An advert for Turf Lights printed in the October, 1990 issue of Transworld Skateboarding magazine. Doomed to fail because:

1. Totally unnecessary
2. Weird, off brand trucks used in photo
3. Predates cheap, durable LED lights
4. About as useful as original Elephant Brand wrench
5. Can’t actually see product
6. Can’t order direct
7. Full pads used to to advertise a “street skating” product
8. All of the above

– Thanks to Shawn Tribe for the pic.

Zine mail from 1991. Judging from the transcript on the back, I might have crossed paths with Pete D. from Clueless zine shortly before he sent those pictures, although it’s just as likely it was unrelated correspondence as nonsensical stories and rampant silliness were a big part of zine culture those days. I made the acquaintance of Pete through Dan at Contort. It’s been a long time since I’ve added any new (old) zines to the gallery, I’ll see what I can do in the near future.

An assortment of drinking glasses with skateboard imagery, two from restaurants and one from a food product. From Australia to the USA, from 1977 to 2002.

Here’s a trio of advertisements featuring Tony Hawk that range in date from 1999 to 2005. All of them are for non-skateboarding products and were taken from assorted comic books. Take what you want, but eat what you take.

You’re looking at the cover of Skateboard Champion, #112 in Edward Packards Choose Your Own Adventure series. And most skateboarder do, choose their own adventures. The kid on the cover chose spandex shorts; a complete set of plastics – noes bone, rails, lapper; tie dye graphics; and counterfeit Nike shoes. The wistful expression on his face? I think the girl in the baseball jersey on the deck just broke up with him. It’s quite a backyard vert ramp though. It looks very 80’s but the book was actually published in 1991, which also looked very 80’s for a while.

[Photo: Gamebooks.org]

I’m combining two goofy posts into one, featuring Goofy and Mike V. Who you calling goofy? I’m certainly not calling you goofy, Mr Vallely, Sir. What we have here are two items that are only marginally related at best, because they both feature the Disney character known as Goofy. There’s a glutton of Goofy products with skateboards, only one of which I’ve featured here before. I’ve got others on deck though. (I slay myself…) On the left, original artwork and press proofs for an 80’s era Aladin lunchbox featuring Goofy and the gang at a skatepark. On the right, someone auctioned off Mike V’s season pass to Disneyland.

You know, it seems like I’ve read some of this before somewhere… No? Death Skateboards produced a good two part video of the Simon Woodstock story. It includes some interesting history on Sonic Skateboards and lot’s of, dare I say, rare footage? Check it out after the jump.

In 1991 McDonalds issued Happy Meal toys consisting of memvbers of the “Laf-Squad” riding motorized vehicles. The Laf Squad must have been the secret, paramilitary arm of the Laff-A-Lympics splinter group known as the Yogi Yahooeys. Of the four figures, only Boo Boo Bear had the privilege of riding the customary out of scale skateboard. Here he is, more stylish than your average bear. And yes, he is on actual pool coping.

I had more than a handful of these “Stylin’ Skateboards” from Topps. The first time I saw them was in ’91 or ’92. I think it was B-Rad who showed it to me first, and it blew my mind. I asked where he found it, expecting it to be something a friend brought back from a trip to Japan or some kitschy novelty shop in New York. Instead, he nodded his head over his shoulder towards the Wall Mart at his back in a semi rural (at the time) Steamboat Springs, Colorado. This sales sheets shows them packaged in little boxes, but the ones I saw came in sealed plastic bags with heat-pressed seams. Each bag came with some crappy candy sugar wads pressed into the vague shape of a skateboard wheel, though more likely just generic pellet molds. Also in the package, a really crappy plastic fingerboard made out of soft plastic. I believe you had to snap the wheels in place yourself. The second generation fingerboards (more on that later) were fun for a few minutes, but the real reason to keep buying these things was for the paper stickers that came with them, each a slightly mutated version of what someone in Topps marketing thought represented skateboarding culture. Lots of “rad dudes” and cow skulls, like Life’s a Beach meets Zorlac, but turned into a Nickelodeon cartoon for kids. I think these things sold for a dollar and change each. A while back I saw an unopened case up for bid, but they wanted something in the neighborhood of $100 for it. Second generation fingerboards? Yes. Slightly more maneuverable than the hard, keychain versions that first appeared in the 80’s, you know, the kind that featured paper graphics in a clear shell. Stylin’ Skateboards were at the opposite end of the brittle spectrum. The loose tolerances of the truck and wheel assemblies combined with the soft plastic made for the first fingerboards that you could more or less turn instead of just sliding. The larger size was more to scale as well, but ultimately the cheap plastic was too soft to get any meaningful use out of a toy version of… well, a larger toy. Somewhere in my basement I have at least one of these unopened. One day I’ll dig it up.

A weird little play set, this Littlest Pet Shop Puppy Pal. Nothing says “play” like a puppy locked in a dog kennel. Don’t blame the seller, although for $14 I would want the complete set, even if it did date back to 1992. UPDATED