It’s only been about 9 years since I first became aware of the Ski Skate, and now at long last, I can add a second post on this ancient relic. Check out this promotional flyer from the toy company that made it. I say toy company, but they seemed to split their product line into the categories of subpar sports-training and unofficial Star Wars glom-on products like the Force Beam and the Force Missile. One is essentially a light saber, and the other is a pneumatically launched rocket that looks vaguely like a TIE Fighter with “The Force” grafted onto the product name. If they love skiing, skateboarding and surfing, they’ll love the Ski Skate™! Trust them, they are from LA.

These stills are from a devastating gun violence in schools PSA from Sandy Hook Promise that starts out as a familiar “Back to School Essentials” commercial that takes a dark turn pretty quickly. Very timely in light of the season and recent tweets from that idiot Huckabee.

Stay in your own lane Mike Huckabee. Leave the skate-harassment of Beto to the professionals. This isn’t a laughing matter, but Dr. Schapiro sure made my day.

Check out my backside grind. Are they still doing poser of the month in photograffiti? “Last night we received a report of a collision at Walter E Hall park. Two individuals ran from the scene after they attempted to “drop in” at the skate park. They were not located.” Just run away, they’ll never find you!

– Thanks to Bobcat for the tip.

[Photo: Everett Washington Police]

Way back in the dark ages when I was a kid and not just a kid at heart, I was in love with Hot Wheels, Matchbox, and Johnny Lightning cars. And then I saw Darda cars. Pretty much the same scale, but they also had the added benefit of a friction motor with rubber treads. These things would fly, and you could navigate loops without the need for a gravity assist. Also unlike Hot Wheels, the tracks were multicolored, and they just looked cooler. The cars had a different aesthetic too, slightly chunkier, probably so that they could encase the motor. Some (if not all) models had a pressure switch on the back which could be used to store the kinetic energy until activated. Set 2 cars on the track and start the first one off, when it returned to the start it would hit the second car and activate it. Meanwhile, if you were fast enough, or had another pre-revved car available, you could keep the race alive. The downside? They were from Germany, and were only readily available in Europe, or the boutique toy stores. In 1984 they made a very strange looking skateboard set. Granted, the few slot car skateboard sets that have been made all look awkward and grafted on, but the weirdness from this one come from the robotic astronaut looking skateboarder.

– Thanks to David Maes for the tip.

A: Because they come from China and wholesale for less than $1 a piece.

Seriously, would it kill them to make the seats a little deeper so that the tool doesn’t become useless if you’ve got really soft bushings or want to tighten things down for a mega ramp session? I get unsolicited emails from Chinese companies all the time, trying to sell me plastic skateboards, cheap decks, trucks, wheels, and even authentic (?) “Bones” bearings, all on the cheap. “Swiss” bearings imported from china, including packaging. Thanks Dwindle.

Or, as Lands’ End phrased it in a recent catalog, “Skate like a pro, dress like their agent.” Hopsack Blazers, available in “Big Boy” and “Little Boy” sizes.

– Thanks to Tallboy Can for the scan.

Holy #$%&!! It’s Thrashin’ action figures (!!!) flying under the radar, as seen on the Dagger Skates instagram page as coming soon! No other information out there, but Hook and Cory Webster look great. Wannabe Ramp Locals and Daggers alike demand answers. Will there be:

• Action eyebrows for the Eddie Reategui figure?
• Hook’s sister Velvet, AKA Sherilyn Fenn?
• Cabriolet sports car accessory?
• Red Hot Chili Peppers club scene playset?

The possibilities are endless. Yes these are ridiculous possibilities, but I would BUY THEM ALL.

UPDATE: Looks like these are from Kalaka Toys.

My secret mission to very, very slowly (like glacially) turn this into a hybrid skateboarding and soccer site progresses nicely… Here’s Post number 2 on Portland Thorns player and (2 time!) USWNT World Cup winner (!!!) Tobin Heath! After the Sweden-England match on Saturday there was a lot of analysis in advance of the final between USA and the Netherlands.  Fox aired this segment on Tobin Heath that was filmed in Portland at Commonwealth about 2 months ago. I’ve never seen a picture of Tobin on a skateboard, but here she is on S&A again, and according to Girls Soccer Network, she skateboards. The three minute segment is an odd one, to be sure. It starts off with her juggling in the flat and then out of nowhere she’s surrounded by Solid Gold dancers, and eventually, skateboarders. The voiceover is Heath talking about her connection to soccer, and  a skateboard connection is neither explained or explicitly shown. She’s an amazing player, and I love her and both of her teams, so it pains me to say this… It’s very stiff and awkward. I blame the creative director behind this. I get it, FOX has to have some flash and filler to show in-between the big games, something to draw the viewers into the personalities of the team since the women’s league has no real national coverage.  One thing bothered me, especially in the context of the USWNT employment discrimination lawsuit against US Soccer. The skateboarding crew are all packing sausage. Surely they could found some women to fill that roll, and FFS, paid them equally. I’m not going to let it ruin my day. I found the video online, and posted some screen caps after the jump. #BAON #USWNT

There’s a bit of skateboarding in the street and some rollerskating at a skatepark in this new commercial from Fitbit, but the most exciting thing is the soundtrack. Private Idaho by the B52’s.