I found this magazine online a year or so ago and tried to get them to send me a copy but never heard back from them. The whole thing had a sort of fishy, half baked feeling to it, as if they maybe made one issue as a test and were trying to see if it was a viable money making concept. The Pastor Tom cover made me chuckle because of the 8-wheeler on the cover and the tag line “Why every community could use a Tom Fain.” Really? Every community could use a guy who is seemingly completely out of touch with skateboarding culture?
Well, I was a bit harsh on old Tom. Turns out he was somewhat of a minor celebrity on the skateboarding circuit of the late 70’s. He was on the Sims team, and did the whole drugs thing (OD included) after the crash and eventually found Jesus and blah blah blah. Here’s an interview if you are interested. He used to have some pictures up on the now defunct web site 7wheelsout.com. I also found an absolutely painful to look at web site with more photos and history here.
But I digress. Skatepark Magazine was the property of Harris Publishing, an operation that seems to print a bunch of niche publications that is has little or no cultural investment in. They seem kind of shady as well. You can call them (answering service) or subscribe to a magazine, but can’t otherwise contact them. They’ve gotten in a little bit of trouble over one publication they own, the Idaho Falls Magazine, which has a section called Professional Insight where a panel of experts ins their professions weigh in on associated topics. The journalistic integrity is questionable, since to get on the panel of experts you have to agree to buy advertising blocks. So the professional writers are actually paying to have their opinions printed. I can’t verify it now, since the Skatepark Magazine web site is defunct, but that’s the same vibe I got when I first saw it. I recalled seeing articles and adverts from assorted prefab and playground construction companies.
So the publication folded and the point is moot. If anyone actually has a copy, I’d love to see some scans. now let’s make fun of these covers.
If you didn’t know Tom Fain’s history, and the fact that he still skates, you’d be saying “WTF is this guy doing in a suit with his vintage skateboard? Relating to the kids? I doubt it. Plus, there’s the whole in-your-face religious aspect, which seems odd for the cover of a skatepark magazine.
Here’s another cover, with what may possibly be the posed shot of the century. No folks, I did not mock up this myself. It looks like they took an old product shot from 15 years prior and photoshopped out the background with some dangling feet. Is this kid doing the pogo? Cause he’s certainly not doing anything physically that would resemble a kickflip. Was it really that hard to get a actual cover shot of someone actually skateboarding? Ludicrous!
38 comments
t-roy
Pads are so yesterday, tampons all the way.
taco
email ,me if you need a copy, I might have one or two… would have to dig for it…
(its a sad prefab driven publication)
Tito
taco
back yard style pool in Ripon, when?
jakeandannoy
Cookin’-hot-dogs-with-napalm….
Conahan
I have taste for Pho from Vietnam.
enemy combatant
I’ve got a real bad attitude from Vietnam.
carvin marvin
i’m 45, no pads (i probly have helmut in the car to avoid a ticket, worn thin corduroy takes care of the legs) i like anybody who rides fast: new or old, pads or no.
when a trick goes wrong i run out or hang up and wait for the flat bottom. If i’d bought some pads 30yrs ago, they’d barely have scratch on them and i’d be selling the stickers off my helmet on e-bay.
so ride fast and try to stay on, and respect to you if you have more than my oldy grinds and small front airs.
merry christmas
Ryan Heckler
like I said, I did NOT lose an arm in Vietnam…..
houseofneil
Hateboard–maybe if you did less hating and more reading you would actually be able to comprehend what somebody else is trying to say. Yes, actually READ somebody else’s post before you run off at the mouth. Where exactly did I say that everybody should wear pads? Show me where I said that. Oh too bad, I didn’t did I? YOU ran off at the mouth accusing me of something that I didn’t even say. “So typically predictable.”
And to sum up, I could care less if people wear pads or not. I already said that in my previous message, but in your haste to post an angry response you obviously only read the parts that you want to read, parts that fit your agenda.
And the funny thing is, we are both basically saying the same thing. Wear pads if you want, or don’t. It’s your choice. But don’t attack others for choosing to. That was the point of my opening comment.
Kilwag
I have a plate in my head from Vietnam.
Neil, Hateboard, agree to disagree and let’s be over it.
Hateboard
houseofneil:
get over the pad thing dude. just stfu. nobody cares.
wear em or dont. what pro does and who doesnt…nobody cares.jesus fucking christ.
the more you try to justify why you do it, the more it looks like your just some kooked out old safety nazi who’s scared to slam. wear what you want but quit fucking preaching that shit like its the only way. man…so fucking lame.
im up in the 35 age bracket and i dont wear pads. probably never will. your state of mind about your physical ability makes you believe that you need them, so what? mine says i dont. its all subjective and personal. fucking shut up about it. you did exactly what i predicted some pad warrior would do…”if you look at any of the pro’s from the 70’s who are skating again..just trying to preserve the stoke..anything to roll another few years..” so typically predictable.
jakeandannoy
“Vietnam”? Where is that?
That’s southern CA, right? In the valley?
enemy combatant
Did losing an arm affect your ability to read a map?
Ryan Heckler
I did not lose an arm in Vietnam so that rich California brats could argue over what part of their state is north and what part is south………
enemy combatant
Ripon is not in Northern California, it is in the San Joaquin Valley:
http://tinyurl.com/ywyymh
Only kooks from L.A. consider it “northern”.
houseofneil
EC is right, the best skater IS the one having the most fun.
If you don’t want to wear pads, more power to you. BUT, and it’s a big but, don’t attempt to walk in another’s shoes until you’ve been their yourself.
If you have not yet hit 30, let alone 40, you can’t even comprehend this. In your 20s life seems forever. It seems like you will skate forever. An injury might slow you up for a few weeks/months, but no big deal, you’ll be back out next year. Plus you heal fast.
Guys, when you hit 35, and especially 40 this shit changes. Everything takes longer to heal. Everything starts to hurt. You realize that you might not be able to do this forever, and time is precious. A serious injury could knock you out for the year, and a year out could mean you have little time left. So you take EVERY precaution you can. Pads, helmet, wrist guards, hip pads. Whatever the fuck you’ve got I’ll wear if it keeps me skating for another few years. This shit is precious. Keep the stoke whatever it takes.
And carvin marvin–if you look at all of the pros from the 70s who are skating again, I will guaran-damn-tee you that they all wear pads now.
Zoe
Ripon is a city in the valley of Northern CA (really close to Modesto). They have a really fun park if you’re ever in the area.
Kilwag
My new band name, the Ripon Scumliners.
Where/what is Ripon anyway?
Kilwag
Gotcha. I didn’t get the scumline reference. Now I know.
hell, one guy died skateboarding in a parking lot with his kid. Fell and hit his head. You never know what will get you, and you can’t be prepared for everything.
This has less to do with any perceived Concrete Wave demographics and more to do with some complete outsider trying to see if he can make money with an industry trade mag. At least the Ripon scumliners are actually skaters.
mc
I think you missed the point of DeeK
enemy combatant
The best skater is the one having the most fun!
The Bean
Scumlining ripon in full pads is rad! It pisses off the kids and feels good rolling baked with a burger and some beer in your guts.
Kilwag
who cares what we wear or how we skate? Exactly.
enemy combatant
I’ve been skating for like forever and I
Ryan Heckler
you all need to pull the pad out from between your legs….
carvin marvin
70’s guys learned to ride without pads and don’t even know how to use use them, that’s why i don’t wear wear them. nothing worse than a full set of pads without a sratch on ’em.
Hateboard
i know, randy.
its just like the street vs tranny debate. it leaves a filthy taste in my mouth.
calling out the pad warriors for wearing gear is lame, but so is calling someone a dickhead because they dont wear pads.
we all skate. i dont scumline, but some of the other 30+ geezeers i skate with have been known to, i dont care. arent we ‘sposed to be having fun and hanging out?
who cares what we wear or how we skate?
everybody it seems.
this is why i dont leave the house or hang out with most other skateboarders.
it’s just so tiring.
how i long for 1990 again.
so we could all look stupid together again.
Kilwag
I think the other guy DK needs to “get over” pads since he’s the guy who brought it up in the first place.
Hateboard
dude…hahaha….95% of us are too cool for pads.
why do some dudes get so bent about the fact that they wear pads? i dont care if YOU wear pads, but you guys gotta quit that “im simply smarter than you because i wear pads for safety” crap. it’s just as easy to say, “we who dont wear pads are simply tougher than you pussies”, and thats lame, too.
this is the time when som dude responds with, “i been doing this since 1970-something and i’ve taken shitloads of slams and im just trying to preserve my body” which is fine or whatever.. so,your afraid to fall anymore, so what?
get over it.
houseofneil
dee kay–what the fuck is that supposed to mean? You’re “too cool” for pads I guess. Dickhead.
Dee Kay
“Pastor Tom?” This shit reeks of Michael Brooke and a gaggle of morbidly obese geezers scumlining Ripon in full pads.
Kilwag
… are super cool?
Dick Cancer
The cover is as KORNY as any Daddies skate shop ad in concrete wave, you can also include an ad from Rebel skates of dude doing a weak (pose)sweeper at west linn…
Then again who am I??? I don’t have an ad and I don’t have a shop to promote and I don’t have any decks to sling at the next park I hit either. Dudes who bring decks to parks…
enemy combatant
Handplants, airs? Give me that old time religion, it’s good enough for me!
cskate
Make sure and check out Tom’s site if you really like popup windows and generic soundtrack loops.
cskate
Totally Rad!
LP
looks radical
Mac
I just figured that it was a shot of a kid parachuting into a skatepark, only to find his landing mysteriously impeded by a levitating, upside-down, early 80’s Nash. A bit abstract for Skatepark Magazine? Perhaps, but it would get me to pick it up on a crowded rack of other skatepark mags. I think these folks deserve a little more credit for their point-of-sale marketing savvy on this issue. No excuse for the 8-wheeler. They weren’t even cool in the 70’s.