Category Archive: Media Watch
Skate Rider V6 – 1979
I added a measly 9 ads from Volume 6 of Skate Rider magazine. That’s all the ads there were. You see the other half (more like 65%) of the magazine is upside down and is called Wave Rider. I did not include the surfing ads in this issue, unless they appear in the skateboarding side of the magazine. Skate Rider / Wave Rider was based in Coccoa Beach Florida, and as such concentrated more on the east coast side of things, although they weren’t afraid to cover west coast or international sessions, be it skateboarding or surfing. Craig Snyder of The Secret History of the Ollie was on staff at Skate Rider. Check out Skate Rider v 6 in the Vintage Skateboard Magazine Ad Gallery.
Machine Man #1 – 1978
Machine Man first appeared in the 1977 series 2001, a Space Odyssey before getting his own short-lived series in 1978 that lasted for 19 issues until it was canceled. It would be resurrected for volume 2 in the 80’s and Volume 3 in the 90’s. He’s the last surviving android unit of a military experiment, and predictably, the military is out to terminate him. He’s able to produce Inspector Gadget type augmentations to his physical body, but you know, in a serious manner. In this first issue he bugs out in a traffic jam and produces a skateboard in two halves from his feet that lock together, allowing him to escape.
1975 Hang Ten Pro/Am Contest Program
I added a second skateboard contest program to the gallereis, the Hang Ten World Pro/Am Skateboard Championships. Still in the hamper, some 80’s goodness, Chicago Blowout (1986), Seltzer Seltzer V.P. Cup (1987, St Louis), Bluegrass Aggression Session (Louisville, 1988), and the NSA National Amateur Series (1988.)
Fisher-Price PXL2000 Camera
The PXL2000 was a camera released in 1987 by the toy company Fisher-Price. These things cost around $200, which is about $590 these days. They were discontinued after about a year, probably because that was a lot of money for a kid’s toy. A verified working camera that isn’t “as-is” will set you back around $500 today. I first became aware of these back in the day because Dan Estabrook of Contort mentioned a skate video being shot on this camera, and this would have been anywhere from 87-89. I never saw that video, but I did keep my eyes peeled (unsuccessfully) to buy a camera of my own. Fisher-Price made a print ad for the camera that featured skateboarding, as well as a TV commercial with incidental skateboard content.
Woody Woodpecker Skateboarding, a lot.
So far this is only the second appearance of Woody Woodpecker on Skate and Annoy, but it’s a big one. It started how these things usually start, an innocent glance at an auction item or an old forgotten file saved on a hard drive. Instead of just a puzzle, this time we’ve got PVC figures, plastic fast food toys, alarm clocks, animation cells, skateboards, and a comic book.
Vita-Pakt Skateboards and Fruit Pops
Check out this newspaper advert for Vita-Pakt and Hobie skateboards. At first glance you would be forgiven for thinking this was from the 70’s, but might think this is from the 70’s, but the publication date is actually July 14th of 1968! This ad ran in the comics section of a newspaper. Which newspaper? I don’t know. Ebay sellers don’t like to reveal that because then you could just try to find the whole paper or magazine for less than the selected page they are selling. Check out Surfer Today if you’re interested in how Vita-Pakt and Hobie teamed up to manufacture skateboards in the 60’s. Keep reading if you want to see the advert.
Laugh Comics V2 #6
Laugh Comics Volume 2, #6 was published in 1988. There’s no skateeboaridn on the cover, unless you count the teaser: “The mighty Archie Art Players star in the suspense thriller ‘Skateboard Scandal’.” And what is that scandal? Someone is sabotaging all the skateboards in Britain in a James Bond parody starring Archie as James Bland and Betty as Miss Henny Penny. Veronica is the Bond-girl (Bland Girl) Lord Cedric’s daughter Pamela. There’s also an ad for Archie posters (he’s on a skateboard in one of them) and an Olympic Sales Club ad where you can earn a Variflex skateboard.
Random San Diego Airport Sightings
4 years ago I went somewhere and cycled through the San Diego airport. There were a handful of skateboard sightings in the airport, ranging from displays in the shops, a restaurant, and some tourism focused electronic signage on the wall. I was trying to link the post about Tony Hawk’s restaurant to this post, but it turns out I never made this post, until now. These are photos from 2022, so who knows if these are still there. Someone made it point to highlight that San Diego has a history of skate culture, as if that is some sort of big tourist attraction. I mean, it is for me…
Slate Skate #1
I bought this comic when it originally came out in 1987, but I have no recollection of where I found it. I wasn’t frequenting comic book shops at the time, so it’s a bit of a mystery to me. Skate Slate #1 has a glossy color cover and 32 pages of black and white illustrations inside. There are 3 main stories and a couple random pages that include character profiles, and ad for a Slate Skate t-shirt, and a call to submit your artwork. It was part of (well the entirety of) the Hot Shot Comix imprint out of Lexington, KY. It appears to be the only title or issue ever produced.
Skate Action Added to Vintage Advert Gallery
I added adverts from Skate Action Magazine to the Vintage Skatemag Advert Gallery. Skate Action was a UK based magazine that first came out in late 1988 and ran for a couple years. In issue #13 the title on the cover was changed to “SK8 Action,” but the inside pages still said “Skate Action.” I have issue #1, #5 and #14 in my collection, thanks to Steve from Jersey (UK). My copy of #1 is missing the cover spread and another 4 page spread. These 3 issues all have 56 pages. The contents are mostly color but there is a substantial amount go black and white pages in there. It’s heavily focused on the UK scene. The issues I have a heavy Deathbox presence, the Deathbox that later morphed into Flip, not Tod Swank’s early 2000’s company. This brings the grand total of adverts in the gallery to over 1300!











Recent Comments