Not a lot of decks in this period I’m afraid. Why? I was busy outside skating on the weekends, that’s why! Like you should have been! Let’s see what we have here. . . .
Santa Cruz/SMA
More Salbas. The tiger model just keeps going up and up, which is great because I have one. Got it from skatepool about 2 years ago for less than a hundred. This one went for $404. Nothing special here. I think it’s the colorway I have actually.
To prove it wasn’t a fluke, here’s another. This one went for $306. Why The $100 difference? Who the fuck knows. It’s eBay. Actually, if I was going to bid higher it would have been on this one. At least you can see the deck and the picture isn’t all washed out.
And not to stop with the Salba love, here’s a Salba voodoo. Again, horrible, out of focus picture, and if the seller had taken an extra hour to clean the deck better, he probably would have made an extra $500 at least. There is a ton of sticker residue on the bottom, and the top of the deck had a ton of residue from the grip tape being ripped off. Yes it’s a crappy job, but that stuff will come off with solvent and elbow grease. Without that junk on here this is almost a mint deck, and those can fetch $2000. This one went for $785.
A plain, run of the mill Jason Jessee “sun god”. $520. That seems like a lot: this graphic never did much for me, but some love it.
I much prefer this one: the Jason Jessee “Neptune”. This is the rare shark tail model, the original model, drawn by Jim Phillips. There is a more common second version with Neptune sporting tats and a mermaid on the tail in place of the shark. That’s the one that got reissued. This complete went for a paltry $244, which is a complete steal for someone. No it’s not mint, but the graphics are all there and in good nick.
Here’s one I’ve never seen before, at least not outside of collector books. It’s the Natas self portrait model. Beat to shit, but evidence that it was actually released! Man it’s an ugly deck, but it still went for $537.
Here’s a Natas that we all know and love: the classic 4th generation panther graphic that has been reissued about a billion times. Pristine, mint, classic. But $1,387? Didn’t this deck used to fetch around $400? Paying over a grand is way too much for this one IMHO.
Z-Boys
Yup, it’s the new all-encompassing category for any company that the original Z-Boys were/became/rode for. You get the drift. First up we have this red Z-Flex Jay Adams complete. Minty freshÑit looks like it was purchased just yesterday. Trackers without a doubt, but what are the wheels? Anyway, $679 seems a little low.
That seems really low now, because this Z-Flex Adams deck only went for $898. Hey newsflash guys: you can take the trucks off the complete and the deck is just as good as this one!.
This one is really rare, or so I’m told. It’s the Alva Litebeam. I think the story is that the deck itself was made in some special way (5-ply? A different material?) to make it lighter, but then they bolted on the beams for added strength. Much like the Powell beamer decks. You hardly ever see this Alva version, and the yoyo wheels sticker just adds to the ambience. $1275.
Every month there’s a Dogtown Bigfoot that goes for mad coin. This month is no exception. $3,500. And this deck was just reissued too, and looks identical, at least to me it does. I wonder how that will affect future auctions?
And every month there appears to be a Bulldog/Wes Humpston one-off or limited collectible. This is a hand-painted, Wes Humpston Dogtown pig. Signed and everything. It has the Zephyr logo, POP, skulls, Dogtown, flames. There’s a lot going on in this deck brother. $1000.
Assorted
The Vallely barnyard. Always a big seller, even if this one appears to have been wrapped up in shrink-wrap by the seller. And the picture is super faded too. Hope the deck isn’t, because it sold for $1,575.
What’s the story with this one? The guy that bought this Gator was going to skate it, put a tailbone and red rails on it (look closely), but then discovered break-dancing so never actually skated? There isn’t one mark on this deck. It was obviously never ridden. Weird. $510.
Aah yes. The Jeff Grosso “bad trip” on Lucero Skateboards from 1990 (before Black Label). A big favorite with collectors. Grosso has a couple of lines in the “Who Cares” Duane Peters movie. He is sporting a Chameleons t-shirt, one of my favorite bands, and not very well known, but I digress. $560.
The Zorlac Craig Johnson “fire demon”. Randy had a couple of these in blue, right Randy? If only you had known. . . . $511. Great colorway on this one. (That’s kilwag to you sir! yes I did. loved that deck… And if I had known i still wouldn’t have had the foresight or self control to stash any away for the future. Say… isn’t the Dickies shape on Cold War awfully similar? What are the odds? – k.ed )
The Kevin Staab “mad scientist” mini. Ugly colorway, naff graphics, but a well-respected old school skater who never stopped, and who goes all-out. Which explains the $400 price tag. (He wasn’t always well respected. Seems like I recall him gettting goofed on a bit. He’s probably more universally respected now. – k.ed )
And finally we have this bland, plain Kryptonics foamcore deck. Used and abused, but still worth $535 apparently. If I come home with this under my arm and have paid more than $20, any member of my family has permission to beat me senseless. I don’t get it. (Well, old and rare. Worth something to someone.- k.ed)
Next time.
<p.-Neil
