Intergalatic Fireworks may drop Excalibur Shells

[Chubbles]

They told me they may not reorder because of inconsistent quality. I know they change a little year to year, but has there been a recent drop off in quality? What are your thoughts? Are they still "worth it"?

[PyroGyro]

Every store owner I know thinks they suck and they never shoot them themselves, so why buy them? Their reputation is long gone.

[Chubbles]

Every store owner I know thinks they suck and they never shoot them themselves, so why buy them? Their reputation is long gone.

That answers my question. Thanks!

[PyroManiacs]

Yea, they said that a little while ago. Their house brands blow away excals anyway.

[jamisonlm3]

It doesn't surprise me one bit. Excals are a barrel full of unknown ,generic shells.

[Chubbles]

Greed causes lower quality. Thankfully there are plenty of options out there.

[Icooclast]

god, excals are like eggs 1 year their great for ya and the next they are "terrible for you", then after that only the whites are good for you, then the year after that you should eat nothing but the yoke... excals are very hard to tell who is right, just like the egg thing. i wish there was a sure fire way to know for sure. what are some other good canister shells? that one could get from star spangled novelties, wfboom or 76? i've seen the vids, but i have not seen them in person. i've seen excals in person, but it was back in the jurassic, so i have no idea how they are like now. please pm me with some suggestions of good canister and ball shells from those 3 sites. if anyone doesn't mind.

[Fulliautomatix]

I just used 2 cases of current production Excals this past weekend, didn't have any issues with quality. They launched with a resounding thud, got to altitude and had a hard break with nice effects. Didn't have any low breakers. Out of 180 shells, only 5 didn't didn't leave the tube and that was due to my fusing. They left the tube after the show when I hand lit them. They might not be as nice as single effect shells from SO76, but they're by no means crap.

[PyroKing31]

I fired 48 excals, 24 cutting edge snipers and 12 black cat cans. All back to back this 4th. There was no Noticeable difference and my excals were 2019 manufacture date. I have yet to see any evidence with my own eyes of a difference between any of the big name cans. I am trying both options WFboom sells this year to see if that changes my opinion.

[upNdown]

Maybe stores can make more money marking up newer brands and 5 inch brands.

[Chubbles]

I've heard about "Death" Shells. There's been much talk about them. Supposedly they're great, but very expensive. Nobody has them around here anyhow. I'll try some house brands and I'll see how it goes.

[PyroGyro]

I fired 48 excals, 24 cutting edge snipers and 12 black cat cans. All back to back this 4th. There was no Noticeable difference and my excals were 2019 manufacture date. I have yet to see any evidence with my own eyes of a difference between any of the big name cans. I am trying both options WFboom sells this year to see if that changes my opinion.

FWIW there are claims online that the Snipers are a rewrap of the Excals. That said there are many comparison videos online between Excals and Shell X and in some cases it is blatantly obvious that Shell X is better, so while I haven't done a direct comparison myself either, video doesn't lie.

[PyroGyro]

I've heard about "Death" Shells. There's been much talk about them. Supposedly they're great, but very expensive. Nobody has them around here anyhow. I'll try some house brands and I'll see how it goes.

I bought some Death Shells that I'm using in a show this week, but I won't have Excals to compare them to. It's a club shoot so I'll ask the guys if anyone brought Excals, and then I'll do the comparison if someone brought Excals. I only bought 1 pack of Death shells(for $20 more than normal shells) just to see what the hype was all about. The store owner who recommended the Death Shells is also a club member, and also a seasoned display fireworks guy, so I doubt he was BSing me. That said I don't think I'll care enough how much better they are for another $20 per pack, I'm not paying $80 a case more for a little extra boom. It will be fun to see if they live up to the hype though.

[Chubbles]

That's great. I'm interested in how much better they really are. Getting them would be harder and more money. At least I'll find out if it's worth it.

[upNdown]

I've thought they were all about the same and excalbur were as good as any. This video demonstrates otherwise, at least for me. The shells begin at 3:10
https://youtu.be/OfK6fAwTcmI

[PyroGyro]

I've thought they were all about the same and excalbur were as good as any. This video demonstrates otherwise, at least for me. The shells begin at 3:10
https://youtu.be/OfK6fAwTcmI
And here's another Death Vs. Excals vid: https://youtu.be/yNbk_7NagNA?t=331

[PyroGyro]

Btw, it's not just Death shells that are better than Excals, there are others that are better too. HD shells are supposed to be better, Bee Headed Shells are suppose to be better, I'm sure others are too.

[flashfuse]

And here's another Death Vs. Excals vid: https://youtu.be/yNbk_7NagNA?t=331

Keep in mind , The Death shells everyone is raving about is the 1st Run Death shell which in my opinion was one of the best canister shells ever made. There was a 2nd run of the death shells and they were no better then any good can shell including the Excals in the video .

[PyroKing31]

FWIW there are claims online that the Snipers are a rewrap of the Excals. That said there are many comparison videos online between Excals and Shell X and in some cases it is blatantly obvious that Shell X is better, so while I haven't done a direct comparison myself either, video doesn't lie.

I have seen the same videos, and I have also heard the snipers are rewraps, and perhaps the black cats were just close enough to not notice. But of those 3, I did not notice a difference. I accept my sample size is small and may not be indicative of what others have experienced.

[Chubbles]

That's why I'm here: to learn about this stuff. Thanks!!!

[jamisonlm3]

Speaking of rewraps. Here's this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-8wPXecP70) if anyone hasn't seen it.

[PyroGyro]

Keep in mind , The Death shells everyone is raving about is the 1st Run Death shell which in my opinion was one of the best canister shells ever made. There was a 2nd run of the death shells and they were no better then any good can shell including the Excals in the video .

Interesting you say this as this is not the first time I've heard this. I don't know what run I have but I'm assuming that because I just bought them I have the 2nd run. The store owner described them to me like this. "Every 4th or 5th shell you'll be like "Holy Shit!", which means that not all the shells in the pack are boomers. Maybe for the 2nd run and fearing for getting banned, now they only sprinkle in a few boomers in each pack. I'll find out soon enough.

[PyroGyro]

Speaking of rewraps. Here's this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-8wPXecP70) if anyone hasn't seen it. OMG that's hilarious

[Chubbles]

Speaking of rewraps. Here's this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-8wPXecP70) if anyone hasn't seen it.

There may only be one shell in production with a thousand rewraps.

jk

[PyroManiacs]

There may only be one shell in production with a thousand rewraps. jk

You are not the far off from the truth, LOL.

[PyroBubba]

Fifteen years ago, Excals were beyond anything else in the 1.4G shell market. Then other makers began marketing their own canister shells. I remember when Brothers "Smoke n Mirrors" was the new thing, and the question was, "Are they as good as Excals?" Because that was THE standard. Nowadays, every importer or store chain has its own canister shells that are comparable to Excals in quality. It's not that Excals have gotten worse. It's just that there's so much more competition in the top-of-the-line consumer shell market. And you know what? That's awesome. People can shop around, try different brands, compare effects, look for bargains and so forth. This means that some outlets that have previously stocked Excals now don't feel it necessary, since they can offer a half-dozen comparable products. Whatever. No big deal.

[Chubbles]

I agree. Choices are always nice.

[MtnViewPyro]

I’ve shot off a lot of different brands in the last two years. There is the occasional stand out, but in most instances, all of the 60gram cans are rather similar. However, I will never purchase excals again due to them being labeled incorrectly. I like to use shells for their specific color or effect and you can’t get that with excals. If they didn’t have this issue, I would buy them if they are the same price or cheaper than other shells I can get at the time I’m buying. I liked flamingo bombs this year.

[Fulliautomatix]

... due to them being labeled incorrectly. I like to use shells for their specific color or effect and you can?t get that with excals. ...

I agree, this is a legit complaint. I spent a lot of time sorting a couple cases of them by effect so I could load my racks a specific way, only to find they aren't what they say they are. But for the price, they're still great for filling the sky. This video starts my finale run (@6:14) which incorporated ~180 shells, all of which were Excal, with the exception of (5) SO76 Nishiki Kamuro in the last fan.

https://youtu.be/dsRBZaupQnY?t=374

[PyroKing31]

I agree, this is a legit complaint. I spent a lot of time sorting a couple cases of them by effect so I could load my racks a specific way, only to find they aren't what they say they are. But for the price, they're still great for filling the sky. This video starts my finale run (@6:14) which incorporated ~180 shells, all of which were Excal, with the exception of (5) SO76 Nishiki Kamuro in the last fan.

https://youtu.be/dsRBZaupQnY?t=374

You apparently can now quit your day job.

Nice show! My labor day on the lake got cut short due to a salty neighbor

[Kooooou]

I agree Excals have gone downhill. It could be a World Class cost saving or QA thing, as their Growler 5" shells this year was the worst 5" shell I've ever shot by far. Still love WC cakes though.

[joed2323]

I agree, this is a legit complaint. I spent a lot of time sorting a couple cases of them by effect so I could load my racks a specific way, only to find they aren't what they say they are. But for the price, they're still great for filling the sky. This video starts my finale run (@6:14) which incorporated ~180 shells, all of which were Excal, with the exception of (5) SO76 Nishiki Kamuro in the last fan.

https://youtu.be/dsRBZaupQnY?t=374

exactly, this is what I always used for finale pukes. when they came 6/24. they always came out cheaper then other brands even 4/24, excals were generally the cheapest compared to other cans on the market.

this past year Diablos were cheapest for me per shot wise, so I went with Diablos instead of excals

I dont showcase cans in my show generally, I only use shells for sky puke so I tend to look for the cheapest cans per case

[morrison2951]

I'm a fan of the first year T-Sky Your Tube cans- hit hard and pretty nifty with the mines. Insane.

But yep they'll likely get watered down next year so get 'em now.

[Chubbles]

Yea! It seems like a trend. Doesn't it?

[Rocketshooter]

There are only a few factories making these shells. Check out the demos from you favorite store and go from there. Every year there are some that are better than others, just keep up on what is good this year and get those.