Hats off to Blast Skates out of Berlin the U.K. for My First Skateboard, an 80’s inspired kids setup that comes in a box with everything you need to assemble, including kid-friendly instructions. The Blast product lineup appears to be a little high end, with their decks going for an equivalent of about $87 USD. This setup for little kids is about $154 USD. Sure, you could find completes for kids at a considerably cheaper price, at least in the US, but what you’re getting here is a fully realized concept that is well executed. It’s an experience that is more than the sum of the parts. Granted, it’s not clear whether a child will enjoy it nearly as much as the adult who gifts it. I love the spot on the top of the deck for writing your name on the board. I’d rock an adult sized deck with that top graphic. EDIT: Turns out Blast is in the UK but uses Berlin for shipping to EU due to Brexit making it expensive to ship to the EU. – Thanks to Matthijs for the tip.

Kinder Em-Eukal makes cough drops and sweets and has a mascot named Felix. The packaging was designed by an agency called Milk Food. So far Felix has been spotted with an orange, blue, and yellow skateboard. Thanks to… I want to say… David Maes for the tip?

MC tipped me off to these photos of a skatepark in Hirschgarten. It’s got a weird stadium vibe too it, like something you’d see as the sport of future in a sci-fi movie. The park looks like it would be a lot of fun, but the most interesting architectural aspect is unfortunately, effectively skate stoppered. It would be a nightmare of loose boards falling into the main bowl, but it seems such a shame to build something so inherently skate able, something that is part of an actual skateboarding facility, and then stick a railing in front of it. Top photo is via Klaus Leidorf on Flickr, and the bottom two were found on IanClairdge.net.

Skateboarding4Life reports that the long running Peek Skateboards indoor skatepark in Düsseldorf, Germany is on the brink of being shut down because the land lord wants to use the space. It looks like a great space that has seen a lot of use. There is a web site (in German) set up to focus efforts to document and hopefully save the park. Video montage after the jump. – Thanks to Chris Eggers for the tip.

Blockparty was an event held last summer in Hamburg, Germany that featured Blockparty Entertainmen and the Hambrug Crew. They built an odd triangular track that even had a temporary fountain incorporated into it. Live DJ and a party too, plus a great Devo song used in the video. – Thanks to Dennis Stoecker for the tip.

Although it may look like Kentucky, Ken Henning, took these pictures at the zoo (Tiergarten) in Nuremberg, Germany in 1968. Pictured are American GIs from California enjoying a downhill session. Ken says this was the first time he ever saw anyone on a skateboard. The guys in these photos eventually shipped out to Vietnam, and Ken doesn’t know what became of them. Additional photo after the jump. – Thanks to David Brosch for the photos.

That’s Skreech on the cover of the latest Confusion zine. Apparently he’s turning over a new leaf after evaluating his life via Dragonslayer, so he’s going by Joshua instead of Josh. He didn’t ditch the “Skreech” moniker though. He’s no dummy when it comes to marketing. In addition to the Skreech interview, this shot of Elias Assmuth on a skateboard made out of a fingerboarding ramp got my attention. Radness! Those guys at Blackriver Ramps take their skateboarding every bit as seriously as their fingerboarding, or vice versa.

It is what it is. Ambivalent Skateboarding Fraternity. Skater: Kai Hillebrand. Photos: by Alex “Foley” Concept by Gonzalo Lizama and Roberto Cuellar. Art Direction: Roberto Cuellar. Location: Berlin, Germany. Year: 2012. More from Roberto. – Thanks to Jerome for the tip.

Betonhausen is A D.I.Y. spot in Berlin funded by c-list energy drink. (But really, is there anything as an grade A energy drink?) It has an outdoor part that looks like it served as the concrete college. Check it out. They’ve added an indoor part as well, 3 videos after the jump. The best video in the series is part two, which features the construction, including huge chunks of styrofoam sculpted in place and used instead of fill dirt.

The German pressing of this rare 70´s skatesploitation record was already shown on SNA some time ago. I knew that there also was a French pressing on Polydor Records (1997, cat.nr. 2056 743) with a different cover.