Zero Hero – Zorlac – 1991

Zero Hero from Zorlac Skateboards, circa 1991. I’ve watched this video quite a few times. It has some really good vert skating, and the kind of street skating that still had tons of potential behind it. More about Zorlac Skateboards after the jump!

Zorlac Skateboards was the brainchild of Jeff Newton, a 70’s freestyle skater, and Thrasher photographer. Using his mom’s garage, he started the Texas based company. Jeff organized numerous backyard contest series, ditch contests, and founded the infamous “Shut Up and Skate” Events. With pros like Craig Johnson, Jeff Phillips, Dan Wilkes, and John “Tex” Gibson, he created the first Texas skate team. Zorlac later perished. Some say it was due to shoddy product, or the fact they were no longer a Texas based company, having moved to California.

Zorlac’s art was the product of Pushead (Brian Schroeder), a punk rock artist most famous for his work with Metallica and The Misfits. He was also responsible for creating the record labels Pusmort and Bacteria Sour. He was the frontman for the band Septic Death, which also featured his artwork.

Jeff Newton is now reprinting the old Zorlac designs, but his new focus is Gringo Skateboards. Gringo is a Texas based company, so I’m assuming he got back to his Texas roots.

If you visit the Zorlac Homepage, theres a shot of Jimmy Finley at Pier Park.

Featured Skaters: Barry Abrook, Mark Abrook, Ozzy Alvarez, Matt Barker, Jak Barnett, David Calhoun, Rick Charnoski, Aaron Deeter, Jake Dominguez, Denny Franchini, John Fudala, Kevin Furtado, Rob Hostetter, Craig Johnson, Andy McGuire, Rob Mertz, Damon Mills, Adam Muzikant, Donny Myhre, Geth Noble, Scott Smiley, Scott Stanton, Sasha Steinhorst, Joe Tucker, Matt Walker, Nels Grevstad, Kurtis Head

run time: 48 min 1 sec – Check it Out