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.

Bridge launch ramp and/or bank in Chicago. Watch out for those bolts. Someone point me to a skate photo of a spot like this.

I added 6 more ads from issue number 3 of Transworld Skateboarding, dating back to 1983. First up is Sidewalk Surfer West, a shop that had difficulty spelling Santa Cruz, Zorlac, and even Skateboard. After that we have a Madrid ad with an even split between freestyle and vert, featuring Diane Veerman before she married Primo, Desiderio, and became “Primo and Diane.” Next up, a free subscription to Kona’s Skateboard magazine. It was a borderline zine, but it did act like a legit magazine at times, and not just a thinly disguised skatepark newsletter. Then there’s Rock Socks, company that sold everything you could want if you were an extra on the movie Rad!, except for socks. Gentlemen prefer Hanes, but Infamous surf-skate types prefer Bones. Lastly, here’s a rare shot of Gator on his short-lived pro model for G&S.

BMW chassis engineer Rudi Mueller and product designer Stephan Augustin were the two minds behind the original, short-lived BMW Streetcarver, an interesting but impractical idea that was too heavy and too expensive, and ultimately limited to only being useful in mild downhill situations. Stephan is not letting the dream die. He’s come up with another set of alternative trucks that might make you think of Stoker’s if you squint your eyes and look at them over your shoulder. Curfboard trucks are actually a little hypnotizing to watch in action. They look really smooth. I would love to try some out for fun, but even a quick peek will tell you these trucks are once again limited in use. Any sort of truck grind (even off the edge of a sidewalk!) is potentially going to destroy these things quickly. Two crucial, structural elements hang dangerously below the hanger of the truck. Also, it’s unclear how these would handle with any sort of speed. There is no kingpin and thus no bushings, but does not appear to be any resistance or adjustments of any kind possible. You’re stuck with “as is” performance that lends itself well to generating motion through carving, but maybe not so much stability with speed. There’s interesting tidbits of Streetcarver history on the Kickstarter page. If you want to get these at a reasonable price, pledge now, or you’ll suffer sticker shock as the “retail” value comes in at $100 more expensive than the original BMW Streetcarver did at $500. That’s right, completes are expected to sell at an absurd $600. You can still get them at amore reasonable early bird pledge price of $168 for now. There is no option to buy the trucks separately.

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

We’ve seen a variety of folding skateboards here, most of them DIY. BoardUp adds a new twist to that with a 2-way hinge mechanism that allows for a more uniform rectangular shape after folding. It looks heavy but the whole board is supposed to way less than 7 lbs. It’s smooth but there’s definitely some flex visible in the video. If transportations your bag, then this might be for you, although you’re probably not reading this web site. Kickstarter on the way…

I added six more ads to the Transworld Volume 1, #3 vintage skateboard ad gallery. There’s Brand-X, looking sharp as usual with a new lineup that would stick around for years. What shoe company did Gator ride for before Vision Street Wear? It’s gotta be Vans at demo on a Firestone Ramp with Tony Magnusson. There there’s someone named Keith Butterfield winning freestyle for Bucci Sunglasses. Ever heard of him? What about Street Surfer Trucks? We’ll end with another Val Surf ad and Hawk leather skate gloves.

I added four adverts to the collection of issue number 3 of Transworld Skateboarding from 1983. City Street Wheels from San Francisco and and Donel, a skateshop from Dallas, are both pretty pedestrian except for the fact that Donel is very excited about a new foot game called Hacky Sack! Freestyle is where the action is today. Per Welinder appears in an ad for Baja South clothing, but if there ever was a skate trivia game winner, it’s got to be the Gullwing trucks ad featuring Jeff Phillips riding a G&S freestyle model, boosting what would appear to be a rocket air if you follow the strictest of definitions. How would you get into one of those on a bank??? Well…. he was Jeff Phillips.

Check out these two vintage adverts for Zorlac with John Gibson, and Variflex introducing Jeff Grosso to the skateboarding public from Transworld Skateboarding Volume1, #3. Yes, we’re talking about the 3rd ever issue of Transworld. Grosso wouldn’t stay on Vatiflex for very long, and Zorlac must have still been working on their gnarly public image.

Wear your helmets kids. [Source: WKOB, Albuquerque]