eBay Watch: January/February 2004

Well, I was back on form in 2004. Tons of stuff this time, including a Powell team jacket that went for ridiculous coin. Also, we were awash with Salbas and Dressens of various types. Let’s go.

Powell

Steve Caballero’s decks are always popular. He’s one of the most enduring skaters, and seems like a nice, humble guy to boot. This first model Cab (dragon on bearing) went for $610. Things to note: the Paramount Skate park sticker on the tail, and what are those 2 Luftwaffe stickers doing on there?

Then we have the full dragon. Recently reissued by Powell in the original shaped spoonnose, it is a thing of beauty. This complete went for $225. Not bad condition at all. It’s probably boneite though—most of the full dragons you see are. Finding an original 7-ply one is xtra-tough. (nice pun).

The early Tony Hawks aren’t always the most valuable. This late 80s TH claw model is very popular with collectors. It was a nice graphic, coupled with limited numbers. A recipe for success for a famous skater. $405

Mike McGill first models don’t come up too often. The plane graphic might look like something Variflex might have put out there, but it’s not the graphic: this is like a rookie card. The green paint is nice, and the condition isn’t bad, but it’s the other stuff on this one I find fascinating. The hand drawn Black Flag logo really dates it, and shows it was owned by someone who was in the know early. The Powell dragon sticker is great, but best of all are the well-ground copers, especially on the front truck. A real snapshot of time here. $338

Talking of rookie cards, here’s the very first Rodney Mullen graphic. Again, the graphic sucks, but that’s not the point. You don’t see these in this condition much at all, so it’s no surprise it fetched $530.

Another deck Powell recently reissued in an original shape spoonnose was the Vato-Rat “Ratbones” deck. This original went for a large $610. Perfect condition, but I wonder if the owner knew the reissue was coming out in a matter of weeks? (It looks like it’s been retouched. Shouldn’t that blue be solid? – K.ed)

I remember Powell team members wearing this jacket. I think it was round about Public Domain, because I think it was Steve Saiz I saw wearing it. All of the Powell logos on one of their famous jackets. How much? Sit down. A whopping $2,306.

Santa Cruz

I’m sure you all remember this deck. One of the original Santa Cruz team decks, the Bullet. Not super expensive and it doesn’t have great graphics, but I’m sure some of you wondering what a generic deck like this would fetch. Wonder no more. $101.

You didn’t see any Salba voodoos on the ‘Bay for long periods of time. A year could go by. In the space of 3 months around 4 must have gone off in late 2003 or early 2004. Weird. This minty fresh blue one fetched $710.

And then we have another blue one, from a different seller with a crappier digital camera. He also distorted the image. The deck isn’t long and skinny like this: it’s a 10×30 mid 80s shape. $800 this time.

And last but not least we have this yellow complete. I think this should have gone for far more than the $134 it ended up fetching. The graphics are still pretty much all there, and they really pop off of the yellow. Maybe the voodoo market was soft because of all the mint ones that went off?

The Jason Jessee Sungod. Loved by collectors, and due for a Santa Cruz reissue in the next go round. If you look really carefully you can see Jason Jessee spelled out in his beard. $537.

Assorted

Let’s deal with all of the Dressens first. First we have this late 90s reissue of one of Eric’s more famous late 80s Dogtown graphics. Sweet looking deck. $207

Recently Eric was riding for Deathbox for a short time. He issued one deck w/ crappy graphics that sunk like a stone, but then he issued this tattooed beauty. However, he signed back w/ Santa Cruz, and this deck was rapidly discontinued. Rumor has it that only 28 actually made it out there. That sounds fishy to me, but 2 appeared on the bay in February. One fetched $148, the other $153. he is getting a new model on Santa Cruz in the near future.

I’d never seen this simple 101 deck before, and thought the graphic was so neat I had to put it in here. Must have been a team deck I guess. $225. (Forbidden Planet! -k.ed)

This Jay Adams “Skate Nazi” deck was recently issued in very limited numbers by Jason Jessee’s company, Driven. Controversial to say the least. $260. Very hard to find.

The Variflex Eddy Elguera. Horrendous graphics, but a real piece of the times. It looks like a board you’d see at Target for $29, but it’s not. A true piggy from 1982 when boards were wide and flat. $122. (The graphics look like a crappy Variflex… oh wait, I mean Nash design -k.ed)

Another Steve Rocco Sims streetstyle deck. A similar deck went for over $250 a few months previously, but the market for Roccos must have dried up because this one fetched $150.

Speaking of Rocco, this early World Industries Think Crime deck went for $294. Rare deck. Wonder what the 70 written in red signifies?

The Art Godoy H Street “sea serpent” mini. That’s a pretty tough find right there. $162.

You want roots? How about this shovel nose Sims Lonnie Toft? It comes from 1978. 26 years ago! Boy oh boy. $308.

Let’s finish up with a couple of Zorlacs. The first is this Aaron Deeter Pushead graphic. Nice silver flood coat on this one. $407

Then we have one I’ve never seen. Must be an early 90s reissue of the famous “double-cut” shrunken head graphic. I’ve never seen one before. $416.

More next time.

-Neil