128 replies to this topic

[David]

Just as the title says! A thread to compare notes about selection boxes!

As a general tip, I think they get worse (value-wise) as the price goes up. The £40 plus ones are very poor value for money- they just contain most of the smaller fountains (as in the £10 boxes) and a few little cakes- that you could buy cheaper individually!

Rather than buying a big selection box, you are better getting a little box and individual cakes- some start at £1.99.


Small selection boxes can be great fun- I love the colourful fountains but can't stand the whistles.

So- whats your favourite?

I liked the old TNT £8.99 box, circa 2003- some really nice effects, and some cool novelty items- titchy little fountains. I think its still around- Edit, no, its gone- same stuff, but different boxes/prices.

Edited by David, 08 October 2007 - 01:43 PM.

[Dec]

for the last two years i have bought selection boxes from Asda - the TNT stuff.
two years ago i got the Blast Zone box for £20 approx. 15 r/c, 14 fountains/ 6 rockets.
the fountains were satisfactory. the rockets were awful. but the roman candles were FANTASTIC for such a cheap box. it was the first box in the 25m range. i was very impressed, so last year decided to get the next one up 'thunderbolt' for £25. this is where i have been put off asda. like you say david, the smaller boxes are better because this larger boxs was terrible. there was a big 36shot cake. looked great but all it did was shoot up red and green single stars which didnt go very high. some of the other r/c were good however. at least if you get a small box and its rubbish you arent losing much, but with a big box you can lose loads of money.
i think this year it will be the black nebula from lidl.
unless netto have some good deals on . . . . or tesco even - heard that tesco's were good last year.
have to wait and see.

ahh, 28 days . . . .

regards.

[Spyrotechnics]

I defy ANYONE to find better selection boxes than the ones Kimbolton have, they just out perform any other brand we have tried

[Dec]

I defy ANYONE to find better selection boxes than the ones Kimbolton have, they just out perform any other brand we have tried

i have heard many a time that they are a brilliant brand, but not tried them myself yet. not come across any shops that store them . . . . yet.

[David]

I defy ANYONE to find better selection boxes than the ones Kimbolton have, they just out perform any other brand we have tried

I got the Bronze Selection Box, too many items had a whistle effect for my personal taste- I don't like whistles!

Edited by David, 09 October 2007 - 07:12 AM.

[RangerOfFire]

The difference is most people look for a high price:performance ratio.

Whilst Kimbolton are good, to me the extra few pounds are not worth the performance so on that basis I have found many brands that are "better" than Kimbolton.



Failure to define the measure of better is the basis of this argument, further clarification of this definition will not change nor invalidate my comments.

Edited by RangerOfFire, 08 October 2007 - 09:50 PM.

[David]

The difference is most people look for a high price:performance ratio.

Whilst Kimbolton are good, to me the extra few pounds are not worth the performance so on that basis I have found many brands that are "better" than Kimbolton.
Failure to define the measure of better is the basis of this argument, further clarification of this definition will not change nor invalidate my comments.

Fair point- and I do understand what you are saying totally- taking cost into account, Kimbolton arn't the best in your opinion.

..............

More generally, selection boxes are less of a genuine "selection" that they used to be. I remember the old Standard Boxes (circa late 80s)- you would get a colour chaninging flare (Traffic lights) , a Mine, A Roman Candle, A Catherine Wheel, a Volcano Fountain etc. Each one would clearly be a different effect.
Most stuff now seems to have a more generic name, and fires a mixture of colour and crackles.

Edited by David, 09 October 2007 - 07:30 AM.

[Mortartube]

I agree with you David, regarding the variety of items in old British selection boxes. Pinwheels disappeared from most boxes when the British Standard came in as they projected sparks outside of the permissible circle and failed the BS, even though they did so sideways. Because the dimwits who wrote the regulations didn't take account of such things.

Mines of serpents, jewelled caskets, single shot comet candles (floodlight etc), and a few small rockets were standard fare, now they are the same thing time and again, every fountain the same. Yawn.

[David]

single shot comet candles (floodlight etc)

These are becoming rare now, perhaps because of their percieved similarity to air b b style fireworks.

But yeah- "selection" boxes often offer a limited "selection." Take for example Men Shun's "Jazz" selection box- 18 fireworks, 14 of which are fountains, most of which crackle with some sparks.

[Spyrotechnics]

I have found many brands that are "better" than Kimbolton.

in selection box terms???


such as who?

[Creepin_pyro]

If anyone could recommend some nice Cat2 mines I'd appreciate it. I love the Kimbolton ones and haven't managed to find any that come anywhere close to their performance. Infact, I'd appreciate any Cat2 selection box recommendations, preferably not just a load of air interspersed with small krakle fountains!

[David]

in selection box terms???
such as who?

I think his point was that whislt Kimbolton might be better, the better performance doesn't justify the higher price. I'm not saying I agree, or disagree, with that as such.

In my rather limited experience, Kimbolton boxes havn't been notably better than other brands. Chinese fountains all tend to be pretty similar- and Kimbolton boxes are now Chinese made too. The entry level box is two roman candles, a wheel and 9 fountains. Their bigger "gold" box is 15 fountains, 2 single shot candles, 3 roman candles, a wheel and a mine.

Selection maybe, but limited variety. That sums up all Selection Boxes nowadays in my opinion. It hit home a few years ago when we were setting off a Cosmic selection box- fountain after fountain after fountain.

I think its better individual items, and fire less of them.

Edited by David, 10 October 2007 - 05:39 PM.

[Dec]

anyone got any suggestions for best supermarket selection boxes? eg. morrisons, asda, tesco lidl, aldi, netto etc.
Dec

[RangerOfFire]

anyone got any suggestions for best supermarket selection boxes? eg. morrisons, asda, tesco lidl, aldi, netto etc.
Dec

You can't really say best supermarket... you have to say what brand.

Generally most of the fireworks are exactly the same with a different label, the selection box from sainsburys last year (standard?) was average and the cosmic stuff from a few years ago was a bit better.

The only fireworks I try to buy from supermarkets are sparklers due to the price.

Starsky: David hit the nail on the head there. When I can get 56 fireworks in 2 selection boxes BOGOF from Devco for £30 (bought from fireworks emporium) Kimbolton doesn't look that good. Although the Kimbolton packaging is "I want".

[David]

anyone got any suggestions for best supermarket selection boxes? eg. morrisons, asda, tesco lidl, aldi, netto etc.
Dec

Morrisons is Cosmic- under name Dynasty. I think their starting price is £14, but on an eternal buy one get one free- pretty samey effects. The best offer, if you are inclined to go to Morrisons is the Golden Dragon box, 5 rockets and a Cake for £32. But I wouldn't recomment it. Go to a shop and choose cakes and rockets that you like the look of rather than going with the single line sold by Supermarkets.

ASDA- TNT, who are actually quite good at selection boxes- lots of pieces in the smaller box, if thats what you are looking for.

Tesco- Depends on the store, but expect average stuff. They used to do "buy on get one free" on all selection boxes. this was trickery- they simply sold the box at double its value. EG get a selection box worth £9.99, mark it as " £19.99 Buy one get one free. " Also firework sales arn't 24 hours.

Lidl- a £5 box and a bigger £15 box- never seen them, its cosmic brand.

Aldi- Weco brand stuff- the £20 box contained some interesting bigger items, like multishot Roman Candles, spreading fountains, Fountain/Candle combinations etc. Actually pretty good value.

Netto- - Cosmic I think?

Co-OP- Just some little Standard or Cosmic Stuff.



My tip, if you have the space, is to buy a smaller selection box and then treat yourself to a bigger firework or two from a firework shop.

Also Men Shuns £1.99 and £2.99 cakes are great value- 19 shotters, generally better than selection box stuff. Likewise TNTS "Night Treasure" or Kimboltons "Glittering Gemstones" for example- multiple (9) fountains ignited from one fuse that give a much better show than selection box stuff for £4.99 each.