A relative unknown to most darts fans, Callum Goffin surprised most in winning a Tour Card to play in the PDC back in January last year. The current PDC No. 91 has had a steady debut year on tour, securing wins over established PDC professionals such as Madars Razma and Scott Waites.
The hard work will begin in 2024 to retain his status as a PDC professional, with Callum needing to hit the ground running almost immediately in order to build on his 2023 winnings.
With these being a relatively ‘simple’ barrel, I’ve decided to write a review from a more practical standpoint. That is to say I am going to be writing from the perspective of me actually using the darts, and letting you know my immediate thoughts as a player, rather than as an analyst.
Set Up / Spec
The setup I’ve opted for is Callum’s match setup – a standard red L-Style flight, medium Mission Grip-Lock stem, and keeping the 32mm black point that came with the barrel. I’m using the 22g version, however they are also available in 24g with equal dimensions. Unlike most Mission Darts, they’re not produced as a soft-tip set, however for reasons I’ll elaborate on further into this review, I believe that is for the best.
Impressions:
Immediately, I’m drawn to the grip, which despite its subtle appearance, is offering me far more resistance than I initially expected. Much like the Connor Scutt darts from the same launch, the Goffin’s feature a variation on the popular micro-grip.
Mission have cleverly used a standard Bristow-esque ring-grip as the base for the barrel, and then simply re-cut the micro-grip over the rings, layering them and creating something unique to the Goffin barrels.
While I worry about the durability of such a fine grip, they undoubtedly hold up well straight out of the box, refusing to slip from my fingers. Where I have complete control of the barrel, I am able to comfortably grip the dart in the correct position time after time, ensuring the darts lie in the board at a consistent angle.
It’s because of this that I found my scoring to be particularly good. The 32mm point does tend to bury itself in the board, and as the Goffin’s are a rather thick dart, they can be used as a perfect marker if they’re in, or just above the treble. If they fall below the treble 20, switching appeared to be my sole option.
The thicker barrel did take some getting used to. Measuring at 6.65mm x 50.6mm, grouping does appear to be a challenge. I was very tempted many times to try these with a longer point, and would encourage anyone looking to purchase these darts to browse the Darts Corner website to have a look at the impressive range offered by Mission, as well as other notable brands. This is also why I believe Mission decided to only produce these as a steel-tip dart, as I feel their functionality would be somewhat hindered on a board designed for thinner, lighter barrels.
Tester Comments
The thickness didn’t seem to affect ‘Stephen’ on the Darts Corner website, who claimed the length and width “were perfect for me”. He agreed with me that the micro-grip gave him that extra “push purchase”, as well as touching on the focus of “functional[ity]” over anything else – something I feel encapsulates these darts perfectly. They’re a dart that will do the job you buy them to do. They’re un-coated and not painted. They feature a simple grip, overlaid on top of another simple grip.
In Conclusion
They’re a workman like dart with some unique and interesting features, and I look forward to seeing what Callum can accomplish this year, knowing near-perfection is required if he wishes to be a Tour Card holder going into 2025 and beyond.
—–ENDS—–
Words and testing: Joe Reid
Images: Mission darts and PDC Europe/Jonas Hanold
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