Check out this 1989 CBS Records compilation titled “Skate Hard.” Nothing says “Skate Hard” in the 80’s like a skeleton shredding the wasteland, or a garbage can for that matter. The board may say early 80’s but the Rectors and fingerless gloves say… well, early to late 80’s as well. It’s got a curious lineup of bands, many that I know and sometimes love, and a few that I’ve never heard of. The vast majority of the acts hail from Australia. There are many that are comparatively well known like the Hard-Ons, Cosmic Psychos, Celibate Rifles, and Screaming Tribesmen. Then there are those that are more (globally) obscure, like Ratcat, Ya Ya Choral, Hitmen, Massappeal, Proton Energy Pills, Voodoo Lust, Hellmen, Psychotic Turnbuckles, Splatterheads, and the Kryptonics. Did the Kryptonics get their name from the wheels? I have not been able to discern this. This compilation seems like a great time capsule of a musical scene in Australia, except for the bands that aren’t only out-of-place geographically, but musically as well. Why include Ozzy Osbourne, Living Colour, The Godfathers, and 24-7 Spyz? Probably because the brass thought those names might expose fans to the Australian scene. Here’s a worthless tidbit of info: I was an early adopter of CD’s and 247-Spyz’ Harder Than You was the very first CD I ever bought. I enjoyed their high energy cover of Kool & The Gang’s Jungle Boogie but the rest of the album did not click with me. You see kids, at one time you had to buy the whole album to listen to tracks that weren’t played on the radio or MTV. Music on MTV you say? Yes, that used to be a thing as well.

– Thanks to Jason Harrison AKA Bobcat for the pics.

Douchebag rightwing video personality Tim Pool tried to co-opt a local DIY scene in Martinsburg, WV by throwing money at them unsolicited. When rebuffed publicly, he ended up buying the property as an “investment.” While the spot still remains open, and skateable, the locals are less than keene to engage anymore due to uncertainty about what Pool will do, and not wanting to be involved with a guy who associates with White Nationalists and says things like “Vice President Kamala Harris is Hitler and Stalin combined but times 200.” To be fair, the spot looks like it could use a cash infusion, but Pool’s offer (20k!) was for the purse in a trick contest and not for the spot itself. According to the article, Pool himself admitted he bought the spot partially to get back at the “woke” crowd that didn’t want his involvement. The locals have been taunting him (“Tim Pool can’t slappy.”) and he has posted videos to debunk that, bragging about his “first try” tricks. So yeah, another stable genius. Money can’t buy you a decent personality. Yo, Barry, can you believe this?

Source: Washington Post via Yahoo News. Thanks to Troy Sliter for the tip.

VibeRide is still claiming to be the world’s first longboard with a brake, which seems patently false. They’ve redesigned their original concept from a couple years ago, and this time it’s quite a bit simpler. Although they don’t give you a very good closeup of the mechanism, its looks to be the same sort of setup you see in traditional caliper brakes on bicycle, with the calipers pressing the pad out against the wheel instead of in agains a tire rim. This is aimed at the longboard market so I guess you don’t have to worry about hinging up that cable on anything. In videos they mention that it’s not meant for serious downhill use either. There’s an emphasis on beginner use, and the Switch is pretty clever in that it allows you to start with a leash, and replace it with a foot pedal once you’ve gotten the hang of it. This is the lightweight version of their original concept, which they still offer for sale. My stance on tools and setups for beginners has mellowed with age. I could see this being pretty useful for some kids or clumsy adults who wanted to get into skateboarding purely as mode of transportation of for that casual gliding fun. Just stop claiming to be the first skateboard brake. At the time of publication a complete setup was on sale for $189, down from $299. Can the pads be replaced? How does it wear down the wheel? Does it rattle on rough pavement? Who knows.

First time visitor? I’m a sucker for vintage skateboard packaging. This is a box that California Free Former model #CF-26 came in. Thanks to Andra Malczewski for the picture. That’s her and Joe Collela on the box, photographed in Redondo Beach, California. Glorious!

This is not a picture of a cored wheel in the traditional sense. You’re seeing an intact wheel surrounded by a second pour of urethane at a later date. I had never seen anything like this, but apparently it was a tactic used at some point in the 70’s used to sell old stock of smaller wheels that were no longer popular. In this case an open bearing Cadillac wheel was used as the core. Most of them look like these do now, many decades later. Mr Owl, how many licks does it take to get to the center?

– Thanks to Dennis Kilian, Mark Manbars Baxley and Harvey Gallent for the pics.

Happy confusing St. Patrick’s Day! Yes, you are looking at what is essentially an informational comic book style publication put out by the US Army called Preventive Maintenance Monthly. How long have they been publishing these? SINCE 1951! A huge chunk of these (especially in the first few decades) feature a pinup style art of a blonde woman, usually looking out of place, sometimes in a military environment, sometimes not. In issue #304 from May of 1978, they decided to add a leprechaun to the mix. Bonus miscleaneous leprechauns on skateboards at the end of this post.

Here’s another counterfeit Brand-X Sean Goff deck, this time in a different color way. Amazing that they straight ripped off the graphic without changing Sean’s name, and hilarious that they stuck a Powell graphic on top.

– Thanks to Christoff Vermeulen for the pics.

You should go check out Miguel Melo’s 60’s & 70’s Vintage Skateboard Collection. It’s a beautiful site filled with photos of his personal collection. There are some of the usual suspects in there, but there are also quite a few lessor known decks, including some from well known brands.For instance, I can’t ever recall seeing the Cat by Nash, or even a GT Coyote III. I’m a longtime lurker.

You’re looking at a set of covers for curbs, ledges and parking blocks that are made out of 16 Gauge USA cold-rolled galvanized and powder coated steel. The idea from Curb Cover is to make unskateable elements skateable. Sure, you could, you know, just find a different curb to skate, but what if you don’t want to? If you’re worried about these things sliding out from under you, they have padding underneath that has been proven to work with ample video evidence. The most interesting product here is the parking block cover. It’s actually sturdy enough to skate without placing over a parking block, and can be used as a mold to pour your own parking blocks. The ledge covers offer a lot of functionality too, you can cover bricks or even skate stoppers. That’s actually genius. If you cover a ledge, the entire ant-skate argument of property damage is null and void.

Nothing says true love lie a heart shaped Valentines Day skateboard. Nothing says mediocre comics quite like the Archie Comic book Group either. Still, they have provided the bulk of skateboarding in vintage comic book content, so they have that going for them.