After Apex darts closed up shop and sold to Widdy, there was a groan let out by many of the shooters in the scene. Apex had built up a following, and it looked like those who preferred the “red” darts were going to have to make some changes.
Enter – American Prodart.
Compared to an Apex, the American Prodart has a similar body, with both of those darts feeling slimmer than a Widdy. It also comes in at roughly the same weight. An Apex averages 13 grams, a Widdy 14 grams, and an APD somewhere in the 13.25 range. Although it’s not an Apex dart, it’s a brand new completely different company, these darts are certainly similar.
They come in an astounding array of colors. There are single color flights from blue, white, black, pink, etc., all the way into the “tri-colored” versions that mimic the colors of various sporting teams. Throw in what they refer to as “camo” style flights and now you’ve got dozens of choices. It doesn’t help the dart fly any straighter, but it does give shooters a chance to inject a little bit of personality into their game. There’s nothing wrong with adding a little more fun into things.
It’s pretty much a standard American style dart with a steel tip, a brass weight (instead of lead), a wood barrel, and turkey feather flights. I hesitate to say “the best thing about them”, but definitely one of the things I like, is that you can actually find the dang things!
I have them for sale here, but you can also find them in a sporting goods store. You can find them for sale elsewhere online. You don’t have to check the company website hoping that there’s some in stock, or join a waitlist. They’re readily available. Somehow, that strikes me as a plus.
If you are looking for a dart to use on an American (basswood or paper) dartboard for the game of Baseball (one to nine), a set of American Prodarts will do fine. Like other wood barreled darts, you can use these on an English (not electronic) board as well.
I just bought an old Widdy paper board in excellent condition almost brand new and it came with a dozen old Widdy darts also picked up 2 boxes of Apex darts
I love the vintage #1 darts Widdy / Apex /Deco /Spalding
Hey Bob. Apex darts are available on eBay. I recently bought a dozen that are in great shape, except of course for the feathers. I can get the pear shaped and APD style feathers online however, to whom can we speak to have the apex feathers replicated?
Same kind of folks you probably spoke to already, archery supply people. I don’t know where apex sourced their feathers, but it’s probably the same people who supply all the flights for arrows. You may have to dig through some websites or catalogs from the manufacturers. There might be a disconnect on the vocabulary because they probably won’t refer to them as “apex” feathers. I’d expect they’d say “Oh, that’s our razor sharp design” or some such thing. I think they die cut most feathers, but there are burner machines too. maybe that’s a thing to look into to have the design replicated??
I wonder why Prodart’s description for their #1 darts all say, “These are not baseball darts.”?
Hey John, that made me chuckle. it’s because folks who play dartball see the pictures, buy the darts, and then are disappointed because “they’re the wrong size”. so it’s a heads up to the folks in Wisconsin, these are #1, not #2 sized “dartball” darts.
Where can I buy an old-fashioned dark board?
– email sent.
First i love the feel of the darts and they been my go to dart since i ran out of apex . Still think someone should make them again as i love the smaller barrel. My issue is on the quality of the darts. Bought a box like 3 weeks ago and for the first time i even seen this one of the feathers totally came off,tried to glue is back on but was almost impossible to get it perfect so had to toss it out. I hope it was a one time event as these babies are not cheap in price. Make a good quality dart and people will follow you as they did with apex. Thanks