One thing I absolutely do not regret letting go of at the Sk8 Swap is this Long Rider, for multiple reasons. First off, I’ve still got two in my collection, including one in the original packaging. Secondly, this one was sold to none other than Willis Kimball, (who I’m sure is tired of what I’m about to point out) the son of 70’s pro skater Curt Kimball. “Long Rider” is the nickname his friends have given him, and this board is allegedly destined to end up on the wall of his skateshop, Rip’s Co.

I really enjoyed having a booth at Cal Sk8’s skate swap. I brought too much stuff and wasn’t quite prepared for the space. I was there for about 10 hours, which included about 3 hours total in setup and tear down. My booth was not a huge moneymaker after all expenses were paid, but it was still worth it for the total experience. I met some cool people and saw a lot of old friends. I only have one regret, and that’s the fact that I sold both sets of my 70’s era Sidewinder Wheels.

My booth at Sk8 Swap 3 tomorrow is going to be a mess, but if there’s space I’ll be hanging this 2″ x 6″ vinyl banner. Digital printing is a crazy thing. This cost me less than $20. 1986 me would have his mind blown to have a vinyl Skate and Annoy Banner. Heck, 2025 me feels the same way.

Come buy my skateboard related crap at Sk8 Swap 3 so my kids don’t have to throw it away when I die. Skateboards, toys, t-shirts, zines, all the kinds of stuff I feature on Skate and Annoy. This Saturday from 12-7 at Loyd Center Mall in Portland. Special guest appearance by the Colonel! Sk8 Swap is put on by the good folks at Cal Sk8 and Chris Nukala. I went last year as a spectator and loved it. Tons of foot traffic, music, lots to see. Last year featured one of the Godoy brothers in a tattoo booth. I can’t remember if it was Art or Steve, I didn’t arrive until after they had left. 

GSD has released the Best of Skate Fate Too, available in hardcover and softcover. I already have the first volume and I’ll be stoked to have the second one on the way. Definitely worth checking out if you’re into… you know.. all this vintage skateboard culture.

Thanks to Steve Quirke for these pictures of this skateboard made by EM, a company in New Zealand. These trucks are brutally primitive, ye the board is still quite beautiful as a whole. Nothing forged here, just some metal bending. What about those wheels? They look like a very hard composite material. I need to dig up some of my reference materials to figure out if this was from the 60’s or possibly even 50’s.

Valterra may have been a second rate skateboard company but they did make some memorable boards. Someone in the art department had a pretty good sense of humor. The Total Blast deck from 1989 really pops in some of these color ways. This is simultaneously pretty bad and also pretty good, depending on your mood.

Nothing says “Cool Kid” like a skateboarding dog. This birthday card from 2011 came with a button. Apparently I didn’t have the foresight to snap the publishers print on the back. Congratulations to me on managing to make a post that took less than a half an hour.

This started out as what was supposed to be a quick post (you’ve heard this before…) after a sideways glance at the collectibles aisle in Target caught my eye. They only had one figure and the box said there were 4 total to collect. Well that turned out to be a lie… I suppose they meant in this series at least. This preview image doesn’t even scratch the surface. It’s too much, and it gave me diabetes.

This is the third installment of the Denver the Last Dinosaur trilogy, a short drinking glass for a 1988 animated kids show. It looks a little bit like a shot glass in the pictures but it’s actually 4″ tall, like a juice glass. The 70’s were definitely the heyday of collectible character glasses. It’s a little bit surprising this show was popular enough to warrant carrying on the tradition so late in the 80’s. Maybe it was wishful thinking. I have no other info about any possible ties with this glass. Was it a fast food item? Was it a mail-in promo? Who knows. I do know that you should definitely watch  Kyle Mooney’s Netflix show Saturday Morning All Star Hits!  aka S.M.A.S.H.! It’s a spoof on 80’s and 90’s Weeknd cartoon programming and includes a parody of Denver called… Randy. Wikipedia sums it up succinctly: “…a show about an anthropomorphic teenage dinosaur who falls into depression and alcoholism following a breakup with his firefighter girlfriend, before heading to music college where he befriends a group of teenagers.” Same thing happened to me.