The thing is Whol3, that as big as you perceive deluxe to be, they are still 100% skater owned and ran, the dudes there are fucking rad and down for skateboarding and doing great things for shops and skaters, marketed or not. Maybe they aren't a few dudes pressing boards in a shop in the middle of nowhere but it doesn't mean they aren't worth giving some money to. I love magenta,traffic,hopps,5 boro,pps etc and all the super under the radar guys too, but I don't just decide someone sucks because they have money to do things and employ a bunch of people.
Maybe fickle boards are great for you , but to a lot of us they might not work. And most importantly we have no connection or something to relate to with this website that has hand drawn graphics. We all love Cardiel,Busenitz,max schaaf,julien,gonz and jim t. They've inspired us for years and consistently done things we back,even if sometimes the product has issues, you overlook it because they have all this other rad shit going on, and everyone is bound to put out something that didn't quite pass the qc.
Product is important, but not the only factor for me. Which is why you see so few blanks posted here. Who/what we ride is just as important as the quality you stand for. Maybe that makes us shallow, I'd like to think we have passion, much like the attitude you bring for what you back. I like being excited about the board I'm riding beyond knowing it is a sound product. Even at 38 years of age, when I see something like the shorebreak baby with frank and julien bombing hills or the Grosso love letters to curbs or Dennis's part in cinematographer, I get excited and want to be a part of what they're doing. It feels good, and like you I want to share it.