The second CARtoons magazine post! I need to update the first one, now that I have a copy and a can see there’s more to be added inside. This is the May 1979 issue of CARtoons, and it’s packed full of skateboarding content. CARtoons ran from 1959 to 1991 until it folded. In 2016 someone resurrected CARtoons comic book mag, and at the time of publication you can still buy subscriptions. The new CARtoons look a lot more polished than this 70’s issue, which was kind of rough at times.

Remember Tillman the skateboarding bulldog? He passed away in 2015, but he had his moment of popularity. He appeared in iPhone commercials, in the Guinness book of Records, television news programs, and even as a spokesdog for Natural Balance pet foods. He also got to hang to with Rodney Mullen for some reason. I guess the reason is that Rodney’s nickname was the Mutt. And yes, I am clearing out my hard drive.

It’s a coffee mug with a skateboard truck as a handle. This may not be new, but it’s new to me. It’s an idea that feels like it might have come from a high school art project, except Independent actually decided to have these made. The cult of Independent will surely make this line item at least break even. If ever there was a product crying out for the Maltese Cross version of the Indy logo, this is it. It’s goofy, but I kind of like it. The 80’s Thunder Trucks version of this mug just has a lizard on it and no logo.*

Hey Kids! It’s the cover of Archie & Me #102 from 1978! The cover features Archie on a skateboard, painting the walls of his school for some reason. Must be some form of detention. There’s no other skateboarding content inside, just the usual, horrible Archie stories, Sea Monkey ads, and the like. Shame about the tail on that board…

Here’s an ad for TDK tapes that brags about being able to “clearly reproduce the complete music spectrum of digital sources.” That looks like Venice Beach, and that looks like Tony Alva. What say you? 1988 is the year of this ad, which seemed doubtful to me until I looked it up and saw that 1988 was the first year that CD’s outsold records. You can buy this ad in the usual place for as low as $8. Photos from this session were used in another TDK ad. Looks like I thought it was Hackett or Olson last time around, but that ad doesn’t really show that TA looking long hair. UPDATE: When you blow it up there is no long frizzy hair, it’s just motion blur and shadowy leopard print.

It’s been couple of years since I last posted about AI slop generated skateboards, but recently my timeline has been hammered with ads from a bullshit company selling so-called skate shoes, and using AI generated product and lifestyle photos. It’s so very bad, almost as bad as trying to pass off corduroy slippers as viable skate shoes. I threw in a couple of less elaborate (and less offensive) examples as well. I’m not going to link to these brands because eff them.

I’ve had this alarm clock since I was in high school. Took it to college and beyond. It’s final resting place was in a box in my basement, destined to go to Good Will until my son spotted it. Now it’s in his apartment, and it sounds exactly how you think it does. The stickers range from 80’s to early 90’s.

This is Archie’s Pal Jughead, Volume 2 #61, published in October of 1994. It’s got a one page story called Wheel Speil that has skateboarding as the main gag despite being mostly arm candy. Wheel Spiel is used as a title in at least two other comic books (Reggies Wise Guy Jokes #47 – 1978, Archie and Me #148 – 1988) in the Archie universe, and none of the stories are the same. There’s also a sales club ad with a chance to earn a Nash Beach Bum skateboard.

As a skateboard toy, it’s not that exciting, However these Sega Pocket Power toys from the late 80’s and early 90s regularly go for $50 or more when out of the packaging. When in the packaging, it’s usually 3 times that much. The idea is that they are supposed to store flat and fit in your, yeah, you guessed it, time machines pocket. I’m not sure why the wheels are so small in scale compared to the rest of the board. Maybe they were worried about the pull-cord mechanism. The packaging says Tyco, but the bottom the toy says Sega.

These are BEit Dude Skaters as seen on Fab.com back in 2011 when it was still a place to buy… tchotchkes? Cool stuff? I don’t remember. Now that domain is owned by Epic Games and it appears to be some sort of marketplace for 3D models. “Packaged in a custom BEit Dude box.” Ahhhh… BEit Dudes. So very 2010s… Now where did I misplace my NFTs, and why did I save this?