Ebay watch is dead. Long live Ebay Watch! Issue #5 of Spunk, is something that probably would have made the miscellaneous section. It’s a bit of a shocker to me to see that this went for $44. The postmark on the back cover shows that it was mailed from Delaware in October of 1984. This particular issue was sent to the folks at Transworld, which had been in publication for about a year and a half at the time. The seller took some fuzzy pics of the entire issue of Spunk, so they aren’t really up to the quality that I like to post in the Zine Archives. You can check them out here after the jump. He might have worked at Transworld for a while, as some of his other auctions seem like production artifacts forms the magazine. lots of cartoons in this issue. The rockabilly hairdo is a good one.

Animal Chin came out 30 years ago, and what better way to celebrate that than to build a replica of the Animal Chin ramp. It grew from an idea to make a spine ramp to recreate the famous 4-way invert shot, but ultimately ended up as a complete reconstruction, minus the tunnel. Unlike the original, this ramp will last longer than a couple days, and has a permanent home at Woodward. If you’re going to recreate the Chin ramp, you might as well throw another party with Johnny Rad.

[Source: Ride]

There’s some buzz about a large collection of skate memorabilia up for sale, not only because of the size of the collection, but the method and price. Right now the only way to see it is via Instagram. The seller reportedly is asking $125,000 for the entire lot, and is unwilling to break it up piecemeal. So far the seller has not been identified, but the collection includes a statistically abnormal concentration of gear from Skatemaster Tate and Adrian Demain, which may provide some clues. Is this interesting? Yes, but the thing that really fascinates and intrigues me is the inclusion of a mega-rare, but ultimately valueless (except to Neil and myself) Skate and Annoy t-shirt in the middle of the collection. This is probably second iteration of a design that went through 3 changes. The first batch was screen printed in a house on a makeshift rig with water based inks printed on cheap Hanes undershirts bought in 3 packs at local discount warehouse/clearance type of store. I imagine I screened less than 2 dozen. The version in this collection is likely the second iteration, and may have been printed on slightly higher quality shirts, but again, would have been limited to two or three dozen total.

The End of Transworld, Volume 1, #3 that is. Just posted the last of the adverts in the gallery, including Bob Denike for Seaflex, Lester Kasai for Sims, Chris Baucom for Walker, Rector Riot Gloves, and other gems from 1983. So far that’s a grand total of 295 ads in the the gallery. Currently on the scanner: A July, 1977 edition of Wild World of Skateboarding.

The Hundreds has two articles on independent brands of yesteryear (and today) Blockhead, and Acme. Both are good reads, although both could have been much longer. These have absolutely nothing to do with two collaborations by the Hundreds, reportedly sold out already.

Against the Grain: How Jim Gray and Acme Changed Skateboarding Forever

Garage Brand: The Blockhead Skateboards Story

Only in the 70’s (and 50’s, 60’s 80’s and 90’s) could you get away with a line like “Unfortunately, the chick is not included” coupled with a headline like “Your pad or mine?” The black and white photo is from product release news in the 1st issue (1977) of Skateboard Scene. It’s about a new line of safety gear from Syndicate (no relation to the US company) that was an offshoot of the Skuda brand. With a ? of a page product announcement, it’s no surprise that there were also ads for Skuda and Syndicate pads. The dapper fellow on the right is from the Skuda advert. Surprisingly, a 2008 post about a plastic Skuda was one of the first Skuda mentions on the interwebs, and was pretty popular here. It still gets the occasional odd comment. Can you tell I’ve updated the Vintage Skatemag Ad Gallery? I also added a cool, slightly goofy ad from a company called Roncastle, and Wharfdales Skateboard Centre. I never get tired of the centre spelled with “re” at the end. I only wish there was an ad for Ye Olde Skateboard Shoppe. (follow the individual links) After you read/see the product announcement for Skuda’s Syndicate branded knee pads after the jump, check out the new ads in the gallery (follow the individual links.)

Two skateboard shops from Wales, Dave Friar’s Surf Shop and the Welsh Skateboard Centre. Then there’s Mercury Flyer air freighted skateboards direct from the USA, and the Superb Sitco Rocket.

Brand new, vintage-style artwork hand painted on a NOS vintage skateboard, an idea close to my heart. I’ve still got that box of NOS steel wheel skateboard truck combos in my basement. Although my intent was to screen print graphics on brand new hardwood decks with the same shape. Grits Co takes it a step further.

– Thanks to MC for the tip. 

Jeff Proctor’s friend enlarged this from a 2 inch image in Thrasher a long, long time ago. Now he can’t remember who it is. Do you know? ( Insert  sad commentary about what passes for “content” on Skate and Annoy these days. ) UPDATE: It’s Richard Armijo

Where were you when I needed you circa 1980, when I was alone in the suburbs of Chicago, unable to skateboard because every time I took my wheels apart I lost one of the open bearings from my 70’s banana board? With no skateshop in sight, not even a token bike shop with a skateboard section, what’s a kid a kid supposed to do? I’ll tell you what, I waited around until the Nash boards were discovered in a Sportmart.