These are pretty fuzzy pictures of a craptacular skateboard from Valterra. It’s a Beach Boys model, which is shocking to think that someone thought they would still be able to help sell skateboards in the 80’s. Check out the built in handles on this “Grip Stick” and the weird solid black caricature. It reminds me of the comic strip where all the characters have bulging eyes and their heads look like they are made from a pile of bubbles. I think it uses the same sort of negative color space too. Anyone know what I’m talking about? (MC does, it was John Crawford’s Baboon Dooley )The picture quality of this auction would have made me pass on posting it were it not that I’ve been looking for an excuse to repost the “Beach Boys Shred I Get Round” video, still one of my favorite things in the world.

A Gordon the Gopher pin, complete with creepy picture of the the host of the Broom Cupboard, the BBC show where the puppet lived. Straight out of 1987. On the badge he looks like a fully formed Muppet, but the actual puppet looks like an amorphous blob of fur stuffed in some doll clothes.

No, this isn’t an outtake from an episode of The Prisoner. It’s a June 6, 1978 press photo from Leicester Polytechnic School. Yes, it will soon be framed on my wall. Three models wearing the latest in Skateboard fashions designed by the Leicester Polytechnic School of fashions and textiles. They are L-R Cindy wears multi-coloured knitted stripped sweater, shorts andd leggings. Stephanie wears Navy jumpsuit with velour stripe trim and bolero, and Debie wears multi-coloured two-piece in striped velour. I’m going to hop in the old time machine and see if I can get a date with Cindy and tell Stephanie to get a damned skateboard and stop lurking. Maybe I’ll bring back her jumpsuit for GVK.

A Secret History of the Ollie by Craig Snyder is here, and it’s a whopper. It’s two inches thick and 912 pages! It’s going to take a long time to sift through this for a proper review, but in the meantime you can get yours at OllieBook.com.

Here’s an 80’s era token or coin with the Kool-Aid man riding a skateboard as well as skateboarding in a 70’s era Kool-Aid commercial. Unfortunately, Kool-Aid Man doesn’t ride the skateboard, and the kids spend more time talking about skateboarding than actually riding. Video quality is craptactular, if anyone has a better source let me know.

Who is this guy riding a Madrid skateboard in mid ollie over a banana in this OP ad?

A horrible screen grab from a good video. Sometimes I like to put a little “skate” in Skate and Annoy. Check out this very short, very ready sequence.

This is Cool Frozen Desert from Epoch. Just like Cool Cuts Carrots before it, although slightly less descriptive, and packaged with all the enthusiasm of one of those nutrition drinks for the geriatric set. Put it on a plate son, you’ll enjoy it more. Cool Frozen Desert features Rector knee pads in an illustration that was clearly vectorized from an old photo of someone I’m betting our readers can identify the source. – Thanks to John Aguilar for the photo.

The Kilwag offspring have been trained well to enable my OCD act as spotters for potential content for Skate and Annoy. One of them pointed out an anthropomorphic carrot shredding on the packaging of Cool Cuts Carrots from ready Pac. Carrots with ranch dip? It should say carrots with attitude!