part of the Bod Boyle interview from Transworld Biz

[skategeezer]

This interview is highly illuminating...the genie of blank boards is out of the bottle and now World Industries wants to put it back in...it will be a long, hard road to do this Bod...

The last page is rather ironic...underneath his comments is a 1/2 page ad for custom shop decks!



You can't be core and corp...chose one or the other... not both.

[dcphotos]

Maybe if they brought a sense of individuality into the boards they produce these days blanks wouldn't mean as much to the average kids at the park. I am all about supporting a favorite pro, but in my days all the boards were different, not just the graphics. Try different shapes, angles, etc instead of making 50 boards all from the same press and maybe they will be more interesting.

[rawls]

[MrCokesNSmokes]

The only thing that will stop the hemmoraging of sales to the blank market will be a new focus on product differentiation, and value for the dollars spent.

Think about it. Will our market- that is, the longboarding/pool-pig-riding/slalom/niche market ever have a tangible threat from blank products? No, never. Why? Because, it's too technologically advanced, and it changes too often. Could you see the Chinese trying to mass-produce blank Pocket Pistols foamcore decks, for example?! No way. It'd be a literal nightmare to even try to keep up with Chicken.

Plus, graphics are still valued in our market. Like, Wes Humpston. He makes world-class decks and wheels, that is understood. But, a large part of why people buy them is for Wes' wonderful artwork. Would anyone think of buying a blank Bulldog...?

Then, you have the value of smart branding. Again, would anyone buy a blank G&S Fibreflex? Maybe some, but not 70% of the market. Because, G&S as a brand is known for unique products that harken back to a specific era of skateboarding, which is represented by that brand. Of course, having interesting, innovative products helps here, as well.

I'd love to see some Chinese firm try to copy Abec 11's 50,000 shapes and sizes, and their formulas. I'd argue that simple suicide would be far easier, and more efficient, to boot.

But, that is the thing with the street market. There are 50,000 similarly-sized clone decks out there, with different art (oftentimes, not such good artwork), and different names on them. It's the ink that sets them apart- sorry, heat transfer, my mistake- not what is inside that board. Blanks, technologically, are extremely close in quality and design as the pro boards. Take the heat transfer off of a pro board, and you have a blank. It's a sorry state of affairs.

My solution- one I have advocated for years, to no avail- is to develop better, harder-to-clone products for those pros to endorse and ride. Innovation is key. Innovation is extremely hard to clone. Very few street companies are truly innovating- I can literally count them on one hand.

When transWorld Business runs a full, two-page article on deck constructions, and the only differences are that one deck is .390" thick seven-ply, and another is .410" thick seven ply, and another is .425" thick seven-ply, then, boys and girls, we have a problem.....

But, what do I know? Apparently, nothing. Go figure.

[Area 51]

Some good points for sure, but companies that have tried to differentiate their boards have seen little success. Exotic constructions from Lib Tech, Santa Cruz PowerLyte, NuWood, Foundation Pop Top, Darkstar Armorply, Comet, have not displaced the popularity of a classic 7 ply deck. Richard Novak proposes an interesting question in the article -where is the Big Bertha of skateboarding? So far, there are no takers.

[skategeezer]

All the various technologies you just listed (from PowerLyte, NuWood, Foundation Pop Top, to Darkstar Armorply) are indeed improvements but the fact is that they have done NOTHING to stem the tide. This is not an indictment against these companies or the technology...it's just that, by and large, the public is voting with their wallet...and it's going to blank/shops decks.

The sad truth is that the street skate industry needs a big bertha to halt this problem but most skaters don't see it that way at all. It is a huge disconnect and most of the reason is due to the fact that for years the street skating industry mostly relied on marketing. Performance took a back seat to marketing...whereas in this world of niche skateboarding it's the reverse...I think we would all agree that over the past 15 years, skateboard decks have drifted towards being a commodity and now, the industry is faced with this fact. Sadly, you can't go back...