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It's probably a good thing they stopped doing customs if they were having so many issues. Dollars to donuts it was a scanning issue. Of the last 200 pairs I have done I have had 1 rebuild. I have had a couple boot fractures of high end players from shot blocks. But we had Pro returns they could borrow and had the skates repaired in days. The quality has just been getting better and better.

Pro stock hockey usually has a good bit of these as well as p91a’s.

They're better off having Step available at a reasonable upcharge at the point of sale. You get most of the sales without the added cost and BS. But more importantly, that premium brand stays premium. No one is questioning whether or not CCM is making crap steel and marking it "STEP" cuz they can.

The majority of consumers buying skates have never heard of Step and aren't concerned with what steel comes on a particular skate.

Retails are likely made in China. People knock on things made in China and although there are some pretty shitty quality things coming from China, or dollar store stuff, the products coming from China from big names have pretty good QC. I would imagine the retails look way better in terms of fit and finish. From pics I've seen it already looks way better in terms of stitching, lack of glue residue, etc. Attention to detail is definitely something the Chinese are very good at... And reputation. All those factories probably fighting to get the contract to make products for diff companies.

Sure, there are differences, but I'm wondering how much of an impact they have on the overall skate. So the TF7 is a little bit: heavier and not quite as stiff. Is Clarino a significant upgrade from the nylon wicking? Maybe. Is the low profile tongue "better"? Steel is somewhat of a consumable, so not sure coated vs. regular makes a huge difference either. Maybe I am way off base, but I have a feeling the TF7 will be the popular choice for the value to performance ratio it provides.

I do not agree with that statement.