Since I don’t have $349 to burn I will not be purchasing this Hostess Twinkie store rack that would be a good way to display countless other questionable purchases I’ve made. Somehow or other Hostess managed to get a very Disney looking Pinocchio on there too.

– Thanks to BPA for the tip.

Woody Woodpecker was one of my favorite cartoons as a kid. I especially liked the ones from the 40’s where Woody seemed a little insane, very similar to some portrayals of Daffy Duck from the same era. This 100 piece puzzle from Whitman, has a copyright date of 1980, a time closer to a more homogenized Woody Woodpecker. That’s Splinter and Knothead on the skateboards. I believe this is Woody’s first appearance on Skate and Annoy. You just don’t see a lot of him on a skateboard.

Does anyone remember Awesome Earl in SkateRock, circa 1988? He was supposed to be the sart of a franchise, with many other adventures “coming soon.” It’s a curious title for a video game. I imagine somebody in marketing picked up a copy of thrasher and randomly appropriated a feature title. SkateRock is a side scroller where you are supposed to avoid obstacles in order to “Join the coveted ranks of the Slime Rat Skaters!” That quote comes from a the game description online, but it’s not actually listed anywhere in the packaging that comes with the version I have. Inside the box there’s nothing more than a 5.25″ floppy, a very short instruction page, and a warranty card. I didn’t actually own this game in 1988, It wouldn’t have run on my Apple IIe. I own it now because I have poor impulse control. Radical! Bigger photos, alternate covers and screen captures from game play after the jump.

A weird little play set, this Littlest Pet Shop Puppy Pal. Nothing says “play” like a puppy locked in a dog kennel. Don’t blame the seller, although for $14 I would want the complete set, even if it did date back to 1992. UPDATED

You say you’ve always wanted a skateboard in the shape of the New Museum in New York? Well your long wait is over, because Chapman Skateboards is producing a limited run of 150 of these boxy decks to be sold in the museum gift shop. They kind of look like a pixelated version of the old Skull Skates mutant. If you watch the video, you can see the deck is cruiser sized. Chapman decks are made in the USA, don’t cha know… I didn’t, actually. It’s probably an exciting collaboration for Chapman, but it’s a little hard to get excited about the deck shape if you’re not connected with the museum in some way, as a fan or a neighbor. I suppose you could use it to impress people without lying. “You know, I’m currently on the board of a museum in New York, they wanted me to buy it.”

[Source: DesignBoom] – Thanks to MC for the tip.

Someone on the East Coast asked me for advice in purchasing a video theme for a business promo video. One of the links they were considering (Colorful Holiday Memories) had stock footage from a local skatepark here in Tigard, Oregon. Plate of Shrimp.

GEM models was a toy company in England that made plastic figures of may varieties, soldiers, cowboys, indians, and sports figures. There is no definitive source of information on GEM, but the consensus is that they were around during the 50’s and 60’s. Most of these models were sculpted by a man name George Musgrave, a man who had his museum for a while, but again there’s very little information about (this specific) George Musgrave on the web, other than some audio tracks of him reading poetry on the youtube. His home town of Eastbourne has a 45 minute documentary on him (that might have appeared on the BBC) but amazingly, you have to download it. Why do we care about George Musgrave? Because in addition to the hundreds of action figures he sculpted, he also made these creepy little skateboarders. They aren’t inherently creepy, it’s just that if you take close up photos of any 40mm (1.6 inch) model and blow it up larger than life it will tend to look creepy, even if it isn’t a half a century old. While GEModels existed in the 50-60’s, George continued to sculpt for various other toy company and cake topper manufacturers up through the late 80’s. So it’s hard to tell exactly when these were made. The seller says it may be 30 years old, which seems about right. The safety gear and board design point to the late 70’s or any time during the 80’s because skateboard themed caricatures seem to lag a good decade or more behind the times. In this particular photograph the skaters look like Eastern Bloc astronauts. While hovering my mouse between front and back views I became entranced, so I created a weird little animated gif. The only thing missing is a techno soundtrack, or maybe a little dubstep. And now you know,

Remember the gold plated skateboard? Now you can watch the process. Yes, I’m phoning it in today.

It’s the September 13th, 2009 edition of Kids Scoop, which focuses on skateboarding. This is another buried treasure that was in the box that Danimal gave me with the kids braille skateboarding book. Lots of safety advice and fun activity after the jump, including the Great Skateboard Debate! No agendas at all, so wake up the kids and call Grandma.

Matt Christopher is the “#1 Sports Writer for Kids” according to his bio. Danimal sent me the braille addition of Skateboard Renegade that he rescued from the trash.

Buzz cut or ponytail? Grunge look? Tattoo, body paint, or earring? How about none of the above? When Zach takes up skateboarding, he doesn’t realize that he’s expected to look a certain way — and cop a certain attitude, too. At least that what it seems like. But Zach just isn’t comfortable with any of these things; he wants to skateboard for the fun of it, and maybe take part in a few competitions. Will he be ostracized because he looks and acts so “normal”? Or will his decision to stay true to himself mark him as a renegade, the very attitude his skateboarding buddies will appreciate?

Oh, the irony of being an outcast amongst outcasts for not embracing being a stereotype. I’m not sure why anyone would throw away a braille book, I would imagine the demand would exceed the supply, so this story must have been especially bad. See the Skateboard Renegade braille edition plus two other sighted edition covers after the jump.