Counterfeit Gear

[mnpucker 33]

Monday night a friend of mine was at a local LHS buying new skates for his son. As they waded through sizes and brands for the boy, a guy began making a stink about his skates. He was being pretty loud. Apparently he had recently purchased a pair of X60's from another local LHS. The employee had just got done telling him that the skates he paid $600 for were knock offs/counterfeit. They pointed out many differences some being the liner, the weight of the skate was noticably different, the tendon guard had a differnt shape and color.

They were quite different the conversation spread through the store, Can this happen? The dealer has been very reputable for many many years. They are in the middle of some VERY tough competition, 4 very dedicated LHS' on the same road within several miles of each other. They had been the only show in town but I think have since realized they need towork much harder to maintain their market share.

Aside from the LE did the X60 go through some sort of in line change mid year? This could be a very serious situation.

[stuie7 6]

Maybe they were pro return/incorrectly ordered customs/dressed up skates? That would explain any differences.

[drewptwo 1]

Not sure what they are but some companies will do what is called a SMU (special make unit). The SMU will be based off of a production skate (in this case possibly the X:60) and then changed in appearance and name. I have seen plenty of these in my day, and they usually cost more as they are marketed as a better limited skate when they really are just another skate with different colors/name.

[K9 Unit 1]

Not sure what they are but some companies will do what is called a SMU (special make unit). The SMU will be based off of a production skate (in this case possibly the X:60) and then changed in appearance and name. I have seen plenty of these in my day, and they usually cost more as they are marketed as a better limited skate when they really are just another skate with different colors/name.

special make-up...

[drewptwo 1]

meh 2 out of 3 is still a passing grade.

[mnpucker 33]

All good possibilitites I guess they were marked X60. I know of SMU concept from my experience in the rep business in another industry but also from reading posts on this site. I was not there but it was obvious the guy thought he was buying a stock X60 at retail price. IT was a very tense situation by the sound of it. By the way the skate was quite a bit heavier, the liner was more like a low priced skate it literaly had the feel of felt. Cannot explain the tendon guard other than he said it looked cheap and very different the guy paid full boat retail too.

By the way I am in no way associatied with any store, only my pocket book is and has been for some 20+ years, the time my dad stopped buying gear for me and I began buying for me and my kids.

I am pretty concerned and I am not sure I will be able to trust the LHS in question again. They also advertised FBV sharpening for the same price as ROH but when checking out the store rang up $7, twice the price. This happened to 4 different people (friends and parents of player son my team) They litterally had to make a stink to get it refunded.

meh 2 out of 3 is still a passing grade.

That is funny.

[stick9 905]

In my field, it happens all the time but under a different name.

Once the manufacturing process leaves your control you are susceptible to counterfeits. I've heard of Asian manufacturers producing knock offs in the same building the real ones are made in.

[shotty 7]

4 very dedicated LHS' on the same road within several miles of each other.

did anyone else get a little excited when they read this?

I feel bad for the guy, who gets called out publicly by an (un)informed* employee. Regardless of the situation I think it's paramount that a retailer fully explain the origins of a skate (SMU, pro return, etc). I know the source for sports group in Canada have a handful of bauer SMU products that kind of fall in between mid and mid-high end, but they market the hell out of them (being exclusive), as well as pro stock.

I would never be in that position, being that I almost always research the hell out of big ticket purchases, but I'd have to say that if I did get misled, I'd go back and call them on it, and if nothing is done at retail level, I'd call the manufacturer and let them know that their product is being misrepresented.

*I'm a big believer in speaking with confidence. if this employee is truly in the know, he might suggest that they are pro stock, smu etc instead of calling them knock offs. this also raises the question: what, by definition, is a knock off? something of a lesser quality dressed up to resemble the likeness of a product of higher quality?? WE know that in the world of pro returns (especially sticks), what we see isn't always what we get. are retailers taking advantage of this little known fact?

[Rustyhole 1]

you state that he specifically bought X:60's and not an equivalent skate. by your description, I wouldn't think it's an SMU as they are similar asthethically, they generally have different product designations. ie: Vapor Shift & XXIX for Source for Sports / Vapor Edge & Speed for Canadian Tire as two examples

my guess would be an early demo (pre-sample specs) or a custom oder from someone who likes lower-end materials

[mnpucker 33]

I would not think that Bauer would want to water down the X60 model by allowing a SMU. I may be wrong but aren't SMU's are typically based off lower cost models? I think teh LE is proof that the X60 is considered a special product by Bauer, instead of SMU they brought out the LE which gave the skate more of a corporate exclusivity.

[sickwilly 37]

Has anyone heard of counterfeit helmets (esp. the RE-AKT) being produced?

[Souldriver 64]

I havnt head anything about it or any claims but always assume anything worth any money at all can and will be counterfeited.

Do you have any concerns about your helmet?

[laserrobottime 149]

If they were marked as X:60 and had a lower-level liner that felt like felt, those were X:60 Pro skates that Hockey Monkey and a few others sold. I had a pair and yes, they were heavier than retail x:60s but were durable as the day was long. Hockey Giant is selling the same setup now with the APX pro: hydrophobic grip liner, ls3 steel, same usual pro requests but made in China.

Bad on that LHS for assuming and pissing off a customer.

[sickwilly 37]

I havnt head anything about it or any claims but always assume anything worth any money at all can and will be counterfeited.

Do you have any concerns about your helmet?

No. I'm considering buying a RE-AKT on ebay and want to minimize the risk of getting hurt wearing something that's not up to par.

[Souldriver 64]

havnt heard but it's possible. I can give you pics of mine if needed.

[Tyler Roy 86]

As stated above Hockey Monkey had a lot of "pro" X60 skates on sale not too long ago. As you said you have quite a few different hockey stores in the area so I wouldn't put it past the one store to bad mouth the other store rather than give them the benefit of the doubt. Tough to say who is at fault if we cant see what the customers skates looked like so I can assume one is in the wrong, but I would never want to get my customer so fired up in my store for sure.