The Biemme Red Star is a board of Italian manufacture. There’s a company called Biemme that started in 1978, but they seem to be focused on bicycles. Maybe they had a brief foray into skateboard like a few of the other bicycle-centric companies of the era did. A search fro “Red star skateboard” turns up a bunch of unrelated boards. Currently, including “Biemme” in that search returns exactly 2 instances of this skateboard, both auctions cling this is an 80’s era board. It’s got trucks that fit into the bottom of the board instead of having a separate baseplate. That’s not a big deal, we’ve seen that in American boards and Italian boards. The thing that makes this board interesting is the bizarre molded double kicktail, on. appointed nose no, less.

Jughead volume 2, number 37 was published in September of 1992. It features two stories with skateboarding in them, Love Connection, and the Things We Do For Love. There’s also a Sales Leadership Club advert in which you can earn a Nash Beach Bum skateboard.

Added to the gallery, a new section for vintage contest programs. Actually, its just on program right now, the 1976 California Free Former World Championship. I’ve got the Hang 10 Pro Am Champ (1975) scanned but not processed yet. In the hamper I’ve got a 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.)

I bought his book because I like to support independently produced skate art (and so should you…). Steve’s photos have even appeared Skateboarder, Thrasher, Juice, and the Surfer’s Journal, and most importantly (HA!) Skate and Annoy. I expected to be bombarded with photos of the Arizona pipes, and I was, but I wasn’t expecting all the additional content (pools, Love Bowls, skate parks) that qualify as the “& Beyond” in the title. I always thought these pipes were more or less in one location, but it turns out it was part of a massive project all over Arizona. One of my favorite things about this book is all the short oral histories interspersed in the various locals covered. Read the full review.

I just added two issues of Skate Life generously donated from reader Will Heesp, some 5 years ago. Better late than never. Funnily enough, I skated with Mark Conahan last night and he told me that he once sold Will a Datsun pickup in the 80’s whose ignition was in such bad shape that it had a screwdriver instead of a key. In other plate-of-shrimp news, one of the tales featured in an issue of Skate Life mentions that Dave Tobin lost a $100 bill and the keys to the van on a road trip to the Chicago Blowout. I was at that NSA contest, but wouldn’t meet Dave (or Mark) until I moved to Portland circa Y2K. Skate Life was based out of Newburryport, MA, and has the distinction of being one of the rare zines that doesn’t seem to include any issue number or title, so it’s hard to tell what order they came out. Check out Skate Life in the 80’s Zine gallery.

Two products for carrying your skateboard. One is cool in a silly way, as in “What if I made the cellphone holder on my car dashboard big enough to hold a skateboard?” That’s the JKT System carrier. Clippy, on the other hand, started off as just a clip you hung on the top loop of a backpack, but evolved into a skate tool that also doubles (triples?) as a cellphone stand for filming your, wait for it… clips. It’s a bit clunky, but it’s way more useful.

– Thanks to Adlan Farazi for the tips.

OK get ready for it, this is a long one. I found a catalog for Athena International Corp in that magical place you’ve all heard me refer to: a box in the darkest depths of my basement. 8 pages of amazing crap in glorious color! Lot’s of bootleg stuff in there too… they even bootlegged the Nash logo! The styles are split between the 70’s and 80’s so it’s difficult to say exactly when this was printed, although there are a couple clues. I have no idea where/when I acquired this, I might have bought it off Ebay or a reader might have sent it to me. ( Was it you? Let me know! ) Enjoy!

This is part 2 of the Nash catalog dump. Part one focused on Joe Cool/Snoopy and Mad Magazine. This is the rest of the 1988 wholesale catalog from 1988. The cover, back cover, and inside cover are all glossy color. There’s a glossy insert for another brand called Freesport, a couple glossy black and white inserts, including the legendary “Jam’n Sound Board” and DOZ’R locker boards, plus an assortment of color photocopied price sheets.

I had a brief not-very-real skateshop that I ran out of my bedroom in the late 80’s. I sent out a bunch of requests for wholesale catalogs and tried to open some accounts. I put together an order based on requests from locals and what I could get ahold of, I ordered some staples like mounting hardware and a roll of grip tape, etc… One of things I got was a Nash catalog. Why get a Nash catalog when the product was so poor? For shits and giggles! It’s one of the few things I kept during the great purge of 1999. Yes, I deeply regret throwing out the rest of it. Joe Cool and Mad could have been their own separate posts, but some of the products appeared on the same page, so click through if you want to see more of Snoopy and Alfred E. Neuman.

It’s spring now, right? This is one of those toys that comes in those Kinder Eggs. Doc Skaterock tagged me in a post circa 2022 and when it popped up in a memory I realized I never posted it on Skate and Annoy. So here it is. It’s impossible (for me at least) to see anything with a small, cute sheep and not think of Shaun the Sheep. I wish this was Shaun the Sheep.