The Living Variflex Museum (of Crap)
June 18th, 2008 by Kilwag
A web site called Old School Skateboards (This one is in the U.K.) has a bunch of NOS (New, Old Stock) Variflex skateboards from the 80’s for sale. This guy must have raided a warehouse or possibly been an old distributor or something. For about $70 you can buy a complete board with trucks, wheels, copers and a lapper. The only thing missing are the rails. Sure, these are crap skateboards, but they are 20 year old mint condition crap skateboards! The site doesn’t have the large images presented for the public, so I’ve compiled them. Some are pretty funny.
Check it out. Front wheel wells on all these decks, some of them even have them on the back too. Old School Skateboards says these date from ‘87 to ‘89. I think Variflex made a late push to make a more serious skateboard. These things are selling today for close to the same price they probably sold for when they were made.
First up we have the Wiz, Dead End, Space Junk and Street Lite. It looks like they hired the Nash artist to come up with these graphics. Especially the Dead End. At first I thought the Street Lite was pool lights, then I thought they were actual street lights as seen from below. Then I realized it was a traffic light. Duh. Click to enlarge. My favorite is easily the Space Junk.
Next up is the Air Attack, Beyond Help, Howler, and Wired. I have a vague recollection of the Air Attack, at least that’s how I would picture one of those old 80’s Variflex boards in my head if I had to. It’s funny, because I can rattle off a bunch of specific Nash graphics like Fly Me, Executioner and Kamikazee. I could probably think of a few more if I gave it some time. Variflex boards? I draw a complete blank. The Beyond Help deck looks like a second rate rip off of a Brand-X inspired deck. Click to enlarge.
June 18th, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Did this company ever have it together or did they exist only to be the butt of skateboarding? I remember the “wiz”.
June 18th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
I think they used to be better like in late 70’s early 80’s when Lance Mountain was riding for them. http://www.skateboardgraphics.com/prod.php?id=31&group=16
June 18th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
Variflex was originally a very innovative company.back in the 70’s. Lance Mountain, George Orton, Steve and Mike Hirsch, Al Losi, Eddie Elguera, and Eric Grisham all rode for Variflex.
They also were one of the first companies to make urethane bushings (even before they came out with their trucks.)
June 18th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
wow. Cool info. I wonder what happened to drive things down hill.
June 18th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Clouds ruled…
June 18th, 2008 at 6:14 pm
When skateboarding cooled off in the early eighties they (the Losi family) concentrated on in-line skates. The brand is owned by Bravo nowadays.
June 18th, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Fun history. I skated a Losi skate designs (L.S.D.) in the later 80’s. It was a quality deck.
June 18th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
I think the Losi’s do RC Car parts now.
Yes, Variflex CLouds were cool.
June 18th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
The Variflex trucks (70’s era) were different, they had the reverse kingpin. If you rode those back then, people would always tell you that your trucks were on backwards. Alan Losi still rips. He rides for Scum Skates.
June 19th, 2008 at 5:07 am
The Variflex team was the best team in skating at one point. they had pros like Eddie Elguera, Eric Grisham, Allan Losi, Billy Beauregard, and MIke Hirsch. They were trick based, unlike the slashers from Santa Cruz, so were known as the Varibots, but I still love old footage of those guys. The am team included Lance Mountain and John Lucero.
June 19th, 2008 at 6:50 am
the Howler is sick…I’d rock that today
June 19th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Aaahh, the Wired–30 pounds of crud urethane, aluminum, and balsa! The graphics had these unfinished edges that were hidden by the rails. Despite their super cool logo, Clouds split open in not much time at all.
June 19th, 2008 at 7:54 am
I think the Air Attack is hot.
June 19th, 2008 at 8:32 am
Variflex rocked back in the day…They were one of the first (if not THE first) companies to offer concave decks…I had a concave El Gato then my next board was a flat Duane Peters, since Santa Cruz hadn’t jumped on the concave band wagon yet. That being said, that constructon paper crap that they put on the bottom of their decks back then sucked.
June 19th, 2008 at 9:12 am
For a while it seemed that “Clouds” were synonymous withthe word “bushing” like the words Kleenex and Xerox…
June 19th, 2008 at 10:15 am
“Space Junk?” Too funny!!! The artists put a lot of time into that one!
I remember many of these boards were on sale at the local department store. They were sixty bucks or so. Pure, unadulterated garbage.
My first “board” was a Variflex “Zig-Zag” with those horrible hard plastic wheels that were included on the thirty-five dollar models.
I was eight years old, and I distinctly remember counting all of the change in my piggy bank to see if I could buy a set of the softer wheels which were included on the deluxe model POS’s listed above. For a birthday surprise, I got a real board (Vision “Punkskull” w/Indy’s and Shredders).
June 19th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Does anyone remember Valterra? That awful company stole graphics from the real companies and put it on their Taiwan made, department store crap.
I remember seeing what appeared to be a G&S Billy Ruff (with the Jack/Giant graphics) in an open faced box at the local Kmart. Ahh memories!
June 20th, 2008 at 3:30 am
The Howler shape looks acceptable, in an Alva/Sims pig rip off way… The rest, yuk.
July 25th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
had a variflex board back in the day and i rode the heck out of it it was called an ERIK GRISHAM never seen another one like it have you ???? would like too find one for sale.
July 25th, 2008 at 5:31 pm
I whiz on the Wiz
July 25th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
glen, Eric Grisham was one of the biggest pros of the early 80s. He had a lot of decks out on Variflex, Suregrip International, and then his own company, LSD.
July 25th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
shit, my bad. Strike the LSD portion. I got Grisham confused with Allan Losi in my head for some reason.