I've had a few Manderson decks in the past and I recall them saying "8.4" on the label. Maybe they changed the sticker/label or the shop i bought from rounded the specs on their own labeling? Either way, my bad if that was wrong info!
I had thought they had changed the shape a few times, but I never really had any of the previous boards besides the two variations I have now / have skated and then passed on to others.
Manderson shape does have a longer tail, which I liked, as well as being closer to 8.5 than 8.3 if we were really getting picky with measurements, but also as others have said, it has a much more full shape overall, so when I sit anything else over it, I can see the corners of the kicks sticking out from under the rounder board on top.
There is also the other 8.4 which is not as wide, oddly enough, which is 8.4 x 32 with 14.25 wb, which are the same overall dimensions, but the board is a hair thinner overall and very much a "regular" shape, so not full at all.
If anything the 8.4 shape would be closer to the 8.38 true width, but I think that would be jumping down a rabbit hole we really don't want to go down here and now. It also has a slightly longer tail than a few others, which again, I thought worked on setups I have had it on in the past.
Now to get back to the original 8.38 x 32.25 with 14.5 wb, I have had more of them than I can count, literally, with way too many more ready to go of that shape, so I am set for the long haul "til the very end" or so it goes. I even found it interesting that as my usual preference of IV stamp and the most mellow versions of any of them, I have been riding any and all stamps with different combos, which I will list rather than add into paragraphs:
- the double drilled or V8 trucks work best on I, II and steeper boards - my DIY V8 Indy trucks, as well as DIY Venture and modified Thunders too, everything brought in a bit but not fully 1/4 each for the most part.
- Thunder T-II also work well on steeper versions for me on ramp / transition, but I do get a bit of ghost pop on park and flat until I am really warmed up, with a more mellow board on T-II being excellent on park and street for my normal skating so far, or the more lazy sessions.
- Indy standards worked great on the most mellow 8.38 boards, for the last five or more years, which has been my go to, but the tails are a bit short for transition / blunt tricks for my liking, but everything else works fine.
- Ace also work well on any of these boards, to bring the wheelbase in and lengthen the kicks slightly, but I don't have any Ace trucks on my 8.38 setups currently.
Overall, the 8.38 has about a 7" nose and a 6.5" tail, even though almost every 8.38 DLX board up on a certain site right now seems to have some sort of incorrect dimensions listed, but I did find one that I would agree with:
https://www.tactics.com/real/team-classic-oval-838-skateboard-deck/whiteSize 8.38
Width (in): 8.38
Length (in): 32.25
Wheelbase (in): 14.5
Nose Length (in): 7.0
Tail Length (in): 6.5
* Note 6.5" tail is the industry norm, so it really is very much on average, as per the 7" nose and you could say even the 32.25 length, with the 14.5 wb being slightly longer than the industry average for that width board, which is closer to 14.38 or 14.375 when comparing a lot of different boards. That is why I shift my back truck in ever so slightly, just to have a slightly longer tail and slightly shorter wheelbase, but I guess that is also a whole other story right there, so should leave it at that and say good night.