I would touch one for sure and demo one and buy them used - but if it's going to be a boutique brand I buy new from I'd rather support a company like Praxis than a Chinese manufacturer.
Thanks to this thread I just purchased my first Praxis skis tonight. I've been waiting over a year for the new Rustler 11's go on sale in my size and I've never seen it happen. So I might as well give my money to Praxis instead and have a beauty pair of skis I can mount on a wall when they are done.