Do you remember G&S Trucks? In my opinion, these things weren’t killed, rather delivered as a stillbirth. Everyone I knew who rode them always ended up breaking the weld that holds the hanger to the bushing casing, or bending the axle. They were not thought of fondly. Still, rather than continue my tradition on geeking out on minor notes of skateboard history, I thought I’d let someone else do it. After Prickly Pete raised the issue back in December of last year, Pete Brown graciously offered to research some obscure trucks and write it up. And I’m talking actual research. He got in touch with Henry Hester and Bill Danforth, two principals in the story. Job well done sir. You’ve just saved our readers from another 12 page photo spread on some old skateboard toy… for now at least. Check out Who Killed the Chromoloy truck?

January 2009. The economy might be in the toilet, but you wouldn’t know it on eBay. There were some BIG auctions that went off this month, and a lot of cash thrown around. Maybe it was early tax refunds; maybe it was just a case of right place, right time, but whatever the case, it was an exciting month. Let me just say something though, something that is really starting to bug me. Sellers, please do a modicum of research before you set your prices. I’m really getting tired of seeing the same decks up, month in month out with the same ridiculous prices. Hello, McFly, your Lance Mountain “family” deck is not going to sell for $200, it doesn’t matter how many times you keep putting it up there. If you did 5 minutes of research you’d see that about 5 family decks went off in the last 2 weeks, all selling in the $50 range. So why you think people are going to pony up 4 times what it’s worth is a freaking mystery. Also, if I see that red Chris Miller “dog” at $500 again I’ll scream. It’s been up for like 3 months. Nobody is going…

December 2008. It was much the same as November. Some decks went for really big cash, some were below average, and there were some real bargains to be had if you were lucky enough or vigilant enough to spot them. Normally there’s a spike in December as loved ones bid on decks for collectors I the family. Let’s face it, they make the perfect gift! They are an unabashed luxury, and skaters often won’t pull the trigger themselves, deciding it’s too frivolous. What a nice surprise under the Xmas tree! However, that really didn’t happen this year. I’m wondering what January, February and March will be like. Normally they are big months because of tax refunds, but this year, who knows? Editor’s note: We’ve made the enlargements pop up in front of the page instead of loading in the same window, thanks to Slimbox 2. This should make for a better reading experience. If it goes over well, I’ll go back and retrofit the past columns. Note to web developers, LightBox 2 doesn’t seem to play nice with long pages. It only took me 2 hours to figure that out. If you experience any errors, please drop an email with…

September 2008. The economy is really starting to contract. The housing market has been sucking for ages, and now banks are failing and the economy is streaking towards recession. Skateboard prices are not immune. They are starting on a downward trend, which will continue for sometime I would imagine. It’s a really good time to buy, not so good if you are a seller. Read eBay Watch: September 2008

OK, the last of our 2008 Oregon Trifecta coverage has finally come straggling in. That’s Bacon’s Tim Johnson in the shot above. Check it out.

I just added another 30 pictures from the Tigard stop of the 2008 Oregon Trifecta. (Oops! fixed the link.) Check it out.

eBay is like a yoyo. Prices were high in April, way down in May, but they completely rebounded in June. In a very big way. So let’s see. Tax rebates in April, nothing in May, Government Stimulus Checks in June. Is it really that obvious? Apparently yes. So if my reckoning is right, prices will tank again in July. Note to self, next year sell stuff in April. Check out: eBay Watch – June 2008

Well, March was good, but April was even better! I feature 49 items, of which 14 went for over $1,000. There were no $3000+ decks this month, but still, lots of good stuff changing hands. There was a lot of cash being thrown around. Maybe tax refunds being spent? And just wait until the stimulus checks hit! Check out: eBay Watch – April 2008

Main I’ve been remiss with this one because it happened before Christmas! Big news! We have a new champion! The $6,000 Hawk is no longer the high price champ! On December 18 2007 a Caster Chris Strople was won at auction for $6,099. It’s a flat deck with 2 layers of fiberglass between the plies. It’s been set up and ridden, and has a Woody space plate on the tail.

The Back Athlete Sports Network (Yeah, I’m a subscriber) has an article titled Extreme Sportsman Carving His Own Way Through Life. I love the title “Extreme Sportsman.” It makes him sound so gentlemanly and brings to mind some old English guy dressed up for a safari with a pith helmet, pipe and Elephant gun. Blacula, I mean Blaxtreme sportsman Christopher “Crib” Butler’s interview is not very extreme. We do learn that in the 80’s his black friends accused him of trying to be white by skateboarding. Flying in the faces of stereotypes, he actually had to go to the ghetto to buy his first real skateboard! What was it? A Vision Kele Rosecrans. That makes him even more of a minority! Oh stop it, you’re killing me! Crib still skates, surfs and snowboards. Since 2007 he’s been shaping some nicely crafted longboards reminiscent of old surfboards under the name Malu Longoboards. For a brief time in the early nineties some of my friends and I thought we were “______.” I leave that term blank because “Extreme Sports” hadn’t been coined in 1992. We were skateboarding, bungie jumping, mountain biking, skydiving and motorcycle riding, etc. We called it “Live by the…