First Texas Marketing

[phrunt]

Admittedly I had lost all interest in First Texas and their detectors for some time, I haven't been detecting all that many years but I jumped through the First Texas ranks with a GBP, GB2 and two models of the Teknetics T2 along with their F-Pulse, now I even have an F19 on its way.

It appeared with their lack of new products and very dated models they were just another generic detecting company, not something to really pay much attention to.  My most recent of their purchases was the F-Pulse not all that long after it came out, while a decent pinpointer it is hardly something to be excited about a company's prospects over.  Other than a coil that nobody seems to know much about and I haven't been able to find anyone that actually bought one they haven't really released anything for a very long time, and when they did it was just a rehashed older model, or as we like to call them paint jobs.

Recently they started an Ebay firesale letting buyers dictate the prices they are willing to pay for their detectors, and people have been getting fantastic deals, but if you sit down and think about it for a bit are the deals really fantastic or are they about the price the detector should be in today's market, with the various competitors leaving these models well behind, it seems more like they're working out the prices people would be willing to pay and running with it, they've probably sold more of their higher end detectors in the past month or so with this firesale than they have in a year or two.  Suddenly First Texas is being talked about again by people that had little interest in their detectors when they were full price.  Many of us predicted this would happen one day where their high-end machines are basically entry level in the modern marketplace.

I was thinking this is it, they're just going to clear out the stock and wind up the hobby detector part of their business, then I took at look at their Facebook group, I hadn't bothered to look at it forever as they were just a stagnant business.  To my surprise it was very active, mainly with their marketing of course but active none the less.  Every few days they're doing posts marketing their products, this really took me by surprise, and they had no indication at all they're doing an Ebay fire sale, another surprise, if there was a good place to announce it you would think it would be their Facebook group with 24000 followers, that's a broad reach of people that would see their sale that may not know about it.

I think they're just settling into the new normal, working out the ideal pricing for models where they can get sales and will then return to their status quo of selling the same old models for the next decade.

They appear to have a larger focus on metal detecting products outside of the hobby market on their Facebook group too, which probably demonstrates where a much of their detecting income is derived from.  Their last marketing post was only 2 hours ago.

Here are some of their recent marketing posts.

So, they do have a pretty active marketing person on Facebook, and someone making up fancy marketing pictures.  

I hope they survive as a hobby detecting company, and I really hope they've got at least one more "New" detector up their sleeve, a Gold Bug 3 would be something many of us would appreciate, but I'm sure a F75 SMF would be more of a crowd pleaser for a bulk of Fisher fans.

[glacialgold]

1 hour ago, phrunt said:

but if you sit down and think about it for a bit are the deals really fantastic or are they about the price the detector should be in today's market, with the various competitors leaving these models well behind, it seems more like they're working out the prices people would be willing to pay and running with it

Solid reasoning, this.

1 hour ago, phrunt said:

now I even have an F19 on its way

Ha, that price was too sweet to ignore, eh?

What kind of detecting will the F19 be for, and/or do you see it filling a particular niche?

[phrunt]

6 minutes ago, glacialgold said:

What kind of detecting will the F19 be for, and/or do you see it filling a particular niche?

The F19 will be for my daughter on the odd occasion she wants to detect for coins.  It does really well on our coins with its accurate Target ID on them in mild soils at our ski fields, especially our $1 and $2 coins which are all she cares about finding.   The main reason for the "upgrade" over the Gold Bug Pro's was to give her volume control, she's a speaker user like I am, doesn't want to wear headphones so being able to turn down the volume is vital, the Bug is LOUD and embarrassing to use with its loud volume that can't be turned down in a public place.

Incredible isn't it, their detectors like the Gold Bug Pro are so dated they don't even have a way to control volume.

[IBMe]

I think it was the Legend. They could kind of hang around below the Nox and Deus without doing anything. Nokta took that space. Now they’ve filled every nook and cranny.  

[GB_Amateur]

18 hours ago, phrunt said:

 

OK, Simon.  I know you often identify detectors in photos, on TV shows, etc.  I see three here.  What's your conclusion of the model families?  (IMO, one is easy; I have a guess for one, but the third I have no clue.)  Others should chime in, too.  I just address Simon because it was his post and I know he's done similar ID'ing previously.

[Steve Herschbach]

22 hours ago, phrunt said:

someone making up fancy marketing pictures

That's mostly old ad copy being recycled, kind of like the detectors. But yeah, they have low operating costs and can continue to milk the old product for a long time, dropping prices as much as needed to keep the sales going. Especially if they sell direct cutting out middle men.

[Geotech]

Is that a Garrett in the first pic?

[D&P-OR]

1 hour ago, Geotech said:

Is that a Garrett in the first pic?

Looks like it! 🙂

[DSMITH]

2 hours ago, Geotech said:

Is that a Garrett in the first pic?

That does look like an AT series Garrett Detector LOL, that is odd LOL that there would be a fisher add with a Garrett detector in the photo

Maybe the Storm is not about a new detector at all, but maybe a merger between Garrett and Fisher LOL who knows, but that would be something Big to talk about, probably reading to much into that first photo though

 

[RobNC]

I look forward to the day a F75 ltd can  be had for $250 NEW. LOL

The marketing ads look weird. Especially that last one. They seemingly dug up what? Looked like some kids pendant from a grocery store 50 cent turn vendor. Some find that was. Maybe there are tapping into some Lithium-rich water and consuming too much of it? Nonetheless, Fisher has made some good machines in the past but sure seems they are content to be the "vintage" maker these days. I'm confused about what altered state of reality they are living in. Putting out new weirdo ads on very old hardware? That just looks stupid.