't know which one it is.

[independence]

I would just search for a video on this site or Pyroreview and get your timing from that. I'm guess you're not having much luck finding videos?

[PyRo-MaNiAc]

Using a peter griffin term, what grinds my gears:

When TNT/phantom/retail doesn't tell you time on fireworks or info is not made available for cakes and such.

I have about 15 tnt cakes and no idea how much time they run for. I called the store, the corporate office, and even tried finding the plant info to call them and nothing. How is it that this information is not ANYWHERE

(Don't go into me about purchasing retail it was a decision made not by me but by the person paying, even with warning). Some of them had videos and i timed them, but most do not.

Yeah call Phantom's "Pyro Specialists" and ask them that question...

I think the reason why is because most of their customer base are people who just buy them to shoot off...nothing more.

They aren't interested in the aesthetics and dynamics of building an actual show like the pro's and enthusiasts on this site.

[upNsmoke]

It's been discussed before about durations on fireworks and I'm glad they don't have it after thinking about it for a while and there's many reasons for them not to. The most important being that a normal consumer will almost always look for the longest lasting one which would cause everyone to make long drawn out boring cakes and we'd no longer have the fast amazing looking ones that only last 20 or so seconds like american trucker, peacock, copper dome, etc..

[Switchfoot55]

Its true that listing durations on a cake or a fountain is not a good marketing idea for this industry. The target audience for these manufacturers is the Average Joe guy who wants to get the most from his retail money.

I ran a TnT stand for a few years and we always ran into this problem. With the exception of a few of their staple items, every year saw a huge amount of "new" product. It was alwys frustrating when we had a great seller one year, and would get the product list the next year and wouldn't see it anywhere.

There are few average consumers who are going to remember what the name of a cake was that they had bought the year before. I know there are some out there who do remember...but it just doesn't happen THAT often. They switch things up, give them some shelf appeal, and make their money. Great system for them i'm sure...not the best for the "not so average" consumer.

[Pyrophiljb]

Your best bet would be to purchase Bob Weaver's A to Z buyers guide from his site, fireworksland.com.

That guide will give you performance description and run times.