Publisher: Dimwit Publishing
Publication Date: 2025
Perfect Bound: 80 pages
If you’ve spent any time on skateboard-related social media you may have come across Michiel Walrave, either his illustrations or his skateboard company Meltdown. He’s got probably the largest collection of Skate Zombies known to mankind. He also collects toy store skateboards, or gateway skateboards as he describes them:
….when I first came across these things back when I was a kid, they felt like something more than a toy or a piece of sports equipment. The cheesy branding, wild slogans and cartoony graphics transported me into a world that seemed both cool and dangerous, a world of uniqueness and personal style. In other words, these boards made promises of entering real skateboard culture and it’s easy to see why: These toy versions mimicked the real deal. The non-sensical ‘brand’ names spoke to me with an air of legitimacy, and some graphics were actually really good. Not knowing any better back then, for a short time these toy manufacturers had me fooled for sure! And I’m glad they did – their product served an important purpose as a gateway into the world of actual skateboard culture.
This book is a catalog of an exhibition of some of his collection held in early 2025. It used to be for sale directly on Meltdown but it looks like you’ll have to do a little searching to find a copy these days. (Note to self: Don’t wait a year to write a review.)
Here’s a couple sample spreads. Please ignore my finger.
You’ll notice there aren’t any words in these samples. There is short introduction and epilogue, but otherwise it’s just the pictures speaking for themselves. It was a decsion that was intentional by necessity. There simply isn’t a record of this toy store boards out there, no ex-pros to ask about them, nothing but easy auctions and the occasional “Found this at a yard sale, how much is it worth” posts in discussion forums.
There are even a couple bootlegs featured, like the “Jess Kendall” and “Monty Nolaer” [sic].
Think of Gateway Skateboards as a lowbrow version of Disposable. If you enjoy the cheesy side of skateboard history it’s well worth tracking down. You must enjoy it if you’re reading Skate and Annoy!