These are business cards for Powell Peralta, which are excellent in an of themselves, plus they have the added benefit (or detraction, depending on your point of view) of being reminiscent of the Feederz album “Ever Feel like Killing Your Boss?” which was covered in sandpaper that meant it would destroy any record cover it came in contact with. Likewise, if someone gave you this business card you probably would want to put it in your wallet or pocket next to your phone. The even went the extra step of adding a kicktail. If only they took this attention to detail and applied it to some of their rereleases. And it it goes without saying (except I’m saying it…) that these obviously remind me of the Maple XO hang tags.
[Source: Card Observer] - Thanks to Boy Ipoh for the tip.
Powell’s got three Christmas themed items on sale for the holidays, not one, but two different Vato Rat skateboards and new this year, Ripper ornament. That ornament is only 6 bucks. I’m getting one.
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These Powell Peralta reissues are just the tip of the iceberg of what Stacy is pushing in connection with the Bones Brigade documentary. A few items are already sold out. I have… mixed feelings about this. I don’t begrudge these guys the right to make a living, but it seems a little excessive and counterintuitive to the legacy. I don’t know if they need the money or not. Maybe they realize their shelf life is limited at this (amazingly) late stage in their careers, so they’re just trying to get one last payoff. Check out the goods.
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Star Wars themed Powell tribute t-shirts. Darth Vader and Rippers available at Shirtoid. Mike McGill skull and snake available at Society6. Yes, young Powelladawan. Ouch. Sorry. That was weak.
– Thanks to Matthijs for the tip. He really should have his own blog by now, but hey, he makes my non-paying job easier, so thanks!
There’s a Frankie Hill interview of sorts over at Whatit.be. The ESL grammar is a bit distracting at times, but if you dig/dug Frankie Hill this is the latest bit out there, unless you head to Legion Skateboards.
[Board Graphic: Vaskateboards.com]
I gaped. I couldn’t believe what I’d seen. He’d ridden the wall. I jerked my head around to share with everyone else’s amazement, and no one, not one single person seemed to have even noticed what Christian had done. Stecyk knew though, and said, “You’ve got some catching up to do.”
There’s an excellent in-depth interview with Jim Fitzpatrick interview on I Skate, therefore I am blog. It’s five parts long ( 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5) ! Fitzpatrick has seen some interesting times in skateboarding, including being involved in two hugely influential companies like Makaha and Powell Peralta, and spearheading the fight to have skateboarding classified as a hazardous activity. For those of you who scratch your head at that one, it’s one of the reasons that municipalities don’t have to carry massive skateboard-specific insurance riders for skateboard parks. Because, as an inherently dangerous activity, the rider assumes a certain amount of risk while engaging in the activity. The interview covers other aspects of Jim’s life as well, from surfing to being a Montessori school teacher. There’s even a Surf Punks reference. Definitely worth reading if you enjoy learning about key figures in skateboarding history. The picture on the left is from another interview on TEDx.
- Thanks to Jerome for the tip.
Merry Christmas and/or Happy Chanukah, Kwanza or whatever it is you celebrate. The board on the right is this year’s Powell Peralta x-mas deck. The Frosty Ripper is still available at a handful of shops if you’re in the market. The one on the left? I’m not sure when it was made, but I found the picture here. I pretty much completely slacked on it this year but it is easy enough to peruse skate paraphernalia from Christmas’ Past.
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So many titles to chose from. There’s For Life, or For Now, and Fall On You Own Sword, or Victimized Again? What am I talking about? it only took six months for Mike to bail on By the Sword, the skateboard company he started after ditching Element. By the Sword heavily used the slogan “DIY or Die” in marketing and products. So what beats doing it yourself? Vallely has signed with Powell Peralta again, a company he complained bitterly about on several occasions. It seems every skateboard entity is intent on making Mike a “pawn” and exploiting his hard work and reputation, but I guess time and money heals all wounds. One can’t help but feel bad for all the shops and distributors that fully got behind Mike V. It’s almost like he used them like… pawns in his game. I realize this is a scene from Sid & Nancy. Somehow a reenactment of Sid Vicious singing “My Way” is more appropriate than the actual footage embedded on the official By the Sword web site, with no offense meant towards Gary Oldman.
