This week in pairings of creepy toy dolls with entirely unrelated fingerboards: Two big-eyed dolls with Star Wars fingerboards from McDonalds Happy Meals. It’s a confusing listing, but the Tonner and Kish dolls are just being used for display purposes to show off the toy skateboards.

An entity called Artist of Design offers a retro typeface called AZ YoYo which was “inspired from a ’70’s vintage skateboard logo style.” Just in case the name doesn’t give it away, the logo in question is Yoyo wheels from Gordon & Smith. The advert on the left is from a 1978 issue of Skateboarder, as seen in the S&A Vintage Skatemag Advert Gallery. That’s Steve Cathey in the photo. Artist of Design offers another retro font based on the Hobie Surfboards logo.

Update: MC pointed out that the original was an old Linotype face called Stilla, which was originally published in 1973.

– Thanks to Jer Warren for the tip!

Two more from Vintage Toy Advertiser. On the left, an ad from a 1977 issue of the French comic book Pif Gadget with a contest to win among other things, one of 300 rolling surfboards AKA “surfs a roulettes” AKA skateboards. On the right, a crazy skateboard shirt from a 1978 issue of Pif Gadget. It’s 1978 and there’s no skyhooks on that skateboard. How did they get that photograph of an unobstructed bottom view of a skateboarder seemingly getting air? Was he skating on a sheet of plexiglass? It’s clearly just a rolling shot, so where’s the harness and the wires?

I didn’t know Target had a skate team besides the Flying Tomato. They made a promo video welcoming Curren to the team with a clever moment where Curren sticks an employee name tag on a red shirt as he’s walking in. It also has the typical Rorschach test response elicited from any skateboarder who’s ever seen a Target store in the form of skate footage on those big red concrete balls that sit out front. So I guess that’s their way of letting us know those spots are not a bust? Probably not. I don’t think Curren Caples is a household name yet, so it’s unlikely we’ll see this air on television. Why are they welcoming Curren Caples to Target? Are the looking to replace the Shaun White clothing line at Target?

This is an undated cardboard advertisement for a toy called the Hobble Wobble, something that looks suspiciously like a snake board without the trucks and wheels. These were allegedly manufactured in the late 50’s or early 60’s in St. Louis, Mo. I say allegedly because there doesn’t appear to be any real information on these out there other than a couple of posters for sale. Again, there are some snake boards manufactured out of almost the same accordion I-beam and platform design. The posters seem awfully crisp too, but I’m not sure what the value would be in such an elaborate hoax. Regardless, the Hobble Wobble reminds me of a time when I went to summer camp and my best friend used large sticks we found in the woods to practice our kick turns with.

UPDATE: Magazine article and patent found. Time period authenticity confirmed.

Today I added ads for Darren Navarrette on Creature, Jason Adams on Sonic, records and skateboards from Beer City, a long dead wheel company called Circuit, a long dead mail-order house called SSBS, distribution from South Shore, clothing from Fourstar, a Thrasher subscription offer for an H2O CD, and a bunch of Thrasher products with a big goofy picture.

New for today, Thunder Trucks blue bombers with Ben Krahn, PTS shoes with Chuck Wampler, A Blind Skateboards ad with Gideon Choi, A bunch of cartoon sheep heads for Sole Technologies, a retro subscription ad for Thrasher, and the greatest travesty of all 90’s era skateboard company declines, WTF happened to Zorlac?

This from an advertisement for MPC snap together model kits featuring hot rods for Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote. The advert appeared in an 1972 edition of a comic book called The Unexpected.

In 1972 MPC models put out a snap together model with Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote. Wile E’s kit came with a skateboard. In 2011 Round 2 Models put out a re-issue of the kit. Wile E. Coyote was a separate PVC vinyl character, but the skateboard still had to be assembled from the model kit. I have not been able to find any pictures of the original kit assembled, but there were only 3 colors used for it as well, black, green, and chrome.

Skateboarding on the cover of the September 2015 issue of the American Bar Association magazine AKA the ABA Journal. The cover stunt person looks like a cross between Michael J Fox and Mark Wahlberg. I like the out-of-focus statuesque lady in the background. Is it just me or does her board look like an out of scale (too large) photoshop job. It appears that the cover is just used to illustrate the concept of a “Legal Rebel” and is not skateboarding specific, although it looks like the board in the photo might have actually been produced. Skateboards (still) = Rebels.

– Thanks to Sam for the photo.

It’s an advertisement disguised as Muscle & Health magazine. Check out the beanie and please don’t tell him I called him a freak.

– Thanks to House of Neil for the tip. I guess he’s into… err… men’s health.