BEHIND THE LINES: Real Skateboards

Steven Hemphill

• June 29 2009
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• 3 comments

Real Skateboards has been keeping it, well, real for almost twenty years now. Co-founder Jim Thiebaud took a few minutes out of his busy day at the controls of Real and Deluxe Distribution to give us a rundown on what’s new at Real, including some top secret technology teasers, the pros and cons of dealing with domestic distributors, and how his companies are helping core shops.

Thiebaud doing some field testing

What’s new with Real Skateboards’ construction these days?

We have some new technologies in the works. It’s the real deal. Not some gimmick stuff that the guys on the teams don’t even ride, but for now its still top secret. It is a new process that has never been used in any other decks before. It’s the strongest, longest lasting deck we have seen yet. In the past we have tried to stay away from the gimmicks in our decks and just focused on making the strongest, best decks that our team felt really good about, but with this new production method we’ve developed a deck that our riders actually skate, support and get behind.

For the Summer 2009 boards we will continue using our proven Real R1 and Rebound Construction

Explain R1 Construction.

If you’ve ridden one of our decks you know- if you haven’t you need to. They are designed with strength in mind, able to withstand repeated big hits while not losing the performance benefits that a strong poppy deck provides. [They have] 2X bands for strength and an even constant concave. These are the very same decks that our team rides - we don’t make a different product for our team and then one we sell - its a simple belief that has kept us fine tuning our decks and creating the best decks available.

What were your best selling models in 2008?

All our decks sell good for us - Dennis, Nick, Pete, Ernie, Huf, JT, Max - they all crush it and with the team being so different it’s pretty cool.

Do you suggest a retail price (MSRP) for decks? Why or why not?

We do have an MSRP and we go over it with everyone we deal with so that they know where we suggest our products (and the different tiers of them) should fit. It’s a very clear and easy structure. Not a 12 step program or anything - but simple and up front so that they are equipped with all the info they need from us to do the best they can with anything they choose to support from us.

Breakout Large- 8.06 x 32, R1 Construction - $TBD

Real Gangsters Ramondetta- 8.06 x 32, Rebound Construction - $TBD

Do you use domestic distributors?

Yes, we work very closely with our US Distributors to help them do the best they can with anything we make.

What are the pros and cons of working with them?

Pros – It’s a cool partnership that helps us get our stuff and the word out to every skate shop in the US. Plus the Eastern guys always skate with us after hours at the park and never tell Reggie when we sneak beer in. Jon, Damian and the crew at Southshore have backed us since before we knew how to enter orders in a computer and AWH Tony keeps us up to date with the good music.

The cons? - Crashing Reggie’s truck on the first REAL tour and having to fess up to it years later since I didn’t tell him the truth when I originally returned it to him and knowing all these years he knew the truth. It really sucked and I should have manned it up and told him right away.

What is your company doing to help core shops?

We just do what we’ve done since day one. We are thankful to be a part of skateboarding and will always do what ever we can to help, be a part and give back. Specifically though - we prefer to let our actions speak. To learn more – go to dlxsf.com.