Speak of the devil. I am a fan of Jeremy's skating. Hook Ups in the begining wasn't all that bad. At least from the view point of someone my age at the time. Now it is straight up nerd juice.
On the same coin, I didn't mind Destroying America for a few time viewings.
It is safe to say though, JK is kinda like Metallica. If you just pretend the career halted at whatever point it is you choose, it was a good ride.
The first couple of Japanimation graphics Jeremy had were fine. I liked Shogun Warriors, Star Blazers and Voltron when I was little, so his graphics reminded me of that. It just wasn't a concept that was worthy of its own (still going?) company. I know the Midwest is a little slow to trends, but even the disenfranchised youth of the area have to be over Hook - Ups by now.
I've never had a problem with Jeremy's skating. I was going to say he's been milking it since Rubbish Heap, but he always had a good part in each of the Birdhouse videos. I even contemplated buying the last Birdhouse video because he was in it. In interviews, he always seemed like he was stuck in this weird vacuum that clung to the Rubbish Heap days a little too much.
I could probably watch Destroying America again and find it amusing. I liked the Bam/CKY stuff at first and then the joke got old.
Hook Ups current day is kinda like Expedtion in my mind. I always wonder how it is still in business because I never see or have seen for that matter anyone riding one, anywhere.
But, there has to be a demand, it has outlasted handfuls of what most considered to be sure things.
JK's parts in Feasters, Untitled, and Ravers were great in my book. Power moves when most were pretending to do freestyle on breadboxes, coupled with shit style.
I will gladly go out on a limb and say I would rather take JK anyday throughout his career to say Joel Suriel or the like.
Not sure how to take the midwest generalization. Ignorance and Ego aren't traits I tend to bath in on the regular.
I kid because I love. It's just a dumb generalization. What was the old school of thought on the matter? Trends are born in LA and NYC and by the time they reach the rest of the country, they are dead. I fully appreciate the Midwest and apologize if I offended anybody.
I have seen exactly one person riding an Expedition board and that was ten years ago. Maybe a couple of DGK boards here and there, but that's about it.
No real offense taken Justin. Being from the midwest myself, I alway countered with, " the space from each coast act as a ego and fluff filters, so when we get it, we get it how it really is."
That statement is just as dumb as the other generalization. Or is it?
And all this Midwest stereotyping is funny as well 8^)
For a while there withing the first few years of Hook-ups, I remember seeing my local shops copy of transworld business and Hook-ups was the #1 selling board company. Think about that. All profits go to Jeremy Klein because they were all team models... no pro's to pay, no am's to pay. That's crazy.
Remember those Hook-up shoes? With the red eyed character on the side and they came in a box with the clear window like toys?
You guys have to understand it's about WAY more than just the skater appeal here. There's not a large, not huge, but a GIGANTIC niche of people who enjoy everything and anything anime/japanimation style. I would imagine that maybe even upwards of 90% of the Hook-ups boards ever sold were never ridden and went straight to collections. Not everything is about trends, anime isn't a trend anymore, not when Borders and the like have AISLES of the stuff for sale in their mall stores, and places like the dreaded Hot Topic carry plenty of that style of merchandise. I personally find that style boring and in the "round-eye" sense, borderline racist, but it's undeniable the impact it has had on youth culture the past decade plus.
I didn't even think about the anime fans. It all makes sense now.
One of my friends is a high school art teacher. He won't let his students do any sort of Japanimation type stuff because he wants to push them to be better.
I guy I skate with came to our park last year with a brand new Hook-Ups deck every day of the summer; he would sell them to the kids for cheap.
It turned out his neighbor's dad (who was about 60) had an entire collection of Hook-Ups decks that were just sitting in boxes in an attic after the dad passed away. The dad would take part of every paycheck and buy two to three boards at a time. And this went on for years, so there were hundreds of decks. Neither the dad nor the son skated, so those boards were never ridden and some were still in the plastic.
I just got two hook-ups decks the other day and i loved them, they had awesome pop. I would get another. They came out with a new series of them, they're just a bitch to find. And I think the metallica analogy is awesome
17 comments:
Speak of the devil. I am a fan of Jeremy's skating. Hook Ups in the begining wasn't all that bad. At least from the view point of someone my age at the time. Now it is straight up nerd juice.
On the same coin, I didn't mind Destroying America for a few time viewings.
It is safe to say though, JK is kinda like Metallica. If you just pretend the career halted at whatever point it is you choose, it was a good ride.
Great ad.
The first couple of Japanimation graphics Jeremy had were fine. I liked Shogun Warriors, Star Blazers and Voltron when I was little, so his graphics reminded me of that. It just wasn't a concept that was worthy of its own (still going?) company. I know the Midwest is a little slow to trends, but even the disenfranchised youth of the area have to be over Hook - Ups by now.
I've never had a problem with Jeremy's skating. I was going to say he's been milking it since Rubbish Heap, but he always had a good part in each of the Birdhouse videos. I even contemplated buying the last Birdhouse video because he was in it. In interviews, he always seemed like he was stuck in this weird vacuum that clung to the Rubbish Heap days a little too much.
I could probably watch Destroying America again and find it amusing. I liked the Bam/CKY stuff at first and then the joke got old.
Hook Ups current day is kinda like Expedtion in my mind. I always wonder how it is still in business because I never see or have seen for that matter anyone riding one, anywhere.
But, there has to be a demand, it has outlasted handfuls of what most considered to be sure things.
JK's parts in Feasters, Untitled, and Ravers were great in my book. Power moves when most were pretending to do freestyle on breadboxes, coupled with shit style.
I will gladly go out on a limb and say I would rather take JK anyday throughout his career to say Joel Suriel or the like.
Not sure how to take the midwest generalization. Ignorance and Ego aren't traits I tend to bath in on the regular.
I kid because I love. It's just a dumb generalization. What was the old school of thought on the matter? Trends are born in LA and NYC and by the time they reach the rest of the country, they are dead. I fully appreciate the Midwest and apologize if I offended anybody.
I have seen exactly one person riding an Expedition board and that was ten years ago. Maybe a couple of DGK boards here and there, but that's about it.
No real offense taken Justin. Being from the midwest myself, I alway countered with, " the space from each coast act as a ego and fluff filters, so when we get it, we get it how it really is."
That statement is just as dumb as the other generalization. Or is it?
I think the two cancel each other out.
Destroying America had a minute or two of great Gonz footage
lol
That Metallica analogy is great.
And all this Midwest stereotyping is funny as well 8^)
For a while there withing the first few years of Hook-ups, I remember seeing my local shops copy of transworld business and Hook-ups was the #1 selling board company. Think about that. All profits go to Jeremy Klein because they were all team models... no pro's to pay, no am's to pay. That's crazy.
Remember those Hook-up shoes? With the red eyed character on the side and they came in a box with the clear window like toys?
You guys have to understand it's about WAY more than just the skater appeal here. There's not a large, not huge, but a GIGANTIC niche of people who enjoy everything and anything anime/japanimation style. I would imagine that maybe even upwards of 90% of the Hook-ups boards ever sold were never ridden and went straight to collections. Not everything is about trends, anime isn't a trend anymore, not when Borders and the like have AISLES of the stuff for sale in their mall stores, and places like the dreaded Hot Topic carry plenty of that style of merchandise. I personally find that style boring and in the "round-eye" sense, borderline racist, but it's undeniable the impact it has had on youth culture the past decade plus.
I didn't even think about the anime fans. It all makes sense now.
One of my friends is a high school art teacher. He won't let his students do any sort of Japanimation type stuff because he wants to push them to be better.
Star Blazers and Robotech was cool growing up, but yeah, I think anime is boring and overrated. Looney Toons, however, are still amazing.
I guy I skate with came to our park last year with a brand new Hook-Ups deck every day of the summer; he would sell them to the kids for cheap.
It turned out his neighbor's dad (who was about 60) had an entire collection of Hook-Ups decks that were just sitting in boxes in an attic after the dad passed away. The dad would take part of every paycheck and buy two to three boards at a time. And this went on for years, so there were hundreds of decks. Neither the dad nor the son skated, so those boards were never ridden and some were still in the plastic.
-Rikku Markka
Thanks for beautifully illustrating my point about how many of the Hook-Ups decks were probably not even ridden.
its only about 30 seconds of gonz footage but it is classic form.
Starts at 1:00
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwM22qN10jY&feature=related
Well, I think a lot of them were ridden. But just not really skateboarded on and shit. I used to see kids that never really did tricks riding them.
I ride my Hook-Ups like any other deck. Good quality construction, too. Never mind the excellent graphics. Jeremy is King.
I just got two hook-ups decks the other day and i loved them, they had awesome pop. I would get another. They came out with a new series of them, they're just a bitch to find. And I think the metallica analogy is awesome
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