Hey kids, remember the Morfboard, Morfboard 2, and Morfboard copiers like the Flybar? Well you can add the Switchboard to that esteemed group of wacky boards, and this one might be best engineered version yet. It’s one skateboard with special mounting plates that allow you to swap out trucks and accessories in a snap. Is it necessary? Maybe. Is it possible? Yes! Who is it made by? Switchboard! But is it this Switchboard? Possibly. The logo is different and the product is conspicuously absent from the skateboard training products section and skateboard trucks section, so who knows. Someone in Poland knows. (Daj mi buziaka.)
What’s the point of this? Who is spending $169 on an 8″ plastic figure of Harley Quinn, even if it is a limited edition hand-numbered resin cast sculptures based on the art of Ivan Tao? Why is she on a skateboard? Is this tryhard? Ask McFarlane Toys on Amazon.
Two unrelated bands, two unrelated songs, two unrelated skateboards. This post has been in draft mode so long that the Night Birds have since disbanded, but fortunately The Wimps appear to be still active, and not to mention, actively embracing skateboarding hot-dogs.
This bootleg is one of the funniest crappy/80’s bootleg deck I have ever seen. The Thrill Seeker graphic looks like He-man getting busted attempting to devein a giant shrimp. He-man doesn’t look happy at all and the shrimp seems scared a hell. It was found on ebay, but it didn’t sell. I’m not surprised, because the seller listed it as a “Conan the the Barbarian” deck, so all the true Masters of the Universe fans missed this one. He looks a little overstuffed, like a bright pink Stretch Armstrong. Turns out you can get a licensed Masters of the Universe He-Man decks via a collaboration between Super 7 and Element. Despite being licensed, it still looks like a bootleg or at best, a toy store board. Trying to find better pictures of the He-Man deck turned up more carppy boards from Sk8 Bali.
– Thanks to David ODK for the original post idea that I just couldn’t leave be…
Anytime I go in to a resale or vintage store I make a beeline for the magazines and grab anything from 1965-1966 as well as the random publications from late 70’s. The very first thing I picked up at Vintage on Third in McMinnville was copy of Hot Rod Show World 1978. Despite no obvious association, something about it was calling to me. Sure enough, there was a two page spread on skateboarding, as well as a ton of hot rods and predictably, hot rod women.
Cleaning out the hard drive again… Where was this? I don’t remember, but the when of it was in 2017. Skateboarding Taco by Tripper Dungan. The mustache creeps me out. The sign on the wall said:
A graduate of the Las Vegas Acadamy of Performing and Visual Arts. Dungan finds inspiration from the cartoons from the 1930’s, 40’s, and 50’s, as well as victorian taxidermy and psychedelic art. He has been featured in galleries across the nation and in international art magazines like Hi-Fructose.
A quick check of Tripper’s website also turned up a skateboard sculpture.
The rabbit holes I fall into… A reader sent in a picture inquiring about a 70’s skateboard he found that had a “Jordy” logo screen printed on the bottom. I felt pretty cocksure that I’d be able to track down an old advert or something. It seemed to me to be an English brand, or otherwise European, but boy did I strike out. Well maybe instead I hit a foul ball over the back fence? I did discover a lot of pictures related to an Italian TV show called Striscia la Notizia that is a satirical TV news program. A quick google image search revealed that it’s like the Daily Show with cleavage, and lots of it. I spent hours on this post. Hours… Dive into obscure Jordy-related Italian skateboard history with me, it’s slightly more interesting than you think!
Cleaning out the hard drive… I spotted The book Skateboard Party on a 2017 poster for Battle of the Books at my kid’s school. It’s book two of The Carver Chronicles, by Karen English, Illustrated by Laura Freeman. The book was published in 2015. Here’s the synopsis:
Richard can’t wait to show off his flat-ground Ollies at a friend’s birthday party at the skate park, but a note home from his teacher threatens to ruin his plans. He really meant to finish his assignment on howler monkeys, but he just got . . . distracted. If only he could focus on his schoolwork, he wouldn’t get into this kind of trouble! Can Richard manage to put off getting the note signed (and facing the consequences) until after the party, or will the deception.
Just a heads up: The Dead Kennedys do not make an appearance in this book.
