David, hi, Happy New Year. I hadn't been on here in a couple days, then just happened to notice your post.
I'm glad you asked, and I always play it straight.
The Jon Pearse picks are excellent picks and a superb value. In fact I first discovered the casein material myself as a player about four years ago through the JP models. Yes, we both use casein material. In fact, the casein industry, which was founded in Germany (JP is a German company, I believe) is almost dead, with almost every manufacturer gone out of business, but what's left is all in Europe. You can't buy the material in this country.
The JP models are excellent, but limited in selection and application. Again, I love them, but for one thing they only offer this funky offset point, which as a player drove me crazy. I finally had to write a "T" on the top, so I knew which side faced me when playing. But the material itself is a dream.
We try to be very traditional in our designs, with standard tris and teardrops, no weird features or doodads. Maybe that's why they sell so well, not sure. The red material is also casein, but we own a worldwide exclusive on that color so it's sorta supply and demand. People seem to like it. The red teardrop, at $40 a throw, is the number one seller in our entire company.
We searched two years to find the red material. Very shortly we'll be unveiling our new "flame" color, also a CLP exclusive.
The market is what it is. The JP picks are great and you should continue to play them.
BTW, you probably already know this, but we are also the only other company in the world using the same material as Blue Chip, which you'll see in our brown models.
Feel free to post other questions or PM me, or, if not, just have a great holiday and thanks for your interest in CLP. Very much appreciate it.
Scott