Tag Archive: 70’s
Mike Weed R.I.P.
I’ve been remiss in posting this on S&A, as it is about a week old by now, but it has been reported that Mike Weed passed away. I’ve read it was after a battle with lymphoma. There appears to be no official announcement online, and Weed’s official web site has not been updated at this time. You can read a 2009 interview with Mike in Juice Magazine #66.
Skateboard Happy
There’s something about the tactile quality of these old, molded magnets that is really pleasing. Most of the ones I’ve ever seen were molded in the shape of a state or a tourist attraction. As a kid I ate a metric ton of Freakies cereal, and collected a lot of Freakies character magnet that sometimes came as the toy in the box. This Skateboard Happy magnet dates to the same era, a time when there must have been a lot of anger in the sport. Paying 10 bucks for this would make me angry though.
Tournament skateboard really works!
I thought I was going to steal these two Sport Girl dolls for $10, but they ended up going for $42, which is more than a grown man should spend on skateboarding dolls from the 70’s. I’ve shown this unlicensed Farrah Fawcett packaging before, but I’ve never seen the red variant. The three bullet points on the Sport Girl are Rooted, washable hair, twist and turn waist and vinyl head. Vinyl head? How luxurious! And there you have it, day 3 of “Doll a Day” week.
Dashing Daisy
Sure, the last post was about something manly and useful – making your own concrete coping. Now I’ve decided that it’s “Doll a Day” week. This is Dashing Daisy, a Barbie clone made in the 70’s and sold in the UK. It’s actually “sort of” interesting in that she was allegedly designed by a mod fashion designer Mary Quant who was a bit of a celebrity in the UK fashion world at the time. Even so, they look like junk. I guess the Dashing Daisy variant had more movement than the standard Dull Daisy. The skateboard version came in at least 2 colors that I’ve found, and seems to go for about $75 U.S. despite the lack of perceived quality. Daisy Doll Skidoo 65705 is dated at 1977. WTF is a skidoo?
Pep at Pops
This is mockup of PEP# 326, with notes by the colorist. You know how comic books are drawn by one guy, inked by another, and colored by another? PEP #326 was published in June of 1977, which explains the combination of two massive 70’s fads, the skateboard and the CB Radio. I still hate Archie, if you’re wondering, but I’m also trying to feature him once a week. This colorist’s proof starts at $90 on eBay. There are no other skateboard stories or illustrations in this issue. – Thanks to David Maes for the tip.
Dynamite Magazine #42 with Laura Thornhill
Laura Thornhill featured in Dynamite Magazine #42, published in 1977. Sylvester Stallone on the cover, what is next for Sylvester after Rocky? four more Rocky movies of course. Listen, I don’t care if he only made 3 more or 5 more, so don’t bother to correct me if I’m wrong. This is the third appearance of skateboarding in Dynamite Magazine here on S&A. Complete spread and text after the jump.
6 wheels, three aces
The Cami Three Aces (Tres Assi) model, a six wheeled, three truck plastic skateboard made in Italy at some point in the late 70’s or early 80’s most likely. Actullay, that top graphic makes me think it’s 80’s or possibly even later. I’ve been on the lookout for the six wheeled plastic skateboard as seen in this post. I think the side by side truck configuration is more rare. I’ve seen the three aces configuration on more recent boards. And then there’s the Wheelie Board. Finding a 6 wheeled plastic skateboard on the internet is tough, you’ll turn up endless Penny board knockoffs and collections of regular wheels without an actual board. So who knows if I’ll ever find the right one. Meanwhile, what about the Three Aces? Pretty damned cool, although $200 bucks is a steep price for a plastic board, but it is pretty rare. What I need is more disposable income. – Thanks to David ODK for the tip.
Late 70’s Adidas Skateboard Sticker
A sticker from Adidas that looks to be of 70’s vintage, based on the somewhat narrow skateboard, hockey style helmet and odd implementation of pads. As seen on Ebay.
Me and My RC
I’ve seen skateboards with logos for all kinds of drinks, including Pepsi, Coke, Mountain Dew and Sobe , but this is the first time I’ve seen an RC Cola skateboard. This particular one made by Super Surfer. They actually molded “Me and My RC” onto the top deck. The Super Surfer imprints on the bottom and trucks are cool as well. I can’t tell if those are plastic trucks or not. The baseplate is metal, but the trucks look like they might be plastic, although I don’t remember plastic trucks showing up until the 90’s. (UPDATE: They are indeed metal trucks.) Maybe this artifact isn’t as old as the seller claims. But then again when was the last time anyone heard the slogan “Me and My RC,” or Royal Crown Cola, come to think of it. UPDATE: Thanks to Daymond Dodge for pictures of his own RC Cola board and KC for the RC Cola TV commercial.
Hooker Headers Skateboard
5 years ago I found a weird looking board on Ebay. The wacky truck configuration and the fact that it was a promotional board for an auto parts manufacturer made me save the pictures. I just recently found an ad for Hooker Headers in the May, 1976 issue of Hot Rod that had a order form for the Hooker Headers skateboard, and amazingly enough, I was able to find those old pictures among the flotsam on my hard drive. It’s got a metal plate between the trucks, similar to the Flex-trol, but it also adds the ability to change your wheelbase on the fly. Hooker was positioning this as the “ultimate suspension system” for skateboards. Was it a way to build brand loyalty for kids to young to drive yet? I can’t imagine they had a longterm business model that involved skateboarding. Still, it was too expensive of a setup (manufacturing wise) to be purely promotional, especially considering that they offered three boards in two colors as well as the suspension system in two different configurations. Maybe someone at Hooker had a kid who skated. The brand is still around but it looks like it has been absorbed by Holley.…











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