Featured Skateboards: Rainbow Ryder fiberglass, Rainbow Rider wood
975 JCPenney Christmas Book, Page 315. 1975 seems to be the first year that skateboards reappeared in department store catalogs, coinciding with the year that Skateboarder Magazine came back to life. There’s an interesting (not really) diagram of the differences between loose and precision ball bargains in the roller skate section. Prices have jumped since 1966. The fiberglass model comes with wider wheels in the back.
Page 315
Detail
Skate Boards
F – 23-IN. WOOD SKATE BOARD. Birch board with natural finish. Flexing aluminum trucks. 1¼ in. wide ball-bearing, urethane plastic wheels both front and rear. 23×5½x3½ in. high.
X 927-1842 A – Mailable: weight 3.50 lbs. ………. $11.95
G – 24-1N, FIBERGLASS SKATE BOARD. Pliable board has flexing aluminum trucks. Ball-bearing urethane plastic wheels that are 1¼ in in front and 1½ wide in rear for more control. 24×5¼x3¼ in. high.
X 927-1883 A – Mailable: weight 4.40 Ibs. ………. $29.95
The real-life skateboards.
Rainbow Ryder – Fiberglass
There’s a Rainbow Ryders ad with this deck in the 1975 Summer issue of the then newly relaunched Skateboarder magazine. The manufacturer Acex had a distribution deal with JC Penney: “Available at the larger J. C. Penney stores and finer surf shops and sporting goods stores everywhere.”
Rainbow Ryder – Wood
While looking for something else, the Rainbow Ryder wood model came up mislabeled as a “Pro Class Rainbow Rider.” Pictures via zakyzaky. This one has a yellow top print, which seems little less contrast than the one in the ad. Maybe they produced it in more than one color. This setup has Continental trucks, possibly one of the ones shown in this ad – See the top trucks in the black and white section of the right page.
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