‘Shark Tank’ review: The Mission Belt, Shell Bobbers, Wicked Good Cupcakes, Tremont Electric

If you like variety, then you probably loved Friday night’s “Shark Tank” episode. Really, there was a little bit of everything here, whether it be a fishing product, tasty treats, a revolutionary sort of energy, and a belt that could change the entire menswear industry. We don’t necessarily know that we would buy into any of these products though, mostly because if we wanted to have cupcakes, we’d probably just go to our local bakery rather than ordering something online and waiting for it to show up.

As always with our “Shark Tank” episode reviews, you can visit the websites for any of the companies below just by clicking the product names.

Shell Bobbers – We’ve seen a good many outdoor-oriented products on “Shark Tank” as of late, but many of them didn’t work very well. What was the issue with this one? It’s not really a business yet, and anything that involves a shotgun in this current day and age makes many people uncomfortable, even if it is in a sense recycling a product that people already use. It may sound petty and political, but there are some out there who probably feel the same way (though many of them may not be hunters).

While we would have went out on this, maybe we’re not the target audience for fishing / hunting products. There were a number of sharks that were actually interested in this. Daymond John and Kevin O’Leary. However, their “offers” were basically the equivalent of throwing a pebble in the ocean until Mark Cuban came into the picture and actually made a substantial offer. Hats of too them for making a deal work, we’re just surprised that it did.

Wicked Good Cupcakes – We featured this article in our preview, and this is a product that is certainly boosted in part by the public support for the Boston area. Not only that, but this product actually looks wicked great. The “cupcake jar” idea is something we’ve never heard of before, and it actually seems pretty smart. They have pretty good sales, and it seems like the only thing holding them back right now is resources.

Sadly, this mother / daughter team really got screwed over in the tank, mostly because these cupcakes really do not have a long shelf life. They did get a deal with Kevin O’Leary, but these royalty deals are not something we root for. It’s basically a glorified loan, with Kevin knowing that he’ll make money thanks to the exposure the product gets from being on the show. He has no real skin in the game, so we only consider it a partial win in that they have money.

Tremont Electric – What sort of person would ask for $2 million dollars for just 22%? Well, it’s an interesting and somewhat-revolutionary idea to power phone batteries using kinetic energy. Basically, the more you move, the more your phone charges.

We don’t even really want to get into the details of this idea, mostly because there’s no point. This is basically one of those ideas that is just too ambitious for this tank. This technology is applicable to all sorts of advancements, but with his asking price, there was no way that anyone was going to bite on this.

The Mission Belt – First of all, the founder here is a great salesperson. His product is also very interesting: Why wear an ordinary belt, when you can have one like this? It doesn’t announce to you how big or little you are, it has a long shelf life, and it looks good. We don’t know if we’d ever notice one in the store for long enough to want to purchase one, but after the demonstration we understand why the sales are high after just three months.

He only had one shark ultimately willing to offer him a deal, but it was really the right one. You don’t want anyone other than Daymond getting involved in this, anyway: He knows the industry, and therefore knows how to make you a ton of money.

—

Were there any products this week that you would want to buy? If you want to see some other highlights from “Shark Tank” this season, be sure to head on over to the link here.

Photo: ABC