I've been in contact with someone from HSL and i'm not going to say who. I'll tell you they aren't a sales-rep or anything like that. These are the letters >:(

I wrote:
Alex Morris [matrix8967@yahoo.com].

Dear HSL, I greatly appreciate you keeping soap alive and from the brink of utter bankruptcy. My name is Alex Morris and I am in charge of the Soap shoes group on www.facebook.com and the soap xanga www.xanga.com/soaprevolution. I believe I speak for MANY, MANY, soapers when I say we would like Soap to get a little more attention from HSL. I've been doing all I can to advertise Soap shoes at my school and town and state; and I'm not the only one. I'm going to be in my Senior Yearbook for Soaping. Many soapers (including my team "Soap Revolution") would like to see things such as: New shoe Designs, Resurrection of older designs (Artimes/In-stride {I understand there may be patent Issues, and mold/die issues}) Full sole plates (A-side), perhaps removable sole plates, removable plates, etc. I understand sales will have to go up. I understand Economics; supply and demand, nobody knows of soaps, so you don't want to make them as much as heelys. But I'm doing all I can to change that. I am trying to spread the word. Many people are trying to spread the word. I wish I could set up demo's in my state, but I haven't the resources. Please understand where the soap community is coming from.

Thank you for your time,

---Alex

s(he) wrote back:

Alex:



Thanks for your continued interest in Soap. We do still manufacture the “pure” SOAP shoes, but in limited quantities. As you stated, there just isn’t the demand to warrant opening new molds for new grind plates and shoes. Retailers aren’t pushing for the shoes and as a result, we’re not seeing the need to invest more than we currently do. With that said, we have continued to use Soap inspired grind plates in our shoes. If you’re looking for a new look for Soap, take a look at our Heelys Grind Shoe. We continue to put out new shoes with grind plates on a regular basis; they’re just not under the Soap name.



Again, thanks for your continued interest in Soap!

I wrote (after I discovered they had been lying and actually had all the molds/dies):

hello,

I just heard that HSL actually has all the original molds and dies for the plates and shoes from the artemis/in-stride days. :( I'd give anything to have some of those shoes again. Is there anyone I can talk to regarding these shoes. I know I'm just one person, but I'd like to talk to someone about this, to atleast give myself piece of mind.

---Alex

They wrote back (and this is the real pisser):

Alex:



At this time, we do not have any plans to reopen those molds. There is a minimum quantity required in order to make any runs and again there just isn’t the demand out there to warrant doing that. I really will push you towards the Heelys. Again, take the wheel out and just use the grind part of the shoe if you are not interested in learning to use the wheel. The plate is the same or similar, depending on the shoe, to the Soap design and just as functional. We just had a shoot on Friday to capture the tricks that our skaters can do at skate parks and the grinds they’re doing are the same as the grinds for Soap. The skate park manager is a former Soaper and he was impressed with what our skaters can accomplish.



I hope that helps to answer your questions.



Thanks!

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So, tell me what you guys want to say to this person, and I'll email it, un-edited. be professional, but firm. what do you guys think?

---Alex

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