Assortments

John and Jeff recently sat down and put together three really great sets of fireworks, for those not sure of the best way to spend their hard-earned pyro dollars. Here is the line-up:

Franklin Assortment
MS309 Big 8
MS310 Feats of Strength
MS276 Accelerate
GM100 Da Big Bomb Box
GM101 Homeland Trio

Jefferson Assortment (Franklin Assortment PLUS)
GM282 Wrestling Championship Assortment
GM315 Adrenaline Fix
GM316 The 6 Pack
RL118 Serious Equipment
TB118 Prime Knockout

Washington Assortment (Jefferson Assortment PLUS)
GM104 Our Country - 4 different 500 gram cakes
TB109 Power Show - 2 big 3" tube racks
TB204 Pyro Candy/Texas Hold'em - 2 more incredible 3" tube racks

Drought

I have not seen live fireworks since the NFA Expo (I missed the Pyro U shoot in St. Louis). That is almost two months with no pyro. I am really starting to miss it. I was just thinking the other night about my first summer of fireworks. I had three "WOW" moments that summer which still live in my mind.

The first was my first night of fireworks. Growing up in Iowa, seeing "the good stuff" was pretty rare. We went down to Missouri and picked up fireworks a couple times when I was a kid, but a cheap multi-shot was the best I ever saw. My first day at Spirit of '76 I got to see an impromptu fireworks show staring the Brothers' classic Major Combat. I had no idea so much firepower could be packed into one cake! It was an $800 fireworks show in a (at that time) $100 retail package. Amazing!

That summer, we shot off a lot of cakes at our tent. All of it was more than necessary as product research. The one that always stood out to me was Blue Blitz. It is the first 'Z' cake I remember seeing, with great blue and green colors. Now I prefer Wicked Cool and Combat Zone, but that cake was my favorite for two years.

The last thing I remember is the finale on July 4th. The staff gathered at the tent for a fireworks show that night, firing off single pieces between customers. The show stopper that night was a case of Yeah Baby Yeah spread out over 30 or 40 yards. Watching the cakes build from 1 shot, to 2 shots, up and up and up... it was an intense experience. The 28-shot finale was huge!

Shipping Woes

Due to shipper consolidation, the number of shipping lines transporting fireworks out of China is going down. MOL is no longer transporting from Shanghai to the West Coast. Beihai port was shut down for a while, but should be up and running again. These events might make it hard for 1.4G suppliers to be fully stocked for New Year's, but they should still be fully prepared for the Fourth of July. 1.3G is continuing to struggle with getting fireworks out of China and into the US. However, some big names have come together to form a group called Professional Pyrotechnic Standards Association, Inc. Hopefully this organization can improve the shipping situation for display companies here in the US.

Success

The St. Louis shoot was amazing this weekend. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend, but I have heard nothing but the highest praise for the event, the shows, and all who helped put it together. Our chief pyro Jeff Cellucci and his partner in crime Ryan Adams put on a killer show (though we are still trying to get video footage). There were other great shows as well on Saturday night. Friday night, the Pyro U crew shot a great demo, managing to fit in over 200 products! From what I have heard, the weekend went off without a hitch and everyone was glad they went.

Photo by Noel Emge

Saint Louis

We are getting ready for the Pyro U shoot in St. Louis next weekend. Friday the 26th we will be demoing about 30 items, and Saturday the 27th our resident pyros Jeff and Ryan will be putting on an amazing show. I have seen bits and pieces of their plan, and it will blow people away.

If you are in the area, you should definitely come out. There will be 11 demos on Friday night, and several Class C and Class B shows on Saturday, so it is well worth the drive. Hope to see you there!

NFA Expo

Sunday morning, the 76 crew returned to Columbia, MO. This year's Expo was amazing! Billings is a great city, small and easy to get around, with some great restaurants. The demos were at a great location, and the trade show location was terrific as well. The turn-out was fantastic, and everyone seemed to be getting a lot of business taken care of.

The expo was my first chance to catch a show by Aaron Mayfield in person. One of the best in the business, A.M. Pyrotechnics (http://www.ampyro.com) has a reputation for going above and beyond. Saturday night's show was no exception! It was a great way to end an astounding week of fireworks.

If you are a member of the NFA, thank the board members for putting together such a great conference. If you are not a member, you should be. You can join for as little as $30 and help support the fireworks industry. Click here to join the NFA. Next year's expo will be in WI, which should have an even better turn out than this year. I'm looking forward to it.

PGI

It has been a busy week for me, taking care of my normal day-to-day work while covering the phones while everyone else is at PGI. Wish I was there! HMNPG has put up some video from PGI at Pyro Universe, and it looks fantastic! 16" shells, a fourteen foot diameter girandola (sp?), looks like a great time. From what I have heard, the shows have been amazing as well.

Our guys have been meeting a lot of pyros up there in Gillette. They have sold a bunch of subscriptions to '76 Pyro Magazine and some of the back issues too. I can't wait to hear all of the stories when they get in next week. It really makes me look forward to visiting the NFA Convention all the more!

Conferences

This Sunday will be the beginning of the 2008 fireworks conference season. Our owner and sales staff will be making the trip to PGI in Gillette, WY this weekend. For those of you not familiar with PGI, it is a convention focused on the end consumer of fireworks, the people who truly enjoy lighting (or e-firing) the fuse. There will classes, competitions, vending, and open shoots all week. Our graphic designer and photographer Michael Richards will be there snapping THOUSANDS of pictures, and we will also have a couple guys there writing articles for '76 Pyro.

The next convention will be the NFA in Billings, MT. The NFA Expo is focused mainly on the business end of fireworks, with product demos for three nights and a great trade convention. However, there are unfortunately no fireworks for sale at the event. It is a great event though, in that it allows wholesalers a chance to meet with most of their suppliers, as well as give prospective suppliers a chance to show their products and meet with buyers. It is also when we will start seeing all the 2009 products, receiving 2009 catalogs, and hearing all the news and events effecting fireworks for 2009.

I believe the last event will be the APA in Orlando, FL. I have volunteered to go down and play lots of golf meet with suppliers, but I don't think our company will be making the trip this year.

'76 Pyro Update

I have just uploaded the new version of www.76pyro.com to the server. The look of the website is a bit improved, and I have added a few things:

- translation options
- foreign subscription options
- more information on each issue
- faster load time for the video page

I hope to make even more changes to the site over the next few months. If you get a chance, check out the new site.

A Great Fourth

The Fourth of July weekend is now over. What a weekend it was! Our tent, and many others in the area have had record sales this season. Everything turned out just how we had anticipated. People stayed home due to high gas prices, July 4th and 5th being on a weekend with great weather really boosted sales, and our incredible products brought a lot of people around 2...3...4 or more times. Hope everyone's Fourth went as well as ours did. Now it is time for sales and gearing up for PGI.

Almost here

The Fourth of July is only a week away. We are starting to wrap things up on the wholesale end. Today is the last day for most people to order outside of the midwest and still get their fireworks by the fourth. Many of us have been putting in 12-14 days the past couple weeks, and some people have been working even more. Its been crazy, but business is great! We have lots of great products this year, and have dealt with a lot of good people in the fireworks business. Hope everyone has a great 4th!

Shipping Frenzy

The Fourth of July is almost here! We are swamped with orders, and shipping out thousands of cases every day. If you want to make sure your fireworks are delivered by July 4th, order soon!

We also shot off more fireworks last night. We shot Our Country by Brothers for the first time this year. It is a really great set! I would recommend it to anyone putting on their own show this year.

Its Here!

We just received two more containers this week. That means our product line for 2008 is basically complete. There have been a lot of problems for fireworks suppliers this year, but we work with the best companies in the business, and they have really pulled through for us this year.

As a side note - we have been bringing in a lot of new and amazing products this year, but if you are still looking for one last piece to your fireworks show, I would recommend TB207 #3000 Tubes from Winda. We shot these two weeks in a row, and everyone agreed they were the best of the night. Call us at 573-447-1776 for other recommendations.

New Video Added

I have linked more of our YouTube videos on www.76pyro.com - The Fireworks Magazine. Now you can see most of the 500 gram multi-shots, 200 & 350 gram multi-shots, fountains, and 500 gram fountains. I will be working hard to have our tube items and artillery shells up within a week.

May 3rd Demo

Our demo was a success! I am more amazed by what my awesome co-workers can pull off every demo we shoot. Last time we lost hours of set-up time due to rain, and still had a great show. This time, we had to work with 1/3 of our sales team gone, and most of our dock workers out-of-town. The ones that remained helped to pull more cases than we have ever shipped out for a demo weekend, and pulled off everything without a hitch.

Here are our top ten from the demo:

10) Saturday Night Special - 36 Shots - Brothers - 4/1 - 500 gram
9) Shoot the Moon - 9 Shots - Winda - 2/1 - NoaB
8) Stockade - 16 Shots - Brothers - 8/1 - 200 gram
7) Attack - 7 Shots - Brothers - 6/1 - 350 gram
6) Blond Joke - 36 Shots - Brothers - 4/1 - 500 gram
5) Home on the Range - 7 Shots - Brothers - 6/1 - 350 gram
4) Matrix Pyro - 16 Shots - Brothers - 12/1 - 350 gram
3) Quake - 9 Shots - Brothers - 4/1 - 500 gram
2) Super Kung Fu - Winda - 4/1 - 500 gram
1) Super Stunt - Winda - 4/1 - 500 gram

'76 Pyro now has video

www.76pyro.com now has video! Just click on "Extra" at the top and choose video when the screen refreshes. Currently, the page takes a while to load, but there are already 100+ 500 gram cakes to watch. More fireworks will be added as my time allows.

Product Video

We are now making our 2008 product videos available on YouTube! I will be uploading the files over the next couple of weeks, and should have a link sheet on www.76pyro.com in the beginning of May. In the meantime, click below to see Vengeful Texan, or Click here to watch our other fireworks

2008 DVD

Hello All,

Our 2008 DVD is being produced, even as we speak. The disks should arrive at the Spirit of '76 main office around May 1st. We are not going to mail any out from the press, so if you would like a copy, please request one here:
https://www.76wholesale.com/customer_questionnaire.php

April 9 Demo

We had another great weekday demo last Wednesday (twice postponed due to weather). It was one of our best demos to date! All of the products were unbelievable. Pyro Candy and frwrX were two of the best items shot. Every time I see frwrX it seems better than the last. We shot Showdown artillery shells for the first time, and they were truly impressive. They even outscored Tycoon, which was our best assortment last year. It is going to be a great year for fireworks!

2008 Catalog

Our 2008 catalog has been printed. We should receive a few cases of them tomorrow. The rest will be mailed out this week. Call us at 573-447-1776 to find out if you were on the list. If not, we will send you one out this week.

First Demo

Hello All,

Last night, Spirit of '76 held its first weekday demo. We shot off about 35 items and had a great time. The highlights of the shoot were RL201 Titan triple-break shells (Brothers), GM205 New Dimension (Golden Bear), and TB201 Kick Ass Cajun (Golden Bear). After the shoot, Jeff set off his own fireworks. Two excellent cremora bombs, 24 Smoke N Mirror shells in an angled rack, and a few other things.