Pep #348 was published in April of 1979 by the Archie Comics Group. It’s got a six page skateboard-centric story called “Board With It All.” (Get it? GET IT???) and an ad for the Sales Leadership Club in which you can earn an Action-tail skateboard. Reggie takes on Frankie Valdez, the “champ’s champ.”

In alternate universe, Thrasher is a big enough corporation to be a front of the jersey sponsor. In this universe it’s an Adidas collab. The World Cup is over. Last time around I rooted for Argentina in the finals because the Netherlands had a team full of pricks. This time around, the pricks were playing for Argentina. I passed on posting this Argentinian-themed Thrasher soccer kit until NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes showed up wearing it on TV in one of the World Cup matches held in Kansas City. Skate and Annoy: The number one crossover site for skateboarding and soccer, and MLS, for better or worse.

The July/August issue of Osider Magazine has a nice eight page feature on the history and legacy of skateboarding in Oceanside California. The cover features a 1985 photo of Mark Gonzales from the vaults of J. Grant Britain. Osider is one of those local lifestyle mags funded by ads from local business. It’s a fluff piece typical of these types of publications, but the photos are good and there’s even a Steve Rocco sighting. You can read the entire issue online.

BOBBY! YOUVE BEEN AT THAT SKATEBOARD PARK ALL DAY! IT’S TIME TO COME HOME FOR SUPPER!

HONESTLY! SOMETIMES I WONDER WHY I EVER MARRIED THAT MAN!

I’m not sure where this came from. The date on the cartoon says 2006, but the scan was created in 2019. I think my mother-in-law sent this to me, as in physically mailed it to me. I’m not sure why it says “Big Bear Grizzly” under the catption. Usually a cartoonist will have some sort of online presence through syndication or otherwise, but I can’t find one for Dale Neseman. I found an archive of some comics that seems to have stopped in 2016. He is on Facebook however. Looks like he’s switched to watercolors.

Check out this merch tied into the 1964 TV series Stingray from the UK. It was a Gerry Anderson production similar in style to Thunderbirds. Even though it was off the air in 1965 after 39 episodes, someone thought a skateboard with a Stingray graphic would make some money. There are other Stingray graphics/models from the 60’s and 70’s but they are not related to the TV show. There was however, another licensed Gerry Anderson Stingray board made in the 90’s. In the show, the Stingray was a nuclear-powered combat submarine used by the World Aquanaut Security Patrol to keep the oceans safe.

Doug Avery made a music video for Hot Lunch‘s song Killer Smile in the style of 90’s videos games with a nod to the 720 and Skate or Die video games, plus a handful of easter egg references to the Bones Brigade Video show, and 70’s wheels brand UFO. It’s really well done, right down to the time appropriate aspect ratio. It’s sure to make you want to skate, play video games or rock out. Maybe even buy a motorcycle…. (Hey Wes!)

I added a measly 9 ads from Volume 6 of Skate Rider magazine. That’s all the ads there were. You see the other half (more like 65%) of the magazine is upside down and is called Wave Rider. I did not include the surfing ads in this issue, unless they appear in the skateboarding side of the magazine. Skate Rider / Wave Rider was based in Coccoa Beach Florida, and as such concentrated more on the east coast side of things, although they weren’t afraid to cover west coast or international sessions, be it skateboarding or surfing. Craig Snyder of The Secret History of the Ollie was on staff at Skate Rider. Check out Skate Rider v 6 in the Vintage Skateboard Magazine Ad Gallery.

Machine Man first appeared in the 1977 series 2001, a Space Odyssey before getting his own short-lived series in 1978 that lasted for 19 issues until it was canceled. It would be resurrected for volume 2 in the 80’s and Volume 3 in the 90’s. He’s the last surviving android unit of a military experiment, and predictably, the military is out to terminate him. He’s able to produce Inspector Gadget type augmentations to his physical body, but you know, in a serious manner. In this first issue he bugs out in a traffic jam and produces a skateboard in two halves from his feet that lock together, allowing him to escape.

I added a second skateboard contest program to the gallereis, the Hang Ten World Pro/Am Skateboard Championships. Still in the hamper, some 80’s goodness, Chicago Blowout (1986), Seltzer Seltzer V.P. Cup (1987, St Louis), Bluegrass Aggression Session (Louisville, 1988), and the NSA National Amateur Series (1988.)

The PXL2000 was a camera released in 1987 by the toy company Fisher-Price. These things cost around $200, which is about $590 these days. They were discontinued after about a year, probably because that was a lot of money for a kid’s toy. A verified working camera that isn’t “as-is” will set you back around $500 today. I first became aware of these back in the day because Dan Estabrook of Contort mentioned a skate video being shot on this camera, and this would have been anywhere from 87-89. I never saw that video, but I did keep my eyes peeled (unsuccessfully) to buy a camera of my own. Fisher-Price made a print ad for the camera that featured skateboarding, as well as a TV commercial with incidental skateboard content.