Heelychat, the forum for heelys, the shoes with wheels - View topic

Yeah but then again, Heelys were HUGE when they came out in 2000, but they were consitently getting out of stock or just plain out not very widely available. Then 04/05 hit and they were all over again, hopefully it might just be the same thing, the next gen heelers are probably all just 2 right now, gotta wait 2 more years when theyre 4 and stuff for heelys to hit it big with them Razz

geez i wish kids stayed long term heelers more...

Team Heelys - Midwest Joined: 23 Oct 2006 Posts: 8388607

eh, I didnt see heelys until 2006, Michigans never been big with them though.

Yeah.. for everyone who doesn't know, here's what happened.

The ramp-up was from 00-03, and in 00 they got a lot of popularity because they were, well, new. From the 04-06 time period, a LOT of kids bought Heelys and made HSL their current $100M cash stash. And then those same kids ate shit one too many times, or they got pebbles stuck too many times, or their bearings went to hell and they didn't understand what to do to fix it, or they tried and failed a few times and decided they couldn't do it, or they realized that it would actually take effort, or they got talked out of it by fools, or.. or.. or.

Bottom line is, a lot more kids got FIRST pairs than ever got second.

Of course, this means that the market has changed; all us second-pairers are talking down Fats and talking up Torches and their ilk. Europe is largely unbroken ground, but HSL has to start shifting focus where everyone who will ever wear them has already tried a pair.

Team Heelys - Northeast Joined: 15 Dec 2006 Posts: 1803

I'd like to think that its up to Heelers to transform the activity of Heeling. Thats what TEC has been doing from the beginning.

Do what you love - show that its cool.

no matter how cool we make it look if people cant start doing it anyways if all they can find is shoes with fats

Team Heelys - Northeast Joined: 15 Dec 2006 Posts: 1803

I know .. that's the sad part. I've tried hard to get people @ corp to advertise Megas .. and FIX megas .. but there's only so much I can do.

Sometimes it out of our hands. When things are unclear .. and there isn't something I can do .. I skate.

And Skate.

And Skate.

MDHZ

Here's a thought I just had...

Wait... its gone...

OK, Its back

So how much money would it drop HSL if they offerred a $10 - $20 credit to people who submit videos to them. Open up a target window on the website advertising the ProModel, and if you can do tricks (label it like 360, Footy, etc), Heelys will send you a $10 - $20 credit for the ProModel (if thats still in the works)

If widely promoted (i.e. YouTube), I know there will be quite a few applicants, especially in the older areas, because who can argue with free money for doing something you like?

In my opinion, I believe that HSL has enough money to lose a few grand to perk up sales, and get people doing what they really like.

This could also perk up the market when it comes down to having a larger volume of people who can skate. I was talking to a dude in the mall (early 20's) with a pair of Heelys and I shown him my Evos. He took a valid interest (partially because he was kickin it Atomics...go figure) and I still keep in contact with him, showing him how to do basic flat land work. When he asked if he could buy a pair, I straight up told him to go to eBay, because finding a larger sized Mega/Grind is like finding $1,000 bucks on the ground.

If HSL incorporated some kind of positive propaganda and offered some kind of incentive to the End User, I would have been able to say Yeah, go check out Journeys in June, they will have the Pro Models, and if you have a camera, post a vid of you doing what you know, and they'll send you a $20 dollar coupon for their release.

IDK, I think its a decent idea, at least to toss around to the big wigs at HSL

Joined: 22 Feb 2007 Posts: 1548 Location: Ohio

Joined: 09 Feb 2008 Posts: 31 Location: New Jersey

Joined: 09 Feb 2008 Posts: 31 Location: New Jersey

Does anyone else agree? - Joe

Joined: 22 Feb 2007 Posts: 1548 Location: Ohio

sounds good Smile

kind of hard to be anything like skateboarding though......there's nothing under our feet but a couple of wheels XD

Joined: 03 Jan 2008 Posts: 223 Location: Warshington, USA

Here's me being pragmatic.
The problem is that Heelys, Inc. wants as much money as possible. The biggest market is STILL the first time heelers, i.e. the kids. Kids who only need fats and who want crazy designs. If they thought there was a market for Pro, they'd go after that, but there's not. They're not willing to do what it takes to help CREATE the Pro market, and so that market continues to be very small and niche. It's a catch-22. They won't go for the pro market until it's big, but they won't do what's really needed to make it big.
That's why it's more or less up to heelers to help build the pro market themselves. TEC is doing great in that regards. Hopefully more heelers who start and get good will stick with it as teens and adults.

But without a Mega/Plate style, they are selling WHAT to WHO exactly?

we also need some soapers with us if we want to evolve the street aspect of heeling, i mean soapers can freaking shred about any rail and it could really show heelys are for just about anything

Joined: 22 Feb 2007 Posts: 1548 Location: Ohio