Reader Jaime Castillo asked for help identifying this Armadillo Skateboards prototype flea market find. So far my best guess is that is an Hosoi hammerhead knockoff with some sort of adjustable wheelbase plate. The Interwebs is not much help either, because it mostly just shows armadillo art on skateboards in Zazzle-type situations.  It also turned up a Hand 2 Mind product called Ron’s Ramp Adventure. At first I thought it was a DIY kit for kids to build the Armadillo equivalent of a DachRamp or a game but it’s an educational/instructional program for kids that just happens to come with a stuffed armadillo on a plastic skateboard.

Holy @#$%!!! I almost gave up on this web site, but at long last, after almost a year (!) we’re back online. Losing almost 8000 posts and 40,000 comments was a shock at first, but after a the initial dismay it became sort of a blessing, like a weight lifted off my shoulders. About 7 months into it, I was able to recover the raw files, but I wasn’t sure if I was up to the gargantuan task of putting everything back together, and I doubted whether or not there was any point in doing it. Skate and Annoy was seeing infrequent updates at the time it went down. It had been online since 1996. But it didn’t really take off until 2003. Not counting the 80’s print editions, that’s almost 15 years of devoting an unnatural amount of attention to a web site with little to show for it except the occasional free product sent in to review, and a ton of bad CD’s. So I decided to let it die a natural death. Except I couldn’t quite let it go. I would still get the occasional tip from former readers. I was still saving tv commercials with skateboarding…

Well, it’s been a few years since the original Morfboard, and now the product has pivoted from a health and fitness based system with skateboarding as a small feature to a completely skateboard-centric approach. Gone is the geometric wakeboard-esque oval, as well as the elastic resistance straps and the links. It’s been replaced with a traditional skateboard deck while still retaining the swappable units allowing you to configure the morfboard into a skateboard, scooter, balance board, and pointless bouncy board. They’re even running TV commercials for it, and it’s shown up at local Costcos as wells the Home shopping Network of all places.

The Air Borne Freeskate was born in 1984 as a cheaper alternative to sailing in ice boats.  The reason this is on Skate and Annoy is because it appears that early models of the Freeskate may have been outfit with Indy  216’s. The sport is still going these days, but they don’t use skateboard trucks in commercial rigs anymore, although some DIY types have built there own using those extended mountain board trucks with the springs. I’ve seen videos of later model Freeskates that no longer used skateboard trucks as well.  This model is not a fluke however, as there appear to be several out there with this truck setup.  It’s kind of hard to find information about this board, as google turns up a lot of ice skating links. There are various groups that were at one time devoted to it, but most of the links seem to be defunct. These photos come from a guy asking $350 for his set up on Craigslist, Cape Cod. I pulled the date of the invention of the Freeskate from a February 12, 1984 New York Times article that unfortunately does not include archived photos. Freeskate appears to have become an all encompassing name for similar devices, in the same way that…

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…

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…

A spare cordless drill and a few parts from the hardware store is all you need to make your own electric skateboard. Start with a round wire brush, right angle bit holder, flexible bit extension, and some nuts and bolts. Just ad a skateboard with large size wheels and you’re good to go. I’m curious how long a charge on drill would last. This seems more like a fun project to do with kids than a viable transportation solution. Much nicer than this one. [Source: BoingBoing] – Thanks to MC for the tip.

Free stuff is free stuff, right? There’s so many levels of DIY modification and outside of the box thinking going on here that I had to snap some pictures. For instance: Outgrown your old deck? Just bolt it on to a new one! Nice work with the rounded handlebar too.

Way back in 2010 my post about the Trampskate was met with with universal derision. Since then, Facebook has sucked away all my web traffic and Trampskate is still in business. So the jokes on me! – Thanks to Adlan Farazi for the tip via (duh, duh duh…) FACEBOOK

RAD Furniture makes metal furniture, as well as the occasional perforated steel skateboard deck, which you can build yourself in the from of onsite welding lessons for $350, or buy premade for $250. Think of it as an ollie strength trainer. – Thanks to MC for the tip.