Comments on: Do Blank Decks Hurt the Skateboarding Industry?

By: CUB

CUB — Sat, 25 Dec 2010 23:48:08 +0000

Well just from what you say that bank decks make pros not make 100K+ a year, i don’t think they are that bad. Pros will go pro because they like to skate, not to get money.
Blank decks support the shops that provide you with boards. Big skate companies spend millions on a skate video… what does this mean? they have money.

By: Pax

Pax — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 21:33:20 +0000

I dont think I will ever buy a pro board again. They arent worth it at all. Ive been buyin blanks in bulk, 5 blanks with grip for the price of 1 pro board, and im lovin it; theyre great. I could skate a pro board for 1 month, or I could skate 1 blank a week for the same price. What pro board will be better than any blank after a month of skating it vs 1 week. I dont give a fuck about the pros, they can sell drugs to make their money if they have to for all I care. Im just in it to have a good time and do what I love to do.

By: RJ

RJ — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 02:29:06 +0000

Here’s my take on “blank” decks. I am a 32 year old father of two kids, biy and girl. My son is HEAVY into skating, but he’s only 7. Am I going to buy him a $100 dollar skateboard? No, not at 7. I myself own an Element Deck, Independant Trucks, and Pig Wheels (50mm the smaller the better.) and the board has a set of $60.00 BONES bearings. My board, dressed out was almost $200. But I have a job. If my son stays with skating, then yes as he gets brand concious he’ll definatly get a pro model. He seems to LOVE Darkstar boards right now. He currently rides a $10 Wal-Mart board (sometimes my Element, but only sometimes). He’ll get a pro deck, maybe even this Christmas. But I am VERY choosy about what he reps. Those guys at Foundation are assholes, and they destroy private property, assault security guards, and slap women. Watch the movie “That’s life.” Element seems okay, and I haven’t heard from Darkstar pro or con. But punk ass skaters give normal skaters a bad name. I want my son to be respectful of private property. There are pleanty of skateparks to skate in, we live in Germany and there is a 1.5 million dollar park here on our post. Over here, the Politzi (German cops) will beat your ass with your own board for being a dick.
So should my son start off with a “blank deck”? He very well could, there’s no harm in it. If Element, Darkstar, Enjoi, or Foundation fold up shop because a 7 year old boy got a deck that could be learned on and “destroyed” in the process of learning, than maybe skateboarding was dying anyway. As much as my kids make my world go around, I doubt they impact pro companies.
I don’t want my kid clowned at the skate park, but hey . . . he’s 7. That, and I already had some punk riding a “Tonhy Hawk Huck Jam” skateboard from Wal-Mart tell me my Element board with Indy trucks and PIG wheels was fake and a poser board. You know how hard it is to resist arguing with a kid? So I owned him on the half pipe. Little punk.
Anyway, blank decks are a GREAT way to get into skating without going broke on something that your kid may not take too. Remember when mom and dad shelled out all that money for Football gear, and you ended up being the waterboy? Same scenario.

By: Iron Lung

Iron Lung — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:37:21 +0000

The most important thing to me is the board feel. And if you are going to make that argument about pro decks supporting pro skaters, what about company boards. They don’t support anyone but the company. Are they taking away from the pro sales? I mean c’mon, if you want to complain about pros not making money, what about the money that their brand is taking right out of their pockets by making company decks. If a skate company wants to support its riders, why not make all pro boards. You may retort with, “well, that keeps the company in business”. So, you’re saying the company is giving 100% of board sale profits to the rider? NO! Hell No! Blanks aren’t taking away any more money than company decks are. I have owned all pro decks since I started skating back in 95′. But with pro companies taking shortcuts, making decks overseas, (but keeping the same prices to increase profits) Why shouldn’t I buy a USA made blank deck from somewhere like blankdecks.com? Why shouldn’t I go to the local shop and buy a Shop board. It’s all about feel for me. With so many people jumping on the big biz bandwagon, try telling me about your self righteousness while you go to footlocker to buy the newest Nike SB shoes.

By: anthony

anthony — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 17:38:09 +0000

blank decks are affordable and dont support the cooperate big wigs that now run most major deck companies. blank skateboard capture what skateboarding used to be. not what you skated but HOW you skated.

By: Administrator

Administrator — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 13:11:52 +0000

Well, let me play the devil’s advocate.

1. What about blanks being sold by the local skate shop? That’s supporting the local skate scene, right? After all, blanks put a lot of money in the skate shop owners pocket which he can use to invest back into the shop in ways that help skaters. By contrast, pro decks hardly put any money in the shop owner’s pocket. BTW, when I talk about “blanks” I’m generally lumping shop decks in the same category.

2. My friend owns a company that makes blank decks, but he’s not an exploiting businessman, he’s a skater. His customers, as far as I know, are all small, locally owned skateshops. Is he hurting the industry?

And just for the record, China is a complicated place and to say it has been exploited is to misunderstand the details of what’s going on there. China actually is becoming one of the richest economies in the world, growing faster than any other economy (about 10% annually, compared to 2-3% in the US). Of course there is exploitation going on, but most of it is probably the Chinese exploiting the Chinese. It’s not American businessmen who go in and pay very little for Chinese goods, it’s the Chinese themselves who keep the prices low so that everyone has to go to China or risk being uncompetitive and going out of business.

By: Daneil

Daneil — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 11:59:26 +0000

I’m trying to set up a skate company at the moment with my friends. Our aim is basically to have fun and learn about business, not huge profit. We have all skated for years so we know the difference between blank and pro boards. Even if good blanks were manufactured and sold cheap we would still by the local skate shop boards as they are skater owned. Everyone i know believes that supporting a skater owned company is more important than inviting sportswear big names such as Reebok, Addidas etc. Although I do not intend to gain masses of profit i do intend to get enough to start buying camera equipment and eventually support a team for small tours and other such events. A lot of pros earn enough/too much money, and I believe that the money should go towards supporting all those who are dedicated enough to the sport/artform (don’t get me started on that debate), instead of business men trying to exploit it. This could be compared to China and how it would have a very rich economy had the rest of the world not exploited them. My main point is that the argument shouldn’t just be ‘are blank decks good?’ but should be ‘are blank decks sold by sports giant or exploiting business men hurting skaters that intend to start up a company for little or no profit?’ to which the answer is of course, yes!

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 22:11:50 +0000

I know that graphics are useless after 5 minutes,(if you grind anyway) and that it really doesn’t matter what they say, but the industry sure makes a hell of alot of money of having a skaters name on the bottom.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 15:40:29 +0000

#$#% that dude who emailed you just for the fact that i push mongo and i do know where to go and i think blank decks dont hurt the industry as i have bought many of them in the last 8 years and im going to be selling blank decks in my shop so i think its a good deal good deck for less who cares if there some cool grapgic if your going to grind it off soone or later
Kevin

By: gioforeal

gioforeal — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 05:18:46 +0000

Well can I at least wear blank shoelaces?