Boy, it seems like over the last year I'm hearing more and more complaints about issues with Jackson's 2000 line. The Duraguard is a bust, no one I know likes it, and a bunch of people are opting to get other brands instead of anything in the 2000 line. The men's boots are awful looking, and the latest I heard about the plastic covering over the women's boots is that it YELLOWS after a few months! Glad I bought my Debuts before they started using it, I wouldn't buy them now.
I have heard about the change of the last they use for them, I know the current last is much more snug than what they used to have. It's been an issue for me but didn't realize it's been a problem for other people too.
Then there's the fusion sole. I know they used to be LCL before. I know LOTS of people who hate the fusion sole, specifically the heel. Something about the height or pitch is too much, it's much more exaggerated than the old heel used to be.
Mark, if you or anyone else from Jackson is reading this, please try to convince TPTB that they are going in the wrong direction with changes to the 2000 line. They're going to start seeing reduced sales because of it.
The only change that seems negligible is making the boot from microfiber instead of leather. But boy, every other update to that line seems to be really unpopular. I notice that none of those updates have made it to the 5000 series, hmm.