December was a very funny month. It was a very quiet month on the whole, especially until one new seller put up 5 items, all of them rare, and that sparked a bidding frenzy amongst collectors. All of the items of note were either Powell decks or Santa Cruz decks with just 4 exceptions.

Powell-Peralta

First up we have a couple of old P-P decks, decks that predate the Bones Brigade. First up is the General Issue. This one fetched $416. Below it is the very similar Street Issue. This went for a similar price: $400.

This very similar Street Issue went for an identical price: $400.

Next we have a beautiful looking Mike McGill first model deck. A similar gold one appeared a few months ago. This one went for $700. Sweet deck.

Next to it we have a Steve Steadham, but this is the “stinger” Steve Steadham, not the regular pig shape you normally see. Much rarer. It went for $1305.

Then we have the very rare Tommy Guerrero first model. I’m sure all of you remember his flaming dagger model, but not many have ever seen this, his first pro deck. $1136.

Lots of Grosso decks and Natas decks hit the markets in December. Let’s do the Grossos first. First up is the original Schmitt Stix Grosso. In nice condition like this one, it can fetch $920.

Next is my favorite Grosso, and this is a real beaut. Great shape, great color, from Santa Cruz. $660.

Finally we have another Santa Cruz Grosso that was very limited because they got a cease and desist from the Coke Corporation. This one went for $380.

Natas Kaupas

Natas decks just keep going for big bucks, especially the older ones. Any original SMA Natas will bring out all of the big collectors in droves. That was the case here when a mint 2nd model Natas hit the bay in December. Despite the less than stellar color scheme or photo, this one fetched a healthy $2659. Nice one.

Next to it is the first Santa Cruz produced Natas that had a Jim Phillips take on the Natas panther. It had a Buy-It-Now price of $1000, and that was obviously far too low, because it went within hours.

Next to it is the second Santa Cruz Natas deck, the panther on this one being drawn by Bulldog designs. I believe it is the full-sized model, and the Jim Phillips was the mini, but I could be wrong on that one. Any road up, this nice model fetched $405.

Then we have this 3rd model Santa Cruz Natas in a nice natural stain. $250. (Seriously people, get a real camera! Some of these pics look like they were taken from a tv screen – k.ed)

Finally is the last Natas deck that Santa Cruz produced—the “Psycho Cat”. This is a very nice mint example. This one went for $203, which is a lot for this model. You see it a lot, and normally it goes in the $120 range. The seller must have been well happy.

Assorted

How about a Santa Cruz Keith Meek Slasher model? Hideous graphics, but some like it. $266. This was the 2nd model. The first had the slasher guy surfing a wave.

Next we have a very old G&S Billy Ruff “chalice” model, from the days of one-color backgrounds and simple graphics. $360. Crappy but kitschy.

Next to it is the classic Sims Kevin Staab “mad scientist” in a great silver paint. A sweet deck for $330. His new Hollywood deck has similar graphics, but is not done nearly as well. (This is good? ??? -ed)

That’s it for 2002.The year ended with a thud really. Let’s hope we see some better stuff in 2003.

-Neil