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.
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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.
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You know we’re suckers for vintage skateboard wheels, especially when they include packaging, not to mention Sears skateboards. This set of Sears Sidewalk Surfer replacement wheels currently has a buy-it-now option of $169.99 from an Ebay seller named “Lots O Camera Stuff.” The box says these wheels are compatible with skateboards “equipped with rink roller skate wheels.” So they basically stuck half set of rollerskating wheels in a special box. Check out that open bearing wholesomeness.
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Josh Baker spotted this Miller Beer fiberglass skateboard made by the folks at R.A.C.O. and noticed it wasn’t among those in a previous post. Apparently, (allegedly?) the going rate is $315. Insert joke about flat beer.
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Yeah, I’ve never heard of Thor Skateboards before, and neither has Michiel Walrave, except for this one.
This Punk Skull (as I imagine it would be called) model is a rebranded Valterra – the deck is Valterra (same shape as one of their Skate Zombie shapes), the trucks, wheels, plastics…all Valterra. I now wonder if this graphic was used first under the Valterra umbrella. I’ve seen a lesser quality dept store board with the same graphic before. Either way, super rad looking mid 80s tank.
Agreed. Michel has a massive collection of obscure toy store and D-list brand skateboards. Check out @michielwalrave for more.
Skateboard Rally, a radical predicting outcomes game with a skatepark that looks liek it was designed by A.I. You can get yours from Lakeshore Games, or wherever action-packed comprehension skill games are sold.
– Thanks to Tim Gordon for the tip.
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Many moons ago (I think I had a different phone…) I worked out a deal with Doc SkateRock to import some of his books over to the states and sell them at a reasonable price, just to make it more attractive to buy here in the USA and Canada. Well I finally got everything sorted out on my end so now is the time for you to BUY THE BEST BOOK ON VINTAGE SKATEROCK! Sure, I prefer to call it skatesploitation, but I didn’t write the book.
Because this required some bookkeeping I had to set up an actual store instead of a couple of PayPal buttons. I’d say that was the reason this took so long, but regular readers (and Doc) knows that isn’t true.
A “must” accessory for every skater! It’s the skateboard horn! Push the button, make the horn warn.
Not a lot is known about this skateboard horn, but it seems to be mid to late 70’s vintage. Turns out the UM-2 batteries are basically Japanese C-cells. I like that the person riding the skateboard is also wearing some sort of safety monitor or crossing guard sash. Good stuff.
– Thanks to Alphonzo Mills for the photos.
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This is not going to be a trend here… or maybe it is. This rad dude with a bitichin’ ‘tude was spotted on TV during an MLS match between Sporting Kansas City and LAFC. Soccer and Skateboarding crossovers are the sport of the future. He looks like Clint Dempsey.
