Myth, rumor, and innuendo are no way to go through life...
The sole length in mm and the amount of room inside the ski boot do not follow any rules and regulations.
( Including mondopoint, which is a mm measurement that should correlate to the length of the foot against the interior length of the ski boot shell and liner) The comments out here about thin wall, versus normal wall, versus shorter BSL versus longer BSL are not standards or in some cases even real. But it is sure fun to speculate and dream and what if, and just make up your own parameters that you believe the boot manufacturers are actually doing.
Why is it ok to write stuff out here, that is not provable or disprovable on the internet, in a ski shop, with human eyes or computerized scanning eyes. If one more member tells his or her questionable story about what they say they measure and what size boot they ski comfortably in, I am going to pull out all of my hair ( haha, the jokes on you, I am f#*king bald!!! )
Your "downsized", "right sized" boot fits you because it fits you. It does not matter what the box or boot has printed on it, and it does not matter what measured size you think you are!!!!
This brings the argument back to the massive failing of this business or art of boot fitting back to the key premise, which is that there are so few skis shops with a competent boot fitter working there that understands any of what I have written above. And by default, having the knowledge base spewing fiction and speculation into the market is the main reason why so many skiers are skiing in boots that neither match their foot and leg shape, match their ankle range of motion, and match the flex to properly control their skis on the snow.
If it wasn't hard enough to understand this stuff to begin with as an end user that has the boot on your foot, being told half truths by ski shop employees and helpful souls on a ski boot information super highway, like this forum, then does it get any easier when the manufacturers refuse to be realistic about what it takes to build boots that fit properly and could be sold accurately by size, volume, and flex. Using Andy Minks example, does Roxa believe they will leverage themselves into an already chaotic market by building a boot that says it's a 26.5, yet somehow fits him like his 27.5 Head Raptor??? Somewhere between reality and Andy Minks foot lies the truth.
What is my point? My point is that there have been some very interesting comments made out here, and very few points that are made on the factual task of how ski boots are actually designed, manufactured, and delivered into the market. Meaning that there are forces at work in this business that are purely developed on profitability, and gaming the market to increase share.
Other takeaways... There is a very high percentage chance that neither the manufacturer or the ski boot fitter (even with electronic scanning ) is doing anything more than guessing what boot to pull off the shelf and try on your feet. I will go out on a limb and say that there is a higher probability that you are looking at the 20/80 rule versus the 80/20 rule in terms of where this process is being done well. Case in point... The group that is out here on these forums are the aficionado's, the cognoscenti, you are the ones that at some point have made on your own or with the help of your boot fitting spiritual guide the choice to find a ski boot that is the correct size, shape, performance angles and flex to help you be the best skier you can be. You all know how hard it was to get you in the right boot. How many tries? How many grinds and punches? How many after market liners? How many different fitters? How frustrated were you? Now go outside your own experience as an educated seeker of the boot fitting truth, how difficult it must be for the average skier out there that knows a fraction of what you have learned. The way the the suppliers of boots and the hands on fitters of boots treat the average ski consumer is ridiculously low ball and low end, considering how hard it is to perfect the perfect turn in all terrain and all conditions.
Use your feet as the jig, and your mind as the equalizer that gets you off the impossible to fit feet train... and stop obsessing about the what if they only made a boot that does "X" whatever the f@#k "X" is...