well there has to be some difference to some extent. i've never had a set with speed skin, but it seems that its split 50/50. some people say they stick to the ice while other say its great. The primo on Brian's optik and gnetik lines is great, but there are only 5 color options, then again some people order their custom Brian's set even without the primo to keep the color theme of their pads. Vaughn offers like something almost identical to primo but have it in a lot more color options. warrior basically just makes indents. like its def mostly just marketing but i mean it works. haha