An entity called Artist of Design offers a retro typeface called AZ YoYo which was “inspired from a ’70’s vintage skateboard logo style.” Just in case the name doesn’t give it away, the logo in question is Yoyo wheels from Gordon & Smith. The advert on the left is from a 1978 issue of Skateboarder, as seen in the S&A Vintage Skatemag Advert Gallery. That’s Steve Cathey in the photo. Artist of Design offers another retro font based on the Hobie Surfboards logo.

Update: MC pointed out that the original was an old Linotype face called Stilla, which was originally published in 1973.

– Thanks to Jer Warren for the tip!

Two more from Vintage Toy Advertiser. On the left, an ad from a 1977 issue of the French comic book Pif Gadget with a contest to win among other things, one of 300 rolling surfboards AKA “surfs a roulettes” AKA skateboards. On the right, a crazy skateboard shirt from a 1978 issue of Pif Gadget. It’s 1978 and there’s no skyhooks on that skateboard. How did they get that photograph of an unobstructed bottom view of a skateboarder seemingly getting air? Was he skating on a sheet of plexiglass? It’s clearly just a rolling shot, so where’s the harness and the wires?

I didn’t know Target had a skate team besides the Flying Tomato. They made a promo video welcoming Curren to the team with a clever moment where Curren sticks an employee name tag on a red shirt as he’s walking in. It also has the typical Rorschach test response elicited from any skateboarder who’s ever seen a Target store in the form of skate footage on those big red concrete balls that sit out front. So I guess that’s their way of letting us know those spots are not a bust? Probably not. I don’t think Curren Caples is a household name yet, so it’s unlikely we’ll see this air on television. Why are they welcoming Curren Caples to Target? Are the looking to replace the Shaun White clothing line at Target?

Lowcard has footage of the Junk Jam put on in by Jivaro and others a couple weeks ago. Don’t let the edit make you think this was sparsely attended,because it was packed full of people, and a lot of fun, even for old-timers. I have to take issue with Lowcard’s description of the venue as an “underutilized schoolyard,” because if you actually live in the neighborhood you’d see it packed with kids on occasion, even when school isn’t in session. Of course, that doesn’t mean it couldn’t use some permanent skate fixtures. Junk Jam was rad. All kinds of things to skate for all skill levels.

This is an undated cardboard advertisement for a toy called the Hobble Wobble, something that looks suspiciously like a snake board without the trucks and wheels. These were allegedly manufactured in the late 50’s or early 60’s in St. Louis, Mo. I say allegedly because there doesn’t appear to be any real information on these out there other than a couple of posters for sale. Again, there are some snake boards manufactured out of almost the same accordion I-beam and platform design. The posters seem awfully crisp too, but I’m not sure what the value would be in such an elaborate hoax. Regardless, the Hobble Wobble reminds me of a time when I went to summer camp and my best friend used large sticks we found in the woods to practice our kick turns with.

UPDATE: Magazine article and patent found. Time period authenticity confirmed.

Street League will be including a Women’s division for the first time ever in Chicago on October 14th. First place prize is $30,000, which beats the mens X-Games purse. Competing in this first group a Lacey Baker Samaria Brevard, Leticia Bufoni, Marisa Dal Santo, Pamela Rose, Alexis Sablone, Alana Smith, and Vanessa Torres. The event will be streamed live online at StreetLeague.com with a condensed version airing on the 18th on FS1 as well as streaming FOXSportsGO. The regular inclusion of a women’s division in Street League should do well to promote both women’s professional and amateur skateboarding. Congratulations ladies!

Today I added ads for Darren Navarrette on Creature, Jason Adams on Sonic, records and skateboards from Beer City, a long dead wheel company called Circuit, a long dead mail-order house called SSBS, distribution from South Shore, clothing from Fourstar, a Thrasher subscription offer for an H2O CD, and a bunch of Thrasher products with a big goofy picture.

New for today, Thunder Trucks blue bombers with Ben Krahn, PTS shoes with Chuck Wampler, A Blind Skateboards ad with Gideon Choi, A bunch of cartoon sheep heads for Sole Technologies, a retro subscription ad for Thrasher, and the greatest travesty of all 90’s era skateboard company declines, WTF happened to Zorlac?

This from an advertisement for MPC snap together model kits featuring hot rods for Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote. The advert appeared in an 1972 edition of a comic book called The Unexpected.

In 1972 MPC models put out a snap together model with Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote. Wile E’s kit came with a skateboard. In 2011 Round 2 Models put out a re-issue of the kit. Wile E. Coyote was a separate PVC vinyl character, but the skateboard still had to be assembled from the model kit. I have not been able to find any pictures of the original kit assembled, but there were only 3 colors used for it as well, black, green, and chrome.

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.