Shipping took ONE DAY from UK to UK, which is obviously insanely good, I mean, shipping couldn't get any better than that unless the person drove to your house and gave it to you. Ross (the owner) always posts things promptly and packages them nicely in bubble mailer and bubble wrap. Both decks (I got them both at the same time in my sponsor pack) came in perfect condition, so no complains there. 10/10
First impressions of the deck (as you may have seen/heard on my unboxing) were soo good. Perfect looking decks, and the purple bottom ply blew me away when I first saw it, its soo nice! Such a nice colour, I fell in love with it. I could tell the holes were perfect, the rounding on the decks was really nice, and the decks were really nicely pressed, so even though it was a 5 ply it wasn't thick at all. The plies are amazingly nice too, purple - walnut - purple - walnut - maple. The shape also looked really nice, from the shape of the kicks to the overall shape of the deck and the concave, nice and mellow, but definitely not mellow to the point of it being hard to use. The concave was also nicely defined for the mellow concave it is, and was perfectly even throughout the deck. Not a single flaw here. 10/10
Craftsmanship of this deck is the most perfect craftsmanship I've seen. I recall the owner spent over a year of making prototypes and decks so he could get 100% perfect decks out to the community, which is something basically no companies except the HUGE professional companies (flatface, berlinwood, lowpro, etc..) have done, and it deserves a huge amount of respect. It all paid off because the final result is batches of perfectly consistent decks which are amazingly well made. Nicely pressed, nicely rounded, really nice lacquer (its not too shiny or thick, and is really strong and hasn't scratched even after seshing concrete, marble, and metal) and perfectly finished with a blosom stamp on top so you know you've got a legitimate, brilliant deck. I'm pretty sure he does all his decks by hand too, so, the fact that he can get this consistent with handmade decks is pretty damn impressive! In terms of setting up the deck, the holes were soo perfectly drilled that it was the easiest deck I've ever set up, it took less time than screwing in trucks has ever taken me before too. 10/10
Performance of this deck is unreal. Beyond good, its made all my tricks a lot easier. I will say that its a very unique shape to use compared to many other decks out there and as such it did take a day of seshing a lot to be fully used to this deck, but thats because I was using something very different previously. Its a 98x30.5 deck, which is probably shorter than almost all decks out there, the closest thing I can think to it is a POP deck. But these are a different feel to anything I've ridden before. The nice low concave that still gives a great board feel, the medium-low kicks which are a perfect height, but most noteworthy in my oppinion is the shape of the kicks. They're not rounded to a 'point', infact they're rounded less than most decks I've seen out there. Which was weird at first, because it was different to what I was used to riding. However, once I got used to the length, which didn't take long as I said, I realised that the non pointed kicks work soo well with the overall shape and they give you a ridiculously large amount of control. The overall length, width, and shape is the perfect combination of control, board feel, and performance in terms of flipping tricks, and catching. The shape of the kicks also helps a LOT with catching tricks, it really makes things like kickflips just suck up into your fingers, which helps with everything from just having a nice style, to getting more consistent flip to grind tricks, especially on rails. 10/10
Overall I've actually tried hard to find a single flaw with this deck, and can find none. It performs amazingly and is seriously something everyone should try. It looks fantastic too. You know you'll get a great deck because as you can see, I have two and both decks are perfectly made and 100% consistent. Its a perfect size that is great for everyone, its not too big or too small. Its also made fingerboarding more fun for me, and has helped me learn a bunch of new tricks. I literally got this board, and after never being able to do switch bigflip tails (and barely even switch bigflips on flat) on my other setups, I learnt them in 1-2 hours of just messing around. I know everyone has preferences, and whilst its wrong to say one preference is right for everyone, I think everyone needs to try these decks. There are a lot of companies out there making great decks, BUT there are very few companies out there making truly perfect, professional decks. Blosom decks most definitely fall into the latter category. 10/10
You'll soon be able to pick them up for $30 (totally worth the money considering all the hard work that goes into these) at Flatface Fingerboards, or you'll be able to get one as of next week (or maybe now, I'm sure you can ask the owner) by PMing 'blosom' on either FBHQ or FFI for £20 shipped :)
www.blosom.co.uk
