Near as I can tell this is a new model for DIY skateparks, or for that matter, skateparks in general. Court 2.0 is a project to replace the DIY spot known as “Courts,” located on the Portland State University campus. Originally the site of derelict tennis courts, it became a permission spot for what was supposed to be a 1 year trial period. Basically, a sanctioned spot to build or bring your own obstacles. That spot was always going to be temporary, and PSU is going to begin construction of an art building on that site. In a lesson learned at Burnside, key to a DIY spot is being a good neighbor. Organizers have managed to secure a 300k grant to develop a new spot nearby, again with the blessing of PSU. This new spot will add a few amenities missing from the old spot, notably a set of skate able ledges somewhat disguised as seating. It’s important to note these obstacles are not concrete, and are therefore reconfigurable, but not in the model of the institutional modular skateparks. This is truly community driven.

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.

I thought Gashapon was the brand name but it turns out that’s what the Japanese call those little vending machines that you can buy miniature toys from. More or less in the style of what we’d call gumball machines in the US. This is the Little Boarder set, and like the advert says, Anything goes, little boarder! Indeed, these are just tiny skateboard figures attached to mostly unrelated food items.

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.

There’s so much “skateboard art” out there these days that they don’t really warrant their own post anymore. Jeanne Drevas’ work definitely caught my eye when I spotted it in a local gallery. There’s something much more tactile about these that made me want to pick them up and examine them. Somehow they reminded me of some of the funky chunky toy aesthetics of the 70’s. I originally saw these in 2016, and of course, sat on my pics until now. Skateboard-based art was just a phase for Jeanne, a phase that lasted from 2016-17. Leave it to me to wait 10 years to post this. The gallery is gone now, but I think she’s still making art though.

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 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.

More socks from Sock it To Me, This time instead of a Gnarly Gnome, we’ve got a cool guy banana wearing sunglasses and riding a skateboard, AKA “Peeling Out.” Do you miss the carefree days full of wearing sunglasses and skating down the halls? We say go bananas! But, maybe try out these banana socks before going out and buying that skateboard. I feel like I could have done better. How? Listen, these guys didn’t hire me when I applied for a job over a decade ago, so I’m not going to give it up for free. I’m not holding a grudge. At least nothing that a free pair of socks wouldn’t fix…

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…

I just added two Chicago based zines to the 80’s zine gallery, which I may have to rename because after scanning it I realized that Brian Sluggo’s 312 zine might actual be from 1990. The other is Chi-Town Shred #7, which marks the 4th issue of Chi-Town Shred that I’ve uploaded so far, with a couple more to come later.