Sidewinder Wheels

I really enjoyed having a booth at Cal Sk8’s skate swap. I brought too much stuff and wasn’t quite prepared for the space. I was there for about 10 hours, which included about 3 hours total in setup and tear down. My booth was not a huge moneymaker after all expenses were paid, but it was still worth it for the total experience. I met some cool people and saw a lot of old friends. I only have one regret, and that’s the fact that I sold both sets of my 70’s era Sidewinder Wheels.

Sidewinder – Skateboard Accessories by Ornate Design

One of the highlights of the event was seeing the keen interest in some of of the items. I’m not kidding you when I say you could see the sparkle in the eyes of people who made a connection with some of the items on display. This stuff was not for everyone, that’s for sure, but for a small minority it really had an impact. My inventory was overwhelmingly skateboard related toys, but I did have a some actual, you know, skateboard items, including these Sidewinder Wheels I bought off Ebay some time ago. I tried to look up my purchase price but my history was unavailable prior to 2017. Long time readers know I’m a sucker for vintage skateboard packaging.

These Sidewinder Wheels really have great packaging. The contrast of the uneven starburst and the bright orange-red really makes the snake and the kid on the skateboards pop. Why is he wearing dress shoes and what’s’s up with the coat of arms? He must be a posh boy.

These didn’t sell until almost the end of the night, but they were definitely one of the most talked about Items I had. People kept asking me why they were sold in lots of two instead of a full set of 4 and I genuinely had no response for that other than that’s the way I bought them. By the looks of the other Ornate Design products, they must have been primarily focused on bicycle accessories and were branching out into skateboard accessories. I’m curious about safety axles covers and knee grabbers.

These had never been opened, and the plan had always been to gently pry apart the staples so I could get a good scan of the package and the instructions inside. Unfortunately, I never got to doing that and these hasty post-purchase pics are the only thing I have. It looks like they spent most of their effort on the package design. By the time they got to the snake on wheels they phoned it in. It almost looks more like an earthworm.

I really didn’t expect these to sell, but I brought them because I thought they might draw people to the booth. Absurdly, I’ve thought about these a few times since the weekend, each time with a little bit of a wince. What a weird object to get attached to. It does make me happy that the gentlemen who bought these were friends and they really did seem to appreciate them.

UPDATE: I forgot I had a Sidewinder ad in the vintage ad gallery. It’s for their axle extenders but shows also shows some wheels in clear urethane.