Disposable: Postpartum bible depression, part 1: the first Zorlac John Gibson

Never fails. In the months to follow the publication of Disposable: A History of Skateboard Art there were a number of decks that I’d failed to find after years of searching that suddenly surfaced out of the dusty blue. Fortunately, I was able to go back and make a few of these key additions with subsequent reprints, but this time around with The Disposable Skateboard Bible there will be no such editorial shenanigans (well, aside from the one previously noted here).

Of course, I say this somewhat ruefully now, because a few days ago I received an email from John “Tex” Gibson saying that he was recently helping his mom clean out an old storage space when he was shocked to discover his first pro model on Zorlac, circa 1982, in unskated condition. I, too, was equally shocked, because this was the first and only production example of the original Gibson board that I’ve seen in any condition. And believe me: I’ve been looking. If there was a Top 10 list of boards that I’d hoped to unearth and include in the ’80s section of the Bible, this was definitely on it.

Gibson suspected that less than 600 of these boards were produced back in the dog days of the skateboard industry (prior to the release of his second and much more well known graphic in 1983), so I guess its dearth really isn’t that surprising.

Anyway, it’s good to see one now and know that at least one NOS version is still in existence*. It’s sad, I know, but these things do concern me from time to time.

Incidentally, back around 2004, at least three reproductions of the first Zorlac John Gibson were created in green, orange, and white dip with two-color prints.

* By no means am I claiming that others don’t exist, but if they do they’re buried under a strata of dust I was never able to reach throughout all my contacts. Plus, to date, it has not been made clear what if anything Jeff Newton, the original founder of Zorlac, may have held onto in way of company archives.

– disposablethebook.com
– jackassworld.com
– disposabletheblog.typepad.com