Illinois’ legendary skatespot known as the Elgin pipes, named after the town of Elgin where they resided. Legends, myths and truths trickled throughout the Midwest like.. oh I don’t know, hazardous chemicals leaching into the water table? Here’s a few I remember, located next to a mental hospital, someone was murdered there, spikes welded on to keep skaters out… the list goes on. This is Michael Hammecker with a tail stall to nose grab. Let’s hear some Elgin pipes stories. Enlarge-o-rama.

“Like wo-ow, he must be headed for some kind of cosmic freak out!” OK, I’m quoting Skateboard Madness claymation scene from memory, so maybe that’s not exactly right. These two (1 – 2) iron-on skateboard t-shirt transfers from the 70’s are available where else, but eBay. I beleive it was in the R. Crumb documentary where he revealed that he hated how the hippies had appropriated the “Keep on Truckin” illustration. Not sure what h’d have to say about “Keep on Boarding,” except for maybe Street is neat! Now that the market is saturated in skateboard graphic books, I’d like to see a well done book covering only skateboard t-shirts. Wouldn’t you? Catch these two groovy transfers after the jump, and what the hell, why not watch the Skateboard Madness claymation sequence, as well as a “tribute” after the jump. Hey, look out!

I didn’t make any posts on Black Friday, but this works better for Cyber Monday since you might have a hard time finding this in an actual shop. So why not pick up this limited edition Skull and Candy Cane board that is not actually a Blind send up, but something the folks at Powell Peralta cooked up. Out of character? Perhaps. Santa Cruz and Powell appear to be engaged in some sort of protracted nostalgia trench warfare. Get yours at SoCal Skateshop and elsewhere, I’d imagine.

– Thanks to Eric Cherry for the tip.

All hail the return of Saturday Starrs, as well you should. Scott Starr is the ultimate skateboard film historian. He covers the surfing world too, but that’s not for me to judge. Here’s another piece of history that would most likely had been lost to the ages were it not for Scott’s diligence. It’s the opening sequence from a 1977 East Coast skateboarding and surfing film titled Hard Waves, Soft Wheels. Scott’s YouTube channels keep getting shut down, and so a lot of the embedded videos stop working. I’ve gone back and re-populated the ones that he’s uploaded again, in case you are in the mood. It’s like the third or fourth time that I’ve had to do this. We’ll see how long it lasts again. Awesome period piece music in this sequence.

UPDATE: I had the wrong video embedded, but it’s fixed now. If you are jonesing for that Captain Kangaroo appearance, it’s over here.

Remember this shot of the week? The board that Jim Gray is riding in the picture, the Sidecut, has been reissued by G&S, but exactly who that entity is, that’s anyones guess. There appears to be an official web site, but the email contact gets bounced back. I’m pretty sure the G&S trademark has traded hands a few times, but I can’t get any confirmation. There are some online skateshops offering boards autographed by Steve Cathey, which according to SkateLegends.com is also coincidentally the guy who signed Jim Gray to G&S. I was curious why he would sign this board and not some others like his some retro-themed offerings with his picture on it. The answer turned up at Cal Streets. The sidecut was designed for Steve, but at the time Cathey felt he was a little overexposed commercially, so he declined to have his name put on it. Minutiae, minutiae, minutiae, but that’s why you’re here, right?

So October 2009 was a big one. If this was anything to go by, then we can say that the downtown is over, at least in regards to the pocketbooks of serious skate collectors! Lots of stuff went for over $1000, and some went far higher than that. What do some of our big spenders do for a living I wonder? And are they even skaters? Or do we have art collectors out there who are starting to expand into old skateboards? Or do we have famous/rich folk who used to skate and who know want to recapture a piece of their youth and they don’t care what it costs to reclaim it? And just who the fuck has $5,000 discretionary income burning a hole in their pocket these days anyway? Just some interesting thoughts to ponder.

Check out eBay Watch: October 2009

Wow. I can’t believe this one flew under my radar for so long, but it was released a mere year after Thrashin’. I’m not sure what this movie is about, but it’s got two Playboy Playmates and a skateboarding goon (Hey! that’s Russ Howell?1) who meets a spectacular untimely demise. Is it because he’s doing handstands down the middle of a highway, or because he’s spinning 360’s with an inflatable doll? Both valid reasons, to be sure, but not there are other extenuating circumstances. Playmates are well known for their acting chops, so you know this clip is… not going to feature them.

– Thanks to Skate D for the tip.

Hey everyone, quit reading this blog and head on over to Disposable: random essays on skateboard art. Take this extra on the passing of Bernie Tostenson. Bernie did some great graphics for Sims before starting Brand X. Brand X had a crappy wood shop, but the the screen printing was second to none. For instance, I have a Brand X Weirdo hanging on my wall in my living room. I’ve looked at it thousand times, and tried to dissect the print work that went into it. I figured it was 6-8 colors with a few blends in it, because when I contemplated the larger possibilities, it gave me a headache. I couldn’t handle the truth. Twelve colors? Holy cow. I learned that on Cliver’s Disposable blog. Add him to your bookmarks. The Disposable blog makes a great companion to the book that is a great companion to the first book.

The California Heritage Museum in Santa Monica just opened a show called “SKATEBOARD: Evolution and Art in California.” The shot at top is thanks to a friend of Sam at SkateOregon. The exhibit runs until the end of May, 2010. You can catch a description of the artifacts and lenders at the official museum site, and you can see some photos at CtotheJL.com (Photo: bottom right) or The Smogcheck. The “museum” is actually located in an historic house in Santa Monica. The contents appear to be the usual fare, but I never get tired of looking at that stuff.

Another month has flown by and here we have another installment of Baywatch. There’s lost more goodies this month, and hopefully some that you have never seen before. The longer I do this the less inclined I am to keep on featuring the same decks from the same companies, high ticket items though they might be. There’s only so many ways to describe a Hawk birdclaw without it being repetitive, so I’ll choose something else instead. It might not be as iconic, or go for as much money, but that’s not what this column is about. It’s not a price guide, more a sampling of what I find interesting, and hopefully you do too. So, variety is the key for me at the moment.