People are always hitting me up for my sticker collection, which isn’t for sale. Some people have actually gotten bent out of shape about the sticker gallery, saying that it makes it easy for people to flood the eBay market with counterfeit stickers. I have no empathy for that, stickers are just little pieces of colored vinyl. They don’t need to be kept behind glass in a museum – No photos please! Every once and a while I get some scans of stickers via email to add to the gallery. A few kind souls have even mailed me the actual stickers. (I swear I’ll get them posted!) Sometimes people just want to trade, like Flickr user theoneholyghost, who has an extensive collection of doubles that ranges from 80’s to the 90’s. He’s got 50 photos with at at least 10 stickers to a photo, and these are the doubles in his collection! Then there’s Mobb Skates. You may have seen their logo, which looks like but is unaffiliated with the old Christian Hosoi line. I just got an unsolicited envelope full of stickers from Mobb and no explanation. I guess they are trying to save me.

You’re the one for me, fatty? The Baltimore Sun reports that Extreme™ kids are less likely to be lard asses, in so many words. Actually, the article titled Ramped-up exercise states a Hopkins study finds that kids who skateboard or rollerblade stay fit longer than those who play organized sports. You don’t see too many gargantuan pro skaters, whereas in football and even baseball it’s not uncommon to see massive guts. Actually, there are some large beer guts in our crew, but we’re not pros. The study also says you need to engage the the activities at least four times a week, which explains it more. Further empirical evidence is provided in these screen captures from a Rob & Big episode where Rob puts on a fat suit.

– Thanks to Stephanie Murdock for the tip.

When is an action figure not an action figure? When it’s life size, because then it’s a mannequin, or some sort of sex toy. Chalk this up to things I don’t understand, like sneaker fetishes. Coarse Toys makes some action figures, or collection figures? I don’t know what you are supposed to call them. Some of them are small (bottom row) but as you can see, some of them are life size. Creepy. See those shoes? Coarse “collaborates” with Vans. I’m not sure what that means, but I’m sure it involves some check writing. Check out Coarse Toys.

– Thanks to Bobcat for the tip.

N.F.P. Zine #1 was published (1985?) out of Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan by Andy Rogers, Greg Fadell and John Shock, with photos by Davo or Dave-O. Issue number one is short and simple, and never actually explains what the “N.F.P.” stands for!

Pictured skaters: Mark Gonzales, Ralph Rogers, Chris “O.P.” Moore, Greg Fadell, Bill Danforth, Bill Tocco, Steve Caballero, Todd Bray, Bob “Boarder Patrol” Romero, Neil Blender, Bill Fergusson, Eric Grisham and Squid Dickman.

Spots: Surf Ohio mini ramp, Dude ramp, Endless Summer, Middletown, Sarnia Canada, St Louis arch competition, Richard school.

Highlights: Interview with Chris “O.P.” Moore. He talks about old skateparks like Surf & Turf in Milwaukee and Apple in Ohio, as well as the MESS and GLSA skate contest series and pros and ams of the day – Ray Underhill. “A look back at 1984”, Eric Grisham’s skatepark ID from Endless Summer skatepark. Mentions Jim Gray’s new board, mentions G&S trucks, but doubts their pros will ride them. Rumors: Will Jyme George (Surf Ohio & Cow Saktes) build a skatepark in Ohio? (In hindsight, the answer is no, but his protégé Rob Dyrdek certainly did..) The Zorlac team all riding for Alva.

Check out N.F.P. Zine #1

UPDATE: 80’s zine archive has moved. The new location features larger images and the ability to comment right on those pages, so comments on this post are closed. Link has been changed.

Tyler Chastain went by the West Linn skatepark and found it closed for repairs. They are replacing that missing fence and are going to reopen by thursday or friday, but then again they were originally supposed to be finished by the 14th. Don’t barge, cops are quick around there. What to do in the meantime? Check out these three pictures from a 2002 session. I swear I am senile because I think I’ve posted these already.

Boards, bikinis, bombs and boneheads is the working title for this post, but I don’t want people to get the wrong idea. I’ve got a mish mash of skateboarding action from Dubai and Israel. Some of it has more serious overtones, and some of it is stupidity. The rest falls in between.

While some braniacs write about skateboarding, others are using it to trick poor defenseless little kids into learning about math. Math and skateboarding just don’t mix. Ok, that’s not true. But since I can’t read this German public service advert about math, I have to make up something. Closer to home, the Oregon Museum of Science and Industryjust got a $2.9 million grant for a traveling exhibit called Access Algebra to stoke middle-school kids to “promote creativity and innovation and build math literacy… …focusing on math as a tool to create and invent everything from rap music to race cars to a skate park.” – Thanks to Dave Tobin for the tip. $2.9 million seems like a lot of dough. Maybe someone at the National Science Foundation needs to work on their math a little. The Germans are ahead of the game already. They’ve got a web site and a video trailer for what I guess is their math museum. I’ve heard they aren’t too good at math, all their answers come up Nien! (Sorry.)

[Source: Red Box via Skateboardgeruechte.de ]

This weeks SOTW is Casey Mcmaugh at a hush hush backyard DIY spot in California. How hush? The Walrus wouldn’t even give up the name of city! Photo by the ubiquitous MRZ. Check out the larger uncropped version.

There’s no better way to combat a buzzkill than enjoying a session in some unseasonably dry and warm weather. if you can’t actually go out and skate today, you can still enjoy some photos from a session at Pier Park last Saturday.

Are you pressing your own skateboard blanks with a vacuum press? If you are looking for a little less labor intensive method of constructing a mold, Ted over at Thin Air Press, home of the Roarockit has posted a lengthy set of illustrated instructions on how to make your own custom mold out of foam insulation. While his choice of shape and mold style may not appeal to you, the basic technique is still valuable if you want to make the next step in DIY skateboard construction with vacuum pressed boards. Sure beats the other method if you are still experimenting with your geometry. Check it out.

[Source: Ted on SnA comments]