eBay Watch: October 2010

OK, like I said last month, October was going to be a difficult one for me. I was on vacation in the UK for 2 weeks, with no access to a computer, so there was a very good chance that there would be no October Baywatch at all. I had already harvested some decks however, so I decided to change the format a little this month just to get something out. First there will be no Bargains section. I didn’t have time to look, and I don’t even know if you all like seeing that section anyway. Also, there will be a minimum of commentary on the decks. That is what takes me the longest, so this month it’s going to be very minimal: make, name of deck and price; that’s it. I know it’s not what you all expect, but it was either this or nothing. Sorry

60s, 70s, early 80s.

First up this month is this Alva Skates “leopard” complete package from 1979.It’s in very good condition and is super bright. It has Trackers and green Sims Snakes. It sold for $575.

Now here’s a Sims Dave Andrecht “Epoxy” from 1981. It’s in NOS condition. Factory grip but never set up. It’s very rare: 1 of 3 out there apparently. It sold for $1,250.

And here’s a Sims Brad Bowman “Digital”. There were 3 versions of this deck. A regular deck, and epoxy one and a fiberglass epoxy version (FE). This is the latter version. The deck appears to be in great condition apart from the stupid enormous Sex Wax sticker across the bottom of the deck. Remove that and you are in because it looks very bright and clean. It has Indys and YoYos. It sold for $408.

Here’s a G&S Fiberflex kicktail model from the late 70s. It is complete with Trackers and unknown wheels. It is very clean as you can see. It sold for $399.

This one is absolutely amazing. It’s a Fiber Craft fiberglass skateboard from 1965. It’s made of laid up fiberglass cloth and resin with a solid steel channel center core. It has clay wheels as you can see. Most boards were a solid color but this one is black with gold flecks. It was sold by the son of the owner of the company, and is mint. It is absolutely amazing and sold for $379.

And here’s a Caster Tom Inouye pool model from 1979. It comes complete with Trackers and Alva conical wheels. It is in good used condition. It sold for $778.

Here’s a Kryptonics Krypstick from 1979. It comes complete with Indy stage IIs and Kryptonics 64mm double conicals. It is all stickered up, but this one looks great like this. It’s super solid with no wear to the nose or tail. It sold for $435.

And here’s another Kryptonics deck. This one is a Micke Alba K-Beam with Trackers and Sims Snakes with Sims Gold Race bearings. The deck is in great condition with no major dings. The only problem is the owner’s name, which he wrote down the middle of the beam for some reason. It’s a great looking complete and it sold for $1,282.

So here’s a beauty, all the way from 1976. It’s a Powell Quicktail aluminum deck along with Gullwing HPG trucks and Super Sport mag wheels with 5 slot aluminum cores. The whole setup is totally mint, and is a total head turner. It sold for $649.

OK, so here’s a Sims Lonnie Toft 8-wheeler from 1978. It comes with 4 Tracker trucks and 8 Sims Mini-Comp wheels. The stickers are all vintage, giving it an authentic 70s feel, especially the old school Pepsi sticker on there! I’m not sure why it has the one rail, because grabbing this beast must have been an exercise in futility! It sold for $912.

OK, so let’s finish this section up with another complete classic from the seventies. It’s a Z-Flex Shogo Kubo Z-Woody from 1977. It comes complete with Trackers and Powerflex 5 wheels. It’s in great shape and sold for $552.

Mid 1980s

Here’s something that you don’t see every day: a seller selling not one but two similar mint decks at the same time. They are Powell Peralta Ray Barbee “Ragdoll” decks from 1989, one is natural and the other is blue/green stain. They are both the third run of the graphic (you can tell by the color of the ragdoll). They sold for $1,000.

Here’s a Barfoot “Pro Concave” team deck from circa 1985 judging by the nose and fishtail. Barfoot is one of those small companies that primarily makes surfboards and snowboards, but does also make some quality skate planks too. They didn’t have any pro riders, but their decks pop up throughout the years, and are known for their quality. This one sold for $100.

Here is a Zorlac Big Boys deck from 1985. It’s in pretty good shape, and the sky blue dip is killer. This deck used to go for big money, but now not so much I guess: it sold for $364.

This is a Powell Peralta Steve Caballero “Dragon on Bearing” deck from 1980. It is the very first Cab graphic, and this is the first version of the deck. It is 6-ply and has the rounded wheel wells, not the boxier square wheel wells of the 7-ply decks. It is the very deck that is featured on the AOS page for this model. It has a lot of wear, but maybe one of the only 6-ply versions of this graphic in existence. It sold for $524.

And here’s a later Powell Peralta Steve Caballero, the “Dragon and Bats” model from 1987. Personally I hate this red on red colorway, but supposedly it is very rare and the price would support that. It is mint and sold for $775.

Now this one’s always a favorite with the hardcore kids. It’s the Alva Bill Danforth “Circle of Skulls”, and this one is NOS in a red woodstain. It has a slight warp through the tail, but basically it displays as near mint. It sold for $465.

Here’s a Dogtown Street model from 1986 in an unusual red dip. It is in mint condition, and I have to admit that it does look absolutely awesome. I love the flat “walljam” nose, perfect for the street tricks of the era. It sold for $812.

I guess demand for vintage Zorlacs just isn’t as high as it once was, because this mini John Gibson “cowskull” only sold for $500. It’s been set up but used very sparingly, and in fact has no griptape on it. It’s in great condition, and the colorway is awesome as well. You never see Zorlac Gibsons in good condition, so the price really surprised me, much like the big Boys deck earlier. Dan Wilkes once owned this deck apparently.

Here’s a Vision Mark Gonzales “Split face” from 1989. It’s mint and flawless in a purple woodstain. The colorway is superb, and if you collect Gonzales decks you won’t find a better version of this graphic. It sold for $1,200.

And here we have a first gen Powell Peralta Tony Hawk deck from 1982. It’s his very first pro graphic as I’m sure you all know. This one has some stress marks and a lot of wear on the tail, but the graphic is all there, and I like the red and gold graphic on the white. It sold for $711.

And talking of Tony Hawk, here’s his later “chicken skull” model from 1987. It is mint in shrink and in a very desirable black, purple and red colorway. How desirable? It sold for $1,650. Personally I think that’s insane for a deck that is always available in one colorway or another, but what do I know.

Here we have an original Hosoi hammerhead from 1986. I don’t know who made this one, but I do know that I love the pale blue dip and yellow sun. It’s a very unusual colorway, and despite the hole drilled through it between the front truck holes, it sold for $240.

I tell you what; just by looking at the pictures of this monster I can imagine how much it weighed! It’s a freaking tank! It’s a Variflex Lance Mountain “Knight” from 1983, complete with first gen Indys (plus copers) and Powell Peralta street cubics. It has rails and a lapper and even has double riser pads front and back. It’s in pretty rough shape as you can see, with some delamination and a lot of wear and tear, but the graphic is bright and all there, and $462 seems like a fair price. I bet the shipping was expensive!

And talking of completes here’s a Tracker Lester Kasai “Splat” deck, complete with yellow Gullwings and blue Variflex wheels. The lime green colorway is superb, with the blue and yellow really contrasting beautifully. It’s by far my favorite colorway for this deck. The seller did a good job of keeping the color scheme consistent, with the trucks, wheels and plastics all matching. It sold for $475.

Here’s a SMA Jesse Martinez “Handshake” from 1988. It’s on the natural wood, which allows the vivid pinks, yellows and greens to really pop. Great colorway and a great shape too. This is an impressive looking plank, and it sold for $600.

Here’s another Zorlac, but this one is a Metallica deck from 1989. It’s actually a great looking deck. It looks like it has a deep concave (for the time), and the pointy nose and side flares are a nice touch. The red dip is nice and the overall colorway is tight. The quality of the screen-printing is superb because there is a lot of detail around the skull and it looks to be perfect. It sold for $699.

Here’s a lime green Powell Peralta Rodney Mullen “Chess” complete from 1984. It comes complete with Indys and Slimeballs, which are far too big for this freestyle classic. They give it the look of a mountain board or something! The colorway is sublime, and it’s in really good used condition. It sold for $1,200.

Here’s one of those Santa Cruz team decks that have become really collectible. There is the Oops series and the Bullet series, and this, the “Psychotic” from 1986. This is the only colorway, and I assume that it was some kind of budget deck or a last minute re-graphic after an existing pro left the team or something. The deck is in great used shape, and it comes complete with Gullwings and Sims B-52 wheels. It sold for $500.

This is my deck of the month. It’s an Alva Eddie Reategui “Warrior” deck from 1988 in a ridiculous blue and lime green airbrushed wavy colorway. The Alva fades are awesome, but my favorites are the swirls like this or the splatter decks that Alva also made. It’s like the artists had total free reign and did whatever they liked at Alva, and I really like that. This is awesome. $480.

I think I showed a black Sims Steve Rocco “Streetstyle” from 1987 last month, and here’s another, this time in hot pink. It’s NOS, and has factory grip but has never been mounted. This thing is super bright, but graphically looks very dated for 1987. It sold for $352.

And here’s another Steve Rocco, but this one is from SMA. It’s only a couple of year later than the previous deck, but is light year removed graphically. This was from the Rocco division of SMA, shortly before he called it World Industries and was one of the first. It’s a very intricate graphic and it looks great on the natural wood. It’s a very nice looking deck and it sold for $800.

I’ve featured this deck a lot recently so this will be the last time for a while. It’s a Sims Buck Smith “Sun and Moon” from 1987, and despite Buck not being a household name, it has become a very high priced deck. This one in the purple woodstain and neon graphics sold for a very respectable $700.

Here’s a Suicidal Tendencies “Possessed to Skate” deck from 1986. It’s been well used and abused, and at one point had one of those ridiculous tail domes on there as well as a nose guard. The riser pads have left their mark, and there are wheel burn marks and general wear and tear scratches etc., just as would expect from a deck that was well skated 25 years ago. I mention this because some had questioned if this was a reissue or not: it clearly is not. It sold for $500.

And here’s another Santa Cruz team deck, this being the Oops IV, or “Tramp” deck. It’s NOS and in a natural colorway. These team decks have become very collectible like I said about the Psychotic above, and this one sold for $831.

Aah yes, the Powell Peralta ratbones deck. It’s simple, classic and timeless. This one is in a silver dip (I think, although it could be white. It’s tough to tell from the pictures) with red and black bones. It’s got factory grip and has been drilled for nose and tailbone but appears to have been hardly ridden at all. The graphic is perfect, and this is a great example of this deck. It sold for $750. I had one. It was blue. It was the first deck I bought when I moved to the USA permanently in 1985, so it has a special place in my heart.

OK, so let’s finish this section up with another Powell Peralta classic. This is the Per Welinder “Nordic Skull”, but this is the freestyle deck, not the more commonly seen street deck. It’s in NOS condition and in a great looking blue dip with red and white graphics. It’s a true grail for many a collector, and it sold for $415.

90s-present day

Here we have a Blind Mark Gonzales “Gene Simmons Fishcar” from 1991. It appears to be in a strange orange woodstain, and is in mint condition. The shape is more 80s than 90s, but the graphic is minimal and is more 90s, so it’s an interesting mix. It sold for $800.

Here’s an interesting auction. It’s for a NOS World Industries Shiloh Greathouse “Cleopatra” deck from 1994, along with the original artwork for it, from artist Daniel Dunphy. You don’t often see a combination like this, and it sold for $600.

Here’s a Blind Jason Lee “Support America” deck from 1991. The idea for the graphic came from the scene in Video Days where Jason, Gonz and Mariano join a “Support America” parade when the US was going into the first Gulf War. It has some scratches and cracks in the paint, but is in overall great condition. It sold for $408.

So this one really needs no introduction. It’s a 101 Natas Kaupas “Boom!” deck from 1991. It “commemorates” the Challenger disaster, much as a bad joke does, but is truly a sign of the times. It’s a highly desirable deck, and they don’t come much cleaner than this. It just has some minor scuffs but has never been set up or ridden. It sold for $1,925.

Here’s New Deal Danny Sargent “Vaughn Bode” slick deck from 1992. Apparently this one used to hang in the New Deal offices, so it’s never set up, mint condition etc. It’s not my cup of tea, but some love it because it sold for $750.

Assorted Crap

Here’s a set of first gen Kryptonics Star Trac wheels from late 1976. They are red 70mm with the original bearings. They have been used but only lightly because the edges are still crisp and the raised lettering is all there. They are a piece of history and sold for $403.

And here’s another set of Kryptonics wheels. These are from a few years later, being the conical cored CX66 model. These are mint, and are 70mm greens, meaning they were the hardest durometer. They sold for $647.

So for the younger readers out there, there was a time in skating before the street ollie. If you wanted the board to rise with you into the air, you either had to grab it with hands or toes, or use a contraption called Sky Hooks. They bolted onto the deck and were hooks that enabled you to jump and bring your board up with you. Well here’s a mint set, still in the package. So open them up and mount them and do some helicopters like it is1978 all over again! They sold for $76.

I don’t know what’s more impressive here, the Stroker trucks or the enormous unknown wheels that are attached to them! The Strokers are dirty and used, but are still all there. Imagine the weight of the complete that these were attached to! They sold for $667.

And finally this month we have this vintage Santa Cruz Screaming Hand hooded sweatshirt. It’s NOS from a closed out bike shop’s inventory, you know the kind of place that collector’s have wet dreams about! Well I bet they didn’t expect this old size medium red sweatshirt to fetch $494 at auction but it did. Amazing really.

See ya next month.

-Neil