In this edition of counterfeits we have a fake Brand-X deck. The original team deck from 1987 was designed by silkscreen-artist Bernie Tostenson. In the late seventies and early eighties Bernie was working for Sims where he created the famous ‘Winged logo’ and Brad Bowman’s ‘Superman logo’. In 1984 he and Bud (a photographer and salesman) started Brand-X. They ran the underground company for about 5 years illegally  from Bernie’s garage, where Bernie did all those crazy silkscreens. He said these were the happiest years of his life and they had fun, while the big companies destroyed the soul of skateboarding. In 1988 Brand-X made a partnership with one of their distributors and did well for about one year, but the story goes that the new partner stole the Brand-X name, fired the whole crew and amateur team, hired cheap artists and screeners and let the company die in only a few months. Bernie still designed for Flip in the nineties. He died in 2009. For sale at 2dehands.be. [Sources: Disposable 1 and 2 by Sean Cliver]

It’s September of 1967. You’re a horny adolescent boy and the Playtex Bra adverts aren’t due out in the paper for a couple of days. What are you going to do? Why, buy a copy of Henry’s Mod Teen Adventures of course! It’s jam packed with lots of quickly drawn buxom girls in short skirts bending over, falling down, and getting tangled up at the slightest provocation. SAT question and answer: Henry’s Mod is to the Rolling Stones as Archie is to the Beatles. The insides are not nearly as sophisticated as the cover. Interesting that “MOD” looks an awful lot like “MAD” as far as typography. There’s a guy on a sailboard on the cover, but that’s the only skateboard you’ll see in this mod, mod world. I unknowingly bought this from Scott Starr. The first thing I did after receiving it was accidentally get the scotch tape from the protective bag stuck on the comic while taking it out. Full goobered up cover after the jump.

I know the editor/publisher Michael Brooke, and we’ve had this discussion here on S&A about the editorial content of Concrete Wave before they switched to an unabashed longboard/downhill format, so we don’t need to rehash all that again. However, when I saw this article I immediately went to the kitchen and poured myself a cup of coffee, just so I could do a spit-take! Honestly though, this is the sort of article I would have expected from Skateboarder Magazine in the mid 70’s. To be fair, this was in an issue with a cover story on longboarding as therapy. Apparently there is an operation that uses longboarding in family therapy. OK commentators – I challenge you to try some gentle ribbing instead of a reactionary meathead approach.

Listen fellas, those things happen when you don’t use birth control. The Chicago Department of Public Health rolled out these billboards to let you guys know that pregnancy isn’t just a girl’s problem. I think they hired the photog from American Apparel for this one. Why is this kid skateboarding on a dirt road? I’m not sure. Maybe they explain it at this really awkward url: beyoubehealthy.org [Source: New Zealand Herald] – Thanks to Simon Liver for the tip.

Can you tell that I’m sort of on vacation from S&A? I’m thinking about you, loyal readers, if that helps.

An ice cream cake in the freezer at a Portland area Dairy Queen. Sir? What are you doing? Can I help you with that? No Sir, I ‘m afraid I can’t let you take the top off unless you are going to buy it. I’m going to have to ask you to leave, Sir.

I’ve been told this commercial airs on TV but so far I haven’t seen it. Donny sent me a phone cam capture, and Simon Woodstock found it on YouTube. Ray Barbee in a Just for Men commercial after the jump.

Salon.com has an article on why ESPN’s efforts birng the X Games to a worldwide audience aren’t as successful as they’d like. Are the unsuccessful? I’m not sure. Are you paying attention? That’s the main part of the article. Essentially, what ESPN seems to miss, is that that the statement “I am a skateboarder” is a far different one than “I am a basketball player”. The author Matt Reevy get’s it. There’s are a couple good quotes in there (like this post title) that sum it up pretty well. I guess my mission here at S&A is finished.

Denver the Last Dinosaur is possibly one of the best bad cartoon relics out there. Basically, a dinosaur egg hatches, and hangs out with kids skateboarding, riding BMX and sort of communicating in a more subdued Scooby Doo style. The animation is horrible, I swear it approaches 5 frames a second. The voiceover is what makes this cartoon enjoyable/eardrum piercing. The character actors are awful. It’s like listening to somebody do a really bad impersonation Jeff Spicoli, for 20 minutes… The series started in 1988 and ran for two years, so that was right at the tail end of the California craze. There’s an episode called Venice Beach Blast where part of the gang gets hassled for skating on the bike path. The authority figure (Is he a cop or a security guard? He looks like a Forest Ranger.) explains that the community got the signatures together to get skating banned and the bike path built. Now you think this would would turn into a civics lesson that ends with a skateboard park being built, but it doesn’t. The skaters in the crew turn against their biking brothers and go renegade. There’s a lot of whining (almost life real life),…

Jurassic Skate Park is an illustration by Dan Woodger. There’s more to it than immediately hits the eye. Check out a larger version and details on Dan’s site. – Thanks to MC for the tip. [ Source: It’s Nice That ]