eBay Watch: February 2012

So welcome to eBay Watch, February 2012 edition, the edition that wasn’t supposed to come out. I really didn’t think I was going to publish this month. Unfortunately I lost my dad and had to fly back to England for 2 weeks to go to the funeral etc. So Randy made the obvious assumption that I wouldn’t be doing one this month, but I took my laptop with me for once, and having this to work on actually helped. It might be a little disjointed because I did different sections at different times. And depending on how creative I felt, I went into details on some auctions, and gave the bare details on others. Oh well. Something is better than nothing, right?

So what have I been listening to this month? What got me through the bad times? I’ve been listening to The La’s. A lot. Being from Liverpool I feel connected to them somehow, and I bought a great book on the band called “Secret Liverpool” while I was there. So I listened to the album a lot while reading it. What else? Some old school 1979 mod bands like Squire and The Times. And lots of Ramones. Halfway to Sanity over and over again. I’d forgotten how great that album was.

So this is dedicated to the memory to Peter Alfred Edward McDougall. RIP dad. Love ya.

60s, 70s, early 80s.

This Powell Peralta Beamer sold for $1,400. It has a Lazer truck on the back and a Bennett on the front, and blue Kryptonics CX63 wheels.

Next we have this Dogtown Bob Biniak with green fiberglass bottom ply. It sold for $1,110.

This Caster Chris Strople is complete with Gullwings and Powell Peralta wheels. It sold for $800 on 36 bids.

And here we have a Z-Flex Z-Woody Jay Adams model complete with Rebound trucks and Yoyos. It sold for $1,476.

And here we have the same deck but in mint, undrilled condition. It sold for $2,327.

Here we have a Kryptonics K-Beam complete with stage II Indys and yellow double conical Kryptonics CX63 wheels. The whole thing is close to mint. It sold for $1,425.

Here is a mint, undrilled Sims Superlight deck from 1978. It sold for $1,275 on 20 bids.

And here is another classic Sims deck. This is a Lonnie Toft. It sold for $725 on 26 bids.

Here we have yet another Z-Flex Z-Woody, but this one is the Shogo Kubo model. It comes complete with ACS 651s and blue 70mm Kryptonics. It sold for $550.

And finally from the 70s this month we have yet another Z-Flex Z-Woody Jay Adams deck. This one comes complete with Trackers and Sims Pure Juice II wheels. It sold for $760.

Mid 1980s

So first up in the 80s section this month we have this Santa Cruz Steve Alba “Baby on World” from 1990. It’s a terrible, terrible graphic, and after Salba’s run of classic Jim Phillips graphics, this one was like finding a turd in a punchbowl. It is in a nice green stain though, and is NOS. It sold for $409.

Here’s a beauty! It’s a NOS Rip City “Reason for Living” Black Flag deck from 1983. Super limited, super rare. No surprise that it sold for $3000.

Here we have a Zorlac “Gargoyle” team deck from 1988. It has been gripped and had some stickers applied, but never appears to have been ridden. The original pictures were terrible, so I had to do some work in Photoshop to get it to look like this! Remove that terrible tail sticker please! It sold for $606.

Here we have a Tracker GSD “Fish” from 1988. It is in mint condition. It sold for $636.

Now we have the first of three different Hosoi’s that went off this month. This one is the “vert Flag” model, but is unusual in that it is one of the SC foam core decks, not a 7 ply. I’ve never seen a Hosoi foam core before. The graphic is screened too, which makes it very unusual because most foam core decks had big stickers instead of screened graphics. It’s very unusual and it sold for $1,500.

Here’s a Hosoi Street model from 1988. It’s in mint condition. It sold for $688 on 8 bids.

And finally from the Hosoi collection we have this “Picasso” from 1988. It is a classic and recently been reissued. It’s a great looking deck, and of course it is NOS. Despite the high availability of the reissue deck, this original ended at $1,275 on 21 bids. There’s nothing like the real thing!

So here we have a Vision Joe Johnson “Star Eye” from 1988. It’s NOS, and in the classic fleck silver dip! It’s a beautiful looking deck, and has been tastefully signed by Joe under the star. Other old pros take note: the graphic hasn’t been ruined by some huge ugly scrawled sig and some message about Jesus! It sold for $375.

And here we have an awesome Alva Craig Johnson “El Loco Gringo” deck. It features the classic Alva fade, this one in black to green. The deck is in NOS condition and is a real head turner. It comes all the way from Australia and sold for $427. It’s from the collection of my new mate Alvaman. Sorry to doubt your decks dude.

Here we have a Tracker Lester Kasai “Dragon Flame” deck from 1990. It’s in NOS condition, and the colorway is exceptional here. I really like the silver streaks on the natural background. I bet it looks stunning in person. It sold for $430.

And here we have a Powell Peralta Mike McGill “Skull and Snake” deck from 1988. It’s the version without the snakeskin background but with the kicknose. I really like the grey wash stain, and the gold in the eyes and lightning bolts really pops. It is mint in shrink. That’s a great looking deck and it sold for $650.

Here is a SC Natas “bulldog Panther” from 1987. It’s NOS and in the glorious dark woodstain. It’s a wonderful, classic deck that everybody should own. Or something like that. It sold for $1,775.

Here we have a Vision “Ouija Board” team deck from 1989. It’s a terrible concept for a deck, but at this point Vision was throwing any old shit against the wall seeing if it would stick. It’s notable for it’s odd, kitschy graphic I suppose. It’s NOS and sold for $450.

And here’s another Vision deck, but this one is the Ken Park “Wizard” from 1988. This one amazed me actually. Who would have though that a Ken Park deck would go so high? It’s an overly complex graphic, but this one is NOS and is the very deck featured in Disposable. It sold for $1,581 on 16 bids.

Here’s a BBC Jeff Phillips “Vert Swirl” from 1988. It’s in an interesting baby blue to pink horizontal fade, and that works surprisingly well with the yellow and green in the center graphic. The black and white swirl has faces in it if you look closely. This one is NOS and it sold for $435.

So here’s an Alva Eddie Reategui mini deck from 1987. It’s been set up and has an interesting griptape job up top, but looks like it was barely ridden at all. The deck is in almost perfect condition and hasn’t been drilled for rails or tail. It sold for $235.

Here is a beauty. It’s a SC Rob Roskopp “Target II” from 1986. It’s in great condition, and has an amazing rainbow colorway in the main graphic, and that really pops on the white dip. It comes complete with Trackers, Kryptonics Ultralight wheels and Ugly Stick rails and even has a Bird lapper. This was the seller’s ramp board: the seller had a ramp but it got burned down, Ramp Local style, so he rode his Cab on the street. That explains why this is in such great condition. I bet he was tempted to dump this in the 25 years since, but he’s glad he didn’t because this went for $810 on 25 bids.

And here is another Santa Cruz Rob Roskopp, but this one is the 3rd in the series, and this one appears to be NOS. The seller claims that it was setup, but it doesn’t look like it was to me. There is no evidence of griptape on top! This one sold for $1,025 on 20 bids.

Here is one that you don’t see every day. It’s one of those Santa Cruz team pig decks that they put out in the 1983/4 timeframe. This one is the “Ramp/Street 10” model, also known as the “optical illusion”. It’s in NOS condition. As good as this looks in the images I bet it looks 10 times better in person. The colors probably vibrate like crazy! It sold for $650 on 17 bids.

And here’s another Santa Cruz team deck from the same time period, this being the StreetSkate concave from 1983. I know it’s from 1983 because I bought one in September 1983 at Durst Cycles in downtown Urbana IL. This one is in great used condition and comes complete with Indy stage IIs and Powell Street Bones, as well as a lapper, rails and taildome. I was going to bid on this one, but it sold for $338, which was about $100 too high for me. There follows a pic of me riding that board. On the post is a flyer for Rebel Ducks, the first band of Jay Bennett who was to find fame in Wilco.

Here we have a Sims Buck Smith “Magician” from 1987. It comes complete with very early Ventures and what look like virgin green 92a Bullets. The seller includes a pic of himself getting the board for Xmas 1987, and the look of “poser dweeb” looks to be correct, because this thing is almost pristine! The trucks and wheels look like they came from a time machine, and the deck has a few scratches on the nose but not much else. Well, the poser tendencies paid off because this pristine hunk of 1987 goodness went for $500.

And here we have an Alva Fred Smith ‘Dragon Rider” from 1988. It is NOS, and has a crazy dark green to teal to natural diagonal fade in the background. I think this is by far the best Fred Smith graphic, so I absolutely love this deck. It sold for $588, and was sold by Alvaman, who as his name suggests has an awesome collection of Alvas.

Here’s a Sims Kevin Staab “Pirate” from 1986 in a very unusual colorway. The red stain is beautiful, and the grayscale graphic is actually very effective. The normal bright colorway is way too much and childish IMHO, but I think this one works pretty damned well. I could see how collectors who like the super bright one might not like this, but some do because I sold for $500. Its NOS and ungripped etc.

Here we have a mint Santa Cruz ‘Street Creep” team deck from 1989. It’s still in the shrink and even has the Road Rash comic in there! The colorway is awesome, and overall this thing can’t be touched. It’s an amazing find. It sold for $783.

Here we have a Suicidal Tendencies “Possessed to Skate” from 1985. It comes complete with black Thunders and green Slimeballs along with a whole host of 80s stickers. This seemed to fly under the radar, probably because it was posted as a Dogtown deck and he spelled Possessed wrong, so it wouldn’t come up in searches correctly, and the photo showed the griptape, not the graphic. Now, at first I thought it was a reissue all gussied up, but I think it’s probably legit. Somebody had covered up the Suicidal line with a sticker at one point, which probably makes sense for a 15 year old trying to sneak the deck past his mom so she doesn’t confiscate the board! It’s in really nice condition, and assuming it is legit, this might be the bargain of the year. It sold for $565 on 9 bids.

So here’s another Suicidal Tendencies deck from 1985, this one being the frontside slash grind graphic, artwork by Lance Mountain. It ended up going for $1000 on 1 bid, but it was only a 3-day auction so a lot of folks might not have seen it. It was set up and ridden, but not much because the graphic is in very nice condition. There is some tail wear but it is minor.

Here’s a Town and Country “Zoner” team deck from 1984. It’s in good used condition, and the colorway is totally 80s! The red and lime green totally vibrates, and the geometric shapes are totally new wave baby. Now, to totally add that 80s mall vibe there is a Benetton sticker on there! Ha! It sold for $224.

Here we have a G&S Bill Tocco “Octopus” complete from 1988. It comes complete with Gullwing Street Shadow trucks and Bullet 66 wheels. It was built for display in a shop but was never ridden outside, so the seller listed it as NOS, which is fair. This thing is fucking sick. The horizontal red to yellow fade is superb, and the graphic is awesome. The white trucks and red wheels are a nice touch too. It ended up going for $345 on 11 bids.

Here we have a Tracker 757 team deck from 1985. This was from the first series of decks that Tracker made in the early 80s. The paint splatters were hand done so no two are alike. It sold for $260.

Now there was a time about 5 years ago when online old school shops couldn’t give Ray Underhill decks away, and that was either graphic. They had tons of them, along with the myriad of Steve Saiz Buffalo decks and Lance Mountain employees. And then it started to increase in popularity, and then unfortunately Ray passed away. The online stores started selling out and suddenly poof! They were all gone! All of that has led to this deck exploding in value recently. This mint in shrink red stain mini went for $500. $500! I should have stocked up on these when they were $69!

And finally from the 80s this month we have this Tracker Dan Wilkes “Dinosaur” deck from 1986. It is NOS, never mounted or gripped, and is in a lovely purple stain. The green and white dinos really pop here. It sold for $381 on 23 bids.

90s-present day

It seems like we’ve seen this one a lot recently! It’s the World Industries Chris Branagh “Chicken Hawk” deck from 1992. It’s in NOS condition, never mounted or gripped. The top is an orange stain and the bottom is purple. It’s a rare deck and it sold for $835.

Here we have a Powell Peralta Lance Mountain “Doughboy Primitive” from 1991. It’s in NOS condition and is in a delicious grey stain that allows the natural wood to show through. It’s a cool take on his classic Future Primitive deck, and it is starting to jump in value. This one sold for $258.

Talking of Powell Peralta, here’s a Tony Hawk “Machine Gun Mouse” from 1991. It was bought in an estate sale, but the buyer couldn’t possibly have imagined that this seemingly crappy looking skateboard would go for $2,010 on eBay. Surely there must be some mistake? But it had 51 bids, so I guess there’s no mistake.

Here’s a Hook-Ups “School Sucks” deck from 2000. It’s NOS and is one of my favorite Hook-Ups booby graphics. I love this and thought about bidding for about 20 seconds until I got the “Ummmm no” from the family. It sold for $164.

Here we have a World Industries Jeremy Klein “Mario” deck from 1991. It is NOS. I’m not crazy about the colorway, but it is a rare one. It ended up going for $500.

Now here’s a beauty! It’s a Zorlac Donny Myhre “gator” from 1991. It’s NOS and in a really nice red woodstain, and that allows the green and gold in the main graphic to really pop off the background. It ended up going for $838 on 18 bids.

Here’s a Chocolate Richard Mulder “motorcycle” deck from 1993. The artwork is by Evan Hecox which I get is a big deal to some. It sold for $208 on 18 bids.

Here we have an H-Street Jason Rogers “MLK” deck from 1992. It’s NOS and it has the “I have a dream” speech as the top graphic. It’s very rare (have you ever seen one before?) and it ended up going for $450 on 21 bids.

And finally from the 90s this month we have this Planet Earth Matt Schnurr “101 Dalmatians” slick from 1993. It doesn’t have any griptape on top but was drilled for rails. It was also drilled for old school and new school trucks, so it came out right as the change was happening! It ended up going for $200.

Odds & Ends

So remember the retarded 90s? Big pants? Small wheels? How small were the wheels you ask? Well here you go! Here’s a jar of “snappy” Dills wheels from 1992. 42mm, 101a. Is that small enough for you? The wheels are so small that they came 9 to a jar! You get 9 wheels and the container for $300. How does that grab ya?

And lets travel back to the 70s to see some wheels on the opposite side of the spectrum. These are original Hobie wheels, and they measure in at 70mm and 2 inches wide. Never used and never ridden. They sold for $338.

And s some more biggie wheels from the 70s. These are the original 1st gen green Star Trac Kryptonics from 1976. 70mm and beautiful. They are absolutely mint and stunning wheels. They sold for $509.

And finally this month we have this mint set of G&S Rollerball wheels from 1977. They still have the grooves, but of course, after a few times out the grooves were gone. They sold for $316

See ya next time.

-Neil