Can somebody please explain SMUS!

[BK 0]

  Quote

This stick has the same diameter and features (lower kick point etc) as the retired stick. The original question was "is it a fake" - and the answer to that is, no it isn't. Is it the "2005" Response Plus? - no, it is a "2006" Response Plus.

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I think that this is the most logical explanation. Are Easton synergys from 3 years ago the exact same as they are today? They still are labeled as synergys.

Another thing you may consider is that maybe they ARE the exact same stick. I know that I played around with an xxx lite a few weeks ago and I thought it was a pretty nice stick. I went into my lhs and grabbed one and put it right back. It felt a lot different than I remembered it. It felt quite a bit heavier and didn't fit my hand the exact same way (or so I was thinking at the time). Does that mean that my LHS sells rip-off sticks or smu's? Nope. Same stick.. It just was in different circumstances. The stick that I played with was about a month old and was well broken in... I had my gloves on and of course was on the ice with my skates and gear. There are so many factors to it that honestly, I would put a few bucks down if you bet me that they were different sticks.

As hockeymom said too.. its a new model (discontinued or not). New models usually have new materials. I'm sure that the stick you are using isn't a fiberglass rod of crap either, but if they skimped on the quality a little, well.. at least the price matches it now eh?

[Andoy 5]

  badkitty said:

  Quote

This stick has the same diameter and features (lower kick point etc) as the retired stick. The original question was "is it a fake" - and the answer to that is, no it isn't. Is it the "2005" Response Plus? - no, it is a "2006" Response Plus.

Read more  

I think that this is the most logical explanation. Are Easton synergys from 3 years ago the exact same as they are today? They still are labeled as synergys.

Another thing you may consider is that maybe they ARE the exact same stick. I know that I played around with an xxx lite a few weeks ago and I thought it was a pretty nice stick. I went into my lhs and grabbed one and put it right back. It felt a lot different than I remembered it. It felt quite a bit heavier and didn't fit my hand the exact same way (or so I was thinking at the time). Does that mean that my LHS sells rip-off sticks or smu's? Nope. Same stick.. It just was in different circumstances. The stick that I played with was about a month old and was well broken in... I had my gloves on and of course was on the ice with my skates and gear. There are so many factors to it that honestly, I would put a few bucks down if you bet me that they were different sticks.

As hockeymom said too.. its a new model (discontinued or not). New models usually have new materials. I'm sure that the stick you are using isn't a fiberglass rod of crap either, but if they skimped on the quality a little, well.. at least the price matches it now eh?

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They may have the synergy name still but they do have specific model names for each one. They don't sell Si-Cores or Synergy Grip models anymore.

I was at the mall today so i decided to head into the local sportchek and see if these 'response plus' sticks were there. Surely enough they were and while most of us "gear whores" can tell the differences (yeah these sticks are a darker shade of red from the regular r+s), the general public probably won't. I've had a response plus in the past and i can tell you guys that it didn't look anything or feel like the stick that i used for a year.

But hockeymom is right, i guess the forzani group isn't doing anything wrong by advertising these as 'response plus' because they ARE response plus (it says on the stick). I know it seems a little shady because that name is synonymous with the words "high performance" but they're not doing anything wrong.

I mean cmon they're selling these for $99 bucks the same as Vector 100s... what can you expect? Buyer beware.

[srv2miker 0]

  Andoy said:

I mean cmon they're selling these for $99 bucks the same as Vector 100s... what can you expect? Buyer beware.

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I'd definately agree with you there. It falls into the category of "if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is". I just think it's a pretty shady move by the Forzani group, which is a reputation they have been knocked for in the past. This definately falls in the grey area between buyer beware and malicious intent to deceive.

[hockeymom 2]

I'll agree this is confusing - but I certainly don't see any malice or deception in how the stick is being presented. It is what it is... and that's how it is being presented.

A fair comparison of the stick is to compare it with similarly priced sticks. I haven't done that, but if I was in the market for one of these I certainly would consider this stick because it looks like a great stick for the price.