Some 9 years ago I posted a pic of a package of Flex-o-Thane wheels, and now it’s time for an update. Surprisingly, since that time I have not managed to add any Sport Fun advertisements to the Skatemag Advert Gallery, but I did find photos of Flex-o-Thane wheels in different packaging. In the original post there was some question about what the extra long bolt was, since it was too long to be a kingpin. It was suggested by a reader that this was for a slip-through axle, and here we have photographic evidence that this is indeed the case with Sport Fun Wide Track trucsk.
Outrage! I just watched the movie Air, and and enjoyed it quite a bit except for a glaring historical accuracy. No, I’m not talking about combining real-life people into one character for the sake of the plot, nor imagined dialog. Instead, I’m talking about the real important stuff, the skateboarding! The scene happens early (about 14 mins) in the movie, and 40 year old sneaker designer Peter Moore is seen skateboarding in the parking lot of Nike headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. He’s on a somewhat era appropriate skateboard doing kickflips in 1984!
There’s really no reason to post this generic toy store plastic skateboard (available in bulk from China for $9 a piece) other than the fact their models look… amazeballs! Adventure Bizarre? Yeah I think I saw them in Paris, circa 1977 opening up for Metal Urbain.
Oof, yeah. Sorry about that post title. Normally this is the kind of thing I would be practically tripping over myself to make fun of, but for a certain segment of the population, this makes a lot of sense. This is Ookkie, “The World’s First Learner Skateboard.” Is this product necessary? No. But if you think about all the brightly colored push and ride toys out there for toddlers, why not make it a skateboard? You can use it with the “adult” handle for control, with just the kid handle once they are more comfortable, and without the handle at all before they move on to a real skateboard, if they do at all. No, these guys did not pay me for product placement. Yes, this is at odds with my own opinion that skateboarding in the Olympics is silly. I am going to call bullshit on the advertised “specially designed trucks” that are lightweight and turn easy. What they meant to say was “cheaply produced since the baseplate is part of the plastic deck.” Who makes this? You’ll be slightly surprised.
Because this site is part of the Skatewing Preservation Society, enjoy these pics of a gray Skatewing. Also, this site is the only member of the Skatewing Preservation Society.
Until the advent of concaves and laminated board construction, the barrier to entry in skateboard manufacturing was pretty low, especially if you already had a business that manufactured wooden objects. That’s why there were a plethora of small, regional skateboard brands in the 70’s like the Land Glider, made by Kentucky Woodcrafts in Gray Hawk, Kentucky. Gray Hawk is a small unincorporated community about an hour and a half south of Lexington. My bet is there’s someone in that community that still knows who made these. There does not appear to be business with that name currently, but I did find one 11 miles away in Mckee, Kentucky with a. dead phone number. Yes, it is 12:30pm on a Tuesday in Portland, Oregon and I am calling random wood shops in Kentucky trying to find out (what?) about an almost 50 year old skateboard.
There are a lot of skateboard themed decorative light switch covers out there. Most of them are bad, and some of them are really bad, but at least one of them is amazing. There is only one, Señor Skateboard.
Chris Carmichael used to work for Gullwing and can remember shipping 3-5 thousand trucks a week, and he swears that went on for at least 15 years. One thing he cannot remember however, is which model this sand casting mold is for.
I lurk on the web site Action Transfers web site on a recurring basis ever couple of years, mostly waiting for them to post the Battle of Midway set I had as a kid. Action Transfers was the brand name for the dry-rub decals made by the Letraset company. Aside from making the lettering that 80’s zine makers (and graphic designers, I presume) loved so much, they also made sets containing illustrations you could place on the provided scenery. This is essentially Colorform sets that were permanent once applied. Sure, you could do that with stickers too, but this method somehow seemed more glamorous. What you are looking at above, however, is a plain old iron on t-shirt transfer. It turns out “Action Transfers” occasionally produced t-shirt transfers as well, and why not? It was originally all screen printed. These two skateboard designs are among the few documented shirt transfers on the Action transfers site.
