5 years ago I found a weird looking board on Ebay. The wacky truck configuration and the fact that it was a promotional board for an auto parts manufacturer made me save the pictures. I just recently found an ad for Hooker Headers in the May, 1976 issue of Hot Rod that had a order form for the Hooker Headers skateboard, and amazingly enough, I was able to find those old pictures among the flotsam on my hard drive. It’s got a metal plate between the trucks, similar to the Flex-trol, but it also adds the ability to change your wheelbase on the fly. Hooker was positioning this as the “ultimate suspension system” for skateboards. Was it a way to build brand loyalty for kids to young to drive yet? I can’t imagine they had a longterm business model that involved skateboarding. Still, it was too expensive of a setup (manufacturing wise) to be purely promotional, especially considering that they offered three boards in two colors as well as the suspension system in two different configurations. Maybe someone at Hooker had a kid who skated. The brand is still around but it looks like it has been absorbed by Holley.…

Vintage 80’s Grin and Bear It comic, courtesy of Paul Graf. Too bad the skateboard is mostly out of frame.

Did you get one of these for x-mas? If so, you are one happy, radical dude.

From Skidmark Magazine via Simon Woodstock. Eight wheels and a big foot!

Check out some X-mas themed posts from previous years and enjoy the holidays!

Nothing says “Ovaltine” like a skateboard, ruler and a small mystery box, at least in Japan. Actually I’m guessing that is Japanese, so readers, help me out here please. It seems the only sport not being enjoyed by the cartoon Ovaltine kids is skateboarding. No date on the package.

I don’t suppose this skateboarder cookie cutter is limited to Christmas, but it looks like a gingerbread style cutter, and that’s what I associate gingerbread with. The embossed text says “© 1989 Lk Mfg Corp Product No 8876” I’m thinking they decided to add a skateboarder to their product line and used some late 70’s or very early 80’s photo as a reference.

Rad Dude Dicky. Most skateboarders are dicks, what else needs to be said? – Thanks to David Maes for the tip

I guess it gets cold in Boston. When it does, some people go stir crazy. Stir crazy enough to build a tracked skateboard thingy. This guy must be crazy. Doesn’t he realize that Valterra is worth literally tens of dollars on the Back to the Future eBay nostalgia road show? – Thanks to Boy Ipoh for the tip.

I’m not sure if this is related to the Skate Case or not, because this one has a different name, and a decidedly more upscale approach. The Brief Skate makers think you want to skate around with iPads and condoms in you skateboard, if you can believe the pictures on their web site. It makes sense you know, for those situations where skateboards are allowed but backpacks aren’t. [Source: DesignBoom] – Thanks to David Caldwell for the tip.