eBay Watch: June 2013

60s, 70s, very early 80s.

First up this in the 70s section this month is this amazing package, which consist of a mint Banazi aluminum complete, along with the original shipping box! It’s been in storage for 35 years, and looks as bright and shiny as they day it left the factory in 1977! The wheels are pristine Banzai Stokers, and the deck is perfect. This is an amazing find and it sold for $719 on 33 bids.

And here we have a Dogtown Bob Biniak “Bullet” from 1979. This comes complete with black Lightning trucks and Sims Snakes wheels. It’s in good used condition, and even the grip tape up top is clean and neat. It was drilled for nose and tail, but both have been lost over the years. This historic specimen sold for $700.

All I can say to this one is wow! It’s obviously a Z-Flex Jay Adams fiberglass deck, the kind that comes up every month. But this one is a truly exceptional find! It’s undrilled and in the amazing multi-colored swirl colorway! Like ST, it really is a thing of rare beauty. Maybe not hanging, but on a shelf? This is incredible. It sold for $3,000.

This is a short 70s section this month, but we make up for it in the 90s section! So finally from the fabulous 70s this month we have this Free Former Ty Page “Ty-Stik” from 1977. The deck is mint and in undrilled condition! This deck came in 3 different lengths and this one is the rare 30” model. “Gets you fly’n higher!” It sold for $465 on 31 bids.

Mid 1980s

So first up in the 80s section this month we have this G&S Neil Blender “Picasso” deck from 1987. It’s NOS; never been gripped or mounted, although it does have some storage marks etc. I really like the white dip, but oddly enough it is not white all over, so I guess it’s not a dip. The top is natural, and you can see that on the rails too. So it actually looks like it has a white Formica bottom ply or something. I don’ know that G&S ever did anything like that, but that’s what it looks like. It sold for $625.

Here we have a Circle A “D.I.” band deck from 1988. It’s NOS, never gripped or mounted, but it does have the obligatory storage marks etc., especially on the tail. Or maybe that’s a flaw in the grey stain. Either way it’s in nice condition, and is a deck you don’t see that often. D.I. were one of those SoCal bands that should have been far bigger than they were, but they just never caught on for some reason. Now they are probably best known for being in the movie Suburbia. It sold for $304.

And here we have a Santa Cruz Eric Dressen “Pup” from 1989. It’s in NOS condition, almost mint really apart from a couple of small scratches on the tail. The dark red stain is wonderful, and the happy puppy in a field of flowers really bounces off of the deck! It’s a lovely graphic actually, and is underrated in my book. It sold for $515 on 20 bids

Here we have a Skull Skates Duane Peters “Alien Shot” from 1989. This is in mint condition, and the bright fuchsia with neon yellow graphic is totally insane. The huge Skull Skates logo on the tail kind of ruins the whole thing, but what are you gonna do? I’m not sure why they couldn’t put that on the top side like most other companies! It sold for $405 on 12 bids.

Now here we have a WONDERFUL Madrid Claus Grabke “Time Warp” from 1986. It’s in NOS condition, never having been gripped or mounted. It must have been released right before Claus left Madrid because it has some funky top and bottom ply that looks like Boneite! That must be giving it the matte black finish, and that’s why this deck really stands out. The light blue and pink graphics are almost 3D on this deck, that’s how far the base coat recedes. Plus the wheelwells just look wonderful. That’s an awesome looking deck! It sold for $862 on 16 bids.

And here we have a Vision Tom Groholski “Skulls” mini deck from 1988. It’s NOS; never gripped or mounted, and in a totally cool bright pink stain. It’s one of those stains that doesn’t look perfect, so is letting the wood grain show through, and the grain on this one is really neat, especially on top. The colors in the graphic really pop, and overall this is just a really solid deck. It sold for $520.

Here we have an Alva Jef Hartsel “Street Fire 2” deck from 1988. It’s NOS< but does have some storage scuffs etc., which are accentuated by the shiny black dip. Still, it's an impressive looking deck, and the Rasta colors really pop on the black. It sold for $400 on 2 bids.

Here we have a Blockhead Omar Hassan “Arabian Nights 2” from 1990. This is NOS, and from the collection of the biggest seller recently, franciscojose from Spain. The colorway is great, but I think the size of the Stance sticker he has used here is really a problem. It’s much too big and is interfering with the graphic. That could have caused casual buyers to bypass this and move on to something else. This one sold for $516 on 12 bids, but might have gone for more.

Here we have a very lovely Powell Peralta Tony Hawk “Birdclaw” from 1989. The colorway on this one is absolutely superb. Teal dip background with silver/grey trees and bright yellow and green foreground image. The colorway is cool and sophisticated and this is a real stunner overall. It’s also mint, 7-ply full size. It is as desirable as this deck could be really. It sold for $1,773 on 10 bids.

But if you want totally desirable, look no further than this Santa Cruz Jason Jessee “Neptune-Shark Tail” from 1988. It has everything that you would want in this graphic: awesome colorway, NOS condition, and most importantly the sharktail graphic on the tail and the crescent moon on the nose. This deck was purchased directly from the artist Jim Phillips, and he has signed it in silver (small, clever man!) to the top left of the shark. The purple stain is deep and rich, and the green red and lavender graphic is insane. This is just a beautiful deck, and the price reflects that: it sold for $3,550 on 29 bids.

Here we have a Santa Cruz Jeff Kendall “Atom Man” from 1990. The deck is mint in shrink, and in a very desirable red dip. The original warranty card is still in the shrink, and the main graphic works really well off of the red dip. It’s a great looking deck and a graphic that is growing in value. This one sold for a large $961 on 23 bids.

So let me tell you, if you are after a bargain or after a really desirable deck, you have to be checking eBay constantly. Here’s a case in point. It’s a Powell Peralta Lance Mountain “Future Primitive 1.5” from 1985. It’s a different graphic than the one we are all familiar with obviously, having the layback air as the main part of the graphic, with a signature instead of the printed Lance Mountain name. The version first incarnation had a finger flip air as the graphic by the back truck on the right side, but the second version had the sadplant as this one does. If you wanted this you had to be quick though, as it sold for $600 on a BIN after 4 minutes and 50 seconds. It would have been interesting to see what this would have reached if the auction lasted 7 days.

Here’s an original Variflex Lance Mountain “Knight” from 1982. It’s complete and it’s in excellent condition as well, which you never see! The deck is a rarity, but even more rare may be the Variflex Connection trucks and x-core wheels. The trucks aren’t backwards; they have the reverse kingpin like modern longboard trucks. The seller has a friend who is also friends with Lance, and he includes a picture of Lance skating a pool with this very deck, which is a nice touch. It sold for $1,100 on 27 bids.

Here we have a Powell Peralta Mike McGill “F14” complete from 1983. It’s in good used condition, and comes complete with Indy Stage IIs and G&S YoYo wheels. This is the 7-ply version of the deck, not the earlier 6-ply version. This has the traditional Powell square block wheelwells, where the 6-ply had rounded wheelwells. It sold for $720 on 14 bids.

Now here’s a deck that I owned back in 87 and couldn’t wait to get rid of. It’s a Santa Cruz Keith Meek “Slasher” foam deck. The graphics are still very bright, but they should be because they were one big sticker, they were not screened on the foam deck. Theses things were horrible. Nice idea, but in reality they felt heavy and dead, which was the opposite of how they were supposed to be. Randy and I bought foamcore decks in a mall in Mattoon Illinois. I bought this one and Randy bought a white Roskopp III. He might have snapped his. I have no idea what happened to mine. I never skated it in anger. I might simply have thrown it away; I hated it that much! Silly me, because this sold for $610 on 15 bids.

Here’s a Schmitt Stix Chris Miller “Faces” from 1989. It comes complete with lime Gullwings and Schmitt Stix Sawblades. The deck is in really nice, almost NOS condition, and the trucks and wheels appear like new. It’s the kind of thing you dream about really, because the seller clearly had no idea of its worth. It sold for $250 on a BIN after 8 minutes. A NOS purple sold for almost a thousand back in January.

Here’s your classic Powell Peralta Rodney Mullen “Mutt” complete from 1983. It’s clearly been set up and skated, although the grip tape and tail guards appear to be very clean, so it wasn’t heavily used. The metallic blue dip is really nice, giving the deck a lot of depth. It comes complete with original Indy 101 Stage 1s, and Powell Freestyle wheels, just adding to the value of this killer complete. It sold for $780 on 33 bids.

Here we have a SMA Natas Kaupas “Panther II” from 1986. Thus is a real SMA Natas II, not the NHS version that came out a few months later. You can tell by the wheelwells, and by the pink painted rails that are completely different to the color of the rest of the deck. It also has a gradation in the leaves that the NHS version did not have. It’s a super rare deck from one of the all time legends, so I don’t understand how this deck is still so undervalued. It sold for $400 on 2 bids which just seems criminal to me. Later Natas decks that are pretty common go for thousands every month, and they come up every month. This deck NEVER comes up. It makes no sense.

And here’s a case in point. This NHS Natas “Panther 5” is a great looking deck, no doubt. It’s NOS and in a wonderful orange stain, but for it to go for 5 times what the SMA Natas went for? That’s just criminal. But I guess that Hawks routinely go for $2,000 despite how common they are, so I shouldn’t be surprised. This sold for $2,031 on 28 bids.

And here we have a real beauty. It’s an Alva Eddie Reategui “Warrior” from 1988 according to AOS. It’s in a really nice, classic Alva fade too, which is unusual for an Alva deck this late. They had stopped doing the fades by 1988 when they brought in the Alva USA Kicknose shape, so that leads me to believe that this deck is far earlier, perhaps 1986ish. The deck is NOS, and the dark red to light blue fade is a work of genius here, really adding to an already impressive graphic. It sold for $600 on 41 bids.

And here we have an Airbourne Bob Reeves “Cyborg” from 1989. This looks to be the full sized model, but it’s tough to tell as both the mini and full size had exactly the same graphic. It’s not NOS, as it has been gripped and ridden a little, but it is in very good condition. The graphic runs full bleed off the nose, which is a nice touch. Not the best deck, but pretty unusual. It sold for $260 on 5 bids.

Here we have a Santa Cruz Rob Roskopp “Face 2” complete from 1988. Even though it’s complete it’s basically NOS, and the thing looks like a shop display model. The black Gullwings have no grind marks at all and the OJ 2 Street wheels are pristine. It’s a really sharp complete, even though the graphic is juvenile. The colorway carries the day here. The blues and black are deep and lustrous and the red and green really pops. It sold for $600.

And here we have its older brother in much the same colorway: it’s the Santa Cruz Rob Roskopp “Face” from 1986. It is in NOS condition, never gripped or mounted, and the black dip with blue face is an uber-rare colorway to find, especially in this condition. I wonder if the same buyer bough both decks? That would make a really nice display item. It sold for $950 on 23 bids.

Now this is one of those auctions that just doesn’t make any logical sense. It’s a Santa Cruz Rick “Spidey” Demontrond deck from 1987 that has been gripped and ridden and has pink rails. It has also been touched up a little according to the seller. But overall it’s a pretty damn clean specimen of a very hard to find deck. It appeared with a BIN of $350 which I very nearly pulled the trigger on because it seemed reasonable for a deck like this. But for some reason the BIN was ignored, and it eventually got bid up to its final price of $750 on 21 bids. So let me get this straight. You could have gotten it for $350 but you ended up paying over double that? Say what? I guess it just takes one clown to put a low bid in and ruin the BIN I guess.

And finally from the 80s this month we have this SMA Jim Thiebaud “Joker” deck from 1989. It’s the original with the original Joker, not the generic version. It’s NOS, never gripped or mounted, and in a rad purple stain. The graphic kind of sucks, but I guess this one sucks a little less than the later version. But still, I don’t get peoples fascination with this one. It is verging on $1000 territory, which seems weird to me as I think it is very average in every way. This one sold for $910 on 2 bids.

Just like last month we have some REALLY good stuff in the 90s section this month. The 70s section is really thin, but it’s made up for by the quality of decks in the 90s section.

First up in the 90s section this month we have this Blockhead “Road to Ruin” team deck from 1992. It’s NOS: never gripped or mounted. For those that don’t know, it’s the artwork from The Ramones album, Road to Ruin. It features members of the Blockhead team in place of Joey, Johnny, Marky and Dee Dee. It sold for $355 on 11 bids.

And here we have an Alien Workshop Steve Claar “Blue Bird” deck from 1991. It’s NOS: never gripped or mounted. The blue bird shows much better on the natural wood than on the blue stain that is more commonly seen for this graphic. This sold for $466 on 19 bids.

So last month I showed a blue Powell Peralta Nicky Guerrero “Time Tripper” from 1992. I raved about it and said it was exploding in value. Well another month has passed and sure enough here we have another. This one is in an excellent red dip and is mint in shrink! It has increased in value from last month by over $100: this deck sold for $769 on 6 bids.

Now here’s a deck that you don’t see every day! It’s a Blockhead Omar Hassan “Race Car” from 1991. It’s got the classic “Speed Racer” graphic, but the colorway is amazingly awful. The tan and dark brown stain? Poopie! The deck is mint but the shrink is well shredded. It sold for $330 on 6 bids.

Here’s a Powell Peralta classic: the Frankie Hill “Bulldog” from 1990. This one is mint in shrink, and in an excellent natural wood that really shows off the graphic. It’s a later model possibly from 1991. The nose has been double drilled and it has the later diamond top graphic. It sold for $1,625 on 21 bids.

Much like the Hassan “Racecar” above, this is an early 90s deck that you see very rarely. It’s a Vision Bo Ikeda “Cat” from 1992. This must have been one of the last Vision decks before they went under; making this is collectors item in itself. The graphic is black and white and very simple which may have been because of the spirit of the times, or because Vision was low on money and just wanted to push out decks as quickly as possible! It sold for $407 on 17 bids.

And here we have a Blind Jason Lee “Cat in the Hat” from 1990. It’s NOS: never gripped or mounted. The colorway on this one is just superb. The vivid orange stain is bright and cheery, and the reds, yellows and blues really pop. This would be an amazing deck to own. It sold for $1,025 on 26 bids.

And sticking with the Blind Jason Lee theme we have this “Grinch” model from 1990. It’s not a production model though, being a one off with the “chicken scratch” background instead of a solid color. The chicken scratch decks were supposedly screened post-production run on prototype shapes and concaves. They are very very rare and hardly ever come up for auction, although some have questioned how old they really are. I’m staying out of that messy debate! It sold for $1,625 on 19 bids.

And finishing up the Blind Jason Lee trifecta we have this model, the “Dodo Skull”. It’s actually a very weal colorway: I don’t know why they would put the red cross on a red background. It’s very monochromatic and dull. But it is NOS and rare. It sold for $2,425 on 35 bids.

Here we have a 101 Adam McNatt “Bettie Page” deck from 1993. It’s NOS, never gripped or mounted, but it is a slick bottom deck, so has the dull colors and blurry graphic that was common with that style of deck. Still, it sold for $585 on 7 bids.

And staying with Adam McNatt we have this early 2000s reproduction of his 101 “Manson and the Peanuts Gang” deck from 1993. It’s a classic early 90s graphic, with Charlie Manson taking the role of Charlie Brown, yellow shirt and all. Only 8 reproductions were made in total, 6 numbered decks and 2 test prints. This is one of the test prints. It sold for $711 on 16 bids.

Here we have a New Deal Danny Sargent “Eddie” deck from 1991. If you don’t know the graphic depicts the Iron Maiden character Eddie who appeared on all of the album covers etc. It’s NOS, never mounted or gripped, and although looking like a toy store deck, it is very rare and valuable. It sold for $1,000 on 12 bids.

And finally from the 90s this month we have this Vision Buck Smith “Working the Corner 2” deck from 1991. It’s mint in shrink, and is double drilled for the front truck. I understand what the artist was trying to do, but I never liked graphics like this. It is too spread apart and doesn’t hang together as one piece. It sold for $356 on 18 bids.

Assorted Crap

Here we have an excellent condition yellow Hobie helmet from the mid 70s. It’s used but the owner has done a great job of cleaning it up: the inside even looks clean! It’s the classic Cooper SK100 style that was incredibly popular then, and on occasion Duane Peters still wears one! It was a beginner’s helmet back then, only one step above the truly awful bicycle helmet. Heaven forbid you showed p at the skate park wearing one of those. Back then it screamed “Not only am I a beginner, but I’m also a nerdy momma’s boy. Beat me up and steal my lunch money, please!” However, wear this today to the park and it screams “I’m an old skater from the 70s and proud of it! Just please don’t let me fall on my head”. It sold for $276 on 21 bids.

Here’s one of those piecs of Powell Peralta memorabilia that were sold off during the Bones Brigade pimping of 2012. It’s a red jacket with the winged ripper logo sewn on the back, and Stacy Peralta and George Powell signed it on the back. Note, it is not one of the skate jackets from the 80s. Those had a logo on the front as well as the back, and this is a modern day fat-ass medium. Mediums in the 80s were an XS in today’s sizing. It still sold for $540 on 50 bids. And much like the helmet above, wear this to the skatepark and it says “Not only am I a poser, but I’m also a nerdy momma’s boy. Beat me up and steal my lunch money, please!”

You don’t often see professional skater’s personal riders on eBay, especially ones that were pre-production models, but here is just such a thing. It’s a Santa Cruz Salba “voodoo” deck from 1989 from Salba’s own collection. It’s bigger than the production model and a slightly different shape. He stickered it but never set it up. It’s tough to price something like this because it truly is a one off, and many collectors just want the mint or NOS production models that they remember. It sold for $975!

Here we have somebody’s 1980s Powell Peralta t-shirt collection. There are 8 shirts ranging from 1985-1990. All have been worn but are in excellent condition. We have a Steve Saiz, 2 Lance Mountains, Steve Cab, Ray Barbee, winged ripper, inkblot and pilot. The shirts all look great! My shirts from the 80s all had the sleeves hacked out and would be faded from constant washings. This guy must have had like 500 shirts. $533 on 31 bids.

And finally we have this mint set of Z-Flex Z-Smooth Jimmy Plumer 63mm wheels. They are in really good condition, and have vintage German AZF bearings in them. They sold for $699 on 11 bids. But if you are a purist and you are building a 70s era Z-Flex complete, then you need to have these wheels I guess. At which point you are probably very rich and dropping $700 on wheels for a display piece wouldn’t even make you blink.

Quick Hitters

1984 Madrid Beau Brown “Bat Skull” deck. Used. NOS. $185.

1986 G&S Neil Blender “Rocking Dog” deck. NOS. $520.

1987 G&S Neil Blender “Coffee Break”. Used complete w/ G&S trucks, Bam Bam wheels. $800.

1989 Santa Cruz Bod Boyle “Stained Glass” deck. NOS. $530 on 36 bids.

1988 Santa Cruz Corey O’Brien “Reaper”. Mint. $1,175 on 24 bids.

Powell Peralta Tony Hawk “Birdclaw”. NOS. $1,525 on 9 bids.

1990 Powell Peralta Mike McGill “Stinger”. NOS. $511 on 49 bids.

1990 World Industries Mike Vallely “Snake”. NOS. $598 on 21 bids.

1984 Powell Peralta Rodney Mullen “Mutt”. Used complete with Trackers and Street Bones. $710 on 29 bids.

1988 Zorlac Donny Myhre “Alligator” deck. NOS. $589 on 29 bids.

1989 Santa Cruz Natas Kaupas “Evil Cat” deck. NOS. $560 on 27 bids.

1991 Real Jim Thiebaud “Wrench” deck. NOS. $883 on 12 bids.

1984 Powell Peralta “Rat Bones” team deck. NOS. $800.

Seeya next month.

-Neil