eBay Watch: September 2009

Another month has flown by and here we have another installment of Baywatch. There’s lost more goodies this month, and hopefully some that you have never seen before. The longer I do this the less inclined I am to keep on featuring the same decks from the same companies, high ticket items though they might be. There’s only so many ways to describe a Hawk birdclaw without it being repetitive, so I’ll choose something else instead. It might not be as iconic, or go for as much money, but that’s not what this column is about. It’s not a price guide, more a sampling of what I find interesting, and hopefully you do too. So, variety is the key for me at the moment.

This month’s BayWatch is brought to you by an oldie but a goodie. I was born and spent all of my youth in Liverpool. Liverpool was home to a famous punk rock club called Eric’s, which funnily enough was opposite the site of the old Cavern Club (of Beatles fame) on Mathew Street. All of the original punk bands played Eric’s, and I was lucky enough to go there twice (Stiff Little Fingers and The Skids). There was some strange graffiti on the wall outside which read “The Hounslow Mob”. I had no idea what that meant. Was it a local band perhaps? A soccer thing? Nope, I found out later that it was a crew of fanatics who followed the 1976-1980 punk band Penetration all over the country. I’d been a fan of Penetration since seeing a clip of them on The Old Grey Whistle Test. They were fronted by the exceptionally beautiful Pauline Murray; imagine Roxy Epoxy without the affectations. They had great songs: imagine the Buzzcocks with a female singer. (In fact they covered Nostalgia and probably did it better.) Being from the North East hey also seemed a lot more real and important than a lot of the image conscious London bands. They were a band of substance. You might only know them from their first single, the superb “Don’t Dictate” that is featured on almost all decent punk compilations, but they released 2 superb albums and 4 other singles before they broke up in 1980. The first, “Moving Targets” is probably the better of the two, and is more straightforward, while the second “Coming up for Air” is more experimental and features a second guitarist. They are both great records though, and it’s been my pleasure to rediscover them after all this time. They’ve both been reissued with extra tracks etc, so check them out.

60s, 70s, early 80s.

First up this month is this signed Alva Skates team complete from 1975. It’s the first ever deck that Alva Skates put out, this being the 27” version with no wheel wells. There was a 30” version and a version that had wheel wells. It comes complete with Tracker Mid Tracks and Alva wheels. It is in top-notch condition, super clean, and that goes for the wheels and trucks as well as the deck. I love the checkerboard behind the deck too. It really highlights the simplicity. It went for $1,025, which seems high, but it is a great piece. Is it spoiled by the recently added signature? I’m not sure. At least he didn’t put the year on it, which would have killed the value for sure.

Here’s another super complete from 30 years ago. It’s a Sims Greg Ayres. Now we’ve all seen the Andrechts and LaMars in this style, but a Greg Ayres? AOS doesn’t even have this deck listed, but some of the comments on another Ayres deck mention it, almost like it’s the holy grail! It was listed as “insanely rare” and that was in 2003. The deck is a tank: 12” by 30”, and comes complete with Trackers and Bones wheels. It is in good used condition, which is probably about as mint as you are ever going to find this deck. It’s also signed by a lot of 70s vert pros, but Ayres sig is not there funnily enough. It went for $1,700.

Here’s a Variflex Eric Grisham “vertical name” from 1981. The thing is dull as dull can be, and is made worse by the fact that the 2 matching Variflex nameplates are missing from either side of the Grisham name. I assume they were stickers that the original owner pulled off to put on his school locker or something. The trucks are Gullwings and the wheels are Kryptonics CX66s. It’s in good used shape, much like the deck above, but this one is dull, generic, and pretty common. It went for $300.

I love the blue stain fade of this Dogtown Wes Humpston from 1978. The original Dogtowns were so groundbreaking and so iconic. This one has some wear but nothing major and would look great on any wall, from a skater’s den to the wall of a bar. $350.

I feature some very rare old skateboards in this month’s edition, but perhaps nothing rarer or more historic than this Hobie waffle skateboard from the 1960s. It is super clean, looking like it’s seen only clean concrete once or twice. The clay wheels are intact, the sticker is all there etc. A few corners of the contact paper have come up (it’s not really grip tape), but that’s about it. It’s as clean as a whistle and it sold for $500.

Now here’s another super rare one, and when someone tells you that 70s boards don’t go big, or that there isn’t as much money in the hobby as there was, point at this and tell them that they are dead wrong! It’s a Z-Flex Jay Adams from 1974, complete with Trackers and Sims wheels. It is mounted but basically looks in almost pristine condition. Similar decks in blue and yellow are reasonably common, but not in this multicolor speckle! It is truly a museum piece and it went for museum money: $3,678. That’s a lot of money for fiberglass! Amazing!

Now compared to the Adams and the Ayres, this Kryptonics team complete from 1978 looks dull and ordinary, but this went off for big money too. There are two versions of this deck, one with a black bumper all the way around, and this one with the green. It was made with some kind of crazy composite manufacturing technique, much like skis of the time. It is complete with Indy stage I’s and green Kryptonics wheels. It’s super clean, and was obviously in high demand: 35 bids! It finished at $1,352.

And from a similar time period is this Santa Cruz Street Skate. Is it the very first skateboard model to broadcast itself as being specifically for street skating? I’m not sure, but it is probably at least one of the first! It has Rebound trucks and some kind of very tall and vertical wheels. It looks tall and tippy, just the thing for skating streets and hills! The graphic is plain and there is no top graphic at all, but it is an early Santa Cruz, so it had a lot of bids and finished at $335.

Every month I seem to feature a crappy polyprop from the 70s in amongst all of the good stuff, and this month is no exception! For your viewing pleasure I give you “The Shark” from 1976. Does it feature the first fishtail? Very possibly, and the use of the griptape spelling out “SHARK” is a masterstroke of genius! This thing is rad, enough said. $87.

And finally from the 70s we have this Sims “Phase 3 Composite” team complete from 1979. The deck was manufactured from foam and fiberglass, similar to the Kryptonics complete above I think. This sucker is well used, with the Tracker copers being worn all the way through in parts. Are those Tracker magnesium trucks? If so this was probably one of the lightest (and most expensive) pigs that you could have had back then! It’s dirty and worn, but you just know that the owner had tons of fun on this back in the day. $477.

Mid 1980s

I don’t feature too many Brand X decks mores’ the pity, but here’s a Brand X Riot Stick team deck from 1986. Brand X was always known for bright colors and complex graphics and screen jobs, and this one is certainly no different. It’s mint, and looks just great in the red dip. $310.

OK, I don’t get the sudden popularity of this deck and the huge spike in prices. It’s the Powell Peralta Steve Caballero “Ban This” from 1989. The colorway of this one really sucks ass, and the graphic is insipid and uninteresting, and yet it sold for $455. $250 I could see, but not close to $500!

This is a Vision Mark Gonzales “Color My Friends” from 1987, his second pro graphic. The color doesn’t show too well in the photo, but it’s a very rich black dip, with bright yellows and aqua blue. It’s NOS but not mint: lots of storage scratches. It is a nice looking plank though, one of the best colorways I’ve ever seen for this deck. Very nice and $921.

The Santa Cruz Ross Goodman “Gravedigger” from 1989 isn’t a rare deck by any means, but I love the colorway on this one. The red to orange fade is really outstanding, and the light blue really pops. It’s mint, still in shrink and is a great looking example of this deck. $285.

And talking of Santa Cruz, here’s the Santa Cruz Claus Grabke “Melting Clocks” from 1989. Once it was highly sought after, but it really seems to have dropped off, at least judging by this price. It looks kinda weak on the white dip, but that might just be a bad photo, because I’m betting that the reds, yellows and oranges really pop. It’s in good, used condition, and has been touched up some on the tail, which might account for the lowish price. It went off for $375, all the way from Claus’s homeland of Germany.

SO let’s stick with Santa Cruz again. Here’s a Jeff Grosso “Toybox” from 1987 with the original top logo. It’s in a rare yellow woodstain, and although the image looks washed out, the seller says that the graphics are very bright and that they glow under blacklight. Of course that always seemed weird to me. Who cares about that? How many of us are skating under blacklight conditions? That seems like such a stupid point! The seller also says that it’s “better than mint” whatever that means. It went for a large $1,425.

I really try to feature unusual or rarely seen decks in this column, at least where I can, but sometimes I can’t help but feature a common deck if it’s in a rare or great looking colorway, or if the seller has taken an exceptional photograph of his deck. Similarly I will often not show an unusual deck if the seller has put a totally washed out and blurry image up there. What would you guys have to look at then? This is a Powell Peralta Tommy Guerrero “Flaming dagger” from 1986. It’s the pointed nose version, full size and 7 ply. It’s also in an excellent powder blue dip with staggering bright orange Gullwings and unused white Rat Bones. It’s never been ridden or gripped, and is truly a sweet chunk of 80s skateboard art. Shipping all the way from Australia it sold for $498.

And here’s another sweet photograph of a reasonably common deck that I normally wouldn’t feature. It’s the Santa Cruz Jeff Kendall “End of the World” from 1986. I love the colorway, love the matching colored rails and wheels, and love the set up and brightness of the photograph. Wondering what those crappy looking copers are? Sure enough, the trucks are Action IIs, and the wheels are Powell Peralta Bones Threes in bright yellow. It’s an awesome looking complete, even taking into account the crappy trucks. Actually the white trucks help the look of the whole package. It went for $370 and is nice looking.

Here’s a Sims Lester Kasai “Splat” from 1984. It’s in a black dip, which really pops the blue splat. It’s in good used condition, meaning it has some surface scratches, it has a tailbone and a nose bone with jumbo sized washers. But overall the package looks pretty damned great, and for $238 it seems like a real bargain.

So here’s a Powell Peralta Rodney Mullen “Chess Freestyle” complete from 1984. It’s in blood red with matching black Tracker trucks and red Powell Street Bones. The deck is in great condition; pristine apart from the 2 drill holes in the tail and some scuffing on the nose. It’s a nice looking complete I guess, but freestyle decks never did much for me, and the red colorway is pretty awful really. $960.

Now here’s a beauty. It’s a Dogtown Aaron Murray “Waves and dolphins” from 1988. Apparently this is the mini graphic, but I don’t see that it says mini anywhere on there, so I’m taking that under advisement. These come up used from time to time, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a mint one before, and especially not in this really fetching red stain. That is one nice looking board, art by Wes Humpston of course. It went for $671.

OK, let’s go on a Sims run here! First we have a Sims Eric Nash “Bandito” from 1987. This one doesn’t say “fuck you” in the smoke, but it is a fine looking deck. The purple is rich, and the greens in the graphic look excellent on the field of purple. It’s mint, and if you were in the market for an Eric Nash of this ilk, I couldn’t imagine finding a better looking one. $325.

And here is a Sims Jeff Phillips “Bust Out I” from 1984. Like a lot of completes this month it is in good used condition. The graphics are all there, and there are no outrageous dings or scratches. The two stickers could be easily removed, although I might leave the Sims sticker on the tail, but the Lester sticker on the graphic has to go. It’s complete with Trackers and Kryptonics, although those are not Tracker copers. $305.

I don’t have much to say about this one. It’s a Sims Steve Rocco freestyle deck from 1984. It’s in a lovely deep orange dip, along with the yellow checkerboard and blue and orange lettering. If you were after this deck, then this would be a fine specimen for you to get. Of course, the fact that there was only bid would suggest that not too many folks are hot for this one. And can I say that I love the seller’s name” “What’s a fotoomsh”. If you know your Young Ones episodes, then you will get the reference. It went for $300.

I have covered the Santa Cruz Salba Tiger many times over the past 7 years, and I am covering it again purely so we can get a gauge on values, up or down. This grey stained tiger, mint in shrink, sold for $850. Which is what it was going for a couple of years ago, so I guess that suggests that prices are back up to where they were then. Interesting.

Shit, here we are with another Sims block: this must be a record! This one I’m putting in just for Kilwag. It’s the Sims “Screamer I” team deck from 1985. Both of us loved this deck for some reason, and it even referenced in one of the songs by our band, McWilson. It comes complete with Trackers and Kryptonics conicals, and has the normal wear and tear you’d expect to see on a board that was well used 24 years ago. Now this is just a guess, but I’m betting that this board has never seen an ollie. Again, that is just a guess. Actually, you don’t see this go off very often, so even in used condition it went off for $352.

And damn, you want a generic Sims team deck? Well here’s the totally flat Sims New Wave pig from 1982. It’s got the totally generic “new wave” graphic in “radical” pale blue and neon purple, and comes complete with apparently untouched Independent trucks and what looks like Powell threes in neon green. Damn, this thing is awesome in a truly horrible way. The perfect board for the college kid who wanted a skateboard just to get to class and didn’t believe in doing tricks or riding for fun. You all remember that kid, right? $228.

OK H-Street guys, I’m throwing you a bone. It’s the H-Street John Sonner “open window” from 1989. It looks like it’s in NOS shape, and I like the graphic on the natural woodstain. That’s a nice looking H-Street right there, but for me that’s not saying much. That’s like saying that you’re the tallest midget in the room. $192.

Here’s an interesting complete. It’s a Santa Monica Airlines Julien Stranger “Flying High” from 1990. The deck is in decent shape, some surface scratches and smears, but the graphic is all there. The trucks are a mismatched pair of red and blue Trackers (what happened to their twins I wonder), and the wheels are unknown but “original”. This sucker had 19 bids, so I’m imagining that the next mint one is going to go very high, because the demand is out there. $203.

And finally for the 80s this month we have this Tracker Dan Wilkes “Dinosaurs” deck from 1987. You never see Wilkes decks on eBay, and for one to come up mint in plastic is a once a year type thing. It is Wilkes second and final pro model, and I really like the colorway, The white dip and orange and blue/green dinosaurs is outstanding, only bettered by the neon green one that is pictured on AOS. I really like this deck, penis shape and all. $244. A.O.S.

90s-present day

OK, so here’s one of the most overrated decks in skateboard history, and frankly I’m getting tired of covering it, but it always sells for such absurdly high prices that I feel that I have to cover it. It’s the 101 Natas “devil Worship” from 1991. It’s an absurdly ugly deck in every way, but has a cult following. Whatever, I’m not going to get into that. This one is NOS, which is unusual, and so the fact that it sold for $3,000 isn’t really surprising I suppose. So there you are.

Again from 1991 we have this World Industries Jesse Martinez “Jailed Robot”. It’s a follow up graphic from the “Rockem Sockem” graphic from his previous World Industries deck. It’s a nice idea and a well thought out full bleed graphic. It doesn’t say his name on the bottom graphic, which I find interesting, but it does say it on the top graphic. This mint green stain sold for $518.

Man, they were totally devoid of graphic ideas in the 90s weren’t they? This is the Powell Steve Caballero “Aladdin” deck from 1994. So they couldn’t even do anything like Photoshop Steve’s face on the tiger or anything? Instead they just lift a still from the movie and slap it on a deck, and somehow that’s a Cab graphic? Powell should have been better than that. Hell, it’s not even a good image! It sold for $610, which in and of itself is fucking absurd.

And to show that Powell was not alone in using lame, lifted movie graphics, we have this Foundation Corey Duffel “Scissorhands” from 2002. However, at least Foundation used an interesting image and incorporated the Foundation graphic into the window. It’s autographed and went for $199.

Here’s a World Industries Chris Pastras “Dangerous Dune” from 1992. Apparently Dune likes watching TV, eating tacos and drinking milk. And what’s he holding in the 2nd picture? It’s mint and in a dark woodstain. It sold for $234.

So in the early 90s New Deal grew from the Schmitt Stix stable, and damnit, they were determined to do something different with the graphics to differentiate themselves. So where the 80s companies were doing big, involved, full-bleed graphics, New Deal did simple, minimalist stuff that made use of negative space. So it is with this Neal Hendrix “hobo” deck from 1991. I can appreciate what they were trying to do, but man does it suck. It looks childish and homemade instead of sharp and cutting edge. Others will disagree, but I’ll stick to my guns on this one. Hendrix decks of any kind are rare though, so this flaming turd sold for $600.

So I’ve seen other Red Hot Chili Peppers decks before, but I’ve never seen this one. It’s an Airbourne RHCP “Orca” from 1991. It’s not on AOS, so odds are you’ve never seen it before either. Not a bad graphic and not a bad shaped deck. It’s got a black stained bottom and a green/blue-stained top. It had 16 bids and went for $430.

Assorted Crap

Remember the Life’s a Beach shorts? They made various patterns and colors, but these skull and crossbones ones were probably the most famous. I remember Bill Danforth wearing these with pride at the St. Louis July 4th demo. They had Vans hi-tops with the same pattern I believe. You were a badass if you had these, but now they look kind of silly. They are a size medium, which begs the question, why is most gear you see from the 80s size medium? We were all much younger then obviously, so probably smaller, but I also think it’s because we’ve turned into a nation of fat-asses. Seriously, the average person must weigh 20lbs more than they did just 20 years ago. But I digress. Somebody paid $200 for these shorts that they probably can’t fit into. Maybe they have mannequins in their basement recreating famous skate scenes from the 80s.

Aha, the famous Hobie palm-pad gloves from the 70s. I’m not sure which came first, these Hobie suede gloves, or the similar Rector Palm Pads that were all leather, but what I do know is that they kicked major arse. I had 2 pairs of these brightly colored gloves. They had blue suede backs and the rainbow trim at the wrist. Most of the other groms I knew wore floppy gardening gloves and looked like tools, but not me. I had bright blue gloves that actually offered some protection when I fell on the rough English streets! They were such good quality that I still had them when I moved to the states in 1985. I’m sure that I have some skate shots of me from that period wearing them. Best gloves ever. $56.

Now normally in the Misc section I might feature a generic deck that’s a rip-off of a deck from a major company. This one is kind of like that, but not a rip-off graphic per se. It’s a Valterra deck that looks like a pro deck at first, until you realize that “Chuck McTruck” is a spoof name because the skater pictured has been hit by the truck. Yeah, really funny, but a slice of the time I guess. Actually, it’s growing on me every time I look at it, and I guess for $20 it is just fine.

OK, back in the dark days of the early 2000s, you had very little chance of finding an “old school” deck that you could ride. Yes there were 80s decks still floating around, but Z-Boys hadn’t come out yet, and there was no oldschool craze yet. Companies weren’t making anything bigger than 8” popsicles, and reissues wouldn’t hit for another 3 years. So what to do? Well, if you look in copies of Juice Magazine from 2001 and 2002 you will see small adverts in the back for Shitbird decks that were 9”-10” wide by 32” and had a deep concave and a ceramic bottom layer. A complete anomaly for the time, but just what I was looking for. He even made big wheels too, modeled on the old Bullets that we loved. I bought both a deck and wheels and I loved them both. I’ve never understood the hate thrown at Shitbird, and he’s never gotten his due as one of the first (along with Ricki Rachtman funnily enough) to realize that there was a huge hole in the market. He put his money where his mouth was and created some kickass products. Thanks Dave. This is the second version of that first deck, the Hessian Hellrider. I actually liked the first graphic better, but that’s just me. This one sold for $250. Good luck finding another because most, like mine, were shredded.

So if you have a lot of old 80s stickers, then this auction might persuade you to put them on the market. It is for a group lot of 180+ vintage stickers that includes a lot of your favorites: Salba tiger, Jessee Guadalupe, sungod and mermaid, Grabke melting clocks etc. It appears to be mainly Santa Cruz, but that shouldn’t upset too many of you! It ended at $600, which seems like a lot but was actually a bargain. Hell, we’ve all seen individual stickers sell for over $100 before and a lot of these could have easily gone for $50 if sold individually. But splitting the lot up is a royal pain, so the seller got some decent cash with minimal effort. That’s a win-win in my book.

Bargains!

The definition of a bargain is something that is sold for far less than it should have sold for. The common theme for this column has been for that to mean less than $100, but that isn’t always the case. It can still be a bargain but cost more than $100. That’s how it is with this Vision Agent Orange complete from 1985. Mint, the deck can sell for as much as $700, while the common used price is normally closer to $300. So for this complete to go for $163 is a bargain. The wheels and trucks are Variflex, so they can be thrown away, but it’s the deck that’s the ting. The graphic is totally all there, and aside from some scratches around the edges, it’s in great shape. This would look awesome on any wall. That’s a great score.

SO we go from one extreme to the other. That Vision was a bargain at $163, but is highly sought after. SO how about a deck that is not so highly sought after? What would make this one a bargain? How about $11? That seems like a bargain to me! It’s s Vision Tom Groholski “Pro Model” from 1987. It comes complete with Trackers and unknown wheels, unknown because the seller provides no details whatsoever. He even misspells the name as “Groholsky”. The deck is in pretty decent shape, and the silver dip is a really nice touch. It’s not the greatest graphic, but it’s not terrible, and for that price it’s a no-brainer.

Here’s another decent looking complete. It’s a G&S Nicky Guerrero “cosmic face” from 1987. The colors are super bright, and the stain appears to go from red to orange front to back, and red to green side to side. It’s very odd, but G&S did stuff like that. The condition is excellent: even the big pointy nose is pristine! No wall jams here! The plastics did their job well here. The wheels are G&S Chomps, while the trucks appear to be Thunders in perfect condition, but I could be wrong there. The hangers sure are beefy. Anyway, it sold for $52.

So sometimes used completes yield good bargains, while at other times decks from lesser-known pros can go ridiculously low. So it is with this mint condition Smith Howard Hood “Lions and Spears”. It sold for $31 which is ridiculous considering the cool as hell yellow to red fade going on, and the cool wheels wells and African themed graphic. This is a very underrated deck IMHO.

Here’s a very clean Lucero “Racing Stripe” complete from 1989. Actually, it looks like a very fun rider, so I might keep this as is and use it as a cruiser! It’s in great condition: it was used in a skate shop for cruising around, and it shows. The thing is almost brand new. It has Independent trucks and Bullet 66 wheels, again, almost untouched. Those alone would merit the $103 that it sold for, so all told this is a killer 20 years old complete bargain.

I’ve made this crack before, but seriously, BBC must have had the worst artist team of any skateboard company, because invariably all of their graphics suck ass. I can’t think of a single BBC graphic that wasn’t terrible. And of course poor old Monty Nolder got stuck with the worst of the lot. This “Mini Monty” from 1989 is so outrageously ugly that it defies description. It couples a terrible, generic design with ugly colors that totally clash. Once you’ve factored in the ugly blue Gullwings you have a vomit inducing mish mash that could start an epileptic seizure. $67? I’d pay $67 never to have to see it again!

Some bargains get in here because they just slip beneath the radar, or because people don’t see the hidden value and charm of used completes, but some are a real mystery to me. Now we all know that Skip has been making quality decks at SMA for decades. Quality decks with innovative designs and materials. Here’s a case in point. It’s a SMA longboard from 1988, probably one the first production longboards ever made. It features a classic Dogtown-esque graphic, and although used, is in good condition. I’m guessing that this deck is pretty damned rare, so for it to only fetch $36? Well, I’d say that somebody got a bargain here. True 80s SMA decks (not the crap put out by World or SC w/ the SMA name) have achieved a cult status; so again, I’m floored by this price.

I don’t think I’ve ever featured this deck before, and that’s as good a reason as any to show it now. It’s a Sims Buck Smith “Grinning Crescent”. AOS has it from 1992, but no way it’s from then with this shape. It’s probably more likely a 1989/1990 deck. It’s complete with Ventures according to the seller (the back looks like a Tracker to me) and Rocket wheels. Like most completes in this section, it’s in good used shape, and I dig the graphic for some reason. $78.

And finally this month we have this Skull Skates Tod Swank “Splendor” deck from 1988. I absolutely love this graphic; truth be told, I love all his graphics, especially the tea and coffee pot ones that go under the “Justin Lovely” name. There is something loose and yet enigmatic about them. Stark and bold, I love it. Once anything with the Skull Skates name would go for big cash on eBay, but no more I guess, because this fine deck only went for $76. How did I miss out on this one? I love the pointy nose. Kilwag had one and tried to skate it again recently, and said that the non-existent pointy nose almost killed him a few times because his front foot kept coming off. Still, a rad deck to look at if not to ride.

See ya next month.