That last episode was Meh but I think my wife is going to buy 2 monkey mats. She checked the site and they already dropped the price to $20 and had way more colors.

I didn't think the money mat would get a deal. But, when they did with Mark and Lori you knew they'd correct the issues they were having.

When he was explaining the bars I thought the big deal was that it was cheaper than normal protein bars, and you get more protein. If what you say is true, I really have no idea what the point of his bar is.

Just a reminder that there's a new episode tonight at 8pm est.

Wow, those sign guys really lucked out with the battle of the sexes

I liked the Thursday show better.

Who whoulda known that Mr Wonderful loved Choo choo trains?

They definitely saved very interesting pitches for the Thursday episode. I wonder if they are testing it out on a different night to see if the ratings would improve?

Interesting fact on sprinklers -- never knew that usually only one goes off. I guess that makes sense though.

I missed the beginning of that segment. Did he say what modern sprinklers use? I know they used to use a thin strip of solder on each sprinkler head that would melt when heated. So only sprinklers that were overhead the fire would release. It would be a pet peeve of mine in movies and tv shows that would show all sprinklers going off at the same time.

Not in that detail, but he said that only the sprinkler closest to the heat source is activated (and only one usually in false alarms).

is there a way to stream the new episodes easily online? i show the old eps to my Economics class and they are fascinated. some anyway

Interesting that they acted as though this was a special two-parter event, battle of the sexes, and then Friday's episode aired with a different Shark lineup, and only one woman as a result. Really a weird promotional event/stunt, all the more the way it was executed.

Also, I haven't kept up with this at all, but did they ever resolve/make changes to the 'Producers automatically get 5% equity in compensation for appearing on the show, irrespective of any deal being made"? I know when last I posted here, folks linked to articles indicating changes were on the way, so I'd be curious if that happened yet. Absent that, I really don't see how they can prevent folks from using Shark Tank as a 15 minute commercial viewed by millions with absolutely no intention whatsoever of making any kind of deal.

Posted a couple pages back:

http://dmagazine.com/publications/d-...cuban?single=1

Was surprised the Fireman didn't get a deal. But Kevin and Lori's offer was pretty ridiculous. They said they would need to do all the work to market the product. But, it would be a pretty difficult product to sell on QVC.

Did not like the Online Music teacher proposal at all. Does not seem marketable and the price point of $23 was pretty ridiculous. Kevin made a good point about the price and someone of a higher caliber should be able to charge more for their time.

The gay couple got lucky. I didn't think the train idea would be that appealing to the Sharks.

ABC.com has them, but you need to log in through your provider.

Interesting... so no replacement, then, just removed it entirely? I've got to imagine this'll lead to more folks hawking their product with no intention of giving up equity. As much as they might be able to weed some out by ensuring the deal they ask for initially isn't insane/unreasonable, they can't do anything to stop somebody coming on and being either so disingenuous/slimy, or simply acting idiotic and incompetent, as to scare all the sharks away.

While I agreed with Cuban that the producers automatic equity had its share of problems, I'm not sure simply doing away with it was the best answer, and that it doesn't create a whole new set of issues which we might start to see pop up next season.

What I don't get is why the show-opening voiceover says the entrepreneurs have to get everything they ask for or get nothing at all. Certainly there have been deals for less than their ask.

Yea, but there is no guarantee that they will even show you. If you had some unrealistic demands or came on, and didn't look interested in any deal, you probably would make the air.

Wife bought 2 monkey mats tonight. They should be good for our upcoming beach trip soon.

The Happy Feet product is the first thing in five years that I'm actually interested in buying.

That one was a head-scratcher for me. Most trains (and other such set-ups) I see in malls are there so the kids can ride while the parents wait and watch. This train seems to be a deal where you drop your kids off and they go riding around the mall while the parents go shop. They're one kidnapping away from a huge lawsuit.

I actually saw this at Arundel Mills mall in Maryland a few months ago, it seemed like the kids who were riding it had a parent with them. Still, you'd definitely have to run a background check on the guy riding the train to make sure he wasn't a sex offender!

It was a pretty clever idea, but I was surprised to see the Sharks invest, I think their original idea was correct that it was a good cash flow business, but not really scalable and not anything that they could add a lot of value to. Maybe Lori's right and they could add a dining car or sell some ads on the side. Also, could be a good holiday business, probably be really popular at Xmas.

I sort of wonder why they were so desperate for money, if it had such a quick payback, the business should be close to self financing. What they really should do is just sell franchises, because someone has to manage it locally, but probably anyone could buy those trains on their own.

I echo the comments above me, but this really wasn't a headscratcher for me at all - only the fact Kevin was the investor. It's a great idea, assuming property owners allow a third party to set up residence for this type of thing... which, clearly, many malls already have

It isn't even the "Whee, kids! Ride around in my van... err, 'special' cars!' My experience is limited to the DC area, as I don't do much/any traveling, but it depends on what the typical mall layout is like across the country - for a mall like Tyson's Corner? My god, from one end to the other is a ridiculous walk/journey. For other malls, either with less linear layouts or more floors, not so much. But I don't have a kid, and if I was having a bad day, wanted to shop at the Apple Store and the book store both (opposite ends), I could absolutely see paying these blokes and going "Choo choo!" to save on time/energy. The same way I could see anyone with health problems/older in age doing likewise.

Then you add the kid factor on top of it, and once the train is paid off it's basically all gravy (Besides paying driver his wage, assuming it's not largely a tip-based position). It really, really isn't that bad of a business. Kids want to do it, parents get the kids out of their hair for a little bit, get a breather by sitting down for a while, and possibly also utilize as transportation to their next shopping destination? Good business. Then, theme parks? You could even drop the train motif, and go with park branding - Six Flags, you've got the Bat-Mobile/Bat-Train.

So it's like Kevin said, exactly like he said - this ain't ever going to be big potatoes, but it is what it is, it fills a niche, and it has the likelihood of being profitable barring total catastrophe. Add in flexible pricing/malls at the holidays, and you could probably buy the damn train doing just one month of business.

Now then, back to what I was commenting on: Them not showing guys in it just for themselves/publicity? Well, they absolutely have in the past. The one that really springs to mind was the asshole with the jacket with wires! (Patent for clothing with wires inside, for mobile devices and crap) They've shown several in a similar vein, outrageous requests and clearly there for publicity only. Whether that'll change now producers don't have financial incentive to show any and all participants on the show, we'll see. Personally, I suspect we'll clearly witness implications of this come the fall and the start of the new seasons/first batch of participants that came into casting with this alteration in place already.

Reading this again after I posted, you do raise an interesting point I don't think they brought up... The source of these train cars. If those guys are just buying them from Joe Blow in China, their business is utterly pointless to invest in. Anybody could just buy the cars, go to a mall manager, and hire some high school kid at minimum wage. I have to believe, or at least hope, they manufacture the cars themselves or else have a patent of some sorts. I also have to believe this was discussed and cut from the show, given Kevin is always the one threatening to open up the Mr. Wonderful Brand for businesses without a patent/unique exclusivity, yet here he was the one to invest.

A quick google search shows they are not the only company to do this nor are they the only company to be called Fun Time Express. I'm still scratching my head over this one. When the mall is really busy, I can't see these trains having much room to operate.