Ebay Watch: May 2013

Nere it is, eBayWatch May 2013

60s, 70s, very early 80s.

First up this in the 70s section this month is this Powell Peralta ‘Beamer’ team board from 1979. It comes complete with Trackers and Powell Bones Mini Cubics. It’s in very good used condition: the orange is still loud and vibrant and the pizza-grip is pretty clean. This is very solid all around, and a very rare deck. It sold for $1,800.

And here we have a Dogtown Jim Muir ‘Triplane’, again from 1979. This comes complete with Indy Stage IIs with Cloud bushings and Alva Conicals. This deck still had the full top logo covered with clear grip tape, but was the last Dogtown deck to have that I think, and was actually Dogtown’s last deck before the boom of 1984 started and Dogtown was reborn. This historic specimen sold for $700.

In the 70s section you might have noticed that I like to show one or two cheaper, toy-store type boards, just to show how huge and mainstream skating was in the 70s. This is a Hang Ten ‘Sport Board’ from 1975, and is absolutely minty fresh. It has Chicago trucks, and brand new looking Roller Sports Mark IV wheels! This thing looks like it came out of a time machine, that’s how clean it is! It would look great in any collection, seriously. Maybe not hanging, but on a shelf? It sold for $305 on 12 bids.

Well holy shit! Here we have a Santa Cruz Steve Olson ‘Checkerboard w/ Stripe’ from 1982. It’s in NOs condition, never gripped or mounted, but it does have some storage marks, and does have the red screen blemish on the right top of the stripe. It was probably a factory second? Anyway, I don’t think that really matters, because this is an absolutely awesome looking deck. And the fact that it sold for only $900 seems criminal to me. I would have guessed closer to 2 grand in this condition.

And here we have the obligatory Kryptonics Steve Alba ‘K-Beam’ from 1979! It comes complete with Indys and Sims ÔThe Wheel’ wheels. It’s in decent used condition, although he grip is pretty dirty and it does have some nose and tail wear. It’s still a desirable deck with collectors, even in this condition though. It sold for $1,050.

And here we have a Dogtown Shogo Kubo ‘Airbeam’ from 1979. Much like the Steve Alba deck above it featured a new kind of construction to try and make the deck lighter as they approached 11′ wide. The Airbeam featured hollow channels molded into the bottom of the board. This one is in good used condition, and either the top grip has been removed or it has been very well cleaned, because normally you can’t see the top graphic as well as this. It went for $875.

And finally from the glorious 70s this month we have this undrilled Sims Lonnie Toft ‘Eight-wheeler’ from 1978, although in this condition it’s a no-wheeler! Obviously it’s NOS, and it is a great historical piece, although a little dull to the average eye. Actually, it’s dull to this eye too! It’s basically a big fat plank of wood with a red mark in the middle! Just wait till you tell your friends that this piece of lumberyard scrap cost you $2,000! And how exactly would you hang this? AnywaysÉ

Mid 1980s

So first up in the 80s section this month we have this very unusual Uncle Wiggley Brad Smith from 1988ish. Apparently Brad wasn’t a professional, this was a sponsored am model! This one appears to be NOS, but it’s tough to know because all the seller says is ‘Redish pink board’. Hmm. Maybe this whole auction is a scam or some kind of statement. It sold for $1.600 but I’m not totally sold on the legitimacy of this auction. It is rare though: I’ve never seen one before.

Here we have a Santa Cruz ‘Bullet’ team deck from 1986. This one is NOS, never gripped or mounted. I’ve always loved the simplicity and the colorway of this one. For a cheap, throwaway graphic for a team deck it works beautifully. It sold for $350.

And here we have a Zorlac John Gibson ‘cow skull’ from 1985. It’s in good used condition. The tail shows some wear, but basically the rails and tail plastics really saved the graphic here! This is the full size model, which is nice; normally you see the mini model on eBay. The pale blue and red colorway is simple but effective, and overall this is a very solid used deck that will display beautifully. It sold for $300.

Here we have one that has exploded in value! It’s the Santa Cruz Claus Grabke ‘Holding back Time’ model from 1989. The deck is mint but not in shrink. This deck used to be in stock at all of the online old-school stores for $99, but about 5 years ago they started to disappear, and now it has catapulted in value. The same goes for the Grabke ‘All Around’ model with its goofy clock graphic. Now Grabke’s of any kind are highly sought after. This one is actually a green stain even though it looks natural in the photo. It sold for $596 on 7 bids.

Now here we have a Santa Cruz Jeff Grosso ‘Toybox’ deck from 1987! This one is mint in shrink, and in a wonderful bright blue dip. The graphic is super detailed and very colorful, and looks awesome on the bright background dip. Overall this might be the cleanest Grosso Toybox that I’ve ever seen, but it didn’t go cheap. It’s an amazing looking piece and it sold for $2,750 on 28 bids.

Let’s go from the sublime to the ridiculous! Here we have a JFA ‘Don Lincoln’ team deck from 1986. This one is NOS, but has some dings on the edges. Never been gripped or setup. Now I’m not exactly sure what color it is. It could be white dip that has yellowed and been shot badly. Or it could be a cream. I do like the lime green and lilac leaves and flowers though. The shape is the hammerhead taken to it’s bluntest extreme, and although I was never a huge JFA fan, I have to admit that this would look pretty neat hanging on the wall. Maybe mounted next to their first 7′ (which I do have). It’s a highly unusual looking deck and it sold for $338 on 23 bids.

Here we have a Sims Lester Kasai ‘Splat’, his first graphic from 1983. This one comes complete with blue Tracker trucks and Sims ‘The Wheel II’ wheels. It is in very good used condition, and the colorway for this one is truly outstanding. The bright lime green dip is a great base color, and the blue, red and yellow of the main graphic totally scream off of it! I would removed the white short ribs and tailbone, but I’d leave the blue rails and the trucks etc. It is an awesome complete. Kudos to the buyer and seller! With some cleaning this would display beautifully. It sold for $555 on 10 bids. .

Here we have a Powell Peralta Lance Mountain ‘Future Primitive’ from 1987. This one is mint in shrink, seven ply, full size, and in a vibrant pink dip. Basically everything that your average Lance Mountain collector would require! Well not everything. It’s not the dragon top, doesn’t have wheel wells, and the blue type on the pink doesn’t really work for me, I much prefer the gold lettering. But hey, this probably made somebody’s year! This one went for $2,026 on 37 bids.

This is a SMA Natas Kaupas ‘Panther II’ from 1987. It comes complete with black Thunders and City Streets wheels. This appears to be a true SMA Natas II,. It has the gradation in the leaves and front wheel wells. That makes it VERY rare, and the black dip looks great, although the main graphic appears to be missing something! It’s also in VERY good condition. This is a deck that collectors are finally starting to recognize as being very collectible, because this one sold for $1,490 on a Buy It Now after 26 minutes!!

And here we have a SMA (Santa Cruz) Natas Kaupas ‘Panther III’ from 1988. The deck is NOS, never setup or gripped, and has been signed multiple times by Jim. The yellow and green colorway is nice, and this deck appeared to cause a frenzy of interest amongst freestylers in Europe for some reason! It sold for $1,925 on 42 bids.

Here we have a Santa Cruz Corey O’Brien ‘Purgatory’ from 1990. It’s NOS, never been gripped or mounted. The red and black is kid of a dull colorway for this graphic, it’s very flat and uninspired. Still, the skeleton graphic is very well executed, and close up it looks fantastic. It just looks too monochromatic to ever be considered a masterpiece like his ‘Reaper’ deck was. This graphic is shooting up in value however: this sold for $760 on 12 bids.

And here we have the much better known Corey O’Brien deck, the Santa Cruz ‘Reaper’ from 1988. This one is NOS, never gripped or mounted. It’s in an excellent olive stain with the reaper wearing a blue cowl. The colors really pop and it is a very impressive plank. It sold for $1,491 on 25 bids.

Here’s a Santa Cruz Rob Roskopp ‘Target 4’ from 1987. It’s in great used condition, and the colorway on this one is just awesome. The teal-blue dip is eye-catching in itself, but add the yellow and red of the main graphic and you have a real winner! I never realized before that the monster is a robot in this version of the graphic, but by the fifth version it’s a straight on monster again. It sold for $355.

Here we have a deck that I’ve never seen before. It’s an Airbourne Steve Schneer ‘Tuck Knee’ from 1988. It’s NOS, never mounted or gripped, and is in a black dip. It’s not the best graphic in the world by any means, but if you wanted this deck, this is by far the best colorway. The white ghost really pops off the black dip, and the red eyes and yellow deck are a nice touch. It sold for $325 on 14 bids.

Now here’s a beauty. It’s a Lucero Ben Schroeder ‘Dummy’ from 1990. Yes, Lucero: he hadn’t named his company Black Label as of yet! It’s NOS, never gripped or mounted, and in a quiet excellent deep green stain. The graphic features the typical Schroeder crash test dummy, which has featured in many of his graphics throughout the years. It sold for $700 on 42 bids.

Here’s a Powell Peralta ‘Skull & Sword’ team deck from 1987. It’s mint in shrink, and is the XT Boneite model. The colorway is superb, although I always thought that the main graphic should have been far bigger here. It gets lost in the skeleton background. It’s still a great looking deck though, and it sold for $1,681 on 27 bids.

Here we have a Zorlac Scott Stanton ‘Clown’ deck from 1990. It’s in good used condition with no major dings to the graphic or deck at all. The deep pink stain is very attractive, and the rest of the pale graphic works well on that darker background. It sold for $500 on 11 bids.

Here we have a Dogtown ÔStonefish’ team deck from 1985. It comes complete with white Trackers and PP Ratbones. The deck is in excellent used condition, and actually it doesn’t look like it’s actually been ridden at all. Maybe a scoot around the skateshop! It’s a VERY solid looking early 80s deck complete, and the flat black is totally classic. It sold for $405 on 11 bids.

Here we have a true rare deck. It’s the Vision ‘Street Sweeper’ deck from 1982, as shown in Disposable on p. 238. It’s NOS, never mounted or gripped, and from the very early anonymous years at Vision, before Gator and his swirl allowed them to burst into the public eye. It sold for $900 on 26 bids.

And here we have a real beauty. It’s a Tracker Dan Wilkes ‘Dino Egg Plant’ from 1986. It’s NOS, never mounted or gripped. The colorway is truly exceptional. The black dip and green and yellow main graphic is amazing, making this one a real head-turner. Guaranteed to cause envy when mounted on the wall. It sold for $405 on 12 bids.

And finally from the 80s this month we have this Deathbox Pete Dossett ‘Mr. Punch’ deck from 1989. It’s in very good used condition, and basically would display as NOS. The graphic features an evil Mr. Punch, star of the Punch and Judy shows that would scare the fuck out of me as a kid. I don’t really remember too much, except from Mr. Punch was always hitting his wife over the head with the club, was bing chased by a dog, and there was police and sausages involved in the story somewhere too! Really messed up shit. Anyway, I love this deck, and am sick as a parrot that I missed it. This sold for $394. Don’t know Deathbox? They were an English company that would later morph into Flip.

90s-present day

Just like last month we have some REALLY good stuff in the 90s section this month. In fact, 90s decks seem to be where the biggest jumps in value are coming. It seems to me that 80s decks have plateaued, and prices are actually falling on many. But the rare 90s decks are really starting to come strong. Maybe it’s because skaters who started in the 90s are starting to get well paying jobs and getting into the collecting market. Or maybe some collectors simply have everything they were looking for from the 80s. Either way, 90s decks are exploding.

First up in the 90s section this month we have this Alien Workshop ‘Visitor’ team deck from 1992. It’s NOS: never gripped or mounted. I like the natural wood on this one; it’s simple yet cool. The huge Stance thing isn’t stuck on. I guess the seller does that so that others don’t steal his images to post their own auctions. Or something like that. Seems bloody stupid to me because it mars the appearance of the deck and might affect the number of casual bidders. It sold for $385 on 9 bids.

And here we have a Bitch Skateboards ‘Drive By’ team deck from 1994. Bitch was an offshoot of World Industries I believe, founded by Sal Rocco with the sole purpose of attacking Girl skateboards. Most of its graphics made fun of team members who’d left World to go to Girl, which is awfully ironic considering how World started by stealing its team from other companies. This one shows the Bitch team killing a Girl team member who’s tagging a wall. Fucking ludicrous really when you really consider the sentiment, but that was the 90s for you. This one is mint in shrink and it sold for $600.

Here we have a true grail. It’s a Blind Jason Lee ‘Bowie’ from 1992. The deck is NOS, never mounted or gripped. The yellow stain is really nice, and the Bowie graphic from the Aladdin Sane album cover is brilliant. It’s one of my favorite decks from any era, but I’ll probably only ever own the C&D reissueÉ Any road up, this deck sold for $2,485 on 34 bids.

I swear, every time I see this deck I like it more and more. The detail and intricacy of the graphic is simply astounding. Powell might have had some dead wood, but they’re screeners certainly knew what the fuck they were doing! This is the Powell Peralta Nicky Guerrero ‘Time Tripper’ from 1992. The deck is NOS, never mounted or gripped, but it dies have 2 Powell stickers on it. They should come off easily though. The dark teal stain is nice, and the gold main graphic is awesome. It sold for $668 on 27 bids.

And from the same time period (1991-1992) we have this New Deal Neal Hendrix. It’s NOS, never mounted or gripped. It perfectly illustrates some of the differences between the old guard (Powell, as shown above) and the new upstart companies. It has a very simple, almost minimalist graphic that doesn’t use traditional graphic placement. Just like they were doing with their t-shirts at the time. The main graphic will be hidden under the trucks, making it look like a blank when skated. The top graphic is offset right to the edge and sideways too. It looks like a very functional shape too. It sold for $610 on 19 bids.

And here we have a Blockhead Rick Howard ‘Skunk’ from 1991. It’s in NOS condition, and the huge Stance sticker is just placed on the deck for the photo. Again, the seller wants his shit branded! I tell you what though; this dude has some serious lumber! This is rapidly becoming one of Blockhead’s most sought after decks. It’s double drilled at the factory for that adjustable wheelbase choice! It sold for $641 on 12 bids.

And here we have a Powell Peralta ‘Liberty and Justice’ team deck from 1991. The graphic idea belonged to Ray Barbee and it was originally going to be his graphic, but he was uncomfortable with it, so it became a team deck. The top graphic features a vintage ‘Negroes Wanted’ flyer that is far harder hitting than the bottom graphic, which from a distance just looks like Uncle Sam. It’s NOS and from our Stance friend. It sold for $833 on 21 bids.

Here we have a Toy Machine Bam Margera ‘Mullet’ deck from 1999. I think it’s his first graphic actually. This one is NOS, never mounted or gripped. This graphic is crudely done (art by Ed Templeton I think), but it gets the point across and always elicits a chuckle. It sold for $681 on a BIN.

And here we have a Plan B Rodney Mullen ‘Yoda’ deck from their 1993 Star Wars series. This one is not NOS! Yes it’s actually been gripped and ridden, although it is in very good shape. Yoda is fitting for Mullen, as he was the wise old grand master of the Plan B team. And a genius. And green with pointy ears. No waitÉ It sold for $800.

Here we have a New Deal Danny Sargent ‘Monkey Bomber’ from 1992. It’s NOS, never gripped, ripped or stripped! I fucking hate this graphic though. It’s everything that was wrong about the 90s for me. Stupid hat, stupid clothes, idiotic. This deck was double drilled in its early runs, but this one is not, suggesting a later run. It’s still a bigger deck though. Still, it sold for $687 on 17 bids.

And again from New Deal we have this Mike Vallely ‘mammoth’ from 1991. It’s in good used condition with some scratching to the main graphic. The colorway isn’t great either, so it’s a testament to Mike V that this deck still sold for $450. It was the first of only 2 decks that he had on New Deal, and he left them after only a year to start TV with Ed Templeton.

And finally from the 90s this month we have this Santa Cruz Ron Whaley ‘Mushroom-heads’ slick from 1995. It’s a far cry from the glorious work of Jim Phillips ain’t it? This is NOS, and in the highly ugly puke-green speckle background. What else needs to be said really? Still, it sold for $600.

Assorted Crap

Here we have a set of Belair Wings wheels from 1978ish. They are unused, and are tangerine, but I don’t know if they were originally in this color, or if they were yellow that has darkened over the last 35 years. The Skateboarder Magazine behind the wheels has Chris Strople on the cover riding the same wheels in yellow. They sold for $310 on 16 bids.

And speaking of wheels from the 70s, we have this crazy rare mint set of Super Mag ‘Gran Prix’ wheels. Talk about massive! They are 82mm tall and 62mm wide, and weigh almost 4lbs! They have metal hubs and grooves on the riding surface. The bearings are oversized too. Does anybody else have any info on these wheels? They sold for $423.

So you want a classic hunk of toy store crap from the 80s? Feast your eyes on the crapulence that is this Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles complete from 1989. On the plus side the graphics are bright and the deck is tightly encased in shrink, making this as new as the day it rolled into Toys R Us 24 years ago. It’s funny that it’s from 1989 because the shape and full plastics look more like 1985. It has a ridged tail guard and rails, guaranteeing sliced fingers, and the lapper would snap on first contact with a curb. Of course, that’s assuming that the wheels actually turned at all! It proudly proclaims ‘Made in Taiwan’ on the sticker on the tail, along with such pearls of wisdom like ‘Always place one foot over front wheels push gently with other foot then second foot can be placed on skateboard after balance is achieved’. Excellent stuff. It sold for $213 on 42 bids!

Here we have a set of OG checkerboard Vans slip-ons from the late 70s/ very early 80s. They are mint condition, size 11. Vans still makes this style, which makes the $278 price tag a little puzzling, but I guess that the modern version doesn’t have the checkerboard design on the side of the sole, so that makes these collectible. The checkerboard Vans in Fast Times at Ridgemont High don’t even have the checkerboard soles, and that is from 1982, so these predate that I guess. $278 on 16 bids.

Quick Hitters

1985 Uncle Wiggley ‘Fishstik’ team deck. NOS. $575.

1987 Santa Cruz Claus Grabke ‘Exploding Clocks’ deck. Used. $300.

1987 Powell Peralta Tommy Guerrero ‘Flaming Dagger’ XT. NOS. $961 on 24 bids.

1990 Blockhead ‘Hard Times 3’ team deck. NOS. $420.

1988 Santa Cruz Jason Jessee ‘Sun God’. NOS. $836 on 20 bids.

1989 Santa Cruz Jeff Kendall ‘Snake’. NOS. $660 on 8 bids.

1991 Powell Peralta Mike McGill ‘Aquarium’. NOS. $910 on 23 bids.

1991 New Deal Mike Vallely ‘Self Portrait’. NOS. $750.

1986 Misfits ‘Evil Eye’ signed by Jerry Only and Doyle. NOS. $405 on 12 bids.

1989 Schmitt Stix ‘Ripsaw 2’ team deck. NOS. $550.

1990 BBC Reese Simpson ‘Reeses Cup’. NOS. $410 on 6 bids.

1991 New Deal Ed Templeton ‘Crowd’. NOS. $900 on 14 bids.

1990 H-Street Danny Way ‘Animals’. NOS. $441 on 16 bids.

1987 Powell Peralta Per Welinder ‘Nordic Skull’. Mint. $820.

1987 Zorlac ‘Sacred Cow 2’. NOS. $775 BIN after 2 hours.

Seeya next month.

-Neil