Hardgoods 23/24

[kimchi]

I've bought from the House as recently as this past December... but can't say I'm too sad to see them go (other than concern for Cole). Until Backcountry pulled their trademark bullshit, they were at the bottom of the barrel of the major online retailers for me. Their website was constantly broken and terribly designed, when I returned something about 4 years ago, I still had to print out a form, fill it out, and wait like 3-4 weeks for a refund.

I bought a longboard from on SUPER discount a few months ago, like less than <30% retail... goody for me, but that shit does not make for a healthy retail ecosystem. I have a few standing Facebook Marketplace searches for skate gear... in the ~3 months or so since that sale, I've seen an ungodly number of skate decks and completes I recognize as marked up House overstock. Still cheaper than from a skate shop, but still way marked up over what the House sold it for.

[coleslawed]

yup, JC has been our head buyer for probably over a decade now.

[iheartsierracement]

https://www.murasaki.co.jp/brand/rideli ... f075852d8b
Scroll down for the goods. Has Burton Outerwear.

From the Capita 23/24 catalog, no Scott Stevens Pro in their freestyle lineup? Can't imagine they'd drop his pro model so I guess they're holding out on us with that one...

guess again. They want him promoting the whole ultra fear or whatever line. Johan chimed in about ti somewhere.

Damn that's cold relegating Scott to just a youth board like that. Not sure what the point of making a flat/rocker ultrafear was when the Scott Stevens Pro was right there lol

[casjcade]

Eh, he has ridden and promoted Ultrafear for years, with a standing joke about the promodel.

[Almightymaniac]

I may get shot for posting this based on the prior conversations in this thread but when does Burton typically start selling their next season’s upcoming goods online?

[pow_hnd]

Sept

[Almightymaniac]

Sept

Appreciate it

How did it used to be with local shops carrying flagship tier gear?
By me there is basically no local shops left, the one or two left that are within a 50 mile radius have such a terrible selection that nobody really buys from them except jerrys which is a shame

[coleslawed]

i’ve got thoughts i’ll share sometime. mixed bag all around, no ethical consumption under capitalism and whatnot.

anywho

got to demo a few boards at troll today. beautiful bluebird and soft fresh cord to start the day.

Nitro Alternator 160
much different than I expected. stiffer and narrower than the MTN, which is what I was expecting it to ride like. not bad, definitely a charger, pop felt “off,” super stiff torsionally.

E844CA8E-54A4-41C3-B3B9-C7AA107946DD.jpeg (4.14 MiB) Viewed 1266 times

Nitro Quiver Basher 158
asym carves like a dream, you feel how soft the board is, as well as the flat camber, but she still holds an edge an pops plenty. definitely going on my shortlist for a park lapper.

A4848010-CC54-464B-8269-2895543A0064.jpeg (4.48 MiB) Viewed 1266 times

Nitro Quiver Dinghy 155
Nitro’s answer to the Warpig (maybe more inline with the Psychocandy or Peace Seeker), and it definitely holds up against those boards. sturdy yet playful. I’d choose this over a Slush Slasher any day.

86BCAE42-66F0-4C8B-92C8-07786D02ED18.jpeg (4.93 MiB) Viewed 1266 times

Salomon Highpath 156
wayyyy softer than I imagined. could be because of the smaller size, or maybe the Shadowfit bindings (Highlanders). not a bad board, but I was hoping for something more aggressive like the Ultimate Ride

037998DD-CE38-4540-9B0C-D6D191D412DF.jpeg (1.06 MiB) Viewed 1266 times

Ride DeepFake 161w
just a tank, but a tank that can turn on a dime. like an Algorithm on steroids, and that thing is already a little jacked.

74FE97C7-D556-4628-A29C-DA0E21FAC74C.jpeg (683.56 KiB) Viewed 1266 times

Ride Peace Seeker 155
Ride’s golden child. perfect blend of capable charger and playful surfer. I had ridden the 151 previously and was glad to try the next size this year for a touch more stability.

5861ACE2-7A78-4AD1-8D50-F516B0538795.jpeg (672.04 KiB) Viewed 1266 times

[Spenser]

I told Jake and Clark Gundlach to their face that I wasn't gonna have my shop be a $300K ( our Burton buy at cost ) showroom for their online business.

I relate to this a bit. For us it was before 2010, we were breaking 100K wholesale, which at our shop size was unreal. It worked the first couple years because there wasn't much else we carried, and no other shop in town - but that wasn't sustainable, virtually immediately.

May have been 2011, they sent out some letter to all the shops and promoted the "support local snowboarding" sticker design they made. I posted the letter on the early EL forum and called it out, and kind of got in trouble because somehow they saw it & my rant. Well, not really in trouble, but some people were unhappy. Didn't care. Then they backed off and B became a "whatever works for you" buy-in level each season.

[eleveneightnate]

Just to be clear, I'm gonna be bummed if @coleslawed becomes unemployed because of The-House ceasing operations.

I never want anyone to lose their gainful employment.

With that being said, I don't really care how The-House, Evo, Backcountry or Tactics started out for that matter, what they have become are online entities that squeeze local, core shops.

BUT, I still care about buying local. Fuck, Milo doesnt hardly carry anything Burton, but I still go in there and have them order me everything instead of buying from Burton direct.

The numbers I've seen put both Milosport and The House around that $5m revenue mark. The-House is hardly Backcountry. The paradox of what you're saying is that if everyone shifted to buying from what you deem a "core" shop (Milo?), then those shops become the Evos and Backcountrys of the world and you'd hate them, too. I highly doubt Milo would turn down Evo's $80m a year revenue.

I have fond memories of being a broke 16-year-old 20 years ago in Missouri and saving for every bit of gear I could so I could trip to Colorado with my equally broke friends. Sierra played a role in that and I'm not gonna feel bad about it because of some ideological struggle in 2023.