can one of you nerds (non-derogatory) break down the differences between krooked's regular 8.25 x 32 shape (14.38 wheelbase) and the manderson shape? i'm mostly looking for something with a 14.25 wheelbase that's a little bigger than the 8.25 shape but i'm afraid the nose and tail will be too much to get used to
The 8.25 x 32 with 14.38 wb is used across all DLX brands and was at one point the most common board of all in the whole range. It is often described as the best of everything and pairs well with whatever trucks, but that is down to personal opinion more than anything.
I think people have said the Manderson shape - 8.38 x 32 with 14.25 wb is closer to 8.5 and very squared in shape.
One you might like to look for is the generic DLX shape 8.4 x 32 with 14.25 wb, most commonly used on Antihero decks, but occasionally on other DLX boards too. It is definitely less than the 8.5 and even less than the usual 8.38 boards, of which I have a lot of, being my usual go to nowdays. I skated a few of the 8.4 boards when I went up from the 8.125, which also had 32 length and 14.25 wb, so it was a good in between for me.
To look at the 8.25 Full SE, which is also 32 long with 14.25 wb, you might find that one nice as well, but may be a little harder to get than some, eg two currently out from DLX catalogs, but sometimes there are no new ones in any drops for that period.
Lastly, the 8.5 x 31.8 with 14.25 wb is anything but 8.5 wide, as many people have pointed out, so if you did want a bit wider board with a 14.25 wb, see if you can find one of these and compare it to whatever else there is in 8.25 in the same shop and you might even be surprised that it might work better than you think.
Comparison of Manderson and 8.4 shapes here in this post from a while back in this thread too (page 53):
https://www.slapmagazine.com/index.php?topic=85076.msg3844226;topicseen#msg3844226