It is still early folks, give them a chance. As far as merchandise being sold out, they are no different than more than half the companies in the US. I am sure they would have liked to cash in on merchandise during the races and holiday season, however with just taking over the company and getting things sorted out didn't leave much time.

I myself hope they succeed, with some of the ideas I heard, it may make obtaining parts easier and help maintain the value of the older boats many of us have. Time will tell, but I wish them well.

The Cig store merchandise has been sold out for some time now as Skip knew his time with the company was limited and coming to an end.. I am sure the new owners will get it up to speed. Give them a break and have some patience.I am sure a new product line is just around the corner.

I currently have 100% more swag than Cigarette.

And yet, not one of us would pay 10 cents for that swag.... Just saying, one needs a following before swag is a thing...

Maybe..... NOT having anything in stock is the catalyst to the marketing. If you cant have it you want it more. The things that are easy to get, no one wants.

Sadly cig swag isn’t that desirable…especially when anyone can buy knockoff stuff that is better quality and cheaper from 3rd party vendors.

agreed, not to mention supply chain shortages etc. buying a multi million dollar company in these economic time is bad enough, im sure in time they will have more than enough for everyone. their presence in kw im sure was quite a few hundreds of thousands... first things first.

I'd agree the T-shirts aren't the issue and Cig is selling to 1% of the 1%r's but they also have the identical issue that Harley Davidson faces: brand loyalists aging out.
Look at the posters in this thread, how many have purchased brand new Cigs vs. how many currently own older boats? Now how many in this thread are going to buy a new Cig in the next 12 months? Why the need to convince a millenial to buy one when you already have diehard fans? So yes they are looking for the elite buyer but that market is changing too.

I don't think there is a new Cig buyer in this whole thread and this is an enthusiasts website! That is going to be an obstacle for them. What happened to buyers that built multiple brand new Cigs? How many have switched to a different style of boating? Aged out.

It will be very tough to ignite the "passion for performance boats" if you got driven to school in a Prius followed by a Tesla your whole life and you only got to see a big body of water when you went on your annual family vacation. Could you imagine being brought up in that household then burning 200 gallons of $5+ gasoline in an afternoon?!?!?

This is a 2.5 yr old article on HD and millenials. You literally can insert Cig into the article and see the parallels (obviously income averages/unit costs are significantly higher for Cig which further exacerbates their issue). https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/25/actu...-davidson.html

I will give them a pass on the store as we dont know what they walked into as far as inventory and supply chain issues. but my point is valid on the millennials not being much of a market. yes there will be some that are buyers but not near as many wanting as in the past. that is why I feel the watering down of the brand by sticking a cig sticker on any and everything is a bad idea. Ferrari and the likes keep production low to cater to a specific and small market for a reason. you are either Tiffany's or you are walmart jewelry dept. you can't be both

Using ferrari as an example i would disagree, they did the exact same thing to cater to the money, the cars got bigger as sports stars and athletes were buying, they brought out a price point model in the California. at 6'4" and being in the industry, i drive them all I have an F12 in my shop now, i cant sit in a older 355 comfortably, but in models like a 458 and up I have leg room. im not a fan of a cig jet ski, but i wont bash them for doing it. every manufacturer has a version of something that is like another. chev has a ZO6, with high horsepower, but you can buy a grand sport that looks identical without all the horsepower, Mustang GTs are semi clones of GT500's, Camaro's have an LT1, as well as a 6 cylinder with the body pkg, Demons and challengers, Hellcats and scat paks chargers...

Mike was working with Mark @ Activator when he was in high school "building" boats..... Dan was working with Mike all through college "building" boats.... has this young man ever built a boat? not really a true comparison imo.....