Ha ha! No excuses this month because this one should be right on time! Midway through the following month is right when you should start looking for Baywatch, and I pretty much made it! Some months are a chore to write, and it feels like pulling teeth, but some months just flow easily, and that was true of March. I think there’s a really good selection of stuff this month, with some high priced items but balanced out by some interesting but cheaper decks too. But enjoy this one because April is looking absolutely terrible so far. I can’t remember a month with so few high priced decks and so many uninteresting mid priced decks! Really, it’s a barren wasteland out there so far this month! And it’s funny because I just had an argument with a guy on skullandbones who asked why there are so few good NOS decks on eBay these days. I argued that he just wasn’t looking hard enough, which was probably true in March, but judging by April he is right. I hope that this worrying trend ends quickly, because this is going to be a damned dull column going forward if things continue at this rate!
There won’t be a music review this month. I wanted to talk about two TV series that I’m watching: The Pacific on HBO and Spartacus: Blood and Sand on Starz. The Pacific is the “sequel” to “Band of Brothers”, the absolutely superb mini series that told the story of Easy Company from the 101st Airborne, from D-Day through the German surrender. It was gritty without being over the top, emotionally charged without being sentimental, and it showed that you can have compelling drama without needing contrived plots and love affairs etc. The story was compelling enough. Nothing else was needed. The Pacific is made by the same folks and tells the tale of the war in the Pacific. However, where Band Of Brothers was a huge success, The Pacific has so far been a failure because they are not letting the history tell the tale. Instead we are getting dramatic back-stories of love affairs on leave and grieving families back in the States. We don’t need that. The war itself is all that is necessary, but the series has gone Hollywood, and I fear there is no saving it. The war scenes are still outstanding, but a little more of the Japanese would be nice. So far all we’ve seen is almost cartoonlike and stereotypical in its portrayal.
Now let’s get onto Spartacus. A friend told me how good it was, but I didn’t have Starz and didn’t feel like paying for it just for this. But then I saw that Netflix had it on instant streaming; so I thought Id give it a shot. Five hours later it was 1 in the morning and I was 5 episodes and well and truly hooked. Man, this thing is incredibly entertaining and addictive! It tells the tale of the Thracian soldier Spartacus who was fighting for Rome, but was betrayed by them. He was imprisoned, and the sold to a ludus (Gladiator school) where he had to fight to the death in the arena. Eventually he leads the gladiators in a revolt where they rise up and kill their Roman oppressors. Now, those are the bare facts, but the 13 episodes are full of intrigue, deception, nudity, sex and buckets of blood. There are literally buckets of the stuff. People are getting killed in every way possible. Beheadings, people getting cut in half, legs and arms being hacked off. It’s brutal, shocking and incredibly fun. It’s like a cross between 300, Rome (another HBO series) and Caligula. Give it a chance, and I promise that you won’t regret it. And by the way, if you haven’t tried Netflix instant streaming yet, do. It is an awesome, awesome thing.
60s, 70s, early 80s.
First up this month is this Arrow Skateboards Jay Adams from 1978. It’s in NOS condition, but with some storage scuffs and scratches etc. Never heard of Arrow? Well I did feature another of these a few years ago, and I must have done some research because here’s what I said then: “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.” Wow, I sound like I really know what I’m talking about there. So now you know. It sold for $1,027.
From a similar period is this Tony Alva complete from 1977. The deck is in great condition, protected by the white Power Pivot and the nose guard on the front. Actually the nose guard might be one of the earliest that I have ever seen. It comes complete with Trackers and red first gen Kryptonics. The stickers are mostly classic and vintage too: Kryptonics, Power Pivot, and Tracker, but for some unknown reason the seller stuck a fucking Zumiez sticker on there too, as well as 2 Heineken stickers. Dude, what were you thinking? It sold for $137.
Now this one is a great find. It’s a Sims Dave Andrecht “new wave” model from 1981, gripped but never set up. You seldom see these in any condition, let alone NOS like this. It’s not as classic as the earlier beamer, but it’s still a great example of deck construction and graphics in the dark ages of 1981. Graphics were just starting to develop from the earlier surf style of a signature on a generic design, and this is a fine example of that. The stinger shape is nice too! It sold for $415 with 23 bids.
This complete is for real hardcore 60s/70s collectors only. It’s a Hobie Vita Pakt Super Surfer from 1964 in absolute mint condition. The clay wheels are old stock NOS and have never seen pavement. The lettering on the wheels is still bright and vibrant. The trucks are original and super shiny, and the bearings and washers are also NOS and clean as a whistle. The deck is good as new, perfect apart from a small ding in the nose. The deck has been cleaned with furniture polish but no other retouching has been done. This skateboard is absolutely flawless; museum condition really. It sold for $1,250.
Here’s another nice complete from almost two decades later. It’s a Sims Phase 3 Composite deck with Gullwing HPG4 trucks and Sims Street wheels. It’s finished off by the red Power Pivot on the tail that exactly matches the color of the wheels. The whole thing looks pretty much mint. The wheels don’t look like they’ve ever rolled in anger, and the trucks are grind-free. The deck might be without an exciting graphic, but most decks from this time period were that way, and the early composites are very collectible. This complete sold for $861, and is an excellent representation of skate technology from this period.
And finally from the 70s this month we have this eye opening Z-Flex Jay Adams multi-color deck. It’s mint and undrilled and in this super rare colorway. It includes the original bag. Let’s face it; you may never see another deck like this for sale, and even if you do it won’t exactly like this one! It sold for $2,800, which sounds expensive, but when you think that it is truly a one-off piece of skate history, then maybe it’s pretty cheap.
Mid 1980s
So let’s start off the 80s section this month with this Allen Losi Skates “No Skate Talk” team deck from 1988. Yes that’s right, Allen Losi not only had LSD: Losi Skate Designs, he also had ALS. Two companies named after himself with no other skaters on the team? Hmm. Plus, I’m still trying to figure out what ‘No Skate Talk” means. I’m guessing that you’ve never seen this deck before. The wood was by Uncle Wiggley. The colorway is rich and lush, and the graphic is corny, but in a good 1980s way. This is a sweet deck, and it sold for $175.
Now here’s a timeless classic. It’s a G&S Neil Blender “Snake and Lattice” from 1984. It’s super clean despite having been drilled for rails and tail. It has never been gripped. It’s one of the cleanest examples of this deck I’ve ever seen on eBay. The white dip is simple and classy and the graphic really comes off of the deck at you. Very nice, and $500.
Here’s an Alva Bill Danforth “Circle of Skulls” from 1987. It is gripped and has been set up, but has only been ridden once or twice so it is super clean. It has 2 pieces of Rip Grip and a Schmitt Stix sticker, but clean those off and you have one of the best Danforth decks I’ve ever seen. The dark blue to light blue to natural fade is brilliant, and the green and pink circles are excellent against the background colors. I heart this deck. It sold for $417.
I know that a lot of you are probably really excited about this one! It’s a Vision Mark Gonzales “Gonz III-Man and Woman” from 1989. It has a typical Gonz graphic that you will either love or hate, but the colorway is the big deal on this one. I’ve never seen a silver dip with this graphic before, and on top of that, the guy’s face is super funky, having almost a light to dark fade in there. There were 16 bids, and it ended up going for $710 on 16 bids.
Here’s a Santa Cruz Jeff Kendall “Snake” from 1989 that went for $625. This model has really climbed in value over the last few years, now being at the level of a Salba tiger or a Jessee Neptune. This one has kind of a butt-ugly brown stain going on, but I think it probably has to be seen to be appreciated. I bet that there’s a ton going on with the colors inside the snake, and that it looks awesome in person. It looks like a really tough screening job. How many color screens can you spot? It’s a clever graphic that looks better the more you look at it, like one of those old 80s posters you’d see at the mall. Remember those?
Now this is the best-looking Schmitt Stix Joe Lopes “Crystal Ball” that I’ve seen in a long time. It’s NOS obviously, mint apart from a few storage scuffs. The natural wood is beautiful, allowing the full effect of the graphic to be easily seen. The blues, oranges and reds inside the ball really pop here. I’m especially fond of the red circles around the wheel wells, or maybe that was the color of one of the interior plies. Like all Schmitt Stix decks, this appears to have a touch more quality than most decks of the period; they seemed to pay attention to the minor details and get everything right. This is an awesome looking deck, and it sold for $1,111.
Now here’s another great looking deck! Although it’s not as perfect as the one above, and it has been set up, there is something about this complete that catches the eye. It’s a Dogtown Micke Alba “Temple” from 1988. The colorway is awesome on this: the olive green stain really plays neutral and allows the subtle colors of the main graphic to really come across. The pinks, blues and oranges have never looked better, and the orange rails that would normally be annoying seem to fit in well here. There’s lots going on when you consider the rails, tail and wheels, but they all seem to blend together into one harmonious hole. Although it’s been set up it has never been ridden apparently. The Indys don’t have any blemishes, and the wheels look concrete free too. It really is a nice setup. $500.
This is a G&S Chris Miller “Mini Lizard” model from 1985. This almost made it into the Bargains section actually, because despite it being NOS (it has the normal storage and scuff marks, but has never had griptape applied) it sold for a measly $133. The G&S Miller decks never go for big cash, but I thought an early deck from so skilled a skater would go for more than this. The colorway is good, but the killer might have been the two stupid Gullwing stickers on the nose. They turn a NOS looking deck into a used one. It’s actually a real shame for the seller, but the buyer got a great deal.
OK, no More Powell Peralta Rodney Mullen “mutts” after this one, I promise! Actually I wasn’t going to show anymore as it was, but the colorway on this one was very unusual, so I felt compelled! Most mutts I see are red or white, but a black dip with silver and gold graphics? It has griptape on top and scratches and scuffs, but I have to believe that very few still exist in this colorway in any condition. I know I’ve never seen another. It sold for $644.
So here’s one that will have the Schmitt Stix and the Monty Nolder fans frothing at the gash. It’s a Schmitt Stix Monty Nolder “Double Stripe” foamcore deck from 1985. Schmitt had a short-lived experiment with foamcore construction, much as Santa Cruz did in 1986. It has the same graphic but a different shape than the earlier double stripe Nolder. That had a simpler shape, where this one has a very radical widening at the tail, like a bomb profile. The rear wheel wells are gone too. I like the white to green fade in the diagonal stripe, and the blue type on the tail is a nice contrast. It’s scuffed and scratched up, but still desirable. You don’t see these every day. $370 on 12 bids.
Well this is a first. Yes, it’s a deck that’s completely snapped in half, but it’s one of those iconic 80s decks that still commands decent cash, even snapped and scratched and battered. Of course it’s a Suicidal Tendencies (Dogtown) Possessed to Skate deck from 1985. Even though broken and battered, surprisingly enough the graphic is 99% there, and still looks bright and colorful, so you do get the point of the deck. Actually, the fact that it’s broken is probably going to give the buyer some instant street cred: “Yeah, I broke it on a launch ramp in Venice in 85 brah, sessioning with Christian and Jesse. Righteous times dude!” It sold for $169, which is making some of you thinking he overpaid, while some out there probably think it was a bargain.
The only reason why I’m featuring this deck is because Kilwag had an old ad or video from the very early 80s on skateandannoy a while back, and one of the kids in the video had this deck. Kilwag wondered if it was legit, and sure enough one was for sale on eBay the next month. It’s a very early Powell Peralta team deck, probably from 1981 or 1982. It features the first printing of what would later become the famous Powell dragon top logo on both the top and the bottom of the deck. It has been setup and ridden hard through the years, but the graphic is all there even though the yellow stain has faded and stickers had been applied and removed etc. It’s a fine used example of what is considered one of the missing links of Powell decks. It sold for $406.
Here we have a Skull Skates Red Hot Chili Peppers deck from 1988. It has been set up and ridden, but there is hardly any evidence of that apart from the griptape on top and the slight lightening where the trucks were. It is basically flawless underneath, with no dings on the nose at all, and a couple of scrapes on the very end of the tail. The yellow and green colorway is very attractive here, leaving us with a virtually NOS Skull Skates RHCP deck. It sold for $228.
Oh my lord. Yes it’s a Seaflex “Boom Cat” deck from 1983. A lot of people recognize the graphic, but hardly anybody knows much about the deck other than that, so if anybody (Sean) has any info, please share. The top graphic of this deck reads “Mark Edward Seaflex Dogtown CA 94924”. I’ve never heard of Mark Edward before. Did he own the company? Also, between the front truck holes it reads “Maloney Graphics”. I assume that they screened it? This particular deck has been ridden, but is in very good shape considering its age. There is one big ding in the nose, and some scratching around the side, but that’s it really. The stickers are awesome here too, well apart from the hideously out of place Venture sticker that is. There are two Seaflex stickers featuring a skeletal mermaid flexing, and a killer Seaflex “Boom Betty” sticker featuring a girl cat riding a bomb and flashing the victory sign. It wouldn’t be out of place on the nose of a WWII bomber! All in all this is a fabulous deck and I love it to pieces. I could have had it for $119, but I slept through it.
And from the same year and the same seller we have this Sims “new wave” complete. Although set up and ridden a lot the bottom graphic is as bright as the day it came off the line, whereas the top, covered as it is by pizza grip couldn’t look any more dirty and faded. It comes complete with red Gullwings and Sims “the wheel II” with Japanese bearings. The black rails and red trucks match the colors in the graphic, and all in all it’s a pretty tasty generic complete from skating’s dark ages. It went for a very reasonable $162.
Here’s a Skull Skates Skeletal 2 complete from 1986. Like many of the 80s completes this month it was set up but barely ridden, if at all. It has super clean red griptape, red Ventures and red Santa Cruz OJ s street wheels. It even has the original Skates On Haight box still with it that it was originally shipped in. Man, I guess this kid didn’t skate at all! The wheels look like they just have carpet dirt on them, and the back of the tail has some minor surface scratching. Basically this thing is freaking as new as the day the box was opened. What the hell happened? Why order the thing from SOH if you weren’t going to ride it, or not even really try? Maybe the kid fell off and hurt himself and his mom banned him from ever riding it again. Maybe it’s haunted like the car in the movie Christine. $455.
Oh snap! Here’s the big one of the entire month! It’s a Santa Cruz Rick ‘Spidey” Demontrond “Swindle” deck. Yes, it’s black and mint in shrink. And yes, the man selling it is Spidey himself so he probably threw in a Certificate of Authenticity and some other stuff too. I used to really like the black, but now I’m not digging it so much, but who cares. It’s a mint Spidey, and that in itself is a cause for celebration. The auction had 7 very serious bidders and ended at a large $2,300.
OK, let’s follow up the rad, mint Spidey with a rad mint Sims Kevin Staab. It’s the “Pirate” graphic from 1988, mid size, and it’s in the best colorway I’ve ever seen. The yellow dip is super vibrant, but it doesn’t detract form the multitude of other colors in the deck. Everything is loud and bright here, even the gold and silver of the coins. I normally don’t like this graphic too much, but this one is so over the top and bright that I’m changing my opinion. It had a BIN of $999 which one happy bidder clicked on after 3 days. Not mint because it ahs some storage marks etc, but still, that is nitpicking.
So from 2 iconic pro decks of the mid 80s from top companies, we come to this, a cheesy graphic from a cheesy 2nd rate company, but there’s just something about it that I like! It’s a Sure Grip International ‘High Voltage” team deck from 1986. Much like Variflex, SGI was a serious company at one time with pro riders like Steve Steadham, Tony Magnusson and Eric Grisham, but they later ventured off into Nash territory with cheapo, lame “shock” inspired graphics like this one. I liken them to Action Sports. They would always have full-page ads in the back of Thrasher featuring hilarious loud graphics that weren’t fooling anyone. Well maybe they did, and apparently a lot of you took them more seriously than I, because this sold for $283 with 13 bids.
Don’t recognize this deck? It’s a Vision “Ouija Board” from 1989. Yes it’s a clichéd and hokey theme for a deck, but I must admit that Vision went all out with this one. There is a lot of stuff going on in the graphic, and they didn’t skimp on colors, from the silver dip to the pinks, blues, orange yellow etc. It’s a really nice looking piece of work, and complete with the grey Gullwings and orange Vision Hurricanes it really stands out. Again, it is complete but was never ridden, so the deck is basically in mint condition. The seller did a really nice job of describing the board, but his photos were also big, bright and excellent, and probably helped the sale and the price. It sold for $305.
This is an H-Street Danny Way “Animals” deck from 1990. I don’t know if there is a skater alive who has had more pro decks with consistently shit graphics than Danny Way, but I must admit that I like this one. It’s like he went to the artists and said that he wants to see their worst possible ideas, the ones that have to be rescued from the bin, and he puts those on his decks. I’d hate to see how his house is decorated. Anyway, this graphic is clear, it makes sense and it is interesting to look at. It’s been gripped but never ridden, and it does have some scuffmarks. It sold for $405.
The Zorlac Double Cut team deck from 1986 used to be highly collectible, fetching prices well over a thousand dollars. Now I know that this one isn’t NOS or even close to it, but the plastics (including rib bones!) have kept the graphics here completely in tact. Add to that the sky blue and yellow colorway, and I thought this would have done better than the $153 that it ended up going for. The top is pretty chewed up, but I still think that after removing the hideous orange trucks and ton o’plastic, this would display really nicely.
Yes, it’s a Madrid X-Team Rider team deck from 1985. It’s still a great graphic that is only slightly ruined by not having John Lucero’s name underneath it. That was a smart move by Madrid, because this graphic was super famous, and instead of ditching it when Lucero left, they could continue to milk the graphic’s popularity. Today it fetches less than a Lucero in the same condition, so a lot of folks use it as a placeholder until they find their true grail. Either way I think it’s a rad deck. This one sold for $415.
And finally from the 80s this month we have this Santa Cruz “Oops IV-Tramp” team deck from 1990. This one went off late in the month, and just made it in to BayWatch, because I already had all of my 80s decks picked out! It’s mint in shrink, and in the only colorway that this deck came in. So if you were looking for this deck then you wouldn’t get a better chance to own a mint one. It sold for $632, and was shipping from London, so I would add another $40 for shipping probably.
90s-present day
I was looking at upcoming Chicago concerts on my iPhone, and who do I see playing in July? None other than New Kids on the Block! What’s up with that? I guess they see some easy money on the horizon. It’s perfect timing then that this World Industries Randy Colvin “New Kids” deck should go off in March. It has some scuffs but is certainly NOS, never been mounted or gripped. The deck is totally horrific but that’s the point. $1,325 on 25 bids.
Here’s a Foundation Tod Swank “motorcycle” from 1990. Two of these have been floating around eBay for months. It’s actually really interesting. One was red and the other was this one, a really cool olive green stain with brown showing through. They appeared first months ago with a really high BIN. Every month the price dropped lower as it didn’t sell. It ended up only selling for $134, which must have made the seller very unhappy. It is rare, but the problem with these rarely seen decks is that not many folks have ever seen it before, so there isn’t a lot of demand.
Now lots of folks have seen this one, and it is highly sought after. It’s a Powell Peralta Frankie Hill “Eastwood” deck from 1991. It is still in shrink, at least some of the shrink, because here are huge tears in it as you can see. There are a few surface scuffs and scratches, but basically this is as clean as you will see. The blue stain doesn’t do much for me, but the rarity of the deck takes it beyond colorway choices. It was only up for 1 day before somebody pulled the trigger on the BIN of $2,500.
So here’s a Blind Jason Lee “silly animals” from 1991. It’s never been set up or gripped and is in excellent condition. I have nothing much to say about this deck really, apart from that it went for $610 after 4 bids in 10 days. Not the most popular board around, but the Jason Lee name carries some value.
Now this one I’d never seen before. It’s a 101 Natas Kaupas “3 eyed cat” from 1995. The previous Natas decks all had some kind of shape to them, but this is the first true popsicle that bears his name. The graphic is obviously a spoof on his earlier SMA graphics, and the top graphic even has the kitten wrapped in string. Like I said, I’ve never seen this one on eBay before, so the fact that it went for $600 didn’t shock me at all. I really like the metallic blue dip; it’s very striking.
Sticking with 101 for a moment we have this 101 Gabe Rodriguez “Loony Toon Gremlin” from 1991. 101 put out this series of decks for its pros, each one having a different Loony Toon character. Like the Jason Lee above, there’s not a lot to say really. It is what it is. If you’re really into Gabe or this Loony Toon character I guess you’ll dig it. Otherwise it’s just really obvious and kind of dull. It sold for $711.
Now here’s a deck that isn’t dull. It’s a Sims Kevin Staab “skate squad” mini from 1991. If you can’t make out the graphic, let me help you. It features the characters form his earlier graphics, all in one, action packed sequence. You have the witch, the pirate and the genie all on a magic carpet that reads “Staab”, with the mad scientist holding onto the tail of the carpet. The wreck of the pirate’s boat is on the shore in the foreground. Man, I can’t believe I’ve wasted 5 minutes of my life explaining the graphic on a Kevin Staab board. You guys owe me. Anyway, it’s in perfect condition and sold for $270 on 12 bids. I love the shape and the double-drilled nose.
So here’s a Real Jim Thiebaud “wrench” from 1991. It’s a political statement on a deck, following up from his classic “hanging klansman” from 1990. This one features a Klansman and a cop shaking hands in front of the Whitehouse: the right wing was certainly in power. Meanwhile, Thiebaud (I guess he is the hero, right?) is shown in the bowels of the city throwing a wrench into the gears of the right wing establishment. Up the workers! Smash the state! The message might have been diluted by the fact that Thiebaud’s next graphic featured a full bleed photo of himself dressed in a bunny suit holding a carrot. Oh well. The political statement sold for $615.
Now this is a most excellent recent set of 10 decks put out by Alien Workshop. The set obviously features the artwork of Andy Warhol, with 5 decks being from his Death and Disaster series and 5 from his Pop works series. These are issued with full cooperation from the Andy Warhol Foundation, so no cease and desist will be issued here. The decks are all full dip and also have a collector deckwrap. They even ship in “custom printed board box packaging inspired by Warhol’s box sculptures from the 1960s”. It’s a really nice set of decks that went for a very reasonable $525. Is it gracing the walls of a skater or is it on the loft wall of some art snob in the east village? Who knows, and really, who cares. This is a really really nice set.
Assorted Crap
In commemoration of Bob Biniak’s passing, we have this vintage Dogtown Biniak sticker from 1978. It’s still in perfect unstuck condition, as bright as the day it was printed. Now this isn’t something you see every day, unlike the flood of 1st gen Natas stickers that have flooded eBay recently. This sold for $250.
OK, here’s a Powell Peralta Bones Brigade team t-shirt from 1985. It has the bomber on the back, and I guess what makes it a team t-shirt instead of a regular issue is the 3 bombs on the sleeve. The shirt was never worn but was washed with something else that bled apparently because there are some green blotches on it. It’s a size large, but it would be a size smaller today because we have turned into a nation of fat bastards. So call it a size medium. But is somebody really spending $305 on this t-shirt to wear it? I think not. Actually, what do you do with a 25 year old t-shirt that is too small? Probably keep it for a month and put it back on eBay. That would be my guess.
Now you know the seller means business when they start the auction description off with “MEGA RARE” in all caps! And so it is here. From Hertfordshire UK we have this set of vintage NOS Independent Stage 1 trucks, along with the original copers that came with them. The trucks were used but always had the copers on so they are untouched. The bushings have been swapped out, and these trucks actually have some rare orange and yellow Alva bushings form the 70s in there, so they are rare on rare, Call it a rare sandwich. They sold for $533, which might be a record for early Indys. I’m too lazy to look it up, and let’s face it, where would I?
And when you the seller of the above item was in the skate store buying those trucks in 1981, he could also have purchased these early Independent stickers at the same time. They are the big 3” ones, and are super colorful and really, really rare. Especially the foil one, that one is just superb. The Independent icon and brand is way oversaturated now, but back then this iron cross logo was really unusual and highly controversial. It is a truly iconic logo. The stickers sold for $575. Yes, that’s right.
And now we go from the sublime to the ridiculous. A few weeks ago on skateandannoy Randy featured the Old Man Army skatebag, a bag he thought that was the best out there. I mentioned that I thought it was too expensive. Well little did I know that the laptop bag manufacturer InCase also makes a skatebag for Nike pro Paul Rodriguez. This skatebag is gigantic: the main compartment can hold a complete with custom dividers for extra boards. There are four different compartments for carrying extra equipment. It has a spit top compartment with mesh and wet/dry gear storage, removable pouches for valuables, two zippered compartments for spare trucks and wheels and a slide-out tool compartment. This bag literally has it all, and while Incase might be new to skatebags, they have made quality laptop bags for years, so you know their stuff is quality. You know what? I was all set to mock this bag until I really started reading the description, and now I think this is probably a great bag. It looks like they have thought of everything, but it does come at a price, and that price is $260.
Most of you probably won’t care about this next auction, but I love stuff like this, and I know Kilwag does too. Here we have 2 sets of Hobie Road Rider 4 wheels, still in the original promotional packaging. Now why on earth would a company sell wheels in sets of two instead of four, that’s the first question? And by the hang tags I assume that these were designed to hang on some kind of rack, probably in a bike store or something. It seems like an odd way to sell skateboard products, but so it was in the 70s. The wheels are mint and still have the original bearings, although obviously the packaging has seen better days. The wheels sold for $500, and I would love to know if the buyer took the wheels out of the package or if they are still in there.
Bargains!
Starting off the Bargains section we have this Madrid Beau Brown “Prostyle” deck from 1984. The original ad from the November 84 issue of Thrasher says that it is “Designed for today’s riding standards” and “features M-Tech concave and hot six color graphics”. So there you are. The deck is well used, but the plastics have largely done their work because the graphic is almost all there, and the pink bat pops nicely off of the lime green dip. It sold for $46.
The Powell Peralta bug decks were super common a few years ago and went in the $60 range. As I’ve shown in recent columns though, these have started skyrocketing in value to the $200 range for some colorways. This model looks really nice in pale blue, yellow and red; one of the better colorways I’ve seen. However, it sold for only $61, which these days seems like a real bargain to me.
And staying with Powell Peralta, we have this Steve Caballero “mechanical dragon” from 1988. It has obviously been setup, but the seller has done a really nice job of removing the trucks, rails, tail and nose foam that were on there, leaving a really clean looking deck. Clearly if you only collect NOS this deck is not for you, but for collectors on a budget who don’t care about a bit of wear, this deck was right up your alley, and for $28 who could complain?
I seem to feature a Blockhead deck or 2 in the Bargains section every month, and March is no exception. This month it’s a Blockhead Jim Grey “stretch” model from 1987. Why stretch? Because it’s 35” long, that’s why. Longer than your regular pool deck but shorter than a long board. It’s the perfect deck for cruising around and maybe doing a couple of grey slides on curbs. The deck is NOS, which explains why I think the $150 price is a bargain. Maybe that’s a “stretch” too, but I’m sticking with it!
Here’s an interesting one, and it’s a bargain for the trucks as much as the deck. The deck is a 1991 G&S Mark Heintzman “economy” that is well used and scratched up. It’s not the greatest graphic even when mint, and this one is not, and is in a dull colorway to boot. However, the trucks are bright orange Deadbolts, which have to be pretty rare, right? The wheels are odd too. In 91 smaller wheels were coming in, and even if you had some SC Bullets from the late 80s, those were tall and narrow. But these wheels look wide and square like a Powell wheel from 1984. All told it’s an odd complete, and for $37 probably worth a gamble.
Now some bargains are bargains because the seller misspelled a skaters name or put a low BIN. Some are bargains because they are a lightly used complete that high-end collectors aren’t interested in. But some are bargains because the photo used is totally horrendous and makes the deck looks like total crap. Such was the case here. It’s a Vision Joe Johnson “star eye” from 1988. The original photograph looked like it was shot with a red filter. The whole deck looked red and blurry with some grey looking stuff in the middle. I cleaned it up in Photoshop, and out emerged this beauty. It’s a red dip with yellow flames and green and orange in the middle. It’s actually a beautiful colorway, but like I said, the original photo didn’t show that at all. It sold for $76.
And we’ll finish with two different Powell Peralta Mike McGills. First is the “puffer fish” street model from 1990. It’s used but not abused. The graphic is all there and it looks like it just needs a good scrubbing. The red dip colorway is a real beauty, and it would really nice on the wall, especially for the bargain price of $33.
And finally this month we have this Powell Peralta Mike McGill “stinger” model from 1990. It’s complete with Gullwings and Powell T-Bones. The plastics have kept the deck pristine, and stripped of all of that crap it looks to be a really handsome deck. $86 seems more than fair for this one.
Seeya next month.
-Neil
