Max Schaaf #15.

Vert Wall.

Max had been getting boards from Dogtown before Jim Thiebaud and Tommy Guerrero approached him about riding for the recently formed Real Skateboards. After checking with his mom and Jake Phelps, he accepted the offer. In other vert news, Real added ramp style king Jimmy Wilkins to the team after he had departed from Creature.

Thrasher - September 2005 Volume 25 Number 9

Anthony Correa #4.

Big ups to King Meat.

Zoo York's resident Texan blasts a big ollie shifty and skids a back tail across a bike rack.

The photographs are by Giovanni Reda.

Big Brother - November 2000 Number 66

Quim Cardona #10.

The Power of the Grid.

I think the story was that Quim got the boot from Real for switching to Tracker Trucks. This obviously necessitated a new board sponsor and Zoo York fit the bill. It's kind of a strange scenario, but let's face it, way more peculiar things have happened in skateboarding.

The 50-50 photo is by Giovanni Reda and the ollie photo is by Mike O'Meally.

Big Brother - April 2000 Number 59

Harold Hunter #5.

Styling and profiling!

A big part of why I watch the Knicks is for the wit and wisdom of Walt "Clyde" Frazier.

Eli Morgan Gesner snapped the photographs.

Big Brother - March 2000 Number 58

Danny Supa #5.

Hailing from the Bronx, Danny took opposite footed tricks up a few notches in the second half of the 1990s.

Zoo York had the freshest ads in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I guess Palace would be the modern day heir to that realm of skateboarding.

The photographs are by Giovanni Reda.

Big Brother - February 2000 Number 57

Todd Jordan.

Zoo York City.

Todd is from Kingston, NY. He rode for Zoo York and Nike. Todd has a degree in photography from the New York School of Visual Arts. His photos have been used for Zoo York graphics and he has had a few books published.

The pictures are by Giovanni Reda.

Big Brother - January 2000 Number 56

Alan Petersen & Karma Tsocheff #3.

Soul & onward.

Some things last a long time and Vert Is Dead turns 14 years old today. Thanks for all the support.

The photos of Alan and Karma are by Nik Freitas.

Ramp: Big Brother - February 2002 Number 81

AP: Big Brother - September 2000 Number 64

Karma: Big Brother - October 2000 Number 65

Scott Bourne #10.

Skateboarding's resident typewriter user ponders the state of board graphics back in 1999. I wonder what he thinks of where things are at these days?

Consolidated would often run odd ads like this one:

The 50-50 photo is by Joe Brook. The confrontation photos are by Brian Gaberman.

Confused: Big Brother - November 1999 Number 54

Fight Club: Big Brother - May 2000 Number 60

Clint Peterson, Seth McCallum & Steve Nesser.

Mats vs. Huskers.

Minnesota became a big part of Consolidated's identity at the turn of the century. In addition to a number of riders, they also acquired artist Todd Bratrud from the Land of 10,000 Lakes. The Cube's blue collar work ethic played well all across the Midwest, too.

I actually got to hear some local skate gossip on Sunday. I ran into a guy from Jamestown at the Dunkirk park. The Grindline crew is building a new park in Jamestown, which I knew about already. Anyway, when they aren't on the clock for the city, they are helping build a concrete bowl at Jamestown Skateboard Products along with fixing up assorted street spots in town.

The pictures of Clint and Seth are by Andrew Hutchinson. Nik Freitas took Steve's picture. Thrasher filmer Ewan Bowman is in the photo, too.

Clint: Big Brother - March 2000 Number 58

Seth: Big Brother - February 2001 Number 69

Steve: Big Brother - March 2001 Number 70

Consolidated Can Cover.

The Cola Wars.

Consolidated was never afraid to make a joke or a rebuttal in response to whatever was going on in skateboarding at a given moment. In 1999 or early 2000, Anti-Hero made a fake soda can sticker that you could put over your beer. Consolidated's reply was a fake beer can sticker you could put over a non-alcoholic beverage so you could play a prank on people.

I like how they included the lyrics to the song Leland Palmer sings in Twin Peaks in the sticker design.

Big Brother - August 2000 Number 63

Steve Bailey, Howard Cooke, Richard Paez & Ryan Wilburn.

Consolidated rolled with a heavy crew of underground rippers over the years.

I've covered the Cube pretty well already on here, but I wanted to put together a little more inclusive closeout feature since they announced that they are calling it quits after three decades in the business.

The photos are by Nik Freitas, Dennis McGrath, and Brian Uyeda.

Steve: Big Brother - April 2000 Number 59

Howard: Big Brother - February 2000 Number 57

Richard: Big Brother - June 2002 Number 85

Ryan: Big Brother - July 2001 Number 74

Ryan Townley #2.

Hypnagogia.

Ryan summons up a big second story ollie.

The photo is by Ben Karpinski.

Thrasher - November 2018 Volume 39 Number 11

Karl Berglind.

Big air.

I simply thought this was such a sick photo and ad.

Here's a bonus awkward vacation photo with Jason, Nora, and Roman:

All the photos are by Richard Valdez.

Karl: Thrasher - January 2018 Volume 39 Number 1

Vacation: Thrasher - September 2018 Volume 39 Number 9

Aaron Goure.

Memory Bliss.

Aaron is into making music and studied sound recording technology. He'll even bring his laptop and mics along on tour so people can record some jams in the van.

Alex Papke snapped the photograph.

Thrasher - October 2017 Volume 38 Number 10

Will Blaty #2.

Will summons up a street grab over and out of a unique piece of contemporary architecture.

Alex Papke took the photographs.

Thrasher - September 2017 Volume 38 Number 9

Rick Fabro.

Soul Arch.

Rick had a shared part with Roman Pabich in Welcome's 2017 Fetish video. He skated a lot of bowls and parks in the section. Rick was throwing down some long Smith grinds, frontside airs, boneless ones, and body jars. He rode for Vagrant before being summoned to the Welcome team. I don't have much info on him. I just like the design of the ad.

The photo is by Jeff Davis.

Thrasher - August 2017 Volume 38 Number 8

Jerry Hsu & Ryan Lay.

Life is just a fantasy, can you live this fantasy life?

After Jerry parted ways with Chocolate in 2017, he started Sci-Fi Fantasy, which was primarily a clothing company. He later expanded it to include boards. Ryan Lay was recently announced as the first pro on the team. Ryan had been with Welcome for a long time after stints on Rasa Libre and enjoi. He wanted to do something different, feeling he had accomplished all he could at Welcome.

Ryan's picture is by Richie Valdez

Jerry: Thrasher - September 2016 Volume 37 Number 9

Ryan: Thrasher - May 2018 Volume 39 Number 5

Rick Howard #18.

Green cells grey.

Rick is doing a crailtap on Mike O'Meally's cruiser setup.

The photos are by Mike O'Meally. I like how they cited that it was his board, too.

Thrasher - September 2018 Volume 39 Number 9

Peter Ramondetta #5.

Pete goes way over the top with the aid of a DIY launch ramp. I miss the days of HUF shoes. It's also cool how Real keeps retired riders on their roster so people won't forget the history of the team.

Thrasher - June 2017 Volume 38 Number 6

Ben Kadow.

Ben is from Brewster, New York, which is a small town north of New York City. He would skateboard at a park in nearby Connecticut when he was growing up since there weren't many local spots. Ben enjoys food and probably would be a cook if he wasn't sponsored. He rode for 3D prior to lacing up his skates for Hockey. For entertainment, he listens to WFMU and watches the NY Yankees. He likes Cheez-Its. Ben's skating is on the hardcore side and he'll often do tricks that are more difficult than they should be. This usually involves a 50-50 or boardslide in a tight space or over a gap at a spot most skaters would skip. It took me a while to figure out what I thought of Ben before deciding I was a fan. His Triple Backflip part where he skates to a bunch of weird noises was a big plus in my book. Although I don't care for the Yankees, knowing that he watches baseball is cool, too.

I've been lurking Skate Twitter for a bit and mostly like it. Hit me up at justingoetz. My account is private because I like to keep when I take my lunch break a secret so send me a follower request.

Thrasher - June 2018 Volume 39 Number 6

Max Palmer.

That's not a spot.

Max is from Columbus, Ohio. He moved to New York City to attend college at the Pratt Institute. Max has a BFA in Photography and a minor in Art History. He worked as a studio assistant for artist Sara VanDerBeek after graduating college in addition to being a sponsored skateboarder. He rode for Coda before joining and turning pro for Alex Olson's 917. In 2021, he departed for Limosine, a new company with Logan Lara, Aaron Loreth, Hugo Boserup, Cyrus Bennett, Nelly Morville, and a few others. Max is famous for skating spots that are rather unique and difficult to do tricks on.

I got a bunch of new stuff scanned and organized so things are in better shape than they were two weeks ago. Not that anything was in bad shape, I just needed a break from this thing. I found a couple guys I'd been meaning to do posts on that had eluded me, too.

Congrats to Jamie Foy on winning the SPoT's 2022 Tampa Pro.

The photo is by Alex Pires.

Thrasher - September 2018 Volume 39 Number 9