Team Decks vs Pro Models: What You're Actually Buying

Same wood, different painting. At any real skate company, the team deck and the pro model come off the same press with the same construction - the differences are the graphic, the price, and where the money goes.

What a pro model is

A deck carrying a specific skater's name and graphic, usually in that skater's preferred shape and width. Part of the price is a royalty to the rider - buying a pro model is the most direct way skateboarding pays its skaters. If a pro's skating speaks to you, ride their board.

What a team deck is

The brand's graphic instead of a rider's - same construction, a few dollars less. It is the honest budget answer from real companies, and completely different from a cheap unbranded blank: the press is what you are paying for, and the press is identical.

How the brands handle it

Baker, Deathwish, and most established houses run exactly this two-tier system. So does Opera: the deck wall carries pro models from Kieran Woolley, Sam Beckett, Nassim Lachhab and the rest of the team alongside brand-graphic boards - every one pressed on the same EX7 construction, 7-ply North American maple, one board at a time.

Which to buy

Pro model if a rider's skating or shape earns it; team deck if the budget is the deciding vote. Either way you are riding the same wood - which is the entire point. Order direct, or let your local shop weigh in.