Let's go back to circa 2015 or so. We noticed something at the local shop. All of the DLX boards had the round "size stickers" on them. These stickers all included the width, length, and wheelbase. Well, that is, all but ONE. The blue classic eagle always came with a sticker that ONLY listed width. More often than not, these decks had a "dot" on the top stamp, instead of the roman numeral. We started paying close attention to the dimensions on the blue eagles that were coming in. While the shape was basically the same, the dimensions were all over the place, esp. the wheelbase. It ranged from 14.1, 14.25, 14.38, and if I recall there was even a few 14.5. We surmised that the width-only "size sticker," and the "dot" somehow indicated the DLX did not know, or was not in control, of how these decks were coming out. Production wise, something was certainly off with those decks, at least in terms of dimension consistancy. Around the time AH started listing wheelbase on their web site, is when the blue eagle "stabelized," and we started seeing it arrive with the "size sticker" that included all three dimensions.
Did anyone else notice, or remember this? I had forgotten about it, until a few weeks ago when I saw an 8.28" Mason Silva (Natas graphics). That is supposed to have a 14.1' wheelbase. It didn't. It had a 14.25"...and it also had a "dot" on the top sheet, and not a roman numeral. Memories of the blue eagle incidents then came flooding back...