We went to the new skatepark in Happy Valley, Oregon last night. This detail of bizarro Rich captured in panorama mode actually does a good job of representing our disjointed session there. Not visible in this shot are the 30 some odd kids roaming the perimeter. Imagine your entire peripheral vision filled with kids on skateboards, scooters, wiggle sticks and bikes, all about to run into you. It was pinball city.

This time around we have something known as a “Protuff” skateboard, and apparently this is #5. I’ve never seen the Protuff brand, so I would have assumed it was some sort of European equivalent to Nash or Variflex, but this auction came out of Florida. As is sometimes the case with these toy store boards, there’s more than meets the eye here. The Grim Reaper comes complete with some of the oddest looking plastic trucks copers you’ve likely ever seen.

Be sure to have some extra Euros with you when skating in the wrong places in Barcelona, Spain.

When Burger restaurants try to teach you how to skateboard …

seen in France

Ron Cameron and co-author Christian Kline of Poweredge Magazine are working on a book for 3 years now and this is the rough, unfinished cover. Ron has designed for Blockhead, H-Street, Vision, Acme, Strike, Grape Netwerk, 510 Wood, World Industries, Blind, Toy Machine, Foundation, Scarecrow, Riviera … and  is looking for photographs of his decks in all colourways, especially the Blockhead ones. You can contact him here. All names of the contributors will get their names printed in the Contributors section. Also, Ron and Dave Berthold are working on a new Blockhead project, so that’s cool!

Anybody know what the deal is with these plastic boards? I see them on eBay every once and a while. At first I thought it was some off the shelf Santa Cruz stickers stuck on some new Chinese crap in order to pass it off as “old school.” I’ve seen construction like this before, and I want to say it’s a late 90’s phenomenon at the earliest. However, that sure does look like an old school truck mounting pattern. I give up. Are these bona fide NHS gear from a past era? Don’t get offended. All the major skateboard companies have done sketchy things in the past. Or in fact, are these the work of a con artist with a stack of stickers? Sa ka roulé has amassed a stack of photos of these injection molded mysteries.

Andrew Maunsell is a toy designer by trade from Sydney Australia. He’s collaborating with Greg Bennett from Bennett Surfboards (Not affiliated with Bennett Trucks) in Brookvale, Sydney. Bennet produced a skateboard brand called Golden Breed in the 70’s. The result is a series of two old school hybrid skateboards based on old 60’s era shapes and technology, with a little bit of updating. The trucks were originally NOS Fairfax steel wheeled contraptions, but the steel wheels and axles have been replaced with Metaflex wheels and solid axles. The decks are the brand new Fiji White Cedar hand screened. The first 50 “Big Surf” are vintage longboard style, and the second 50 (still in the works) are going to be shorter with a dragster theme. Andrew doesn’t have a web site yet, so if you are interested you can contact him via email, available if you download this flyer. Loads of pics after the jump. I love the aesthetic of this era of skateboards. Andrew says the modified trucks actually turn well too.

I’ve seen people joke about dropping in off the roof of Pier Parl’s full pipe, but even then not in such a potentially sketchy line. Willis Kimbel as shot by Garric Ray. Worried about what happens when he lands? Check out the full animated sequence at Thrasher.