Shipping was really quick, around a week, which was really good considering it was the christmas shipping period, and all post, especially international, is super slow. It came in a bubble mailer with loads of stickers, and was nicely wrapped up and arrived in perfect condition. 10/10
First impressions of the deck, I was stoked on how nice it looked! The split ply is really well done, and I'd remember seeing it was one of the pictured ones when the splits were announced a while back, so getting one that I thought looked awesome was great! The middle plies are just as beautiful, I don't know what one of the woods are called but it literally looks like ice, its probably the most beautiful middle plies I've ever seen. Everything looked great really. 10/10
Craftsmanship of this deck is pretty impressive. The split ply has no holes in it, and whilst its not the most technical split I've ever seen, its simplicity makes it look great, and its a really nice deck. The shape is well pressed and defined the whole way through, rounding, holes, everything, are perfect. Setup was a breeze too, Mike has been making decks for years so you know you're getting a flawless deck if you buy one. 10/10
Performance of this deck is good. Not amazing, and for a few reasons that I'll go into. Firstly, the pop just doesn't seem perfect. Its really poppy, snaps up nicely and gets a good height on all tricks, and the concave helps you catch them. However it just didn't seem as responsive as the best decks I've tried, and I don't really know why. It was only the teeniest bit, and might just be that I wasn't used to the shape. Which brings me to my next point, I think these decks are too long. Long decks aren't always bad, but I think Flatface decks would be just that little bit more perfect if he shortened the wheelbase and took that length from the deck. Make it a 99 and cut 3mm from the wheelbase or something like that - it'd be amazing. I find a wheelbase around the length of a Berlinwood is perfect, and longer seems to be a stretch on the fingers for some tricks. And I have long fingers, so I can only imagine those with shorter fingers would even moreso find this a problem. However I did get used to the length quickly, and this deck is a really nice deck to use. A nice width, 31mm, and once you're used to it you can get all your tricks on it really easily. However something felt like.. 5% worse than the best decks I've tried. 9/10
Overall I don't really know what makes this not a perfect deck for me, because craftsmanship is perfect, its a nice shape, and looks beautiful too. The length isn't as much of an issue once you're used to it, but perhaps you're never truely used to something that isn't your preference, and thus I felt it wasn't as perfect as what I'm used to. Still, I'm really splitting hairs, and I'm sure a lot of people actually like longer decks as much as people like shorter decks, so if you're into something like that, you really cant go wrong with these. For those who've only tried the g12, these are a total step up from those with a concave that doesn't make it too deep, just adds the level of board control I think g12s lacked a bit. They're not a deck for everyone, but neither is anything really, and if you're looking to try something new these are definitely worth picking up - split ply or not. 9.5/10
Go check these on Flatface here :)
