this post is completely false. the gear that will be released beginning this august/september is actually 2008/2009 gear. this past season's gear was 2007/2008 gear. also the companies that make the skis you see being used as rental gear, make specific and cheap skis that they sell to mountains/shops to be used specifically for rentals. the leftover 2007/2008 gear you speak of is sold at reduced price in the shops that have it. companies make a specific number of skis to fill the quotas of the shops that stock them, and make a couple hundred or so extra pairs to be used in the warantee deparment. they dont actually have many of las seasons skis left over at the distribution centers of the ski manufacturing companies.
also, if a company makes a ski and the only thing that changes about it is graphics, and they have some leftover, they will put a new topsheet on it if they can. (most cases not possible)