At some point in time Shoyoroll began to take off in popularity and a secondary market was created. That was before my time so I can't say when that happened. For CTRL however it happened between the drop of the Consigliere and Journeyman in early 2014.
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| Consigliere |
And after about 3 or 4 days, they finally sold out. Unfortunately for me, one of my teammates bought both an A1 and A2 because she didn't know which would fit her best. And when they arrived, the A1 was perfect for her, so I bought the A2 from her at that time.
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| Journeyman |
So somewhere in the 52 days between January 1st and February 21st, CTRL Industries crossed over that line where only Shoyoroll had been before. A secondary market demand.
So what does that say about the older batches of both Shoyoroll and CTRL? Well it is simple.
Before February 21, 2014 for CTRL (and an unknown but earlier date for Shoyoroll), the vast majority if not ALL of their kimonos up to that point were sold to....hold onto you seat....BJJers who were actually going to ROLL in the kimono. Put them to use!!! Imagine that? What sacrilege.
This period of time where CTRL and Shoyoroll (independently from each other and at different points in time) transitioned from being desired only by active BJJers wanting to buy a new kimono to roll in, to being purchased by BJJers (or not) who were buying them to hold and resell on the secondary market for a profit, we will call the Metamorphosis.
So, assuming that statement to be true, and I have yet to hear any alternative theories, then the following would be true:
- Batch production size would have lower prior to Metamorphosis;
- Over 95% (if not 100%) of the kimonos sold prior to Metamorphosis were purchased with the intent to roll in them and most were, in fact rolled in. Those that remained BNIB (brand new, in bag) pre-Metamorphosis were often duplicates bought by BJJers for future use, or parents buying for their kids who have since stopped BJJ, or survived with their virginity in tact for some other, odd reason. But regardless, the original intent of 99.9% of the kimonos bought pre-Metamorphosis was to USE THEM.
The above factors being true, as is logical, would then dictate that any Shoyoroll or CTRL kimonos sold pre-Metamorphosis would now be in used condition and very few, if any, would exist BNIB (Brand New, In Bag). That being the case, they would be very rare, in demand due to the Metamorphosis, and expensive on the secondary market.
All you need to do is look for any kimono by Shoyoroll or especially CTRL that was dropped pre-Metamorphosis. Consider CTRL's Son of El for example. Take a look on eBay, BJJGiMarket, various Facebook groups where BJJ gear is sold, or even Craigslist and see how many new or even used Son of El kimonos you can find? You'd be lucky to find a handful in any given year.
Now compare that to more recent drops of kimonos, be they Shoyoroll or CTRL, that occurred post-Metamorphosis. And you'll see that because of the secondary market demand and resulting increased production it is easy to find most any of these kimonos in top condition pre-owned and even BNIB.
So there you have it. If you are holding out looking for the older batch kimonos from CTRL or Shoyoroll and will only accept BNIB, you will probably be waiting a long time to find one. If you find one at all. And you should be prepared to pay multiples of the initial offering price should you find one.
As an example, that Consigliere that I bought from my friend; well I used it only a couple of times and decided it wasn't for me. I loved the fit, feel and construction (as I do most CTRL kimonos), but it was simply too flashy for me. I let a few people know that I was planning on letting it go and despite only paying the drop price of $180 from my friend, I was offered $400 from another friend. While that is more than double the price in only a few months, that is not unusual by any stretch of the imagination.
Other examples are the Shoyoroll drops of Gray Skies II and Blue Skies at the Worlds in 2014. Those sold for under $200, but quickly shot up to as much as $800 in a matter of weeks.
My best advice for the CTRL and/or Shoyoroll fan is to be happy acquiring the new releases, and keep an eye out for those rare old batches that might pop up from time to time (and be willing to buy used ones as well). But don't stress out over it, if you get one you get one. If not, you should find solace in the new releases.
UPDATE - January 2016
The above was written over a year ago, and still holds true. But now having watched (and played) in the CTRL and Shoyoroll secondary markets for about 3 years, I would like to add the following.
CTRL Industries
In the past year or so CTRL has stepped up it's gi production in both number of drops per year and units per drop. This has enabled CTRL corporate to capitalize on the growing popularity of their brand.As of today, the following seems to accurately represent the secondary market for CTRL gis.
- Some older batches (Gigante, Voyager, Son of El, Ground Squad) are in high demand and command high prices. Why this is the case with some of these older batches and not other older, low-production batches is beyond me. I can only attribute it to a pure supply-vs.-demand environment.
- Retail prices charged by CTRL have increased quite a bit lately, rivaling those of Shoyoroll.
- The secondary market for new drops is short lived. And here is why:
- CTRL is making more units per batch now than before. So market demand is pretty much satisfied with the retail sale at the drop.
- Right after the drop there are people that missed the drop for some reason (unaware, working, traveling, etc.) and want one. So these people will pay a small bump over retail, but not a big one.
- After a week or so goes by following the drop and that second wave of demand is satisfied for the most part. As a result, the prices that people will pay goes down to near retail. Especially with CTRL increasing retail prices lately.
- Then another a week or a few weeks goes by and WAMMO...CTRL starts leaking pictures out of the next drop. So all the CTRL fans turn their attention to that upcoming drop and forget all about the last drop.
UPDATE - June 2016
CTRL Industries
The above update from six months ago has maintained all year with CTRL. The short-lived secondary market after every drop is not providing much of a profit for those that have bought to resell. And even older batches (Luxe, Queen, Zarape, etc.) that dropped in the past 24 months have sporadic demand at best and have provided little profit over retail.So for all intent and purpose, there is no Secondary Market for CTRL and I have stopped buying them (as of a year ago) to hold and sell. What this means is that once my existing inventory is exhausted I will not be able to accurately update this post because I will no longer be following CTRL Industries. It is apparent that CTRL is producing enough gis in the primary market to satisfy virtually all demand without overproducing and having to maintain an unsold inventory post-drop of any significance. This state of balance is one that most brands strive to achieve.
Despite this balance on new drops, the rare, older batches as referenced herein (Voyager, Son of El, etc.) will continue to command secondary market values several multiples of retail.
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