Silent Kamui price increase.

bdcues

bdcues

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Wonder how many have noticed and what your response is the the silent increase in the price of Kamui tips? No, the actual price per piece did not go up but the volume of each tip did go down.... by about 24%. Old ones had 9 layers, new ones have 7. Not only that but the layers on the new ones are thinner resulting in the 24% reduction in height.

I have tried not cutting the top layer off, to retain a bit of height, but this does not seem to work well for what ever reason. Seems the top layer is harder than the rest. So by the time the top layer is removed and the tip is shaped it is near the lower limit of usable height for many players, therefore needing to be replaced more often.

Also wonder if the tips feel any different than before as the layers are not the same as the original. Will the tip harden up sooner? Have gone to a different tip as standard now and have not tried the new Kamui tips on my personal cue. Any one notice a difference in playability?
 
7 layers or 8?
Kamui S black is still my most requested one and I've had no complaints .
 
I've got a soft brown clear that I ordered at least 3 months ago. Its only 8 layers not counting the top white layer or the bottom clear layer. 8 layers of brown leather.
 
Not Silent

The announcement for Kamui Standard Tips

In addition, globally we have been receiving feedback if we can lower the height of Kamui
Standard Tips. We are aware that our tip is quite taller than other tip brands and the player is
forced to invest extra time to reduce the excessive layers in order to achieve the expected cue
ball action. So we will take this opportunity to also reduce the layers of the 13mm and 14mm
standard tips from 9 to 8.
Click to expand...
 
Moori chose the same route a few times now. Instead of raising the price they just dropped a layer of leather. We are down from 13 to 8 layers on Moori tips now.
 
Sheldon said:
The announcement for Kamui Standard Tips
Click to expand...

Thanks, I missed that it seems. I only found out from the distributor after contacting him regarding some knock off tips. Somehow a line on an invoice explaining this would have helped. Have customers that liked the tip at full height, guess they are out of luck now.

As for going from 9 to 8... wonder how this corresponds to a 24% decrease in height?
 
bdcues said:
Thanks, I missed that it seems. I only found out from the distributor after contacting him regarding some knock off tips. Somehow a line on an invoice explaining this would have helped. Have customers that liked the tip at full height, guess they are out of luck now.

As for going from 9 to 8... wonder how this corresponds to a 24% decrease in height?
Click to expand...

I don't know how the process goes, but if they are skiving each layer thinner, I think it'd cost more .
The original height/thickness was too much for me .
I used to trim two layers off the top b/c they were just too long.
 
I believe the difference in layer thickness could be related to hardness.

Hard tips are harder because they are pressed more, than the softer ones. I haven't looked at the Kamui's in quite a while, but those that I have looked at, the tip heights are noticeably shorter on the harder tips than the softer ones.

Royce
 
JoeyInCali said:
I don't know how the process goes, but if they are skiving each layer thinner, I think it'd cost more .
The original height/thickness was too much for me .
I used to trim two layers off the top b/c they were just too long.
Click to expand...

Ditto. I was cutting off two layers as well. Last two installed kamuis I just rounded them and they were just about right IMO.
 
JoeyInCali said:
I don't know how the process goes, but if they are skiving each layer thinner, I think it'd cost more .
The original height/thickness was too much for me .
I used to trim two layers off the top b/c they were just too long.
Click to expand...

I agree that personally, and many customers, would rather they were finished a bit shorter. But there are those that preferred them taller and found no difference in performance in them and thereby gained longer use between changes. We are not talking .50cent one piece tips here instead we are talking tips that a local dealer charges $45.00 plus tax to change out.

Funny, if your 16 oz coke was $1.00 and then turned into 12 oz for the same $ one would expect some verbal backlash. Apparently getting less tip for the same money is OK. Is everyone just getting used to less for the same or greater price?
 
bdcues said:
Funny, if your 16 oz coke was $1.00 and then turned into 12 oz for the same $ one would expect some verbal backlash. Apparently getting less tip for the same money is OK. Is everyone just getting used to less for the same or greater price?
Click to expand...

This is already happening and no one is saying anything. Check the price of a 2 liter bottle of soda vs a 20oz bottle.
 
ratcues said:
This is already happening and no one is saying anything. Check the price of a 2 liter bottle of soda vs a 20oz bottle.
Click to expand...

yes, it is happening with many things and yes, we are mostly silent. Many people still need to watch their pennies and when a $35-45.00 tip last a shorter time between replacement than looking into less costly tips will happen and is happening. Those that do this for fun/entertainment would rather spend the extra money on something more tangible... like beer.
 
bbb said:
i can't get the link to work
Click to expand...
Yeah, it looks like their link broke. Here's the page the link is on.
http://www.kamuibrand.com/billiard-en/?page_id=2717


Here is the text from the file:

Code: 
The announcement for Kamui Standard Tips 
 
Dear valued Customers, 
Thank you for your trust and support in the Kamui Brand, which is the basis of our passion to 
continuously improve our brand identity. 
 
We have been aware that counterfeit of our "standard tip" i.e, KAMUI Original and KAMUI Black, 
(not KAMUI Clear) are being distributed in the market. 
The counterfeits were seen in Asian countries mostly in China, Taiwan and Korea in the last 2 
years but we found that there are some billiard suppliers in Europe and the U.S who have 
started to carry counterfeits even though they know they are knock-offs. 
 
To promptly respond to this situation, we made the decision to change the design of the Kamui 
Standard Tips. This change will be implemented from production at the manufacturing level this 
Feb 2014. This new design will not affect the playability of the Kamui Brand that our customers 
have come to trust. 
 
In addition, globally we have been receiving feedback if we can lower the height of Kamui 
Standard Tips. We are aware that our tip is quite taller than other tip brands and the player is 
forced to invest extra time to reduce the excessive layers in order to achieve the expected cue 
ball action. So we will take this opportunity to also reduce the layers of the 13mm and 14mm 
standard tips from 9 to 8. 
 
For further information about the current and the new design Standard tips, please review the 
attached addendum document. 
 
It is in our best interest to contribute to the protection of our customers through the products 
and service we provide. 
 
We would like to express our sincere appreciation for your continued support of the Kamui 
Brand. 
 
Sincerely yours, 
                                           
ENVISION CO., LTD. 
Masato Hiraoka                                                  7-23-29,Asahigaoka,Asakita,Hiroshima,JAPAN 
Managing Director                                                   TEL: +81-82-516-5311, FAX:+81-82-516-5312 
E--mail:info@en--vision.co.jp
 
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