The Olympics came and went without the chatter surrounding the initial inclusion to the games in 2020. NBC featured a few seconds of skateboarding in TV commercials and yet they didn’t seem to promote it much otherwise. I watched quite a bit of the events split between about 5 different channels terrestrial TV, but only managed to catch the women’s park finals despite having the TV on in background and scouring the channels regularly. Someone in programming decided show a metric tonne of handball, filed hockey and water polo instead. I imagine it was easily accessible streaming via Peacock, but I wasn’t interested enough to look for it. One thing that I did notice this time around was the lift on the ban of skateboard brand names on the graphics of the board. In any case, this concludes my essay on Skateboarding in the Olympics, except to say that Tech Deck released a bunch of 2024 Paris Olympic fingerboards, including a few sets with obstacles. One of those sets was for Sky Brown, who actually won a bronze medal.
This cat scratching post in the shape of a skateboard comes from Suck.uk. I avoided another obvious choice of post title because Ted is a douchebag. This product is mildly amusing.
If you were exposed to it as a child and have a good heart you’re likely a fan of Richard Scarry’s children’s books and characters. Lowly Worm was always one of my favorites because he was so ridiculous looking and had such of zest for life despite not having any appendages. Super 7 has a line of licensed Richard Scarry merch that includes action figures and this very excellent t-shirt. After a quick inventory of my Super 7 related posts Ive realized that I’m constantly complaining about the price, so I’m not going to continue the traditions. I’m the proud owner of this t-shirt thanks to Father’s Day, and even if it wasn’t a gift, it’s still reasonably priced. You can get an action figure combo with Huckle Cat and Lowly that unfortunately does not include a skateboard but is still moderately priced. On the right is a rug spotted at a street fair in Bellingham Washington. I can’ recall if this is an actual illustration from a. Richard Scarry book but my gut says it is, and if I ever get to that storage unit I’ll see if I can find out what book it came from. Cars and Trucks and Things That Go seems like a likely candidate.
The bi-monthly children’s magazine Jack and Jill started in 1938 and is shockingly still in publication. On the left are 2 covers from 1977 and 1978. On the right is the August 2024 issue. A quick search of the the golden year of 1965 turned up no cover appearances in Jack and Jill, and a casual search of other decades so far has shown some examples of rollerblades and roller skates, but so far no other skateboards.
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.
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.
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!
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!
