July was a pretty status quo month. Nothing went super high, but prices weren’t low either. Lots of stuff went for over a thousand, which is my barometer. Australia is super hot or collecting right now: there’s lots of great decks going that way, and some great collections being put together. I guess the weak dollar is good for something.

Check out eBay Watch for July 2008.

One of the highlights of my trip was getting to skate with House of Neil again. The two of us started Skate and Annoy together, and it was his idea actually. We have a long history together. He had a surprise for me, and when I arrived he presented me with the skateboard he said I was riding the first time he met me.

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I’m in the burbs of Chicago for about a week for my grandmother’s 90th birthday. I didn’t get a chance to get anything scheduled before I left, so the updates from yours truly are going to be infrequent and brief. If any of the other contributors want to stage a coup and step up the posts, now’s the time. What’s the picture relevance? Those are vintage Chicago Trucks, harder to find a decent picture of than I thought. Couldn’t score a close up. Left: Current eBay auction. Right: A Bahne setup with Chicago Trucks via Surfa Sam’s 2005 Australian eBay report.

I’m in Naperville, actually. Since I last visited there is supposedly a new concrete skatepark in addition to downtown’s prefab park. I’m going to check them both out, but let’s face it, I’m not going to hold my breath.

I hate it when I get my skate culture tips from the mainstream media. This is the second one today. Remember the guy who was so into Back to the Future that he fabricated his own movie prop skateboards? Well now he can bid on the real fake hoverboard that was used in Back to the Future II, that is if he’s got at least $30,000! That’s no typo, it’s the actual starting bid. If you don’t have an extra 30k laying around, you can always bid on the more recent and reasonably priced replica from the Good Wood auction. Pics after the jump.

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Collectors are probably bummed, but guys who just want to ride their favorite old boards again will be stoked, as long those old boards are some of these Santa Cruz re-issues slated to ship in August. These images are from SoCal Skateshop. Get in line now, these will likely sell out fast, and then we can all comment on the ridiculous prices the reissues fetch on eBay. Olson is always mentioning how he didn’t get paid by Santa Cruz in interviews. They must have reached an agreement. Also, I think this pushes Duane Peters over the top as the guy with the most simultaneous decks out on different companies, a record that might have been previously held by Hosoi.

This is exactly the kind of thing that I don’t want diluted by the mere presence of a bunch of skateboard comics. It’s a Beetlejuice Magic Slate with a picture of Beeltejuice on a skateboard. What, no coffin shape? Looks like he’s riding switch. It can be yours for a mere $58 ?!?! You can see the whole thing after the jump, but it’s actually smaller than the shot above.

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There’s a documentary on skateboard graphic in production called SK8FACE. The web site was down for a while, I think they got blown out from a mention on the Skateboard Mag. Sure, everyone’s favorite book on skateboard graphics, Disposable has already tackled the subject, but from the trailer it looks like SK8FACE might have more of a 20,000 foot view as opposed to Disposable’s more obsessive compulsive approach. It’s hard to say actually. After watching the first couple seconds of the trailer I was afraid it was just going to be A Wes Humpston tribute film, but there are plenty of other voices in there such as… well there are too many to mention. Notably absent so far are two of the figures who arguably had the biggest impact on skateboard graphics, Vernon Courtlandt Johnson (VCJ) and Jim Phillips. Let’s hope they can get those guys on board. I can’t find any information about who is actually behind this project, or when it’s scheduled to be released, so after you’ve watched the trailer you’ll know as much as me. Yes, they talk about eBay, and speaking of eBay and Disposable, Sean Cliver was supposedly working on a book about collectors or collections or something, but I haven’t heard anything about it lately. UPDATE: The high res trailer at the web site is getting hammered with traffic. There’s a faster loading YouTube version after the jump.

- Thanks to Kvon for the tip.

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eBay is like a yoyo. Prices were high in April, way down in May, but they completely rebounded in June. In a very big way. So let’s see. Tax rebates in April, nothing in May, Government Stimulus Checks in June. Is it really that obvious? Apparently yes. So if my reckoning is right, prices will tank again in July. Note to self, next year sell stuff in April.

Check out: eBay Watch - June 2008

The Tony Hawk Foundation is auctioning off a custom Jeep to raise money for… skateparks! this is for big spenders only. - Thanks to Sarib Singh Khalsa for the tip.

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Well, the boom had to end sometime, and end it did in May. I guess those tax refunds dried up, because deck sales tanked, and when I say tanked, I mean big-time. I only counted seven decks that went for over a thousand dollars in May, and as a regular reader of this column you’ll know that that is low. Not one went even close to $2k. The highest seller this month was a jacket, so that sums it up.

This month’s Baywatch is fueled by Jays Hot potato chips, and by the soothing sounds of Crass, notably The Feeding of the 5000. If you’ve never given Crass a chance, listen to this album. It’s tough going in parts, but the lyrics still pack a punch, even 30 years on. Clash lovers (Randy and Brad) might be offended at times, because the Clash come in for some stick from the fun loving anarchists. Deserved? That’s a matter of opinion, but a lot of what they say is true. Anyway, give it a listen with an open mind.

Check out eBay Watch: May 2008