Element Case (no relation) is releasing a handful of new iPhone cases with skate graphics on them. It’s basically one of three different cases with what are essentially removable hard plastic (lexan) stickers on the outside. Base prices range from $40 to $150 (!!!) depending on how high tech you want it. The more expensive ones actually look better (tip to tail, not truck to truck) but who has $100-$150 to blow on a case for a phone? Not me, dear readers. They do look nice though, and who would have guessed Pineapple Designs would have been one of the offerings? I’m still patiently waiting for the call from the lucky manufacturer who wants to license Skate and Annoy designs. How about a nice iPad case with a giant GVK face on the back? I wonder if Staab is sharing Tony hawk’s business manger. Seems like he’s got more product out now then he ever did in his heyday. Wait, maybe this is his heyday. Speaking of heyday… Holy Frank! It’s Billy Ruff in the product video? I haven’t heard anything about him in ages. (Wait.. I’m still watching.) An appearance by Brad Bowman and Steve Caballero too, plus manufacturing shots. There’s footage of the manufacturing process and a visit to the Powell factory. Ironically, the iPhone case stickers are direct screened and the Powell process shown involves heat transfers.

If you’re truly living the good life, you want your sandwiches to be fresh, right? What else could you ask for? Sandwhich saver? More like Life saver.

– Thanks to Brian for the photo.

“Dear Friend, I so enjoyed our session yesterday. Let’s rip together again some time soon. Yours in counterculture, Bobby.” Bohemian Greeting Cards, available at a gift shop going out of business soon. Check your mall for details. It’s only a matter of time before my mother in-law sends me one of these. I should start an “office pool.”

Crystal clear plexiglass skateboard by Pulp68, although it’s not on their site anywhere. Pictures via Rad Collector. Video after the jump.

– Thanks to Boy Ipoh for the tip.

From the Too Old To Skate blog. Isn’t that an old Deathbox graphic?

A removable dry erase vinyl decal in the shape of a skateboard. It says it’s 24″ x 24″ but that seems to be wrong both dimensionally and scale wise. Either that or the picture is doctored. Check it out at Fab.com. OK, hold on, the image is the now unavailable 72″x48″ version from The Goodie Bag.

There’s more Dee Dee merch now than there ever was when he was alive. I don’t know who benefits from that, but some of it is pretty cool. On the left, Dee Dee as he appeared in Tank Girl: Skidmarks, shown as he might have appeared on a custom Bulldog board. On the right, Dee Dee as the Powell ripper. Ripper clones are a dime a dozen, but Dee Dee being actually dead, well that makes this one special.

Source: DeeDeeRamone.com – Tank-Girl.com

How do you dress up and old idea? With half dressed girls of course. Globe’s Bantam Cruisers are pretty much the same thing that Penny has to offer (more on that later) so I guess that monopoly is over. Fortunately, what Globe lacks in original product ideas they were able to make up for in the well executed tribute to the 80’s visual style, albeit with a 70’s style plastic skateboard. Is it sexist? Sure, but is it fun? Yes. Great choice of Tones on Tail for the soundtrack too. The only thing missing are the Swatches. Wait, is someone going to hassle me for not knowing the correct plural form of Swatch? (Lego, legos LEGOS!) Pink Motel commercial footage after the jump. UPDATE: I just saw one of these in a skateshop. They did actually improve on the construction of the plastic skateboard. It’s dense, hard and stiff. Really sturdy actually.

Niche niche niche niche. Skateboarding is dead, so I’m going after the Nietzsche markets. Ba-dum-bump! But seriously folks… I can’t remember how I found Bitter Bushings, literally like 10 minutes ago. I did manually type in the web address so I must have read it somewhere. Then only thing skateboard related within arm’s length of my current location is a copy of Skate Slate (ahem) Longboarder magazine. Something compelled me to check out these bushings that are made for cold weather. Bitter Bushings hail from Canada, which makes sense. Does it seem like snake oil or another pointless “invention?” Owner Clint McLean certainly takes a no-nonsense approach in his demo vid. I doesn’t hurt that he looks like a lumberjack either. He takes two identical setups, popsicle sticks with Indy’s, and put’s them both in a giant freezer to simulate cold weather. One has Bitter Bushings and the other doesn’t. One turns afterwards and the other doesn’t. I’d like get more information on the development process he went through because the lack of detail or background makes it seem like the skateboarding equivalent of cobbler’s elves delivered them in the wee hours of the night. In case, if they actually work, I think these could actually, you know, take off, eh! Learn more aboot Bitter Bushings after the jump.

Last year’s promo must have been a hit, becasue they upped it from the first 2000 to the first 5000 fans in the park who got a free Portland Timbers skateboard. I have to tell you I thought our mayor was a bit looney pushing for a major league soccer team in our town. I hold soccer in about as much entertainment esteem as the Onion does, and I figured it would flop, but boy was I wrong. Games are regularly sold out and the fans are rabid. I heard last year’s board was not really the same size as an actual skateboard, more like a toy hand board. I’m still a little bit confused by this cross promotion. Makes about as much sense as a skateboarder printed on a frisbee, or Air Grip brand flying disk as it were. But damn it all if I don’t want to jump on the bandwagon and go see a game, cause I do. Update: Well this post is pretty funny in retrospect, as 5 years later I am now a huge Timbers nerd. So much so that I actually travelled to Columbus Ohio to watch them win the MLS Cup.

[Photo: Portland Timbers] – Thanks to Greg for the tip.