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The Wilson Shock FX may be entering its waning days. With the market success by the All-Star System 7 hockey style mask, and the follow-on effort of Easton to produce the Mako and M-line of shaped masks, Rawlings and Wilson are now forced to reformulate their own lineup. Rawlings significantly (and finally) updated their HSMs, starting with the Pro Preferred. Wilson continued on with their Shock FX, but its clunky shape, relatively complex spring-suspension, and Wilson's unsympathetic customer service, it saw only limited use in the High School and College ranks in comparison to the All-Stars and Eastons. No Major League catchers used it, and only a handful of Major League Umpires ever did (Gary Cederstrom, famously). Instead of trying to improve it, Wilson has instead developed an all-new, shaped WTA5700 Pro Stock hockey style mask in the hopes its looks and price point will gain the attention of high school and college programs. That's not to say that the Shock FX is, or ever was, an inferior model; it is more to say that Wilson abandoned it and chose not to further develop or improve it, or even to support existing models. It is this last point that's got my attention. I recently received a Shock FX in decent, but used, shape. The primary pads (forehead and chin) were completely worn out, every vent hole was dirty with the dust of hundreds of games in the desert heat, and the cage had a pair of pretty significant dents to it. Besides this, the cage's paint job (when will companies learn that paint doesn't "stick" to steel??) has flaked off, and the beginnings of rust are taking hold. So, I stripped all the parts off it, cleaned everything, sanitized the inner pads of the shell, changed out the primary pads for a brand new kit, and soaked all hardware in mineral oil to recondition them (they will be thoroughly dried before I put them back). Of major note, though, is I will be sending the cage off to Tony at Mask-It to have the dents knocked back out, the cage re-trued, and then powder coated a spiffy new color. When the cage returns, remount it with the reconditioned hardware and voilá, we'll have a Shock FX, back to good-as-new. So... why can't Wilson take care of their gear like this, or, in lieu of that, allow us to buy parts (replacement cages) so as to do it ourselves??