Well. Let's see.
@Alexzn and I have not demoed them. But let's delve further into why the visceral reaction to something we haven't demoed.
Kastle is a boutique premium ski brand so messing with a cult classic that I would argue is an enormous part of the brands very identity is frought with peril in a market that is already fully saturated. Yeah, I guess Kastle wasn't making much money. And perhaps they thought hey, let's take our most popular model and make it a bit more accessible to see if we can boost sales while also adding a bunch of lower priced models to a boutique premium brand. Oh, and move all production to a lower cost country while we are at it.
But they risk everything by doing this. There was already a good debate by Kastle enthusiasts about the wisdom of adding lower priced models made in the Czech Republic after the brand re-emerged spending a number of years as a premium boutique. But now they seriously mess with their cult classic as well that was a huge part of the company's very identity?
Once a large ski brand loses its mojo it is damn hard to get back. K2 anyone? Who just happened to move their production to China and totally mess up up a brand that was built on being American. And they are still struggling to regain their lost glory and buzz ever since as much as some like the new mindbender series. K2 may find simply building a very good ski alone is not enough to get their lost mojo back given how saturated the ski industry already is.
Well, guess what? Wasn't a decent part of Kastle's branding that it was made in Austria? But then you take the cult classic and seriously change the design? And in a way that reduces the top end that gave that ski the cult following in the first place? So no, we have not been on the ski. But there is plenty here that would have us very understandably concerned. And I have a feeling their plan to really boost sales with all these changes better work well, because otherwise I see a good chance that it actually completely destroys the brand. So yeah, maybe we gotta now go to Augment to try and get what the MX88 was when we replace our skis. And meanwhile Kastle risks destroying their brand completely.