While it may look like product placement, this post is actually a PSA. In 20 years from now when some other nerd skate historian finds a beat up board with this graphic, they will know it actually came from Brand-X Toxic and was not another weird 80-90’s bootleg mashup. Technically, this model is called the Weirdo Stick, and it is essentially a mashup of the classic Brand X Weirdo and a Vision Psycho Stick.

Because this site is part of the Skatewing Preservation Society, enjoy these pics of a gray Skatewing. Also, this site is the only member of the Skatewing Preservation Society. – Thanks to Terry Daniel for the photos.

This is Laugh comics #16 from the second Laugh series that ran between 1987-1991. It looks to be a bit of a sendup on the movie 9-5 but that was released in 1980 and the publication date of Laugh #16 is 1989. I suppose that movie could have been lingering in the pop culture zeitgeist almost a decade later. Then again, Archie comics aren’t really known for originality and they frequently re-use story lines. Everyone looks like a super 80’s yuppy in this flying jet powered skateboard story titled “Working Lass” and inexplicably does not take place in the future. Let’s read on and discover the answer to the age old question: What if Pop’s Pizza and Jet Skateboards were involved in a corporate merger?

This edition of Australian pro skateboarders and companies I did not know existed is brought to you by Ken Macleod, who posted a picture of a Ken Gibbons pro model. I tried to find something about it/him (Ken) and that led me to the photography of Chris Stroh, whose portfolio is primarily surfing, but also includes some 80’s era skateboarding. That’s Ken in the photo above, in the bowl at a place called “Five Dock,” circa 1986. Unfortunately, Ken was the victim of a hit-and-run and died in 2006. I scraped the web for more bits and pieces on Ken and Bonzer and managed to find a few items.

This unassembled Ben Lexan Skatewing was won on a cruise many years ago, and has sat in storage since then until Jamie Shain decided to help their mother-in-law do some cleaning. It’s funny because I’ve often wondered how they packaged these boards for shipping, being as unwieldy as they are, and now I know. Trucks (regular, and auxiliary) and handles came unassembled. – Thanks to Jamie for the pics!

I saw a post online from David Whitney looking to sell an 80’s era “Wizard Pro Model” from Action Sports which appears to be a graphic that they barely modified from their 1986 Brian Martin pro model, as seen in our Vintage Skatemag Ads gallery. Barely modified? It looks like they cut out Brian’s name on the black plate and hastily replaced it with the word “Wizard.” You can see where the “Martin” has been knocked out of the blue plate. Brian Martin himself chimed in on the original post in the gallery, and we’d ask him for the rest of the story, but sadly he passed away some time circa 2021. Sure, you can read your Disposable volumes and all to get the low down on your Powells and Sant Cruz variations, but Skate and Annoy is here for your c-grade company minutia!

On the right, you’re looking at a personal Christmas card that Mark Sellman illustrated in the style of the famous John Lucero jester model seen on the left. Skateboard photos via the Madrid Facebook account. Greeting card art courtesy of Mark Sellman

Like many things (most) on this site, this post started out as a relatively simple showcase of a board from Michiel Walrave to add to the crappy board series. And because it was a company I’d never heard of I tried to learn a little more about it and found out there are barely any pics old AISI boards out there. You might think maybe it’s actually “AISL” and not “AISI” but those searches returned nothing. UPDATE: 2026 – several of these decks can be found in the Athena International catalog. Also added two decks: The Rattler and Skull.

These are part of a set of Northworld Novelties stickers from 1986. No Wimps! No Nerds! I can remember seeing these back in the day and always assumed the were bootlegs but it looks like the actually licensed Wimpy from King Features and the Nerds Candy critters from Sunmark, who owned that brand at the time. These are scans a not photographs which is why the look washed out. Why? Once again, today’s LED scanners are unable to properly reflect neon colors. The true colors are quite vibrant in the group photo though. No Nerds and No Wimps were often seen in the company of the infamous “No Fat Chicks” stickers at the time. – Thanks to Jason Harrison for the pics.

As a kid I can remember seeing ads like this in the back of comic books and other publications aimed at adolescents. The gas is, you send away for some sort of sales kit, most likely a catalog and some motivational text, and then you could sell greeting cards and who knows what else to all your neighbors and extended family in hopes of earning enough credit to get some free stuff from the advert. It was your job to take the orders, collect the money, send it to the company and then deliver everything when they mailed it to you. This scheme for using a child labor farm sourced from comic books has been around for a long time, probably dating back to the 40’s with Grit, which amazingly, is still a thing. The practice of bribing kids with the potential to earn prizes probably had it’s heyday during the 60’s and 70’s. Here are 2 examples from the late 80’s and early 90’s in which you can earn a Nash or Variflex skateboard.