Here we are again, monthly, and on time! Thank your lucky stars! And it’s free! Talking of free, I think if you email us asking for advice on how much the deck you just found under the bed is worth, and we answer you and you make a boatload of cash, flow us some back. We get probably 5 emails a month asking us this stuff, and tell you the truth, it’s getting kind of old. Maybe Randy disagrees, but I’m getting tired of being the web’s answer man when it comes to if you should sell your deck or not. There, rant over.
Alva/Dogtown/Z-Flex etc.
Yep, all of the old dogtown/Santa Monica companies all under 1 roof. It seems like a good filing idea. Anyway, first up is this Alva leopard complete. It’s a great looking deck, complete with Trackers and Alva wheels (I assume). Alva reissued this deck, but this is authentic. $774. Not enough to retire on, but not bad considering this was probably under the bed for 25 years.
Alva came out with so many crazy decks in the early/mid 80s, but this takes the whole fishtail/hammerhead deck shape to the extreme. Our local skate shop couldn’t give these away, but now they’re worth $220 apparently. Pretty rare actually.
A highly sought-after deck, the 1988 Dogtown Aaron Murray mini. Actually, the full size with the Japanese writing and tidal wave is more sought after, but this will do. Love those scallops. Dogtown did that a lot in the 80s. I always loved the web for that reason. $500.
Micke Alba had many more pro decks than his older brother, but he just wasn’t as well known, and his decks don’t have that huge collectibility that the Salba decks do. Even so, he put out some nice planks. This 1988 Dogtown isn’t one of the best, but it still fetched a healthy $326.
And now for one of my recent favorites. Z-Flex issued a very limited (150) number of Shogo Kubo decks for the Japanese market only. Some have been trickling onto eBay. The first ones commanded over $300, but now the Shogo collectors must be satiated, because this top one only fetched $155. However, the bottom one is hand drawn by the Japanese tattoo artist who did the graphic. It must have been an early version, but it is still exquisite. $481
And here’s a true rarity. When the Dogtown guys toured England in 1978, a crazed English millionaire put them up, and issued decks for them. Arrow Skateboards was short lived, but had decks from some of the bigger American pros of the day. Here is the Jay Adams model. Actually, they all looked the same, the only difference being the type inside the Arrow. So rare that bidders probably didn’t even know if it was legit, but it is. $338.
Powell Peralta
The Cab full dragon, in a lovely silver full-dip. Actually, I think the seller loved this deck so much that he filmed it with one of those soft lenses that old female movie stars use to cover up their lines. Just look how soft the focus is! It’s still a gorgeous deck. $600.
Not mint, but the 1st edition Tommy Guerrero always goes for big bank, especially in bright pink. There isn’t much street style in this pig, and it quickly evolved into the flaming dagger that he is most known for. $350.
This black Hawk 2nd edition pig was put up with a Buy It Now of $400. It was sold within minutes, which is a sure sign that the seller didn’t do his homework. Rare graphic on this shape. Well not super rare, but rare compared to the bottlenose shape below.
And here we have the Hawk screaming skull on the shape that made it famous. It just screams 1986. However, there are a million of these about, but buyers still go mental from time to time. Case in point: this one went for $500. Fucking crazy. There are probably 5 on eBay right now with a BIN of less than $300.
I can remember a couple of years ago when online skate shops couldn’t give the Lance Mountain crest away. They were $75 tops. Now they are commanding $251. It is a nice graphic and the blue is eye-catching, but it just doesn’t say Lance Mountain to me. If I’m going to drop that kind of cash I’ll save it for a Future Primitive.
A gorgeous Mike Vallely elephant. Seriously, this colorway is probably the best I’ve seen. The red is so deep and the yellow really pops. Great deck. $999.
Santa Cruz
The Jason Jessee sungod. The Neptune is the full-size, and the sungod is the mini. Then they came out with a midi model which was the sungod graphic going tip-to-tip on a different shape. Enough history. $635. Nice colorway too.
And here’s the Neptune. There are so many variations of this deck that it is ridiculous. This is the mermaid tail, not the shark tail, meaning it was the later graphic by Johnny Mojo, not by Jim Phillips. However, it doesn’t have the tattoos on Neptune, so I guess it’s an early run of this graphic? I’m confused. $1500.
How crazy is eBay? Ok. Here are 4 Natas decks. All are on natural stain, all feature the same version of the Panther graphic (by Natas and Justin Forbes). All are mint. They all should be roughly the same price, right? Wrong. This is what makes gauging an accurate price for vintage decks so maddening. The first one went for $380.
This one? $515.
And this one? $696.
And we finish with the most expensive. This one went off for $710. Almost double the first one. You explain it, because I can’t. Of the four, I prefer the top on
You all know what I think of Roskopp graphics, but of all of them this is the crappiest. It didn’t stop somebody from plunking down $560 though. Go figure.
OOOOH. A hot pink Salba voodoo. The grail of more than a few collectors, and the big guns came out for this one. $1691. Hey, upside down 1691 still reads 1691. Cool.
The SMA Julien Stranger plane/syringe. Again, it was widely available at online skate shops a few years ago for less than $100. Not anymore I guess. This one cost $501.
Sims
I don’t think we’ve ever had a Sims section before, but we had 3 Sims decks this month, so I thought I’d track them separately instead of throwing them into Miscellaneous. First up is this black Sims Andrecht complete with first gen Indys and some kind of huge conical wheels. Sims Snakes perhaps? It’s a great setup, right down to the back Indy Grindmaster coper. How many of those did I go through back in the day! $988.
And here’s another classic from Sims. A Lonnie Toft 8-wheeler, complete with 4 Tracker trucks and 8 wheels. It even has rails. Although I’m not sure what for. I don’t think you were rail sliding this beast. $731
This is the first time I’ve ever seen the Screamer on eBay. It’s a personal favorite of mine, and I would have bid on it, but many others must have felt the same way because it went for $480. A true classic.
Miscellaneous
It seems like this same yellow Zorlac Craig Johnson goes off every month! It doesn’t affect the value though! $450.
The later Zorlac models have been going up in price recently too. This is a Donny Myhre. Personally I don’t think the graphic is a patch on his alligator one, but it still fetched $199. (Whaaa? I thought this was a typo, but apparently, to guys from the UK, "Not a patch on" means not as nice as. I thought a translation was necessary.)
An early 90s Plan B Sean Sheffey Chewbacca deck. There was a whole series of decks with Star wars characters on them. Now that would be a set to have! Not because I like Star Wars, but because collectors pay through the nose for ?em! $815.
Here’s a second version of the Blind Jason Lee "Cat in the hat" graphic. His decks just keep sky-rocketing in price. When will it stop? $1,975. That’s big cash, buster.
The classic Schmitt Stix John Lucero. In red, almost mint. That’s a great looking deck. Black label have reissued the graphic but on a popsicle, and it just doesn’t look right. It needs the extra width, especially around the bars, to work. Awesome. $1,890.
And speaking of Lucero, a few years ago Madrid reissued his classic "Jester" graphic. It’s probably the best reissue I’ve seen yet. The color is vibrant, it’s on the original shape along with the top graphic, it’s screened, and the thing is even signed. It’s just a great looking deck. It’s everything a reissue should be, but 99% of them are not. Very undervalued too. This one went for $150 shipped.
And here’s an early Toy Machine Ed Templeton. A lot of folks really dig his work. I don’t, but that’s fine. To each his own, right? $490.
And finally this month, how much for that beat up old pair of Vans you have at the back of your closet? You know, the ones you bought when the BMX store was having a sale? Well don’t throw them out because this pair of stinkers went for $249. Cash for trash? Yup.
See you next time
– Neil
