The Pink Panther skateboard van was one of three Pink Panther vans that came out in 1982. I don’t know who manufactured these, I just know they are too expensive fro my budget. Somewhere in my infamous basement is a plastic figure of the Pink Panther on a skateboard which I guess I haven’t posted yet because it doesn’t turn up in a search. I loved the pink Panther as a kid, but the relaunched version leaves me cold. Kind of like the lame sticker on the side of this die cast car. It should have been a pad print directly on the metal.

We call them trains or trolleys, but in Melbourne and the rest of Australia it’s a tram. Yarra Trams is using signage with rhinos on skateboards to remind people not to get killed by trams when crossing tracks. The association is that of a rhinoceros on a skateboard being an unstoppable force, much like, well, a big heavy train. Yarra Trams is named after the Yarra river I guess. Knock knock. Who’s there? Yarra. Yarra who? Yarra gonna be sorry when you get run over by the tram! You guys can have that ad copy for free, just send me a wallaby if you have any spare. The top photo comes courtesy of Troy Sliter (Hi Troy) and the alternate signage photos are from the Yarra Flickr account.

BuckyLasek appears on a window screen advertisement for Rockstar energy drink on at a local 7-11. Party like a rockstar Bucky!

It started out as a quick and simple operation; Buy a page out of a magazine with a rabbit riding a skateboard, wait for it to arrive in the mail, then scan it and post it. Then, have a discussion with the wife about the basement full of nominally skateboard related materials slowly expanding to fill the available volume. What will become of it after I shuffle off this mortal coil? How will my loved ones know what belongs in landfill as opposed to what might be sold for a modest fee to chip away at a lifetime’s debt? Whatever you do, don’t decide to do any last minute research before you write it up… Nesquik Bunny, or (Quik Bunny, depending on the year) has a character glass, web and video games, print ads and computer themes, but no PVC character. This is most likely, the definitive Nesquik “Quicky” the bunny on a skateboard post. The Nesquik bunny is also an advocate for DIY concrete as well! UPDATE: Found an Italian animated commercial with the Nesquik rabbit riding a skateboard.

An advert for Turf Lights printed in the October, 1990 issue of Transworld Skateboarding magazine. Doomed to fail because:

1. Totally unnecessary
2. Weird, off brand trucks used in photo
3. Predates cheap, durable LED lights
4. About as useful as original Elephant Brand wrench
5. Can’t actually see product
6. Can’t order direct
7. Full pads used to to advertise a “street skating” product
8. All of the above

– Thanks to Shawn Tribe for the pic.

Crazy expensive but beautifully designed and constructed by Focus in Rotterdam, these newly released tables come in two different sizes, and are constructed with the largest continuous surface area of recycled skateboard decks I’ve ever seen. The smaller one (200x90x77cm) aka DecksTop 33, is constructed with 33 skateboard decks while the larger (240x90x77cm) DecksTop 39 uses… well you know. They start at €2.726,45, but that includes the hefty 21% VAT tax. Man. that’s a lot of tax, but they probably have bitchin’ free health care and a decent education system. Someone’s is reaching their ID students well, that’s for sure.

The Skateboard Kid was released in 1993, but views more like 1989. It’s the heartwarming story of a bullied kid who builds a motorized skateboard that gets hit by lightning and comes to life. If it sounds bad, like the storyline had little to no thought put into it, don’t worry, because the skateboard talks, has eyes from the RC car shell that was grafted on, and can use the speed controller as a sort of prehensile tail. And it flies… sometimes. And it plays baseball. And it features a wholly disinterested and possibly inebriated Dom DeLuise as the voice of the skateboard. This movie is so very bad. Somehow Timothy Busfield signed on as the lead, and respected producer Don Was produced and cowrote some of the awful (sometimes skateboard-centric) original soundtrack. Check out Skateboard Phreak, Thrasher, Skyboardin’, and Nosegrind. Make sure you stick around of the cringeworthy “music video” for Hard to Find by Trashkittens over the closing credits. At an hour and seventeen minutes, the skateboard scenes are a little bit too sparse to be as good of a bad movie as Thrashin’, which is definitely a production level above the Skateboard Kid. I don’t recognize any of the skateboarding cast or stunt doubles, it was the 90’s after all. New Concorde (Roger Corman) films must have made some money off it, because they made a sequel. You can watch the full video after the jump, for as long as it remains online. The youtube account owner claims “*No Copyright Infringement Intended” so that makes it legal, right?

– Thanks to BPA for the tip.

This Canadian box of Cheerios has been for sale by Masteraddams for a very long time now, unless he’s got a stock of them somewhere. In your box of Canadian Cheerios you could get one of six possible trading cards/sticker with illustrations of the Skateboard Gang characters from the mid 80’s toy series. The Skateboard Gang figures were attached to pull-back and go skateboards. They’re surprisingly expensive to acquire these days, routinely going for $15-$20, so collecting the whole set would be a hefty purchase.

Up top, Jamaba Juice kids meal cups with a skateboarding orange. On the bottom, a Jamba Juice limited edition skateboard deck by Eric Burman given away free as a promotion at SkateLab.

– Thanks to Kevin Live for the tip.

Fantasma Toys radio controlled Sonic the Hedgehog Free Riders toy, skateboard edition. Reviewed by a little kid after the jump.