I can’ get enough of these Cold War era Russian skateboards. Here’s a board from 1986 courtesy of a cat named Jah Fish of Facebook. Translated text says the price was 26 Rubles, or about $34 possibly, according to some speculation found in various discussion on the internet. It’s impossible to say because you could not legally trade Rubles for dollars then. I have no idea what the buying power of 26 Rubles would be other than this skateboard. I’ve seen sources claim average monthly income in Russia would have been anywhere from 190 to 266 Rubles, so this skateboard would have cost about 12% – 14% of that.

Impulse buys, some are good, but this one? VERY NICE!!! I bought his Soviet era skateboard from a seller in the Ukraine. Sure, I paid more in shipping than I did for the actual item but I couldn’t pass this up. That’s Leonid Brezhnev in the upper left, he was the leader in the USSR from 1977-1982, which is the period I’m guessing this skateboard was produced. ( Seller could only add 80’s ) It’s cast aluminum! I LIKE! The text translates to “Rolling.”

I bought this vintage Russian skateboard advertisement some time before 2013, which is as far back as my Ebay history will show me. The stamps say 2009, but I don’t think it was that long ago. I wasn’t sure about the authenticity of this, but it did ship from Moscow, Russia, and the guy even had “SNA” in his name. I can’t even type in the Cyrillic alphabet to get an online translation. I’m not sure how old this is. It looks 70’s but it might be early 80’s. (1982) If you can help, please chime in. Maybe these guys know something. I remember at the time I bought it I felt like some sort of tomb raider, importing illegal cultural artifacts from the Eastern Block.

Ahhhh, the extent that Nestle will go to trying to sell you horse hooves and cow muscles. It’s called “Bon Parj Jumble” and this commercial is for the Russian market, or at least was done by a Russian agency. Director Alberto Accettulli must like skateboards, as he also directed a commercial for Nike SB. Who knew Michael Cera (above, left) was on the stunt team? – Thanks to David Leclerc for the tip.

In honor of May Day, I thought I ‘d post some sweet granite benches in Moscow. CLick through to get a a wider view of this Russian street skating spot.