Huge news for PDX. Cal Skate has been a fixture in the Portland, Oregon skate scene since 1976. Other shops have come and gone, some loved, some not so much, but Cal Skate has always endured. Chris Nukala has been hanging around or working at this shop since he was 8 years old, and now he is officially the new owner. Former owner Howard Weiner was instrumental in promoting skateboarding in Portland. One local shop famously wouldn’t get behind the Skaters for Portland Skateparks program because the first park wasn’t going t one built near their shop. Not the case for Howard… Chris has been and will continue to be an advocate for skateboarding in Portland, above and beyond measures that just affect his shop. Did I mention he’s a music promoter too? I’ve known Chris since he was probably 14 years old. We would sometimes take him to contests and even “sponsored” him for a bit. He was always so eager when it came to skateboarding. It truly couldn’t have happened to a more deserving or hard working individual. Congrats to Chris, and congrats to all of us in Portland. Source: Willamette Week

I thought this was AI slop at first but this appears to be a real OJ Wheels product that you can actually buy. Add to cart, you’ll see! I’m a sucker for good wheel packaging and the novelty of it all. These are interesting. They look good but that print is going to be gone after a few short sessions and I’m not sure what you’re supposed to do with the tray… oh yeah, a “rolling” tray. Very silly, but I’m glad they made them.

How long will it be before AI robs us of hilarious translations for cheap Chinese products? It’s entirely possible that “Interactive fun happy parent-child time” makes sense. There’s always “It is not easy to swing even in situations of eccentricity or weight change” to fall back on. I love that the top graphic on this coaster board is a happy dinosaur riding a skateboard. This mostly looks like a good way to hurt a small child. If you want to hurt a small child you can buy one of these on Amazon. The product title includes “skateboard” but the description has a more catch name, a rebalancing board.

Spotted inside Portland’s amazing new airport, this wall mural for Sizzle Pie pizza. This is not the first time they’ve used skateboard imagery, but somehow I’ve neglected to document it here until now. This is a pretty good appropriation of Keith Meek’s Slasher graphic by the legendary Jim Phillips.

A penguin riding a skateboard is cool. Illustration by Stephanie Brachmann. Get yours at Crafty Wonderland or Etsy. Have a cool holiday, dear readers.

Yes sir, this is a groundbreaking development. The Cami Tres Assi (3 Aces) board was a ghost for decades, but in the past few years they’ve become regularly available providing you can pony up roughly $175 or so, not including shipping. This is the first one I’ve ever seen in orange or white. I don’t think a lot of thought went into most plastic skateboards as far as color options. Many times in a product’s life span it probably came down to what resin was available in time to ship the next batch. Even accounting for color shift in the photograph, the board on the left definitely looks orange. So that means this wonder was produced in Red, yellow, black, orange, and white. So far I’ve only seen the wheels in yellow and red.

Ronald Chapman ( Chappman, not Chatman ) asked if this advert for Pipp products as featured in the Vintage Skateboard Magazine Ad gallery was for sale. I told him I wasn’t going to take apart an old skate magazine to sell an ad individually. I wish everyone felt that way actually. I was curious though, the advert wasn’t that interesting so I asked him why he wanted it. The simple answer is that he has the two products featured in the advert, and they are definitely more interesting in real life.

The legendary China Banks spot AKA Bridge to nowhere is schedule to be torn down in 2026 according to an article in SFGate. I guess the (non-skating) locals haven’t liked it since it opened in 1971. It bums them out because it casts a shadow and takes up space, or maybe they just aren’t fans of brutalism. You’d think there’s be some sort of argument for keeping it as historical landmark. 2025 hasn’t ended yet and 2026 is already bringing me down. Get your session in while you can. Photos courtesy of not asking Thrasher, but we’re cool, right?

I met Violet at the Sk8 Swap. She was knitting skateboards for freaks, or maybe she’s a freak, or no, they said “Freak.” Even a skull looks cool when it’s knitted. Is this even knitting? I’m pretty sure she was the one responsible for the knitted F-bomb too.

I was completely unaware of the Skuda brand of skateboards until I started posting ads from som UK-based magazines in the Vintage Skatemag Ads gallery. Like most overseas brands of the 70’s, they never had any market presence in the crowded USA market. Both of the Skuda ads I’ve seen so far are for some pretty nice looking wooden decks, but it looks like they also made some plastic decks. Photos courtesy of Jon Welton (red) and Adrian Wink (white/yellow) Update: added couple more.