They keep cranking ’em out. I don’t have an affinity for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but they are starting to wear me down. This Mondo Gecko figure from Super 7 is pretty cool. $55 cool? I’m not so sure. Maybe if I made better decisions in life and didnt waste so much time, effort and money on skateboarding ephemera I wouldn’t have to think twice about it.
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VibeRide is still claiming to be the world’s first longboard with a brake, which seems patently false. They’ve redesigned their original concept from a couple years ago, and this time it’s quite a bit simpler. Although they don’t give you a very good closeup of the mechanism, its looks to be the same sort of setup you see in traditional caliper brakes on bicycle, with the calipers pressing the pad out against the wheel instead of in agains a tire rim. This is aimed at the longboard market so I guess you don’t have to worry about hinging up that cable on anything. In videos they mention that it’s not meant for serious downhill use either. There’s an emphasis on beginner use, and the Switch is pretty clever in that it allows you to start with a leash, and replace it with a foot pedal once you’ve gotten the hang of it. This is the lightweight version of their original concept, which they still offer for sale. My stance on tools and setups for beginners has mellowed with age. I could see this being pretty useful for some kids or clumsy adults who wanted to get into skateboarding purely as mode of transportation of for that casual gliding fun. Just stop claiming to be the first skateboard brake. At the time of publication a complete setup was on sale for $189, down from $299. Can the pads be replaced? How does it wear down the wheel? Does it rattle on rough pavement? Who knows.
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Yes folks, the Caricature of Dorian Gray, as opposed to the picture, by Mannequinonthemoon.
– Thanks to Hon Don Gerard for the tip.
First time visitor? I’m a sucker for vintage skateboard packaging. This is a box that California Free Former model #CF-26 came in. Thanks to Andra Malczewski for the picture. That’s her and Joe Collela on the box, photographed in Redondo Beach, California. Glorious!
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After decades of only ever seeing this in an advert, in 2017 I managed to score a block print (actual block) of the Wheelee Board logo from Ebay and sat on it for a long time. I think I was going to try and print something with MC but like most of my grand ideas, never got around to it. I’m not sure about the authenticity of this, becasue it wouldn’t have been used in magazine printing of the era, but who knows, maybe for stationary or handbills… That is if these things actually existed, because I’ve never known anyone who has claimed to see one. Flash forward to couple of weeks ago and someone posts images of an actual Wheelee Board!
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This is not a picture of a cored wheel in the traditional sense. You’re seeing an intact wheel surrounded by a second pour of urethane at a later date. I had never seen anything like this, but apparently it was a tactic used at some point in the 70’s used to sell old stock of smaller wheels that were no longer popular. In this case an open bearing Cadillac wheel was used as the core. Most of them look like these do now, many decades later. Mr Owl, how many licks does it take to get to the center?
– Thanks to Dennis Kilian and Mark Manbars Baxley for the pics.
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Happy confusing St. Patrick’s Day! Yes, you are looking at what is essentially an informational comic book style publication put out by the US Army called Preventive Maintenance Monthly. How long have they been publishing these? SINCE 1951! A huge chunk of these (especially in the first few decades) feature a pinup style art of a blonde woman, usually looking out of place, sometimes in a military environment, sometimes not. In issue #304 from May of 1978, they decided to add a leprechaun to the mix. Bonus miscleaneous leprechauns on skateboards at the end of this post.
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Here’s another counterfeit Brand-X Sean Goff deck, this time in a different color way. Amazing that they straight ripped off the graphic without changing Sean’s name, and hilarious that they stuck a Powell graphic on top.
– Thanks to Christoff Vermeulen for the pics.
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I’m what is known as a hater. I hate this club and I hate their supporters group. Here’s a Suicidal Tendencies themed tifo for their 2024 season opener against the Seattle Sounders (who I also hate). All I wanted was a supporters group with some history, but you wouldn’t give it to me…
Skate and Annoy is your go-to resource for Major League Soccer and skateboarding.
