Vapor XXX (or: The Price Of Hockey)

[Jbone 0]

United Cycle in Edmonton has Vapor XXX skates in stock. They cost $700 CDN. They are nice. just thought Id share that.

[LarrieNation9 0]

I like the sound of that. Hopefully I will get mine sometime before the end of January. My skates are falling apart.

[Karly14 21]

700 is getting steep for top of the line skates. I hope companies dont decide that 699.99 can. is gonna be the new set price for top end model skates, instead of the usual 599.99.

[Speed Demon 0]

The simple fact is that since Easton has decided to make their Synergys priced so high, other companies now must put their skates within that price range so customers do not feel that their products are inferior to the ever so expensive Synergys.

[MDE3 0]

Hmm let's see where this is going.....we can build skates that don't even last half as long as they used to(so we sell twice as many now), charge a lot more and convince our users that the extra performance they get will make them the next Pavel Bure. Not only that, but once they are conviced that these "magic skates" are the solution to their wildest dreams...."we gotcha".....there's no going back....I think we have a winner.....

Sorry to all you guys running the pro shops in here, but one of the problems for the whole sport of hockey is it's current stagnant growth here in the USA. This is largely because of the cost of the sport....This kind of marketing does not help parents with 3 or 4 kids select hockey as the sport of choice. I know it's a great "business plan" but between the $500 skates and the $150 - 200 sticks, the sport is pricing itself out of reach of the people it needs the most.

The real problem is the peer pressure created among kids to have this top of the line stuff or feel somehow inferior. This type of equipment may make sense to players who earn their living from the sport, but like the man said earlier..we have become so $ driven in our assessment of quality, that most of us will no longer buy anything that costs too little for fear we are getting inferior merchandise now. We are looking more at the price and the Glitz and not necessarily the actual long term performance of our purchase....ie the value.

[Chadd 916]

I agree but I have to stock what the kids want. I tell the parents of the little kids to get them a wood stick every time they ask me.

[prenny207 1]

Hmm let's see where this is going.....we can build skates that don't even last half as long as they used to(so we sell twice as many now), charge a lot more and convince our users that the extra performance they get will make them the next Pavel Bure. Not only that, but once they are conviced that these "magic skates" are the solution to their wildest dreams...."we gotcha".....there's no going back....I think we have a winner.....

Sorry to all you guys running the pro shops in here, but one of the problems for the whole sport of hockey is it's current stagnant growth here in the USA. This is largely because of the cost of the sport....This kind of marketing does not help parents with 3 or 4 kids select hockey as the sport of choice. I know it's a great "business plan" but between the $500 skates and the $150 - 200 sticks, the sport is pricing itself out of reach of the people it needs the most.

The real problem is the peer pressure created among kids to have this top of the line stuff or feel somehow inferior. This type of equipment may make sense to players who earn their living from the sport, but like the man said earlier..we have become so $ driven in our assessment of quality, that most of us will no longer buy anything that costs too little for fear we are getting inferior merchandise now. We are looking more at the price and the Glitz and not necessarily the actual long term performance of our purchase....ie the value.

well said... i have been preaching that for a few years now. unfortunately the retail consumer buys into this problem, and keeps supporting the companies.

[Jim A 4]

agreed Chadd...there is a reason that they made the Vapor XX in a Youth 12 or 13 last year..we didn't carry them in the beginning in the small sizes..but parents asked for them so often that we came around..we'd tell people they would be fine with other models, but its tough to turn away 280 on a JR skate..

i think the msrp on the XXX is 479 US and i'm sure that's what it will go for when it comes out ...

Jim A

[chilaxin12 2]

Vapor XXX is going for 469.99us

[LetsGoWings13 0]

has anyone tried out the XXX

[sherwood21 0]

Well a 4 year old with a synergy is basically the same as a 12-13-14 year old. I think Pat Quinn, as much as I hate him said that almost everyone who uses a one piece isn't good enough to take advantage of the things that the stick offers. Personally, I think think that it's fine to have the best stuff possible, you only live once...

[Chadd 916]

Well a 4 year old with a synergy is basically the same as a 12-13-14 year old. I think Pat Quinn, as much as I hate him said that almost everyone who uses a one piece isn't good enough to take advantage of the things that the stick offers. Personally, I think think that it's fine to have the best stuff possible, you only live once...

at younger ages it actually hinders skill development so it's probably the worst thing you could do to a child. It's not really "the best stuff" in those cases.

[sherwood21 0]

Yea, I understand what you're saying. I agree actually, but I honestly don't see why some people are so mortally opposed to new technology...

[Langenbrunner15 0]

as you said,you only live once. Thats toatlly true.Im 12 and i have many syergys,xn10`s and shafts. As long as you can afford it and its not a big waste of money,go for it.

[LetsGoWings13 0]

as you said,you only live once. Thats toatlly true.Im 12 and i have many syergys,xn10`s and shafts. As long as you can afford it and its not a big waste of money,go for it.

you can flex your shafts and i think that is ok but i think it is bad when a 4 year old has a synergy

[asdfa 0]

it almost would be as bad if it was a junior synergy, but i've seen kids with senior sticks where the blade is about half the length of the shaft

[Langenbrunner15 0]

as you said,you only live once. Thats toatlly true.Im 12 and i have many syergys,xn10`s and shafts. As long as you can afford it and its not a big waste of money,go for it.

you can flex your shafts and i think that is ok but i think it is bad when a 4 year old has a synergy

deffenitly,i got my first synergy when i was 10

[sn1per 0]

I never sell a kid who's starting hockey a one piece. It's so dumb and a complete waste of the parent's money. Or the parent who cuts down a stick so far that it becomes a 130 flex but it's the stick that the kid wants so that's what he gets. So many kids are getting so brainwashed into thinking that their game will become better by having the best equipment. Like my cousin's 12yr old plays AAA and don't get me wrong, he's a good player, but every time he comes to me for advice on what gear to get, it basically sounds as though he picks whatever the kids on his team have. Is first synergy was bought on taking a shot with is buddy's. Too bad a little while later, his dad was complaining he was having trouble receiving passes. Oh well,.... guess we've been played by marketing geniuses. But then again, in the words of Murphy, "it's immoral to let a fool keep his money."

[echi24 1]

is it just me, or do the MAJORITY of hockey parents NOT want to spend hundreds of dollars on sticks for their child. I would think that the crazy fanatics taht spend 400 dollars on their child's sticks are in the minority. In my opinion, i would think that if i compnay were to limit the children's equpiment line to what is best for them at such a developmental stage, they would gain lots of support by both the media and hockey parents themselves.

[Langenbrunner15 0]

I cant shoot with a wood shaft,i need the composite feel

[Chadd 916]

is it just me, or do the MAJORITY of hockey parents NOT want to spend hundreds of dollars on sticks for their child. I would think that the crazy fanatics taht spend 400 dollars on their child's sticks are in the minority. In my opinion, i would think that if i compnay were to limit the children's equpiment line to what is best for them at such a developmental stage, they would gain lots of support by both the media and hockey parents themselves.

In the last week I sold 10 jr OPS and 0 jr wood sticks. I was out of OPS and the parents asked to be put on a waiting list.

[Eazy_b97 1]

I find the people who don't want to spend money goto Canadian tire or other larger outlets. Generally if you are in an LHS, you are their browsing for middle of the run equipment or higher. Alot of people aren't educated, and because you tell them something doesn't mean they'll accept it. Sometimes younger kids will play better with a 190 flex Synergy over a 20 flex wood stick which is perfect, because they have more confidence in their game. If they understood why it doesn't work, then maybe it would help them. As I kid I looked for 2 things, Whip in the shaft and Banana curves. Big curves made you shoot higher from what everyone says, and my dad taught me from a young age that shot power is generated by the whip in the stick.

Is it stupid for younger kids to have OPS they aren't capable of playing with? I think so, but who's to say that the OPS they have isn't making them excited about the game and motivating them to play it. I think theres alot of factors going into this. Just performance, it may be a poor choice, but it may help the kid in alot more ways. I don't think it should be helping him in making friends, staying interested, thinking he'll play better, but it does happen.

[Cavs019 710]

I cant shoot with a wood shaft,i need the composite feel

Therein lies the problem. Developing players using equipment as a crutch rather than actually developing skills. Give me something shaped like a hockey stick, and I guarantee you i would be able to play with it.

[echi24 1]

exactly, im only 14 turning 15, but the first composite stick i had was a $20 shaft with wood blades when i was 12. Affter using $20 shafts for a year or so, i finally used a response and triflex gold last year (13), paying only $100 on each (both intermedietes),, yet i found myself goign back to $14 z-carbons. This year i foudn that too many sticks are breaking, and spent about $100 each on a novius tapered shaft and a true1. Yet my game by no means depends on my stick selection, it was more a durability issue for me.

[tyler9 0]

Composite doesn't have much of a feel if you ask me. I just get a dead kinda feeling when i use a ops. I love the shot and quik release with my xn10 but, since it broke i've been using sherwood 5030's and the sad thing is, i can't tell that big of a difference except for i get a quiker release with my xn10. I can also say the feel with my sherwood is amazing. i honestly don't see where the 200 dollar difference in performance comes in to tell you the truth.