This is a collection of posts that followed the GUMA Reserve Membership that Shoyoroll made available for a year starting in December 2011. You can skip to the different sections by clicking on these links:

• Shoyoroll Guma Reserve Membership Details
• Update 1 – So far, so good
• Update 2 – Discount Code
• Update 3 – Members-only Store
• Update 4 – Quick announcements
• Update 5 – Shirt and Sweatshirt
• Update 6 – New caps and sweatshirts
• Member Package #2
• My Thoughts So Far
• Update 7 – Rio Koi Rashguard and Kurt Osiander Ueffed shirt
• Update 8 – Comp Lite XII
• Update 9 – Wallet

Shoyoroll GUMA Reserve Membership Details

2011/12/23

Shoyoroll hinted at a special membership option for fans of the brand a while ago and recently they released the details of the Shoyoroll Guma Reserve Membership. Here's the deal:

Cost: $379 (nets you a membership until Jan. 01, 2013)

Where to buy it: Shoyoroll online store

When to buy it: December 24th @1pm Pacific time

Other: 1 Shoyoroll GUMA Reserve Membership per person. Spaces are limited.

So what do I get with my Shoyoroll GUMA Reserve Membership?

1 kimono

2 t-shirts

1 sweater

1 gear bag

1 patch and sticker set

10% off all SYR purchases

Access to special members-only releases

Allocated gis for all future releases

Ability to purchase gis before general public

Future kimono releases for 2012

– Rio Koi (limited edition artist series)
– Original Competitor (lightweight white and blue new weave )
– The Ring (limited edition athlete series)
– Special Forces (limited theme release kimono)
– The Roc (rare limited collectors release)
– Deluxe (heavy duty limited release)
– Navy Skies (rare limited collectors release)
– Pharaoh (Shoyoroll GUMA Reserve Membershipmember only release)
– Flamingo (Shoyoroll GUMA Reserve Membership member only release)
– The Kingpin (athlete edition limited release)
– Rolls (rare limited release)

These are only some of our future release we plan to put out in 2012. Note names and styles are subject to change.

Shoyoroll GUMA Reserve Membership FAQ

When will I get my membership package? March 2012

How many can I buy? ONE.

Can I come pick it up? Sure!

Will there be more member-only gis than just what is listed? Yes!

When will I get my SYR discount code? After Jan 1.
Click here to check out our Shoyoroll Gi Reviews.

My Opinion

A lot of people are probably going to scoff at this deal when they first see it.  But if you do the math, it's really not that bad.

Shoyoroll GUMA Reserve Membership price: 379

Minus cost of the gi: 165 (estimated cost based on batch 11 price)

Minus cost of two t-shirts: 50

Minus cost of sweatshirt: 50

Minus cost of gear bag and patches: 50

Total remaining: $64

Now, let's say you are also going to buy two SYR gis and a rashguard during the next calendar year.  The 10% discount will save you 10% of $380 (estimated cost for two gis and a rashguard), giving you another $38 in savings.

Total cost of Shoyoroll GUMA Reserve Membership: $26

The great equalizer is that all of these gis are going to be super rare and valuable and to gi collectors, worth quite a bit.  If for some reason, you aren't happy with the Shoyoroll GUMA Reserve Membership, you can always sell some of the rare stuff and make your money back.

Frankly, I think it sounds like a really cool concept and Shoyoroll is the first to try it, so I'll definitely be grabbing a Shoyoroll GUMA Reserve Membership on December 24th.

Shoyoroll Guma Membership Update 1

2012/01/14

Today we got our first e-mail in regard to joining the Shoyoroll Guma Membership program.

The e-mail let us know that the members only store will be set up soon as well as a whole slew of new products.  Obviously, since this is their first go at this type of venture, some kinks are going to need to be worked out.

The e-mail also detailed two new gis that will be available only for members:

1. Shoyoroll Pharaoh – Lightweight White 450 Gram Gi
2. Shoyoroll Flamingo – Black 400 Gram Gi

I e-mailed them back with my order #, gi size and shirt size so hopefully they will be sending out the initial package soon!

Their next e-mail will contain details on more members-only products, as well as the discount code, store password, and the ETA on the membership package.

Current Feeling about being a Shoyoroll Guma Member: So far, so good.

Shoyoroll Guma Membership Update 2

2012/01/25

Today we got our second e-mail in regard to joining the Shoyoroll Guma Membership program.

The last e-mail promised the discount code and our store password.  As well as an ETA on the membership package.

Well, this e-mail had the discount code.  Sadly, we can't share it with everybody out there.  Despite my want to document this new membership from Shoyoroll, it wouldn't be fair to everybody else who paid for it.

The e-mail stated that they are very close to opening the members-only part of the store and the reserve package (gi, sweatshirt, t-shirts, etc.) is in production and they will give more information closer to the release.

We think that the only people who would be upset with this are people who haven't bought the package.  Obviously, if you bought the package without ever seeing any mockups or anything, then you probably aren't the type of person who is upset because things are taking a while.

Really, what will tell about whether this membership is worth it is how long it takes to get the Reserve items and how cool they are.  Also, how cool the members only gis and store items are (and how reasonably they are priced).

As the reporter, it's really *your* place to judge whether this is worth the money spent and we hope this continued coverage helps you make that decision, should Shoyoroll offer this package again next year.

Click here to check out Budovideos remaining stock of Shoyoroll stuff.  Not that they won't stock it in the future, but they certainly won't be stocking the members-only items.

Current Feeling about being a Shoyoroll Guma Member: Still not bad, but some concrete dates (or at least estimates) would be nice ^_^

Shoyoroll Guma Membership Update 3

2012/02/15

I didn't post this when I got the info about the Rio Koi and The Ring, but I wanted to share when we'll be getting the GUMA Reserve package.   According to SYR, we should get the first part of our Intro package around Feb. 27th – Mar. 2nd.  This will include a tshirt, sticker, patch set, and the sweater.  The second half of the intro package will arrive in June and will include the 1751 SYR Gi, another t-shirt, and the SYR Bag.

This is both good and bad because I was hoping for a very fast turnaround on the 1751, but it looks like we'll be waiting around 6 months to get.  I am glad that if that's the situation, we are getting some gear now as opposed to waiting for at all.  If you bought into the package and were expecting a gi immediately, I think you may have had your hopes a bit too high.  I went into it with the expectation of the gis not going into production until they had a solid number (just like every other SYR pre-order), so I'm really not let down by this.

GUMA Store Update!

The GUMA Members-Only store opened last night and had some pretty cool items in it.  Nothing that I'm particularily interested in, but definitely some things that people are going to jump on.  A few highlights:

Extra lion and logopatches: I've wanted one of these for a while, so I may grab a few. And they're cheap, which is nice.

SYR Grappling spats: I would have preferred that these have the SYR logo on them, but I like that they are blank, and made in the USA.  They offer solid black with either black stitching or grey stitching.  Some people don't care about buying locally, but if you do, this is nice.  Also, they're the same price as all the other spats on the market.

Shoyoroll Logo shorts:  These were sold at a few events in the past (I think?) and haven't been available until now.  I dig the big side logo and the front logo as well.  But then again, I prefer as much logo bling as possible.

A few exclusive and cool t-shirts – Nice designs on them, and I like that they're exclusive to the membership.  I'll wait until I see what we get in the Member's package before purchasing though.

Overall, not a bad start to the GUMA store, but I'm not blown away by anything.  I really hope they expand it quite a bit and start to put a bunch of really special things in there in the future.  I hope we get to see the John Smalls rashguard in the GUMA store as well.

The thing that I am most interested in are the members-only kimonos so we'll keep an eye out for those!

Shoyoroll Guma Membership Update 4

2012/02/24

Just got a quick update from Shoyoroll regarding the GUMA program:

The first GUMA package, which will have one of the t-shirts, the sweater, and the sticker, will ship next week.  We'll get a tracking number to go along with it.  This is right on schedule with what they said in their last update.

We'll also be given an ETA for the 1751 gi in a few weeks (3-4).  Bummer about the gi, because I can't wait to get it, but at least SYR is keeping us in the loop about it.  Hopefully it is before June, as they last projected.  If it comes in June, it will arrive at the exact same time as their Ring / Rio Koi gis.

With seemingly nothing coming out before June, the hope is that all of the 12 releases (including the 1751) SYR projected for 2012 aren't crammed into the second half of the year.

Shoyoroll Guma Membership Update 5

2012/03/11

So our Shoyoroll GUMA package arrived right on time without any problems.  We were pretty excited to get it open with two months worth of anticipation!

Torn open in a fury, the bag only revealed a single sweatshirt. No stickers, patches, or t-shirt.  Shoyoroll was very prompt to respond to our inquiry about the missing shirt, but stated, “We apologize for the delay of response. We had spoke to our warehouse department and confirmed that the items were checked off for your 1st shipment. However, we will go ahead and make an exception this time and send you another GUMA Shirt. Should you have any questions please contact us. Thank you for you understanding and support.”

I take issue with this because I feel that since I trusted them with $400 for the last two months, they can trust me that I did not receive the shirt.  No exception needs to be made because I have spoken with multiple other GUMA members who also did not get a shirt in their first package.  Clearly my situation was not an isolated incident.

Now onto the shirt and sweatshirt.  The design is based on this iconic image of Helio Gracie:

 The t-shirt is a blank white shirt with the logo across the front.

  The sweatshirt is a basic hoodie with a small logo across the left chest.

I immediately compared it to my favorite Nogi Industries Hoodie (which has an interior contrast lining, thumb holes, full embroidered logos, contrast zippers, pockets inside the pockets, etc.) and the SYR sweatshirt has non of these.  Very disappointing.

With that said, the sweatshirt is very unimpressive, and neither of the two are really my taste.  There was a REALLY great Guma shirt in the SYR store that I didn't buy or save the image for because I assumed it was the official shirt.  It had a hang ten hand (different from what they just released as their next shirts) and it was Guma only. Too bad it's no longer there as I would have preferred that to this design.

I was hoping that our patch pack included the awesome lion patches that are for sale in the SYR store, but if the patch is just another of this logo, it will likely be a letdown for a lot of people.  This was the risk that we took spending $400 on items we had never seen, but many people, myself included, were hoping for something more.  Hope still remains for the gi, patches, and gear bag (which is hopefully an actual gear bag like my Datsusara light battlepack versus just a gi bag similar to the ones that come with most gis now).

Shoyoroll Guma Membership Update 6

2012/04/02

Interesting update today regarding the Shoyoroll GUMA Membership.

Last week, we received an email letting us know that new items would be in the store that week. By week’s end, Shoyoroll had unveiled their new 2012 caps for GUMA Members. We don’t know if these will be available for everybody, but they have some pretty cool color options. These sell for $27 (including the 10% GUMA Discount).

In the e-mail, Shoyoroll also mentioned that “In other news, the 1751 gi and duffle bag are in production. Once we receive an update from our factory that production is complete, we will send out another update. ”

We also got a chance to pick up the new SYR sweatshirts.  Which would have been awesome if they were sent out as the GUMA package sweatshirt.  I wonder if we can trade our GUMA sweatshirt for this one?

Hopefully, we’ll get our patches and stickers in this shipment as well. Note that I don’t mention our second t-shirt because, as it appears to us right now, we will not be getting the second GUMA t-shirt that we were promised. Let us explain…

A reader e-mailed us asking if it was confirmed that we were supposed to get 2 t-shirts with the GUMA package. Despite the fact that we were really disappointed with the last shirt, the original post from SYR said that we would get 2 t-shirts. So, of course, we told the reader “yes.” He mentioned that he e-mailed Shoyoroll and they replied that there will be no second GUMA t-shirt. Or at least that is what is suggested. Read below and decide for yourself.

Hi _______,
Thank you for your feedback. We are appreciate any feedback that we get back from our customers. As far as the long sleeve ranked rash guards, we should be getting another version of it by summer. The 1st package that was sent for GUMA members was the T-Shirt and Sweater. No T-Shirt will be included in the 2nd package for GUMA members. Thank you for your support.
Regards,
GUMA Reserve Team

What we find most interesting here is that the Shoyoroll site still says that 2 t-shirts are going to be offered with the GUMA Membership. So, maybe that means that although it will not be in the second package, maybe a third package is going to be sent out?
Just to do some honest fact checking, we even checked Shoyoroll’s page just to make sure it was 2 t-shirts that were included (screenshot taken today).

Definitely interesting if SYR decides to only give one shirt for the GUMA Membership.  Let's hope this isn't the case.

Can anybody else confirm or refute this for us?

Shoyoroll Guma Member Package Number 2

2012/05/01

Shoyoroll just sent out it's second member's package for GUMA Reserve Members this past weekend.

We'll have a lot more coverage on it in the upcoming days, but we wanted to make sure you guys got a quick look at everything that was included.

This week, we'll have a full 1751 gi review and video, our thoughts on the members package, and a chance for *you* to let everybody know what you think!

In the meantime, here's some pictures!

Thoughts on the Shoyoroll Guma Reserve Membership

2012/05/04

So now that we’ve gotten our second Guma Reserve package in, I think it’s about time for some candid thoughts on:

• Every single item in the Guma Membership
• What Shoyoroll could've done different
• My true opinion on the Guma Membership
• 5 things Shoyoroll can do to make its yearly members into lifetime members

I know that a lot of people feel that I’m a huge fan of Shoyoroll, when, in fact, I only own one Shoyoroll gi, the Americana.

I believe that Shoyoroll makes a fairly decent, mid range gi.

And I get the whole idea of limited numbers and unique batches. I’ve collected things my whole life and I understand that mindset.

Also, it helps that the vast majority of people I have met who are Shoyoroll collectors are very cool people, including Vince ‘Bear’ Quitugua.

The Goods

The 1751 Gi

Our review of this gi is forthcoming, so please be a bit patient and you’ll get to hear a lot more of what we think about it. In short: clean, quality, but maybe a bit too understated.  I have pictures up on our Instragram account if you want to check them out (follow us at gireviews on Instagram).

The T-shirts

I was not a fan of the t-shirt that came in the first package at all. I didn’t get the logo at first until somebody showed me the connection to the famous Helio Gracie picture.

The second t-shirt, however, was much better. This was exactly what I wanted from Shoyoroll. They did a nice small logo hit on the back to make it unique and the front is cool because it doesn’t have their name anywhere on it, just the SYR design.

The sweatshirt

I think it’s cool that the SYR logo and info are printed on the inside of the sweatshirt, but, for me, the cool factor really ends there. I was really hoping for something along the lines of this:

I dig the absurdly large heat-transfer logos that people have on their gis (anybody know how to get one of these?), but all this sweatshirt had was a tiny logo hit on the chest.

That’s it. The exact opposite of the eye-opening designs I’d come to expect from them.

Last, the quality of the sweatshirt was quite under-whelming. I own a nogi industries hoodie with contrast fabric inside, thumb holes, double layered pockets, and embroidery on the front.

I would expect that the GUMA sweatshirt, given we were asked to spend $400 on Christmas Eve to pick it up, would have had at least one of these features.

The stickers

Stickers are cool, but I’m 28 and have a hard time finding a place to use stickers without feeling foolish (meaning: without getting made fun of by my wife). I’ll probably give them to some of the younger guys at my gym who are fans of the brand.  A nice inclusion, but not important for me.

The patches

While I don’t really like the design of lightning bolt guma logo, the patch is actually really nice. It’s fully embroidered and not a cheap, flimsy patch. I like that it was really high quality. The other patch is much larger and is printed on the fabric. I have a feeling this is going to look perfect on a future gi release from SYR (oh crap, I’m not supposed to talk about this!).

The bag

The bag is definitely interesting. The material doesn’t seem particularly thick, but I dig the design that they’ve used with regard to the patches, including the patch on the inside of the bag.

The giant zipper is really cool to look at and play with, but I wonder how cumbersome it will be and how well it will hold up with regular use.

It’s definitely a talking point when you bring it to the gym with you, believe me.

The Members – Only Gis

In addition to the 1751, there are two other member’s only gis that are going to be coming out this year:

• Shoyoroll Pharaoh – Lightweight White 450 Gram Gi
• Shoyoroll Flamingo – Black 400 Gram Gi

Guma members have already seen pictures of Batch 13 gis, but aren’t allowed to post them online (otherwise, you know they would’ve already been on here!). What I can say is that it’s a bit flashier than anything that we’ve seen before and one was designed by one of my favorite BJJ athletes.

There have been no pictures yet of either of the member gis.

The price tag is also a bit higher than any other gis, but with the 10% off for Guma members, this should bring it back to normal SYR prices.

I hope the Pharaoh is something special as well. In my opinion, the flashier the better!

Editorial Time

It was cool that Shoyoroll tried something like this. It really is. But, I hope that in the future, they have mockups available prior to ordering. I know that a lot of people were really bummed when they got their first guma package and were freaked out that the second package was going to be more of the same.

Also, I haven’t ordered a single thing from the Guma store. All that’s been in there that hasn’t been available to everybody else is the hats, a t-shirt, and a few patches that I was hoping would be in this second bag, but, sadly, aren’t (the lion patch is one of my favorites and I wish they’d bring it back and I love the grey skies patch). The spats were totally blank, and the Guma shirt that I really liked was either sold out, never made, or discontinued before I could ever get a screenshot of it.

What they can do to make it better

This is just my opinion, but I think there are 5 things SYR can do to really hit it out of the park with the Guma Membership and have everybody flocking to become one in 2013:

1. Add more items to the Guma Store – As stated above, there really hasn’t been anything really mind-blowing in the Guma store. Shoyoroll does a lot of cool stuff so it’d be great to see
2. Be easy on the Guma store prices – I love that the prices for the small patches are only $5, but it stinks that the larger ones are $20 and even with the 10% off, you still have to pay shipping. I just checked and that means a t-shirt from their store is over $30. A lot of people know the costs of designing and printing t-shirts and would probably really appreciate getting low prices on t-shirts and the like.
3. Come out with all 12 of their promised gis – Right now, it’s hard to tell if all of the gis that they projected are going to come in 2012. I’ve seen mock ups for 4 different SYR gis and I’d like to be able to use my discount code on any of the 12, even if they don’t come out by 2013. I also think that be under promising and over delivering, Shoyoroll could go a long way to getting back buyers that were lost because of errors and delays on the Americana and Compadre.
4. Continue improving customer service – After the debacle with my first package and being accused of lying about not getting my t-shirt, I’d really like to see Shoyoroll continue working on being more responsive with their customers. I think when a customer has shelled out $400 on Christmas Eve (yes, I’m still harping on that), you really need to go above and beyond to make them happy.
5. Surprise its members with another package – This is probably the best thing they could do. If Shoyoroll wanted to make us all members for life, they would send out a few more care packages this year. It’s May and we aren’t getting anything for the rest of the year. If I were to get another gi as a surprise, or another big package of t-shirts and patches, I would definitely buy the membership again next year (and not just to document it here like I did in 2012).  Especially after seeing Leo Vieira post pictures of an EPIC Shoyoroll gift package they sent him.  Please don’t take this as greed, because it isn’t. I just understand business and customer service. Go above and beyond and your customers will be loyal to you.

Shoyoroll Guma Membership Update 7

2012/06/04

Our most recent email from Shoyoroll not only gave the same information that everybody else got about the Shoyoroll Comp Lite XII (X!! for 2012), but also some info on new gear and a guma exclusive gi.

First, they put a ton of new gear in the store.  I like the designs of these way better than some of the recent ones.  It seems like they're getting back to their roots with the designs.  Specifically, I'm excited about the Shoyoroll Rio Koi rashguard by John Smalls and the Kurt Osiander Ueffed shirt designed by Florian of APLSD.

Even though less than 100 of each version (white and black) were sold, GUMA members will have the chance to pre-order the blue version of the comp-lite XII (blue version is only available through GUMA).  The eta for the blue version is 1-2 months.  Also, if we didn't get a chance to get a white comp lite at Worlds this weekend, we can pre-order that as well (eta for the white is 2-3 months) on the GUMA site.  We can use our discount for the pre-orders, which isn't too bad.

Later this week, we'll get more info on pre-orders.

Shoyoroll Guma Membership Update 8 (& Comp Lite XII)

2012/06/08

Shoyoroll just sent out some good news and some bad news.

Turns out it's going to take longer for the blue comp lites to come in.  About 6-8 weeks to be exact (with added time for transit and customs, which could add up to a month or two in my experience).  And they seem, from the mock ups to look exactly like the Shoyoroll Americana, which I already own, so I probably won't pick that up, even though it's only available to GUMA members.

The good news, however, is that the white and blue comp lites are going on sale today!

More good news is that they are going to be releasing another, previously unannounced gi, called the Shoyoroll Uni-Blue Pro Tech Lite Gi.  This gi is only for sale to GUMA members as it was intended to be world by athletes at the worlds this year, but arrived too late.  No special sizes are available, but that's okay since I wear an A3 (6'1″ and 200ish lbs.).  The Shoyoroll Uni-Blue Pro Tech Lite Gi goes on sale Sunday (6/10/12).

I've emailed Bear about the stitching color on the new gis, as the mock ups make it hard to tell.  It appears that the Blue comp lite has white stitching, but it may be light blue, and the uni-blue appears lite blue, but, again, you can't be sure.

There is also no mention about what weight the gi tops are, or the pants.  Which is really frustrating.  These are important features that people should know prior to purchase.

Here's the rest of the presale info for GUMA members:

Shoyoroll Presale #1:

What: White and Blue Comp Lite Gi Presale
When: Start time: Friday, June 8th @ 12PM (Noon), PST
End time: Saturday, June 9th @ 11:59 PM, PST

Shoyoroll Presale #2:

What: Uni-Blue Pro Tech Gi
When: Start time: Sunday, June 10th @ 8AM, PST
End time: Sunday, June 10th @ 11:59 PM, PST

Shoyoroll Guma Membership Update 9

2012/08/07

With all of the craziness going on with The Ring presale and upcoming Rio Koi presale, we'e been without a GUMA update for a while!

The Good

The shoyoroll GUMA store has had some cool stuff in it, like this wallet.

I don't use wallets, though. I used to.  But I was guilty of a nasty case of the “George Constanza wallet.”

Please tell me somebody else is guilty of this.

Also, the best part of the GUMA membership has revealed itself.  While I still think it's totally ridiculous just to have to pay for the privilege of then paying again for an item, I think that the headache that the membership has saved people in buying the most recent gis has been really nice.

It was really excellent that GUMA members were given the privelege of the Comp Lite and Uniblue gis.  I just hope they come out with the other 8 gis that Shoyoroll projected for the 2012 year.

The Bad

The comp lite gis were sold at the beginning of June.  I jokingly wrote an email to a friend saying:

It says 6-8 weeks.  But that might be ETA without adding in time for
customs and them to ship to us.  So I would guess 2-3 months =o\

As it stands, it looks like we aren't going to see these things before 10 weeks since purchase.  Which stinks if you were planning on wearing one to all of the various IBJJF opens.

Overall

The entire GUMA Membership package plus the 10% off and getting to buy every single gi without any headaches is really starting to make this membership worth it.