A lot of so-called skateboard safety equipment of the 70’s was rebranded, ineffectual generic equipment; volleyball kneepads, gardening gloves, and hockey helmets that probably weren’t very useful for hockey either. Every couple years I get an email from the UK someone asking if I have any leads on old Cooper skateboard helmets, and the answer is always no, except when it isn’t. Is it a niche skateboard collecting community? No, not exactly. The hurling community values these. As recently as 2024, Cooper (Ireland) was still making these helmets, some with the skateboard brands they white labeled back in the 70’s.

Has there never been a re-release of PVC copers, or has it all been new old stock that you can sometimes find on the internet? Snap N Grind to the rescue I guess. These are 3D printed though. These copers have printed in place hinges that act like the locks that Tracker copers had, without requiring removing the wheels to put them on. They make them for Independent, Ace, Royal, Slappy, and inexplicably, Carver. The best thing about these is the option to get a version embedded with flint for making sparks.

It’s a coffee mug with a skateboard truck as a handle. This may not be new, but it’s new to me. It’s an idea that feels like it might have come from a high school art project, except Independent actually decided to have these made. The cult of Independent will surely make this line item at least break even. If ever there was a product crying out for the Maltese Cross version of the Indy logo, this is it. It’s goofy, but I kind of like it. The 80’s Thunder Trucks version of this mug just has a lizard on it and no logo.*

Hey Kids! It’s the cover of Archie & Me #102 from 1978! The cover features Archie on a skateboard, painting the walls of his school for some reason. Must be some form of detention. There’s no other skateboarding content inside, just the usual, horrible Archie stories, Sea Monkey ads, and the like. Shame about the tail on that board…

Holy cow, I didn’t think this would be ready so fast, but opening day for Portlanders is this Saturday , October 17th. PDX street skaters, rejoice!

Legendary surfer and skater Larry Bertleman died at 71 yesterday. Famous in the skateboarding world for his surfing inspired moves, including the Bertlemann slide, AKA the Bert. The pic above is a Dan Devine photo featured in a Rolls Royce wheels advert from 1975. There’s a profile of Larry on Surfer.com. SHoF profile video after the jump.

I’ve posted about Hooker Headers skateboards before, originally fascinated with a strange looking adjustable truck configuration, and then again after discovering an ad for one in a 1976 issue of Hot Rod magazine. There’s also another Hooker ad in the vintage ad gallery, with more to come I’m sure. This one is a conventional looking skateboard missing the adjustable contraption. What is does have however, are likely some Chicago trucks, Rolls Royce wheels, and a psychedelic top. The seller has a few more interesting boards.

I’ve added 59 ads from the February 1978 issue of Skateboard World magazine, bringing the grand total in the gallery to 1,483 vintage skateboard ads! There’s some good stuff in there. There’s definitely some overlap with what you’d see in Skateboarder, but not nearly as much as you’d think.

I’ve added 97 ads from the National Skateboard Review to the gallery of Vintage Skate Ads. If you’re counting, the galley is a at 1,441 ads! These latest additions came from scans of used with permission by Di Dootson-Rose, the original publisher. Shoutout to Natalie Porter of Womxn Skate History, which is where I first found a link to Di’s online archive. The scans are not the greatest, as these were printed on newsprint some 50 years ago, but the ads are interesting because you get to see a lot of riders that didn’t hit the big time. The stakes were lower so the companies weren’t as concerned with impact. So far I’ve only goten through 1976-77, but you can view them all, up to the last issue in 1979, at the National Skateboard Review.

Here’s an ad for TDK tapes that brags about being able to “clearly reproduce the complete music spectrum of digital sources.” That looks like Venice Beach, and that looks like Tony Alva. What say you? 1988 is the year of this ad, which seemed doubtful to me until I looked it up and saw that 1988 was the first year that CD’s outsold records. You can buy this ad in the usual place for as low as $8. Photos from this session were used in another TDK ad. Looks like I thought it was Hackett or Olson last time around, but that ad doesn’t really show that TA looking long hair. UPDATE: When you blow it up there is no long frizzy hair, it’s just motion blur and shadowy leopard print.