kerryDETH wrote:

looks like a china deck, just like the rest of your products are china. Don't know if it is or not, but it looks like it.

This ^
printing was done in photoshop, or it looks that way..

We are working on a team but more so our decks and the new ramp division of the company. We have some plans that will involve a team on the horizon. We are looking for riders who love the sport, are positive and who back the boards 100% It will take some time but we are patient. You can always submit vids to northwoodsfb@gmail.com. We would love to take a look at them.

I,m intrested on being on the team but if you can pursuade us that your company seems legitimate

The only Chinese boards I have ridden were techdeck wooden ones. They are ok but really flat and non reactive. That was a few years ago.

Peter.A wrote:

I,m intrested on being on the team but if you can pursuade us that your company seems legitimate

Thought you were done with the sponsor shit?

Peter A. What is the doubt? my press? the time and money invested? It is easy to prove something is true when it is.

Northwoods wrote:

Peter A. What is the doubt? my press? the time and money invested? It is easy to prove something is true when it is.

then prove it? make a vid showing a printed finished deck. and your mold and work place and shit..

a vid huh. can i post some pics ive already taken?

well yes if it contains the things i mentioned. i hope i haven't seemed harsh, it's just nowadays finding a legit new company is hard.

^ Yeh post pics and then if legit I'll send you my best vid to watch and see if you want me on team

Dude, no worries, like i said i understand the concern. I want you all to know the company is real and so is my full on passion. It is worth staying up till 5am to make sure you know i aint shady. give me a couple of moments for me to post some stuff on my site to link to.

Billy Mackean wrote:

well yes if it contains the things i mentioned. i hope i haven't seemed harsh, it's just nowadays finding a legit new company is hard.

You thinking of being on the team??

Northwoods wrote:

I "pitch" my boards because I believe in them. The trucks and wheels get the job done. I understand the China assumption but I have to offer them to satisfy trademark regulations.

Wait, am I understanding this right, you are obligated by some trademark regulations to sell china wheels and trucks?

Basically, the wheels are shit, don't help fingerboarding at all, and everyone selling them really isn't a decent company in my books. Its just taking support away from decent fingerboard companies, because people think they're wheels made by actual companies, not just china shit.

Either way I'm still not convinced til I see a picture of this next to a mold and a piece of paper saying today's date on it, and fingerboard hq written on the piece of paper.
Your side pic:
>
China HC deck:

a stack of pressies
rough cut
hand shaping ... thats my hand:)

and finally these were gift boards I made for a design firm out of Denver. Check them out, they are legit. So is Solid Works the $5000 dollar program (not a crack) I purchased to make the press. Suke Lee was my main contact and Fred did the final press setup so I could change it. it is all legitimate. I hope you guys are satisfied that I make these boards along with a small business team right here in house. Most of my methods are secret but you guys were worth the show. Ladies and Gentlemen this is the most legit thing I have ever done. Welcome to Northwoods

The trademark requires that trucks, wheels, griptape and deck all be sold together. They can be sold separately as well but the trademark is for all. Like I said before, when we can afford it we will make our own. The trucks and wheels have already been designed. Im not charging anyone $30 for $10 wheels, I sell them for $10. its the same affordable wheels that some other companies offer. You get what you pay for.

I had a job, I fingerboarded instead, I got another job and skated the cubicle, I got another job and made fingerboards instead. I quit my job. Now riding and making fingerboards is my job.

Okay, I believe you on the decks and I appologise for doubting that beforehand, really. Sorry

But a) please stop double posting, read the rules. Thanks.

b) The wheels are still shit, still available in bulk for like 2 dollars or something, and still make your company look terrible. If you want to have a legit company, don't sell anything but decks. They're not simply 'affordable wheels', but they're terrible things that are actually harming the fingerboard community. And if you want people to take your company seriously you have to care about the community.

And no offence, but knowing how hard it is to make fingerboard trucks decently, I'm sceptical you'll ever come out with a truck. I know the time and effort it took BRR to make their trucks, and then a whole other generation after that before they were perfect, and yea. Unless you're secretly completely rich, I don't see that happening. But by all means, prove me wrong, I'd love to see another purpose designed and made fingerboard truck with an amazing pivot system, wheel system that allows the wheels to roll just on the bearings, and single axle construction. Would be epic I think

^

Kerry, I agree with you. The fingerboard community knows what the wheels are if they know their stuff. If they are just beginning than a $10 bearing wheel is a much better choice than a hollow wobble. I am not rich, in fact all of this has taken every bit of my resources. Have faith now that I have proven myself. I make the decks for myself and anyone else who wants them. With trucks and wheels the complete board is only $5 more than the deck itself. It is something to skate on right out the box. If you dont like the wheels you can throw them away or give them to your little bro. I cant base a trademark on just a deck and our name is important to us as well. In order to operate at this level I HAVE to offer the wheels until I can make and sell the pure roll shielded bearing wheels we have designed. Our bearing supplier has been secured and no, its not China infact it is UK. I am doing what I have to to get the company up and running. Please try to understand there are hoops of legality I have to kickflip through in order to secure our name. I dont sell them anymore expensive than the competition, but I do sell them. My complete sale is $5 cheaper than just the deck itself. Im not here to fool anyone or rip anyone off. I have fingerboarded since before they came on keychains. So you can imagine I have tremendous respect for the sport.

Sorry Kerry I have only made single post, I checked back through and saw no repeats. I try to follow the rules closely.

kerryDETH wrote:

Your side pic:
>
China HC deck:

literally do look exactly the same

Northwoods wrote:

Kerry, I agree with you. The fingerboard community knows what the wheels are if they know their stuff. If they are just beginning than a $10 bearing wheel is a much better choice than a hollow wobble. I am not rich, in fact all of this has taken every bit of my resources. Have faith now that I have proven myself. I make the decks for myself and anyone else who wants them. With trucks and wheels the complete board is only $5 more than the deck itself. It is something to skate on right out the box. If you dont like the wheels you can throw them away or give them to your little bro. I cant base a trademark on just a deck and our name is important to us as well. In order to operate at this level I HAVE to offer the wheels until I can make and sell the pure roll shielded bearing wheels we have designed. Our bearing supplier has been secured and no, its not China infact it is UK. I am doing what I have to to get the company up and running. Please try to understand there are hoops of legality I have to kickflip through in order to secure our name. I dont sell them anymore expensive than the competition, but I do sell them. My complete sale is $5 cheaper than just the deck itself. Im not here to fool anyone or rip anyone off. I have fingerboarded since before they came on keychains. So you can imagine I have tremendous respect for the sport.

Sorry Kerry I have only made single post, I checked back through and saw no repeats. I try to follow the rules closely.

Thankyou for a coherant answer, you explained things I didn't get fully
However two points - A) They are NOT better than tech deck wheels. I performance, yes, but promoting them does soo much harm that overall they're piles of shit. If people want cheap alternatives to winklers, flatface, etc? Bollie wheels, no comply smoothies. They're soo much better than tech deck wheels, and that's the intended middle market for people wanting a setup that isn't tech deck, but isn't full professional.

B) Why bother with all this legal stuff to do with trademarking if it forces you to sell things that will get people to look down on your company? For example I know there are deck companies out there that sell fingerboard decks legitimately, they're paying taxes and stuff, and yet they don't have to sell wheels that suck just to be able to sell decks.

I'm just going to point out how your company looks to the average knowledgeable fingerboarder. They've
-never heard of you before
-see you selling china products
-then read this about legal trademark stuff forcing you to sell china products
-then read you've been fingerboarding for years and years

I'm all up for fingerboarding companies making a living off it, and I'm well aware of the legal issues standing in the way of making a company, but I don't think anyone expects any company in fingerboarding to do that from the start. And if this isn't the start, why are we just hearing about you? Where are your prototypes, and all those other things you'd normally spend a long time making before you dive in like you have. It just comes across overall like you're trying to make money. And don't get me wrong, making money from fingerboarding is great, and obviously people who have companies want to make money, that's one of the main points of running a company. But, it just seems like there's preliminary steps that weren't there, and the vibe doesn't come across 100% right.

I'm really not trying to pick holes in what you're doing so please don't think that, I'm merely writing what I feel, and what I think others here feel too

Kerry,
The trademark does not require me to sell Chinese products. It requires me to sell decks, trucks, bearings, wheels and griptape all in one package. Our priority in developments are restricted to budget. We invested in decks first, now we are working on our ramp division, then wheels and trucks. As far as prototypes go, I have hundreds in a box with the molds that cast them. I gave them as gifts and sold a few locally but they were not perfect. Now our decks meet our specifications and we would like to share with a larger audience. Our website sold just decks for 6 months until our lawyer advised us to sell the remaining products. We are very excited about our boards because they work. They have an amazing feel and are super poppy. We have not misrepresented any of our products. Our wheel description is very honest for consumers. When I first moved up from a techdeck setup, wheels exactly like this made me appreciate a smooth roll and the importance of better wheels.

I have made NO profit from my venture yet we work hard everyday to bring it to the world and when we do it will just be dropped right back into our passion.

We offer amazing decks for $30-35 and if you want it completed it is only $5-10 dollars more for the trucks, wheels, tool and all of the hardware needed. We want riders of all ability to enjoy a nice board and a complete with the high-end wheels would put our boards over $100. We know advanced riders have their own Bollie, flatface etc wheels and our trucks work with those too.
Northwoods is proud of the decks we work so hard on. We believe in our advancements because of all of our research and development.
After reviewing all of the post, my partners and I feel we have done a great job in answering all of your questions about our boards. We have proved ourselves to you as requested. I have addressed all of you wheel concerns. Any further discussion about trademark law or these wheels would only be repetitive.
We are a legit company who has invested everything we have into what we do. We are very excited to be a part of this forum and even more so to bring these decks to the table. Hopefully we are welcome to do so by the admins. We have nothing negative to say about anyone or company. We are following our dreams to make great boards. We are a positive, honest company that is stoked to do what we do.
We will be happy to post our future developments on this site. Northwoods would like to extend our gratitude to the entire community for allowing us to be a part. We love fingerboarding and our decks. I hope we can move past the doubt you once had and on to all the things that we enjoy about fingerboarding.
-J
northwoodsfb.com

Yea, I got that. I was merely surprised at that, and wondered if perhaps there was a copyright you could get that would allow you to sell fingerboard decks on their own, to perhaps not limit you to a situation where you have to sell products that in the oppinion of many fingerboarders are negative, and will get you negative views from potential customers? I don't know if this is possible, but I assume so due to companies out there selling decks and just decks.

And well, if you started locally then I totally appologise for my previous assumtion that you'd just appeared out of nowhere and not made prototypes. Its always hard to build a full picture without ever shred of the picture being presented, so hopefully you can see where I was coming from there.

Well, I hope you make some profit soon if you plan to live off the company, haha. Its okay to make profit, everyone has to make money to live and survive, as long as you keep things fair its all good in my books. Obviously putting money back into company development is also key, but I hope you find a nice balance between those

One tip for the future from someone that's seen soo many companies start and fail? Try to be a little bit more personal in your approach. Fingerboarding is a very interesting community and people hate to see a company as just a company, and not a person behind it. If one thing will get people interested in your company, its showing that you're a person that loves fingerboarding just as much as a company.

All the best for the future, and thankyou for being so helpful and coherent in explaining your company and such. Its rare to find newcomers to the forum who can talk so well, haha. And as admin here, here's a belated welcome to the forum, and I hope you'll enjoy being a part of the community

hey welcome to the forum northwood.

if i may have my say.

you are 36 right? i just think you are a little naive as to what people want...Ive met and know soooo many people who think fingerboarding is the next biggest money earner. thats where the first naivety is.

the second is that what makes you think people will want your products?

i know i can buy china stuff at least 4 times cheaper than you are offering, and anyone who is a seasoned fingerboader will know too. (but we will steer clear of the negative china products bring)

i believe your decks are handmade, or possibly sourced from elsewhere (then tidied)

there are sooooo many companies like yourself. in fact a new one each day. what makes you different? (nothing i can see)..........(sorry to be blunt)

if you were a fingerboarder yourself you wouldn't have come out with this.

its a real sad thing how all these companies are taking away from the true passionate fingerboard companies. i not saying you are not passionate, but i think if you were passionate about fingerboarding and not about making money, your products would be different and your dam name wouldn't have 'wood' in it.

sorry.

this may sound harsh, but if you are really passionate about fingerboarding and the scene and the customers you sell to, you will understand.


***kerry*** can we have the old theme back???

Some deck makers arent about the money.. Personally, I love making things and getting rewarded for it.. That may sound really bad, but yeah. If you actually put effort into something the people want, then you should receive what you deserve. If you did just buy it all from somewhere, that takes away the genuine-ness of it. I like handmade stuff, thats why some companies succeed!