eBay Watch: March/April 2005

So, the question is, would the Disposable spike continue into March and April? Would common decks continue to reach ridiculous prices just because of Sean Cliver’s words? Read on and find out!

Powell

Mike McGill. The dork of the Bones Brigade. Seems like everybody bagged on him. His classic graphic is timeless though, and this MINT baby blue number went for a staggering $1,259. It was a nice way to start off the period.

The Ollie tank. Used and complete but in nice condition. The white colorway is less than impressive, but still, it’s s Powell Gelfand pig. Looks like it’s signed too. $1025.

Talking of pigs, how about an early Hawk 2nd graphic (iron cross chicken skull). More well known on the penis shape, this graphic did make its first appearance on a pig. Here it is on an unusual red colorway. $2,134. Still in shrink???

So if a mint 1st graphic hawk went for $6000, how much would a used one in a bad colorway go for? Wonder no more. This one fetched $1200.

Rounding out the Powells is another Hawk. Tough to make this one out because of the crap photograph, but it looks like another Hawk Skull pig. Primo condition, but does look like it’s been drilled for rails? $896.

Santa Cruz/SMA

The Salba tiger. As little as a year ago you could get it at the oldschool online stores for $95 (I know, I got one). This one just went off for an astounding $610. Crazy man crazy.

To prove it wasn’t a fluke, here’s another. This guy must have the worst digital camera known to man, because all of his auctions had this blue screen over them. Plus he must be a total dumbass because everything in his auctions was spelled horribly wrong. Even the skaters names. It still went for $448 though. I wonder what color it really is?

The Natas “bulldog”. Always a highly prized classic deck, and this colorway is sweeeet. $455 doesn’t seem bad at all.

Here’s an odd one. It’s a hand made repro of the 1st Natas model. As you all know, finding a mint 1st edition Natas is virtually impossible, so this looks like the next best bet. It doesn’t look right to me though. Mine (yes I had one) didn’t have that pale blue in the banner and it had a pointier nose. Anyway, it’s pretty good. Someone thought so to the tune of $255. (mine had the pale blue banner – who made this? k.ed)

Rounding out the Natas love, here’s a barely worn Natas t-shirt from SMA, bearing the 2nd version of the graphic. Awesome shirt, $128. .

Sims/Vision/Schmitt Stix

First up in the Brad Dorfman category we have this totally sweet Schmitt Stix John Lucero in an excellent colorway. A true classic that could be the centerpiece of any collection. $1,480.

Seems like there’s been a few Sims Hosois up recently. This minty one went for a whopping $1,908. That’s a lot of cash.

I love this deck. Just love it. Wait you say, it’s a World Industries Steve Rocco! Why’s it in the Dorfman camp? Because right before Rocco left Sims to form SMA/WI, he came up with this graphic, and a very small numbers of this deck went out with the Sims name on. Then when he formed his own company he simply reused the graphic and made it famous. So I thought this would have fetched more than $510.

Kevin Staab seemed like kind of a joke back in the day, with all of the dayglo and crappy Cult posing. Now he’s an older icon, which explains why this mad scientist deck went for $410. Hmm.

Alva/Dogtown/Bulldog

This blast from the past went for $771. That seems cheap for a Dogtown Jim Muir with a sweet blue fade.

Remember when Suicidal Tendencies were good? Right after their first album they released the Possessed to Skate single and video. Along with it they released a deck. Rare as fuck. How rare? $2,500. Yup, that’s right.

Here’s a real piece of history. I think I have this right. After the Zephyr team broke up and went their separate ways, Jay Adams step dad bought the Zephyr name (or invested in it) and added E/Z to the end of it. Here’s one of those rare ad unusual decks. This might be from Jay’s personal collection. $900. If I’m wrong, I’m sure that somebody will correct me.

Bulldog decks are now a hit with collectors everywhere, and that’s real art collectors, not just skateboard dudes with excess cash. Their decks sell out in days and instantly rocket in price. These 2 Shogos are a case in point. Beautiful decks, no doubt, but the first went for $1,135, and the second for $1,202. The short production runs is kind of pricing the regular joe out of things.

World Industries

The Vallely barnyard. Always a big seller, even slightly used. $825.

And here’s the Vallely “Animal Man” deck. Crap graphics, but it went for $1,189, which goes to show that Mike’s no-bullshit style and uncompromising attitude is loved by a section of collectors out there, including me.

Of all of the decks Mike Vallely has put out through the years, you wouldn’t think that this would be the rarest. But I guess it is! The World Industries “barnyard”. It went for $3,001. It is a classic though, and in perfect shape.

This deck is just plain beautiful. It’s the Jef Hartsel bonsai tree graphic. The script says ‘wisdom” in Aramaic. A real piece of artwork: $547 seems cheap to me.

One of the most controversial graphics ever, his WI Jovantae Turner “Napping Negro” always turns heads. Actually, it’s the first I’ve ever seen on eBay. $1,354. Read about it in Disposable.

Zorlac

The Zorlac Penis, I mean Gargoyle. Graphics by Pushead of course. $405. The Nekromantix have a great song called “Gargoyles over Copenhagen”, but I digress.

Here’s the classic full sized Zorlac John Gibson model, well protected by nose guard, tail skid and rails. Fuck, there isn’t a mark on it. Can you say POSER? The Vision stickers on a Zorlac deck cement the fact. $438 was a cheap price for this score. Rip off the plastic and the stickers and it’s almost mint.

One of Kilwag’s favorites, the Craig Johnson “Fire Demon”. Beat up, but still worth $250.

Miscellaneous

Let’s finish off the period with 2 classics from 1979. First up is the Kanoa Tri-Beam Bobby Valdez. Yes he invented the handplant, or so the legend goes. You NEVER see these. $765.