Ebay Watch: March 2014

March came and went and was kinda blaaaah. Nothing exceptional went off, at least nothing that I was super excited about. Of course we had some good ones, but normally March is a crazy month because people either have to sell rare stuff off to pay taxes, or they have tons of excess cash from refunds and you get crazy bidding wars. But it seemed like we got neither this March. Just a lot of middle of the road stuff. But I’ve done my best to show you some stuff you don’t see that often, including four different Town & Country completes that all came up from different sellers in a 2-week period.

And I’m gonna bitch about something again. The Skateboard Collectors forum on Facebook. I joined it thinking I might see some good rare stuff on there, but all I saw was a bunch of hipster douchebags arguing about god knows what. And the "collections"! Oh my effing god. Here’s a clue boys, showing pictures of your crappy reissues hanging on the wall of your cracker barrel condo isn’t impressive and it isn’t a skateboard collection. That’s like me going to Target and buying some Van Gogh posters and saying I have an art collection. But worse still is when they decide to argue with everybody that their obvious reissues are from the 80s. Newsflash boys, Black Label wasn’t making decks in 1985… I left the group one day after I joined, feeling like I’d lost about a billion braincells in the process.

60s, 70s, very early 80s.

So first up in the vintage section this month we have this Dogtown "Big Foot" team deck from 1978. It’s in great used condition and has the excellent orange to yellow fade around the rails. I dig the two vintage Independent stickers on there. They are nicely placed and give a burst of cool to an otherwise very hot deck. It sold for $1,000 on a BIN after 7 minutes!

Here we have another Dogtown deck of similar vintage. This is the Bob "the Bullet" Biniak "Bullet" model. It is in good used condition, and this is one of the models that had the fiberglass bottom ply, which is why it is black. Normal Dogtowns were all natural wood. The wheelwells are insane on this one. Just look at the rear wheelwells on the blowup! It sold for $800.

Oooh, here’s a total classic. It’s the Sims Brad Bowman "Superman" deck from 1979, complete with first gen Indys and dual colored Sims Snake conicals. The deck is faded, but doesn’t look too bad at all, and has very little actual wear actually. This is an awesome complete; a total piece of skateboard history. A glimpse at state of the art 1979 skateboard design. It sold for $1,005 on 8 bids.

Here’s another Sims Brad Bowman deck, but this one is from a couple of years later. It’s the Sims Brad Bowman "Digital" deck from 1981, and holy crap; it’s in NOS condition! Never mounted, never gripped. Finding this deck in any condition is hard, but NOS? It has storage marks and scuffs etc., but is the best looking Digital I think I’ve ever seen. It only came in the one colorway I think, so dull as it is, that’s all you get! It sold for $1,500.

Now let’s go back to the early 60s and look at this Sears Hang ten skateboard! It’s got clay wheels and is 35" long. It’s flat as a plank obviously and is in beautiful like-new condition. Now I don’t know who collects these 1960s skateboards apart from surf shops and restaurants looking for kitsch, but whoever bought this one for $599 got a great looking piece of history.

Here we have another Dogtown deck, this one being the Wes Humpston "Bulldog" model from 1978. It is well used as you can see, but the two tailbones probably saved it from too much abuse. I would pull off the red Bones sticker because it takes too much attention away from the graphic. This would probably clean up pretty nicely, and maybe that’s why it sold for $1,139 on a huge 112 bids.

And finally from the halcyon days of the 70s we have this Sims Woody Woodstock "Sundancer" complete from 1979. It comes complete with Gullwings and green Sims Snake wheels. It is in exceptional condition, and I don’t actually think I’ve ever seen a Woody Woodstock deck before. I know he was an east coast pro, from New York maybe? Anyway, it’s a superclean piece of East Coast nostalgia, and it sold for $680.

Mid 1980s

So first up in the 80s section this month we have is SMA Jay Adams deck from 1984. It was one of the handful of stray decks that Jay had throughout the 80s, each with a completely different company and each with a completely different graphic theme. This one is plain and to the point. The original owner decided to spray-paint some logo on the back wheel wells and his name on the topside. Ray, I hope you are still doing well! It sold for $1,000.

Now here we have a Tracker Adrian Demain "Faces 1" from 1989. The deck is NOS, never gripped or mounted, but does have the normal surface scuffs and marks. I’ve always liked this graphic, and I liked Adrian a lot the one time I got to skate with him. Nice, humble guy. This sold for $600.

Now here’s a beauty that you I’ve never seen in this colorway before. It’s the Vision Mark Gonzales "Gonz and Roses" from 1988. This was a personal rider of his, which may explain the crazy colorway. He also doodled on the tail if you like that kind of thing. The silver sparkle dip and yellow and pink main graphic is just insane. It’s so bright and some completely awesome looking. It is gripped and was ridden but only lightly it looks like. It has a big 7-Up sticker on the top over the top Vision logo! It sold for $1,663 on 10 bids.

Now here we have a Santa Cruz Jason Jessee "Neptune", the rare early shark-tail version. The seller claims that it was never set up and was simply removed from dirty shrink, but it definitely looks like it has more wear than that. It is super dirty and worn looking around the edges, and the tail and nose show signs of wear. It looks sun faded too. Some parts are orange stain, while some parts look like it has a dirty green stain. Whatever it is I definitely wouldn’t call it NOS. It is was the orange stain all over then this would be stunning, because the colorway of the graphic is stunning. The graphic is all there too. It sold for $1,000 but I have to believe it would have gone higher with better pics or a clean up.

And here we have an original Placebo Records JFA band deck from 1985. Its in NOS condition, never gripped or mounted. This deck was a beast, measuring over 11" wide if I remember. The band always rode 215s on it! You don’t see many in this condition. It sold for $700.

Here we have a G&S Chris Miller "Lizard Man" from 1986. The deck is NOS, never gripped or mounted, but it does have a ton of storage marks and scuffs etc. Old G7S Miller decks never go particularly high for some reason. In fact it’s more common to see his early 90s decks going for higher prices than his early 80s decks. Maybe it was dull colors and the odd artwork? It sold for $841 on 26 bids.

Here we have a Vision Ken Park "Crystal Ball". It comes complete with Gullwings and Vision Blurrs. The deck is in very good used condition, and the colorway is eye-catching. However, the plastics are too distracting. The first thing you see is the bright yellow tailbone, and then you notice the dark blue nose and the orange rails. Nothing matches and it’s all taking the attention away from the graphic. It sold for $400.

Up next we have this Vision Lee Ralph "Contortionist" from 1988. The deck is NOS, never mounted or even gripped. It’s in a most excellent light brown colorway with red and blue main graphic. I always liked this graphic, and it works perfectly with the shape of the deck. It looks like it would be a lot of fun to ride. Has the reissue hurt it’s value? Well it sold for $1,142 on 14 bids, which seems about exactly right actually.

Here we have a Skull Skates Red Hot Chili Peppers deck from 1988. The deck is NOS, never gipped or mounted, and is a great colorway. I really dig the faded pink dip combined with the light blue and yellow main graphic. However, the thing that has to go is the big ass ugly Skull Skates block on the tail. It looks like a sticker, but no, it is screened there. It doesn’t work at all. Imagine how nice it would be if it was smaller and it matched the blue? Or stayed black but MUCH smaller? That would work. This does not. It sold for $515 on 23 bids.

Now here we have the perfect example of why you should pay attention to the quality of your photos that you post with your eBay auctions. The auction was for a Santa Cruz Rob Roskopp "V", the one where the monster is totally broken through the graphic. The top picture is the photo that appeared in the auction. The deck looks very dark and very faded. The colors are junky and it just looks off. The deck is mint in shrink but that isn’t even helping here because the photos are that bad. Now a very smart collector saw through the bad photos and decided to take a chance, and boy was he rewarded. He took the shrink off and reshot, this time in a room that wasn’t as dark as hell itself. The deck can be seen in its real glory in the bottom photo. Yes that’s the same deck. So the collector scored a grail in mint condition for $834. SO yeah, pay attention to your photos!

Here we have n unusual one! It’s a Skull Skates "Double Time" team model from 1989. The deck is completely reversible having the same size nose and tail. The deep green stain is appealing, and the main graphic is fine, but that huge black blocky Skull Logo is way too distracting. It’s all you see at first. But still, it’s a rare one! It sold for $372

Here we have a puzzling auction. It’s an Alva Fred Smith "Punk Size" complete with beat up Gullwings and worn down SC Bullets. The deck has a busted in nose, lots of tail wear and scratches and scuffs etc. It is a fade deck though, and those have exploded in price, but the wear on this one made me think $200 tops. But it actually sold for $455 on 41 bids, which surprised the hell out of me. The graphic is all there, but $455 would be a lot for an NOS Punk Size, never mind a well-worn one!

Ooh, here’s one you don’t see very often! It’s a Sims "Snake Man" team deck from 1985. The deck is NOS, never mounted or gripped, and is in a killer colorway. I really dig the green dip with vivid royal blue snake with yellow accents. It’s a great looking graphic, and just the kind of thing that I really enjoy finding on eBay. The Hawks and Mountains are fine but mainstream. This is unusual! This one sold for $760 on 26 bids.

Here’s another rare deck that flew beneath the radar back in the day. It’s a SOS (Steve Olson Skates) "SOS" street model. It was the period after he left Santa Cruz and before he joined Skull. He had his own company, which he called SOS. The red dip is striking and the black and white graphic is stark but simple. Not a lot here, but he got all angry the last time I said anything negative about it, so here you go Steve, it’s a lovely looking deck. All right? It sold for $460.

So much like me you are probably sick of the countless Powell Steadham reissues that they pump out year after bloody year. And those decks that he put out on his own label, they are always around too, and not that great either. I thought I’d seen them all, but then this one comes up, a Steadham deck that I’ve never seen before! I like it. It’s made by Steadham Designs, who were owned by SureGrip International. This is the "Stone Lion" graphic from 1987. It’s mint in shrink, and the graphic is super bright. It features the lion of Judah and your typical Rasta colors. It sold for $355 on 44 bids: big for a Steadham deck.

And here we have the four Town & Country completes I mentioned earlier. Normally months will go by without getting a single T&C deck, but in March we got a bunch of them! First up is this T&C "Performer" team model from 1984, complete with Trackers and Powell Threes. It was set up and ridden for a month and then put in a closet until now, so it’s in very good used condition. The colorway is a little muted and the dark wheels aren’t helping. So I’m not feeling this one so much. So it sold for $475.

But here we have the same deck but in a different colorway, and it seems so much fresher! The electric blue flashes work so much better on the red and yellow striped background than the purple ones did. Plus the white Gullwings and the blue Vision Shredders look really great here. The original owner did a great job putting this one together. It’s in great used condition too. This one sold for $480.

Now here’s a different T&C deck. This one is the "Burst" model, again from 1984, part of the same series of 4 decks as the "Performer" above. Personally I think this is a stronger graphic than the Performer, and the colorway is certainly nicer. The yellow to red fade behind the burst in the middle is totally 80s surf, and the white Gullwings and red Vision Shredders give it an additional touch of color. The white rails frame the graphic, which is a nice touch too. Overall it’s a very nice mid 80s complete and it sold for $661 on 34 bids.

And finally from the T&C stable we have this "Logo" team deck from 1986. It’s complete with generic trucks and OJ III wheels. It’s in good used condition. The graphic would work better on a white dip rather than black, and the black crap trucks don’t help either. White Gullwings would give this thing a totally different look. So it’s my least favorite of the 4 completes, but what do I know, because it was the most expensive! This sold for $710 on 4 bids.

Here we have a G&S Bill Tocco "Cowboy" from 1986. It’s a pretty crap looking graphic when you stare at it, but there is something about it that is interesting and dynamic. Maybe it’s the different colors in the graphic? This one is on a crappy grey stain, which makes it look dull and lifeless. It is NOS, but in a different colorway it would have gone far higher I’m sure. It sold for $600 on 13 bids. The top graphic has the octopus on it. I love that one.

And finally from the 80s this month we have this classic Powell Peralta Per Welinder "Nordic Skull" deck from 1986. This is the street model obviously, full size, seven ply. It’s in a beautiful white dip, and the red and black pop like crazy. It’s a totally beautiful deck, and I’ve decided I have to get one of these. And it prices keep falling I will be able to afford one because this sold for only $555 which seems really low to me.

90s-present day

First up in the 90s section this month we have this Acme "Pro Skater’s Life" team slick from 1994. It was set up but never ridden, being used as a shop display board. The graphic has cash, Jolt Cola, M&Ms, Squirt and Playboy. All photographed and then put on a slick. Slicks always look like crap IMHO. Faded and yellowed. It sold for $400.

Here we have a Real Salman Agah "Time Chaser" deck from 1992. The deck is NOS, never setup or gripped. The artwork is by Jeff Klindt, and it is a really nice graphic, especially for a time period when most were producing throwaway graphics featuring cartoon characters or photos of cars or something. It sold for $1,200 on 8 bids.

Now here’s a real rarity. Before there was the modern day monolithic corporation that is Element we had a small skater run company called Underground Element. This is one of theirs, the "Ultraviolence" model from 1992. It’s a slick, and the colors have actually lasted on this one, which is a rarity. The graphic is loosely based on Alex and the droogies from "A Clockwork Orange" fame. It’s nice to see a piece of skate history like this pop up. It sold for $788 on 8 bids.

Now here we have a Shorty’s Chad Muska "Ghetto Thugsta" deck from 1997. The deck is mint in shrink. It’s a horribly rendered, comic book style graphic. The graphic is super bright and very violent. Designed to appeal to 12 year olds. The "NWB" logo is ripped right off from the NWO wrestling gimmick that was so popular at the time. It sold for $400.

This is a Powell Wade Speyer "Beavis and Butthead" deck from 1994. It’s NOS. It was designed to be hip with the kids and get Powell some of their edge back, but Viacom issued a C&D and this deck was quickly withdrawn. So Powell failed again! That makes this deck pretty rare though. It sold for $909 on 9 bids.

Now here we have your typical shit World Industries graphic. It’s a World Jovontae Turner "Turner at Night" deck from 1992. The deck is NOS, never mounted or gripped. It does have storage marks though. The graphic is funny for a second, but isn’t really clever or anything new. It’s not really helping anybody when you think about it is it? It’s just another silly Rocco trying-to-be-clever thing. It’s still popular I guess because it sold for $1,026 on 10 bids.

Here we have a Sonic Simon Woodstock "San Jose Sharks" deck from 1992. It’s still mint in shrink. The seller also has 3 other mint Sonic decks too, including a Woodstock "Experiment 408", but it isn’t clear if the auction was for all 4 decks or simply for the Sharks one. It sold for $425 so I’m guessing it’s just the Sharks one, but the buyer might have gotten a nice surprise.

And finally from the 90s this month we have this Zorlac Metallica III deck from 1991. It’s NOS with double drilled front trucks holes. It’s in a great olive stain with red, silver and yellow graphic. It’s a really striking looking board that looks as functional as it is good looking. It sold for $968 on 28 bids.

Assorted Crap

Now here is a seller that gets it! Find something that everybody wants and use a super hot half naked girl to model it! Guys, the jacket, look at the jacket! It’s a Powell Peralta World Tour 89 jacket, purchased at a Powell demo in NJ. It’s barely been worn, and this lovely lady wearing it actually adds to the value I feel. As normal it’s a size small. More people should sell their shit this way! It sold for a large $2,050 on 13 bids.

So here we have a set of all five of the Roskopp reissues that Santa Cruz put out as part of their "30 Fucking Years" series about 10 years ago. How time files! We have the entire "Target" series, from the arm breaking through in the first one, right through to the entire monster in #5. The decks are all NOS, and it’s very nice to see all of the decks together, but it would have been better if the decks were a uniform colorway. But SC didn’t do that. The set sold for $1,000.

And here we have an original 80s Santa Cruz "Screaming Hand" t-shirt. It’s in unworn condition, purchased at Visalia YMCA skateboard camp in 1989. It’s a Stedman size L. It’s clearly been folded in a bag since then. The colors are super bright and it looks excellent. It sold for $550 on a BIN and only lasted 7 hours.

Quick Hitters

1979 Dogtown "Big Foot" team deck. Lightly used. $850 on BIN.

1984 Vision Gator "Swirl" complete with Gullwings and Vision Blurs. First edition. Plus matching swirl griptape on top. NOS. $766.

1987 Santa Cruz Claus Grabke "Exploding Clock". Complete with Gullwings and OJ IIs. $425.

1988 Santa Cruz Jeff Grosso "Acid Tongue". Mint in shrink. $700 on a BIN after 10 hours. .

1984 Santa Cruz Jeff Grosso "Toybox". Lightly used. $760 on 12 bids. From Steve Schneer’s collection, sold by his brother.

1987 Santa Cruz Jason Jessee "Sun God". Mint in shrink. $1,500.

1986 Powell Peralta Lance Mountain "Future Primitive". NOS. $1,800.

1988 Santa Cruz John Lucero "Red Cross". NOS. $415.

1985 Schmitt Stix John Lucero "X1" deck. Complete with Indys and OJ II wheels. $474.

1991 Powell Peralta Mike McGill "Stinger". NOS. $450.

1990 World Industries Rodney Mullen "Dog Food". NOS. $905 on 8 bids.

1984 Powell Peralta "Rat Bones" team deck. $400 on a BIN.

1975 Z-Woody Shogo Kubo complete. Complete with Trackers and unknown wheels. $925.

And finally this month we have this Powell Peralta "Thorn & Roses" team deck from 1989. Mint in shrink. $400.

See ya next month.

-Neil