Anyone else noticed that the vans pro insoles have been declining in quality as of late? They used to be three different gels: Blue for forefoot, Orange for heel, and black everywhere else. Then they changed the colour and got rid of the forefoot gel and kept the heel, and now, its all just one gel? What are they doing? you'd figure vans would try to increase they quality of their shoes to compete with Nike, Adidas, NB# etc...
They were all blue for awhile, but still had different gels. Now I think it's just all one piece. Kind of disappointing, but they're still really good. I love them. Underrated, in my opinion.
All companies do this. They come out with something awesome and wait for everyone to notice and trust the product and start buying them, and then they slowly start cutting cost and making them cheaper. But, because everyone trust's it and it has the hype, they still keep selling and the company has a higher profit margin.
Can't really do this with hardgoods, like boards, trucks, etc. But shoes/clothes?? Yup. Every company does it.
I had a pair of the Stage 4's when they first came out. First run, and they were amazing and lasted forever. I had a pair like a year later and they were still good, but didn't last a month, it seemed like.
Nike does it, Vans does it, everyone does it.