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.

Only in the 70’s (and 50’s, 60’s 80’s and 90’s) could you get away with a line like “Unfortunately, the chick is not included” coupled with a headline like “Your pad or mine?” The black and white photo is from product release news in the 1st issue (1977) of Skateboard Scene. It’s about a new line of safety gear from Syndicate (no relation to the US company) that was an offshoot of the Skuda brand. With a ? of a page product announcement, it’s no surprise that there were also ads for Skuda and Syndicate pads. The dapper fellow on the right is from the Skuda advert. Surprisingly, a 2008 post about a plastic Skuda was one of the first Skuda mentions on the interwebs, and was pretty popular here. It still gets the occasional odd comment. Can you tell I’ve updated the Vintage Skatemag Ad Gallery? I also added a cool, slightly goofy ad from a company called Roncastle, and Wharfdales Skateboard Centre. I never get tired of the centre spelled with “re” at the end. I only wish there was an ad for Ye Olde Skateboard Shoppe. (follow the individual links) After you read/see the product announcement for Skuda’s Syndicate branded knee pads after the jump, check out the new ads in the gallery (follow the individual links.)

Two skateboard shops from Wales, Dave Friar’s Surf Shop and the Welsh Skateboard Centre. Then there’s Mercury Flyer air freighted skateboards direct from the USA, and the Superb Sitco Rocket.

I’ve got two magazines worth of vintage skatemag ads scanned and posted in the gallery, one from the 70’s and another from the 80’s. I’ve got loads of scans from the 70’s ready to add and some interesting UK-based ads to scan from the 80’s but I figured I’d better do at least one mag from the 90’s or I’d likely never get to it since that’s the decade I find inherently less interesting. Shoe adverts are in abundance. Companies and pros sprung up overnight like mushrooms and disappeared just as quickly after you come down from the bad trip. There are companies I can’t ever remember seeing and due to esoteric ad copy I can’t even tell what the product is that is being advertised. For instance, this ad for Silverstar has me scratching my head. While I actually like the aesthetic and the nonsensical message has a certain poetry, I can’t tell you what Silverstar is without a historical reference. One thing I do enjoy about the ads from this era is seeing the once mighty gasp for new life in the changed industry landscape, with companies like Vision stooping as low as to republish pictures of Mark Gonzales from the 80’s. And of course, there are the baggy jeans. The 90’s weren’t a total waste, It’s nice to see early ads for guys like Jason Adams who are still in the mix today.

I’m going to be taking a break from regular content here on Skate and Annoy to plow through some 90’s ads. On the plus side, there usually isn’t a lot of ad copy for me to transcribe, so they go pretty quickly. After that, I’m going to get caught up on posting some stockpiles of 80’s skatezines.

Hey, have you heard of Thrasher? Yeah, me either until just recently, but I guess they’ve been around for a while. I thought I’d throw them a bone by directing some web traffic their way. I hope they succeed. The images above are from the always entertaining Certified Pieces of Suck, and this compilation has some actual LOL moments. I only wish they’d tell you where they are located.

I’m trying to decide how much retouching and color correcting to tackle in the Vintage Skateboard Magazine Advert Gallery. Here’s a comparison for this Zephyr skateboards ad from 1975. Not surprisingly, the forty year old pages are discolored with age. Do you prefer the scanned image with minimal color correction, or the adjusted version that is closer to what the page originally looked like but has a slightly artificial look to it? There’s an enlargement to compare after the jump, but really this is just an excuse to get you to check out Zephyr Skateboards: Young dudes in heavy spots.

If I didn’t know better I’d think this was a gag from GVK. The ad copy is absurd. “The ol’ Mersedes Bends Skatboard Factory?” Seriously? Even if “skateboard” wasn’t misspelled, that would still be a bit much. Twenty dollars will buy you the hottest skateboard you’ve ever seen. Star wheels designed by freestyle champ Ed Nadalin normally sell for $79.95 each (yes, each) but through this ad you can get a complete set for only $12. That’s an amazing 97% discount! Pre-designed configural CAMBER-FLEX? They make a big deal about including sealed bearings, so you know it must be 1976, and it is. Volume 3, Number 1, which is the October 1976 issue of Skateboarder Magazine. My best friend in grade school had a plastic board with a Mercedes logo relief on top, but no name visible anywhere. It always impressed me as a kid. We all called it the Mercedes Benz board. I’m surprised Skateboarder agreed to print this advertisement, it would be the same thing as Thrasher running an ad for Nash…. Oh wait, they actually did that all the time.

Skate and Annoy was mentioned in last month’s issue of Sidewalk Mag via Jim Thompson’s Scene Zine column. Thanks for the love from the UK. Some older Scene Zine are archived online if you are looking for more ways to avoid work or school. If Mark and Neil ever find out they don’t need me, I’m sunk.

Larry Stevenson,founder of Makaha Skateboards, publisher of Surf Guide and Poweredge Magazines and inventor of the kick tail passed away at age 82. RIP indeed.

Update: Obituaries in the NY Times and LA Times.

Thanks to the good folks (Jack Smith) at the Skateboarder’s Journal, we have 3 subscriptions (Published quarterly, normally $25 a year) to give away. Same rules as last time, leave a comment in this post and 3 winners will be chosen at random. Contest ends on February 9th at midnight. In the mean time, check out the Skateboarder’s Journal online community and Facebook page.

WINNERS: Jeff (Me! Me! Me!), Talentless Quitter, and Idahosk8gringo. Thanks again to the Skateboarder’s Journal.