Yeah that’s the legendary Natas Kaupas hawking those incredibly crappy looking plastic sunglasses. Head on over to the Skateboard Archives and check out the, uh, print media archives. It’s a very loose collection of old skateboard magazine covers and assorted pages within those magazines. The real treasure is the funky old advertisements for long defunct or soon to be huge companies. There are lots of shots of pro skaters in questionable poses, a ton of vert riding with pads and helmets, obscure hard goods manufacturers (Rannalli Trucks anyone?) and all kinds of good stuff mostly centered on the 80’s and early 90’s. Also interesting are all the mail order shops with completes going for $99 and up. On the downside, the archives are not well organized or very consistent. The detail pages are not quite big enough to read everything, but it’s still a fascinating trip in the Way Back machine. Right, Sherman? Check out The Skateboard Archives.
5 comments
dude
i remember that natas ad, how could you forget it
Welsh Pete
Those sunglasses were cool then and they are cool again now. I would like a pair but summer is fading…
colin
This is the very ad i reference (Natas) when someone these days says that skateboarding is “selling out” and going corporate… Skateboarding has been “selling out” for years!
Kilwag
Wow, that’s a crazy replacement policy, no wonder they went out of business. Of course all that extra metal probably made them heavy as well. I think Motobilt’s were the heaviest trucks ever made.
Danimal
i had ranallis. they had about 1/4 inch extra metal on the hangars so they would last longer. They also had a replacement policy, if you grind them down far enough they would send you a new set after you send the old ones back. I was albe to do it once then they were out of business. maybe giving away trucks isnt a good business plan, who knew?