IQ Emerald is in fact a pearl, and it's not a higher price point, still Master line, but prices have gone up due to increased materials cost . . so general inflation, not price gouging, not more profit, increased price due to increased cost, same margin.
This was also a straight community based release. People would riot if the Tour Solid was discontinued, and haven't been happy that the Tour Pearl actually was. All the remakes/re-releases have sold well/out, so this was something the consumers wanted back in the regular rotation, and based on the information I've heard, it will be back to stay, it's NOT a special release like say the Marvel Pearl.
While some were hoping for a straight re-release and I'm sure some will find some way to be upset or try to say "it just doesn't react the same," EVERYONE else has been releasing gold balls left and right and a straight re-release wouldn't have met the same reception, so I think there will ultimately be more interest and more sustained interest because this color is pretty uncommon. Chad put a lot of work into the aesthetics on this one to help increase the staying power (as if the winning core-cover combo isn't enough), it doesn't look like anything else out there (picture also doesn't do it justice by a long shot).
As far as the Astro goes . . I was disappointed that the cover wasn't something more exotic, but there's several parts to this. The Atomic core has a lot of torque down lane, the PhysiX makes a pretty sharp turn at the breakpoint, so for a familiar feeling compliment, NRG Pearl is pretty early and smooth, R3S Pearl is the same way, and we haven't seen R4S Pearl yet, but due to the formula strength, I'd imagine it would be in the same boat as R3S, and the "X" variants are a nano blend, which is why the Marvel Pearl for example with R2X Pearl on it is so smooth for a pearl. R2S Pearl is the cleanest and fastest pearl cover we have in the lineup right now. The SIDE note to this is that with the Code Black being so popular, this will both help the Astro feel like a true compliment to the PhysiX AND help satisfy those who are missing the Code Black as a more usable asym pearl. The pictures don't do IT justice either.
Ultimately it's like Hammer releasing a new Black Widow, you know what you're getting and even though you've had it before seemingly a million times, there's a fresh twist AND very high buying confidence. Despite the few hipsters that always want innovation and something "new," the majority of the community has an "if it's not broke, don't fix it" attitude. I don't know how the companies can both make new and fresh, and not screw with what works at the same time. People want new, but don't want you to discontinue their favorites either, and that just doesn't work in a business like this. If the companies were smart, they would keep a couple staple releases indefinitely (Pink Widow, IQ Tour, GB3, Venom Shock, etc.,) and KEEP MAKING balls for the popular lines (Widow, IQ, Venom, Hyroad, etc.,), and everyone should be ok with that.
I'm hyped for the IQ Emerald because I've never thrown an IQ Tour Pearl of any kind, and although I'm a little meh about the Astro just because it's R2S Pearl again, logically speaking, it's kind of a hipster response because it's a Pink Widow type release, it's a surefire can't miss. These will be a couple monster releases for good reason.
