wakeboards

[joecool]

In the world of wakeboards, where do Gatorboards and Blindside rate among the rest of the pack?

[Redlined]

Gator over Blindside, if that helps.

[NICKYPOO]

Gator is more of Lone wolf in the industry. They make really nice boards in limited quantities.

Is Blindside still in business?

[Gschmidt1]

Gator is really hurting this year in distrobution for some reason. They are having a TON of problems getting stuff out.

[Redlined]

Blindside was sold last year and is supposed to be ready to rollout a new line(s) for 07. They were bought by the same company that owns everyone. Monopoly? Who said that.......

[NICKYPOO]

I'll say it. MONOPOLY! Theres an interesting article in the latest issue of Alliance on Ronix Wakeboards/Square One. It's the Herb Obrien clan and their new company. Since Hyperlite/HO got gobbled up by the monopoly as well, they lit out on their own again. Good for them IMO.
When the questions of "How will this new board affect the other brands?" came around, they split. I'd like to by them a beer for that move.

[Redlined]

Yeah, I'm like a fat kid waiting for the cake to come outta of the oven with that new company. They have a new Roam style board, only better, called the Covenant. Can hardly wait...

[dogbert]

Welcome to the mainstream! On the plus side, wakeboarding is now so popular, you have large corporate sponsors and bigger competitions. The downside is that it could potentially limit innovation, which is what drove the sport for so long. But, then again, if the big guys get too complacent, upstarts will steal the show. And so goes the world of good 'ole American capitalism. Somebody is always asking, "Why not?"

[Tequilasun]

I think the one owner has some stabilizing effect on the Wakeboarding community. Think about it, WB is a niche market, so there is not an overwhelming amount of money to be made by a single company. Plus there is a lot of risk designing and developing these boards, along with a pretty high warranty return rate.

Does it limit innovation? Probably some, but as far as I've seen each sub-company is pretty much on their own to develop and market their own products.

As Wakeboarding expands further though, it will become more of a limiting factor on new products, prices and such.

[dogbert]

Originally posted by Tequilasun
I think the one owner has some stabilizing effect on the Wakeboarding community. Think about it, WB is a niche market, so there is not an overwhelming amount of money to be made by a single company. Plus there is a lot of risk designing and developing these boards, along with a pretty high warranty return rate.

Does it limit innovation? Probably some, but as far as I've seen each sub-company is pretty much on their own to develop and market their own products.

As Wakeboarding expands further though, it will become more of a limiting factor on new products, prices and such.

Boy, we really know how to hijack a thread, don't we?

[Redlined]

I'm not a fan of the "one" owner style. I don't think they will ultimately allow a greater success, if it means, that one or more of their "other" companies will take a major hit. Thus, part of the why, you see the Obriens' departure. Monopolies benefit only one, and it's not us, the consumers that's for sure.
I wish them success, but they really will not need it.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled thread.