It’s highly unlikely that this Swell brand gum is either, soft, fruity, or “swell,” given that it dates back to early 80’s. Unbelievably, the starting bid on a box of antique gum is $125. You can get an unopened box of skateboarding trading cards from roughly the same era for about quarter of that. I can’t tell exactly what is going on here, this kid is possibly puking fruit into big glass of soda. Big box after the jump.

John Egertson enjoyed these photos, and it led him to send in this week’s Shot of the Week.

I loved that post about the ramp out in the desert made of old signs and poached lumber. Got me thinking of two great ramps we road back in the day… The “wooden wave” was a sketchy, shaky thing built on a public sidewalk by the Duke Street / Telegraph Road overpass in Alexandria, VA. It was built entirely from scraps of lumber found here and there by my friend Dave Alexander. The photo attached is Dave, probably around 1980, taken from up on the overpass. You can see the ramp is not a classic beauty, but it was way fun. The top piece of ply was over vert. It lasted a week or two before someone torched it.

Wooden Wave really was ridiculous. It truly was 16 feet tall as painted on there, and over vertical. You can see that Dave painted on some faux tiles and then after that decided to stick another piece of ply up there to make it taller. Despite the photo, Dave Alexander, his brother Mike and myself all got close to the top of that ramp, at least half way up the last piece of plywood. The sidewalk leading to it was fairly steep so we were really flying when we hit it, and the whole thing would just shake. Funny that rather than some public works crew from the City removing it, some delinquents just set it on fire one night… Every good skate spot meets its demise, the best ones usually go the quickest.

Bonus ramp after the jump.

Here’s Christian Hosoi recalling a pretty mild but amusing tale of tripping on mushrooms while at the hight of his fame. The Beavis and Butthead style animation adds to the enjoyment, as does Christians attitude and presentation of the whole thing. First and foremost, up front about his new sobriety, without being a well… buzzkill about the whole thing. Brought to you by Vans.

The Rip City Black Flag commercial has been on youtube for a few years, and it always fascinated me. I pictured some scroungy teenagers with a stolen/borrowed video camera and a six pack, so seeing these old guys on screen in the first couple of minutes kind of bummed me out a little. I’ve got nothing against old guys (I am one) but it made me wish I had left it to mystery. It’s a bit slow going at first, but it does end up being a pretty interesting glimpse into Black Flag and the skateboarding “industry” as it was back then. As with a lot of the more interesting tales, Skip Engblom makes a cameo (in the story, not the video). Jordan Schwartz (Co author of We Got Power) and Jim McDowell of Rip City Skates wax nostalgic on Black Flag and skateboarding after the jump.

[Source: Cvlt Nation(sic)] – Thanks to Dr Brad for the tip.

Who’s tripping down the streets of the city
Smiling at everybody she sees
Who’s reaching out to capture a moment
Everyone knows it’s Windy

Damnit! I thought it was Wendy. Vintage Knitting Pattern Child’s Skateboard Motif Sweater, from the UK.

Plan B is launching a video history of Plan B. This first segment is titled Mike Ternasky Reflection, Return of ‘The Team.’

In 1991 Mike Ternasky assembled one of the most dominant teams in the history of the sport and produced what many consider to be the best skate video of all time, Questionable. In 1994, after Mike’s tragic death in car accident the future of the team appeared to be over. Then in 2005, founding team members Danny Way and Colin McKay relaunched the brand with their own version of the super team and a dream to continue the legacy of Plan B.

I didn’t have time to watch it all, but you do or you wouldn’t be here.

[Source: Ali Sports]

These Powell Peralta reissues are just the tip of the iceberg of what Stacy is pushing in connection with the Bones Brigade documentary. A few items are already sold out. I have… mixed feelings about this. I don’t begrudge these guys the right to make a living, but it seems a little excessive and counterintuitive to the legacy. I don’t know if they need the money or not. Maybe they realize their shelf life is limited at this (amazingly) late stage in their careers, so they’re just trying to get one last payoff. Check out the goods.

Tom Sims died last week from a heart attack. My first snowboard was a Sims, because it was in the 80’s and quite frankly, there weren’t a lot of other choices out there. Sims put out some of my favorite skateboard graphics courtesy of Bernie Tostenson, so why would any self-respecting skater choose another brand? The Sims name was trusted and it legitimized the sport to a certain extent, at least through my eyes in that time period. As his clout in the skateboard industry waned, he picked up more steam in snowboarding, and that seems to be how the mainstream media is focusing on. The images above were poached from a gallery on ESPN. They’ve got a story and a video up too, mostly focusing on Tom’s influence in snowboarding. Interesting fact, Sims was instrumental in bringing the halfpipe to snowboarding competition, otherwise it would have been endless slalom races.

Skate Out is a super 8 film circa 1978. It’s got everything: street, skateparks, downhill and freestyle.

I was 11 years old in 1978 and was skating a little and going to the parks with my friends. This is the first part of the a super-8 movie I made. These guys went on to form the foundation of Nor Cal skating but when this was shot, we were all just kids.

Good stuff, but parts of the soundtrack are NSFTD*.

– Thanks to John Drummond for send ing me this tip back in… 2009!

Old News really, but there’s Wired story on a guy who replicates old skateboard graphics whith shapes he has custom made from our friends at Factory 13. Most of those featured in the photos of John Greeley’s collection have been available as rereleases at some point or another. Others like the Mutt and Hawk’s first model that haven’t. Greeley’s reproductions look excellent, and that’s awesome… Until some show up on eBay five years from now in through a chain of events that ultimately ends up with them being passed off as originals. “I may have the largest archive of original deck graphics anywhere.” Either that or you’re the guy who stole Sean Cliver’s laptop full of all the photos and outtakes form Disposable. For the record, I’m not accusing John. I’m just promoting open discussion on reproductions… and being a smartass.

– Thanks to Andrew Wahl for the tip.