Rad Dudes trading cards are were published by Pacific trading Cards in 1990. Everything is neon, Rad Dudes are hanging on to the last bit of 80’s they could muster. Rad Dudes are pretty much a third rate copy of Garbage Pail Kids, as perpetrated by someone who was only vaguely familiar. They are amzaing only in the total absence of any amount of creativity. Character names are uninspired and the illustrations usually lack an interesting composition. There’s 110 cards pre set, 55 front illustrations, each having two back versions, one with some character dialog and the other as part of a tile making a larger version of one of the cards. Although the cards are 23 years old, they have absolutely no collectible value. You can buy an entire set of 110 for $1-$2, with shipping usually costing more than the actual cards.

It’s 1978 and the Rocket Racer is back in Volume 1 #182 of The Amazing Spiderman. I haven’t seen the first appearance of the Rocket Racer, but the storyline mimics the ’90s animated Spiderman series, except the Rocket Racer in the cartoon is a teenager, while the original Rocket Racer is drawn more like a full grown man. The Rocket Racer has a skateboard that allows him to defy gravity. Not only does it stick to walls, but it magically adheres the riders feet to the board while riding vertical surfaces. Rocket uses his skateboard to perpetrate crimes to pay his mother’s or gandmother’s medical bills. It’s the age old story of a good hearted person forced into a life of crime. The pages with skateboarding in them are available after the jump, as well as the entire episode from the 1994 animated series.

UPDATE: This post dates back 2013 and a lot of the content and comments have to to with Skatemaster Tate (Gerry Hurtado) who didn’t really have an internet presence at the time. Gerry did eventually surface in the online skating world through social media (actually commenting on this site too) as well as having a skateboard released through Flood Control and a flexi-disc release in an issue of Pure Fun. Sadly, within a week of being diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer, he passed away on October 13th, 2015.

I’ve been sitting on some recorded rebroadcasts of SK8 TV from around the turn of the millennium. I’ve been hesitant to post them online because I figured between Viacom and Stacy Peralta, I wasn’t in a hurry to get kicked off of Youtube again. In my head, these belong to the 80’s but according to IMDB, the first air date was in 1990. SrArcade has a channel and blog mostly dedicated to restoring and playing old video arcade games, but he’s also uploaded a healthy chunk of the old Nickelodeon show. There are 51 uploads to date, each a segment instead of a whole episode, but all of them are included in one playlist for easy viewing. It looks like his masters are a lot cleaner than my VHS dubs – dubbed to digital 8, and then again to mini DV – that’s how long I’ve been sitting on them! Nickelodeon has made some of their vintage shows available for download in the iTunes store, but SK8 TV wasn’t one of them. I wonder if Stacy was shrewd enough to be able to retain the copyright on these episodes. If not, why they aren’t being rebroadcast or sold as a DVD set? That show was corny as heck, but it had it’s moments, and nostalgia sells. I’d look forward to watching the hell out of SK8 TV on the couch with my kids on a Saturday morning. SrArcade has had some of these up for a year, so maybe they’ll last. If not there’s another guy selling individual episodes as a download. Say hello to Matthew Lillard and Skatemaster Tate.

No Coke. Pepsi This Pepsi can hails from Greece, circa 1993. Limited edition, don’t you know? Mohawks, dogs and guitars on skateboards. Radical. I can’t believe Greece still used pull tabs on cans as late as 1993. If you don’t get the reference, look it up. Good luck finding a video. Effing Hulu…

Plan B is launching a video history of Plan B. This first segment is titled Mike Ternasky Reflection, Return of ‘The Team.’

In 1991 Mike Ternasky assembled one of the most dominant teams in the history of the sport and produced what many consider to be the best skate video of all time, Questionable. In 1994, after Mike’s tragic death in car accident the future of the team appeared to be over. Then in 2005, founding team members Danny Way and Colin McKay relaunched the brand with their own version of the super team and a dream to continue the legacy of Plan B.

I didn’t have time to watch it all, but you do or you wouldn’t be here.

[Source: Ali Sports]

I’m not fan of Excel (or Powerpoint for that matter.. Cue rim shot.) but at the very least, in 1995 they were well ahead of the curve paying respect to Dogtown.

– Thanks to Matthijs for the tip

Well who am I argue? I’d have to translate it first. The A-side title needs no translation – Get Rad (With the right protection). Sounds like a description of a dorm room poster for safe sex, but no, it’s almost as titillating. Nothing excites an adolescent more than a pullout poster extolling the virtues of hard plastic shells and tender, soft foam. This poster is courtesy of the Dutch organization known as the (translated) Consumer & Safety Foundation, circa 1989 or 1990, judging by that Nicky Guerrero mask model.

– Thanks to Matthijs for the scans.

Vintage Annalee doll: adorable girl wearing pink on a skateboard. Dated 1992. This is from the days when Annalee Thorndike dolls had hand painted one of a kind faces. Has been displayed in a cabinet since it was new so is in great condition.

I will never have enough time or money to collect every hideous skateboard toy out there. At least it’s not Fofao.

There’s a Frankie Hill interview of sorts over at Whatit.be. The ESL grammar is a bit distracting at times, but if you dig/dug Frankie Hill this is the latest bit out there, unless you head to Legion Skateboards.

[Board Graphic: Vaskateboards.com]

In 1991 there was an animated series based on a spinoff novel from Ian Flemming’s James Bond series. I just watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang for the first time in… decades, and I was suprised to learn that it was also based on an Ian Flemming novel and produced by Albert R. Broccoli, the guy who did all the early James Bond movies. Ian didn’t write the James Bond Jr book, so he can’t really be blamed for the atrocity that is the James Bond Jr cartoon. They made over 60 episodes, but apparently the toy line was more popular than the actual series. What you see here is the Gordo Leiter figure, complete with weaponized skateboard. Turns out there were two episodes that featured skateboarding.

[Sources: Wikipedia and James Bond Jr Online]