Gershon Mosley #9.

Overlap.

Gershon does a switch Smith grind on a handrail. Based on his Transworld interview from December 1995, he was into hip hop and The Sundays for music. Some of his favorite skaters were Marc Johnson, Jamie Thomas, and Mike Vallely. He was stoked on skating vert and felt it was a natural progression from mini ramps. GMOS rode for Simple before Etnies/Emerica.

This is the ender on the look back at the transition from Etnies to Emerica. It was interesting to see how the changes happened. There was some team shuffling and riders departed for other sponsors as skateboarding grew in popularity in the later half of the 1990s. For instance, Gershon moved on to Osiris by November of 1997 and then switched to Globe by the end of 1998. Another fun one is Rune Glifberg. He was on Airwalk after Emerica and possibly departed Airwalk after his October 1998 Slap cover where he was wearing Vans. He belonged on Axion anyway. It's cool that Emerica is still going today, even with all the up and downs that go with skateboarding.

Vert Is Dead is taking a fall break.

I'll fire this thing up again on Monday, October 12th.

I might end up only doing two weeks of stuff this month. I've got something dark planned for Halloween and could opt to take it easy. I'll see how it goes. I've been skateboarding a little after work since the weather has been still been warm. Have a good one!

Thrasher - January 1997 Volume 17 Number 1

Chris Senn #16.

Overground.

It somehow made sense that Chris won Thrasher's SOTY for 1995. I can't really explain it, but it seemed like the correct choice at the time. This is perhaps because SOTY was a tad more low key back then and not the all out marketing campaign it has become in the last 15 years. The March 1996 issue that announced Chris had won featured Ron Whaley on the cover with only a blurb proclaiming the Senn Dog as the top skater of 1995. He did have a full interview. The award was an important thing, yet it was also treated with less reverence. When Eric Koston won for 1996, he cool guy'd an interview and the mag ran two pages of photos, which included a sequence from the X-Games. It's interesting how things change over time and to note the differences between different eras.

Thrasher - November 1996 Volume 16 Number 11

Darren Navarrette #19.

Dig for fire.

Thrasher - October 1996 Volume 16 Number 10

Phil Shao #16.

Dump Truck.

Phil takes flight at Fort Miley. The photo was probably taken around the same time as his Thrasher cover where he grinded the top bar. It's not the same session because he's wearing a white shirt and riding a board with black wheels on the cover. This Emerica ad could almost double as a Sheep ad. It's wild to think Sole Tech had enough gas in the tank to briefly field four different shoes lines in skateboarding in the late 1990s.

Thrasher - September 1996 Volume 16 Number 9

Tim Brauch #21.

Hiding in the shadows.

Tim's ad would be the first Emerica ad that looked like an Emerica ad with the new company name. I think he's doing a mute air of some sort over a hip in the photo. Tim was moved back to the Etnies roster by December of 1997. I went with another week of Emerica because it completes the story of the changeover and established what the company would be going forward. Plus there are some cool skaters in the ads.

Thrasher - August 1996 Volume 16 Number 8

Rune Glifberg #9.

The dawn of Emerica.

This is the first formal Emerica ad from 30 years ago. It looks like they moved the whole Etnies squad over to the new brand. Etnies was then put on the back burner until the later 1990s since they were also focusing on the all-star team at éS. There are a few long forgotten names on the list. The team didn't stay this big for long as many of the riders left for other shoe companies like Axion, DC, Globe, Osiris, and Vans.

I didn't really have much going on this week. I skateboarded some, but I think I'm worn out and need a bit of a break. Hope everybody has a good weekend.

Thrasher - July 1996 Volume 16 Number 7

Gershon Mosley #8.

Automation avoidance.

GMOS was wrecking spots for a good chunk of the 1990s. He was pushing what you could do with switch stance skateboarding as well as skating mini ramps. He had previously ridden for Powell and Human before joining the A-Team in the fall of 1997. This is essentially an Emerica ad masquerading as an Etnies ad.

Thrasher - June 1996 Volume 16 Number 6

Jamie Thomas #19.

Nice receptionist.

This ad is an outlier in the changeover from Etnies to Emerica. Jamie's trick and headband basically dictated a vintage 1970s look. The 50-50 was in Welcome To Hell, which premiered right about the same time as the mag hit the newsstands. I imagine they wanted a last call for their old style of design before starting the new project. Or maybe not, as they did use something somewhat similar for the debut of Emerica. I like everything about this one.

Thrasher - May 1996 Volume 16 Number 5

Dan Drehobl #37.

Decay of modern society.

It's neat to see how Etnies developed the aesthetic for Emerica in their last couple ads under the old name. Yogi Proctor was the graphic designer and he had a vision for what the artwork should be. Emerica has more or less stayed consistent with this look over the decades. Obviously there will be changes as time passes, but they haven't strayed too far from the original concepts.

I don't associate Dan with Etnies as much as I do with Emerica. This must've been his first ad for Etnies since I don't recall any others. He had his fair share of ads for Emerica in the later 1990s and early 2000s before he switched to Vans. It's also a little odd to see him wearing the Etnies shirt since he usually wears thrift store tees, plain shirts or button downs.

Thrasher - April 1996 Volume 16 Number 4

Chris Senn #15.

Etnies America.

I decided to take a look at the transformation of Etnies to Emerica for the next two weeks. The publicly visible part of the change happened in 1996 and moved along from month to month in the ads that ran in Thrasher. I'm sure there was more behind the scenes stuff that took longer, but the advertisements create an easy to follow chronological breakdown of what happened. I'm going by memory so things might end up a tad hazy. Anyway, this Etnies ad has the company listed as Etnies America. I'm considering it the starting point of the changeover.

Chris Senn is in peak SOTY form in this ad. His son Anakin makes a guest appearance. It's wild to think the kid would grow up to be a pro skateboarder like his dad.

Thrasher - March 1996 Volume 16 Number 3

Sean Mullendore #12.

Tones of magenta.

Sean squeezes a switch 50/50 against a wall in an alley. I didn't remember this Capital ad and thought I'd covered most of their stuff. It's always nice to unearth something you had missed or forgotten about. Sean ripped around DC and was sponsored by Capital, Stereo, Circuit Wheels, and a few other companies.

The season is slowly changing from summer to fall, although our weather tends to stay mild for the weeks ahead. I've been trying to fit in skateboarding whenever possible, but the lack of daylight and occasional rain is throwing me off. The next feature will be a look at how Etnies switched over to being Emerica. I've got some Dukes Shoes and possibly éS planned for the future. Have a good weekend out there.

The photos are by Ben Wagner.

Big Brother - Spring 1997 Issue 25

Wade Speyer #15.

Evil Eye.

Wade trucks a frontside pivot up to the top of a tall vert wall. I like this photo and had been looking for the ad for a while, but couldn't find until recently. The trick was in his part in Dedication, the Think video from 1998. That's the part where Wade destroys the spine ramp at the indoor park in Antioch.

RIP MIC-E.

"This year Mic-E Reyes is at the helm and he never sleeps."

For the Real ad: Slap - September 1995 Volume 4 Number 9

Thrasher - April 1997 Volume 17 Number 4

Scott Bourne #12.

Bourne winner.

I watched the Mongolia trip section from Strongest of the Strange a couple of times recently. Scott traveled to Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia, with Pontus Alv, Muki Rüstig, Vincent Gootzen, and a young Chris Pfanner. If I recall correctly, he had a rough journey because a vegan diet isn't an easy option out there. I think the part is really cool because of the atmosphere the less traveled location creates for skateboarding. The crew still manages to find some ramps and hit a few street spots. The plaintive Neil Young song sets the proper tone for the place and the distance they travelled. It's neat to see Pfanner blast a couple of big gaps and stairs before he became a household name.

The photo is by Bryce Kanights.

Slap - March 2001 Volume 10 Number 3

Louie Lopez #2.

Consolidated was right.

The general talk in skateboarding lately has been of the team cuts at Converse. I guess the brand isn't selling as many shoes as they used to in the heyday of the Cherry era and parent company Nike is looking to make some adjustments to help the bottom line. It sucks for some of the riders who aren't the bigger names because they probably won't be able to land another shoe sponsor simply because the money isn't out there.

It's strange that this spot hasn't changed much since Steve Nesser ollied it back in 2006. I wonder what the place is?

Thrasher - July 2021 Volume 42 Number 7

Adidas.

It's no wonder the big time shoe companies found it hard to gain traction in skateboarding in the 1990s. They were simply trying too hard to be hip and followed many of the awkward alternative advertising trends of the era. It's also worth noting that DC and éS were inspired by the aesthetics of the bigger shoe brands and pulled it off much better than who they were inspired by.

It's one more week of random stuff and then I've got a couple features ready to go. I wanted to get the early days of Adidas out of the way since it was on my mind.

Tongue: Thrasher - March 1997 Volume 17 Number 3

Positrak: Thrasher - October 1996 Volume 16 Number 10

Fire: Thrasher - September 1996 Volume 16 Number 9

Rob Welsh #11.

Neon Optical Art.

Rob preserves his graphics with a frontside bluntslide. He's riding an Aesthetics board and would turn pro for them later on in 1999. This has to be one of the more disorienting and vibrant Venture ads ever.

Vert Is Dead is on a late summer break.

I'm taking next week off from this thing. There's a chance I might take two weeks off. I'll see how it goes. I've found a few interesting items that I have to put together. It feels like I never have time for stuff any more.

I'm still looking for the Adidas Norton ad with Paulo Diaz. It was a sequence of him doing a manual trick in a garage or warehouse setting. The shoes were available from Sartorius in 1995, which corresponds to the release date I found. I've checked most of the Transworlds and Thrashers from 1994 to 1997 and haven't found anything. I'm wondering if it ran in a different mag or even a non-skating mag? I'm going to put this one on the back burner because it is driving me crazy. I don't really like Adidas so I'm not sure what my motivation is to find it beyond proving that it exists. I did find a couple of other Adidas ads. If you think Nike had an awkward initial foray into skateboarding, Adidas struck out swinging on three straight pitches.

There's been rain and early sunsets so skateboarding has been lackluster lately. I did check out the new park on the Seneca Nation's Reservation. It's a little Grindline creation with some ledges, a tiny hip, quarter pipes, and a bowled wall type of obstacle. The place is really fun and has me stoked on skateboarding again. Have a good weekend!

Slap - April 1999 Volume 8 Number 4

Skip Pronier #11.

Brickyard.

I've always been a fan of Skip after reading a couple of interviews with him in Thrasher and Transworld a very long time ago. He rode for the Black Label, Vans, Indy, and TSA Clothing.

The photo is by Dean Yoshihara.

Thrasher - June 1997 Volume 17 Number 6

Javier Mendizabal #8.

Barbed wire skies.

I gave Strongest of the Strange a rewatch a couple weeks ago. It's such a great video and hard to believe 21 years have passed since it was released. Javier has one of my favorite parts ever. He's living in France, painting, and surfing these days after being pro for Cliché. I never knew that Javier was getting some boards from Stereo.

The photo is credited to Palo. I'm not sure on a full name.

Slap - November 1999 Volume 8 Number 7

Brad Hayes #2.

Here for a good time, not a long time.

Good Times Operation (GTO) was a clothing company from San Diego that was around in 1995. The team was Marc Johnson, Brad Hayes, and Tony Tieu. Marc was often wearing their shirts at the time and that's what made me think of them. GTO also had a women's line called Ethyl. Brad rode for Acme, Origin, Volcom, and a couple other companies. According to the quote section in Big Brother once, his sponsor me tape was heavy.

Transworld - November 1995 Volume 13 Number 11

Josh Kalis #16.

Three Stripes.

The early days of Adidas sponsoring skaters recently came up on the Mostly Skateboarding podcast. I'm inclined to believe Josh was on Adidas for a hot minute by virtue of being in an ad for them. He was wearing shell toes on the cover of the November 1995 issue of Transworld, too. Julien Stranger is also wearing these shoes in an Anti-Hero ad from February of 1996 so Adidas must've been making some effort to get into skateboarding. Did Josh ever discuss the sponsorship? I don't recall him doing so, but he does give a lot of interviews so I could've easily missed it. I wonder if this was maybe a one-off advertising project? It's an interesting little detour before Josh would find his home at DC Shoes. It would take more than a few years before Adidas finally staked out their space in the skateboard footwear marketplace.

Transworld - June 1996 Volume 14 Number 6

Roman Gonzalez.

Classical architecture.

Roman is from Paris and lives in Marsille. He's been on Polar a long time and turned pro in 2021. I don't know too much about him. I keep buying his boards because they are always in the size I like. This is a good use of the two shot sequence, which can sometimes look very awkward.

I set up a new board last night. You can probably figure out from the post what it is. I've been trying to skate the park a little more since the lights are on and the sun sets earlier. I want to get to some of the other local parks, but never have the time or the weather ends up being weird. Skateboarding hasn't really been a lot of fun lately. I keep trying, but nothing ever clicks. It's getting frustrating. Have a good weekend.

Thrasher - March 2021 Volume 42 Number 3

Daniel Bergström.

Computer Age.

Daniel Bergström, formerly Håkansson, had the last part in Strongest of the Strange. This was Pontus Alv's first video from 2005 that laid the framework for what Polar would be. Daniel is from Malmö, Sweden and likes to skate odd, crusty spots. I only know a minimal amount of information about him. I feel content with one video part from twenty years ago where he absolutely crushed every spot to the sounds of Sonic Youth covering Neil Young.

The photo is by Nils Svensson. I had to crop it a little since it awkwardly ran across two pages.

Free - March/April 2022 Issue 41

Dave Mayhew #4.

Enjoy hats.

It's a bit of that classic Marc Johnson humor. In an era when everything was either hesh and serious or fresh and serious, a little silliness went a long way to stand out from what everybody else was doing. That's the spirit Marc brought to skateboarding and part of why he was so important.

Transworld - May 2001 Volume 19 Number 5

Spitfire Fun Facts.

Nitpicking.

The flame head logo actually first appeared in the May 1992 issue of Thrasher. It was in most of the ads after that. I'm not sure how they got December 1993 beyond somebody not doing enough research. I'm more than a little surprised Billy Pepper was mentioned in the Mag.

The bit about Frank Gerwer sending riders he wasn't stoked on the wrong size wheels is pure comedy gold.

Thrasher - December 2025 Volume 46 Number 12

Bam Margera & Matt Hensley.

The lonesome crowded west.

I was wondering why Bam's new Zero ad was lacking the impact of Daniel Sturt's iconic picture of Matt Hensley. I didn't recall the big trees being there. It turns out the world's largest cowboy hat and boots were moved to a new location in 2003 so it is impossible to take the same photograph again. In all honesty, Bam's photo is very good, especially when you see it in print, but it doesn't have the sense of space that elevates the picture of Matt to a classic image of the American open road.

The photos are by Green Gage and Daniel H. Sturt.

Bam: Thrasher - September 2026 Volume 47 Number 9

Matt: Transworld - February 1992 Volume 10 Number 2

Jake Johnson #9.

Keep on complying.

Jake steps to a no-comply over a famous Barcelona barrier. I thought this was a sick photo when it came out over a decade ago and it has held up enough in the information overload age to stay in my memory. I unintentionally wound up with back to back no-comply covers.

Has anybody ever hit for the cycle on covers by being on all the mags? That would be Thrasher, Transworld, Slap, Big Brother, Skateboarder, and The Skateboard Mag. You'd get some bonus points if you made it on the front of Poweredge, Warp, Heckler, or Stance, too. I think maybe one to three pros have done the Big Six plus Poweredge.

I completely forgot to include Transworld in the week. Oops.

Have a good weekend!

The photo is by Dan Zaslavsky.

Thrasher - October 2015 Volume 36 Number 10

Rune Glifberg #8.

Incineration.

Rune does a no-comply on the mini ramp at Empire of One Skate Shop in Flint, Michigan. This is good use of a bold black and white photo with only a smidge of red added to create emphasis. On a newsstand of color covers, the issue would jump out by being distinct in its own way. It's a little odd seeing Rune wearing those Vans with the double wide stripe. Maybe he didn't have a shoe sponsor in 1998? He started riding for Axion in 1999. I picked this cover because it was a skater doing an unexpected trick on different terrain than we are used to seeing them on.

Lance Dawes was the photographer.

Slap - October 1998 Volume 7 Number 10

Steve & Alex Olson.

The Freight Train & The Greyhound.

Steve teams up with his son Alex to do some doubles at the Supreme bowl in Los Angeles. You don't see doubles covers very often, which is probably a good thing and maybe the only time skateboarding actually does something in moderation. That's why this image occurred to me when I was picking out mags to scan. This is also unique in that Steve was on the cover of Skateboarder back in 1979 and Alex made the front in 2005. I'm not really sure what they were going for with those nicknames. Their interview was a whole bunch of hilarious bickering back and forth about stuff.

Note: I filled in the white box for the address label since it was an easy fix.

The photograph is by Giovanni Reda.

Skateboarder - November 2007 Volume 17 Number 3

Daewon Song #10.

Epic Pole Jam.

This was one of the final tricks in Daewon's part from Skate More, the DVS video from 2005. I remember being amazed by the skinny rock to fakie when the magazine came out. It's a relatively basic move done on a completely unstable obstacle, which makes it relatable yet seem utterly impossible. I imagine I saw the video after the mag came out due to the turnaround time on ordering Skate More. I don't think it lessened the impact of the trick, unlike when a shoe company drops the footage for a cover in a 14 second standalone commercial for an issue that technically shouldn't be out for another two months. There's no sense of wonder any more. Enough grousing about how everything is awful these days, let's get back to Daewon. He refined his schoolyard techniques and took his talents to assorted ditches, banks, loading docks, flatbed trailers, and whatever other out of the way spots he could find. To be exact, he hit up the well known spots of the day, too. In the end, the result was some very creative skateboarding and one of the most important video parts of the last 25 years.

Anthony Acosta took the photo.

The Skateboard Mag - August 2005 Issue 17

Bam Margera #8.

The OG Man Ramp.

It feels like Bam has come full circle back to what allowed him to do the movies and television shows in the first place: the skateboarding. I don't mind it. He seems to be having fun and is in a good place.

In looking at old issues of Big Brother, they sure put a lot of poop jokes on the cover. It actually made me pass on a couple of issues when I was figuring out what to scan.

I decided enough time has elapsed since I picked out some favorite covers that I could revisit the topic. I'm not sure if I necessarily picked out any favorites and went with random ones that were compelling for whatever reason. I tried to get a sampling of all the mags, too.

The photo is by Rick Kosick.

Big Brother - July 2001 Number 74

John Cardiel #22.

Where eagles dare.

Cards gets a 50-50 on a ledge with the help of his friends. I figured I had to wrap up a week of Anti-Hero with a classic.

I don't have much going on lately. I took the week off from skateboarding to hang out with some friends who were in town for the summer. I've been trying to be outside more, but it sort of doesn't feel like summer. I can't believe how fast the time goes now. Have a good weekend.

Slap - May 1999 Volume 8 Number 5

Tony Trujillo #8.

Police files.

Tony's interview in the March 2026 issue of Thrasher is a good read. He talks about some health problems he has had, getting sober for the benefit of his kids, the pluses and minuses of being around Jake Phelps, working as a stage hand, and playing in a band. It's cool to take in some of his stories about touring for skateboarding and music. It's also cool to see how he's grown as a person after nearly 30 years in the spotlight.

Slap - October 1998 Volume 7 Number 10

Bob Burnquist #12.

Maximum weirdness.

Bob glides through a unique one footed noseslide at Hubba Hideout. He was kicking his foot off for backside Smith grinds on vert so this was probably somewhere in his zone of odd things he felt comfortable doing on a skateboard. While researching this week, I discovered that Bob has never been featured on the Chrome Ball Incident.

Slap - February 1999 Volume 8 Number 2

Bob Burnquist & Tony Trujillo.

Circa 1999.

Bob flexes his street skills and Tony kickflips at the old days of a Vans park. That black & white photo always sketched me out. It looks scary.

Slap - July 1999 Volume 8 Number 7

Tony Trujillo & Eric J.

Nothing compelled me to get up.

Julien cut and pasted some literature and photos for this one featuring Tony and the late Eric J. I figured I might as well follow up Stereo and Real with the third board line out of Deluxe. I think I've scanned nearly everything from Anti-Hhero for the 1990s so this is about the last of it. I like the older ads that were more handmade over the use of Photoshop in the modern ads. The effect is theoretically the same, but the analog results are far superior.

Slap - December 1999 Volume 8 Number 12

Max Schaaf #18.

Journey to the end.

Max was doing some proper tech on the coping back in his heyday. Most of his maneuvers would cut it in the street on a ledge. He was wisely picking out classic tricks that will look good no matter what the terrain. I understand that everybody's skateboarding skills have improved over the decades, but a little bit of refinement in trick selection can go a long way.

Vert Is Dead is taking a summer break.

I need some time off from magazines, computers, and the internet. It will probably be a one to three week break. I'll see how things feel. Skateboarding has been going OK. I've been trying to roll every day for the sake of being outside in the summer. Have a good weekend.

Slap - February 2000 Volume 9 Number 2

Cairo Foster #15.

Built To Spill vs. Modest Mouse.

Cairo's video parts could spark the 90s version of the classic 80s debate over who is the better band, The Cure or The Smiths. He was only on Real from 1999 to 2002. I didn't realize it was such a short stint because I tend to associate him with Real. He was previously on Mad Circle right before the company went under. Cairo would start Popwar with Giant Distribution before a long run on enjoi. His nollie and nollie kickflip game was on point back in The Reason and Kicked Out Of Everywhere era.

Slap - July 1999 Volume 8 Number 7

Keith Hufnagel #19.

Stryct-Nine.

Keith had a rail and hubba phase for Real's Kicked Out Of Everywhere video in 1999. The part has that extra long kinked square rail he 50-50'd for a DC Shoes ad. You tend to associate him with more cruising down the street and busting tricks over anything in the way, but Huf dabbled with Zero style skating at the time. The results were pretty good.

I think I did have one of the Stryct-Nine nine ply boards. It was OK, but maybe not great. Something wore out on it faster than it should have or the plies separated. I don't remember the exact problem.

Slap - June 1999 Volume 8 Number 6

Salman Agah #9.

Hot Shot.

Big Salman crushes a handrail with a lipslide. This ad would have been from when he returned to Real after riding for the Firm. Salman had a few tricks in their Kicked Out Of Everywhere video from 1999. There were even some vert clips at Max Schaaf's ramp. Salman wasn't on Real too long before heading over to The Black Label in the early 2000s.

It's interesting how Real is constantly tinkering with board construction. None of the innovations seem to stick for long so it makes me wonder how well the new ideas work. Of course, they do probably pick out subtle things that do click and carry those forward for future deck designs.

Weren't there skateboard trading cards in the early 1990s called Hot Shots?

Slap - April 1999 Volume 8 Number 4

Real Team 1999.

Masters of Reality.

Real was running their usual heavy squad for 1999. These are some classic photos with Gonz mobbing a kickflip, Huf doing a big ollie wearing the DC Rick Howard IIs, and Max making a backyard pool appearance. Matt and Quim were also on the team, but didn't make picture day. From a design perspective, it's easier to put together an ad with five or six photos and not seven. I really dig the font Real uses. It's one they've used from time to time.

Slap - February 1999 Volume 8 Number 2

Ethan Fowler & Chris "Dune" Pastras #2.

Imperfections.

What do you do with somebody like Ethan Fowler? He's an important part of skateboard history, but flawed as a person. I don't really have a definitive answer. I suppose you recognize the talent to an extent while mentioning the transgressions.

I haven't posted anything with Ethan since the Free Skate Magazine interview with Benny Fairfax from May of 2021 was published. In the interview, Benny recounts how Ethan called him the n-word at a show Ethan's band was playing in Los Angeles. To say Ethan looks bad in the story is a major understatement. I have no intent to post anything else with him, but I found this ad and was pondering what to do with the characters who ruin their legacies.

I feel like the skate media probably covered for Ethan when he was at his peak. If you read between the lines and piece together assorted stories over the years, you get the sense that his personality could politely be described as prickly at best. I imagine there were a few incidents that were swept under the rug because he could do great backside lipslides on handrails. The fact that he has essentially vanished makes it much easier for him to be lost to the sands of time, which is quite possibly the best case scenario in this particular situation.

Slap - July 1997 Volume 6 Number 7

Carl Shipman #6.

Royal Air Force.

My mind might be a little fuzzy about this, but I think on one of the DC Euro Super Tours they were introducing Carl Shipman at demos as being from the USA simply for the sake of messing with him. It did not go over well with Carl.

Slap - June 1997 Volume 6 Number 6

Matt Rodriguez #7.

A Minor Lipslide.

It's well known that Matt is a musician, but I was mildly surprised that he is also a visual artist. He talks about drawing and wanting to study art at the university level in his Thrasher interview from May of 1994. It's very much possible I simply forgot Matt has done artwork for Stereo, Supernaut, IPath, and Creation over the years.

Slap - April 1997 Volume 6 Number 4

Mike Frazier #11.

Right side up, upside down.

Mike was a staple of modern 1990s vertical skateboarding. He rode for Powell, Birdhouse, Stereo, Toy Machine, Element, and Santa Cruz over the years. He missed having a part in a Toy Machine video. Mike was added to the team after Welcome To Hell and left before Jump Off A Building. I wonder how a part from him would have fit into a Toy Machine flick? His section in Tincan Folklore is a classic. Without double checking, I'm sure this invert was in there. It's good to know Mike is still out there shredding the ramps to this day.

I like how Spitfire would do team lists every now and again to answer any questions about who officially rode the wheels.

Profile: Slap - August 1996 Volume 5 Number 8

Invert: Slap - June 1996 Volume 5 Number 6

Chris "Dune" Pastras #6.

Sonic Raygun.

It maybe gets lost in the shuffle because Chris has worked in the industry for so long, but he's really good at skateboarding. This photo is great. Dune is wearing some Duffs, has the bigger wheels, and is locked in precisely on a frontside railslide. There might even be riser pads on his board.

Dan Rusin's new Into The Void video is out in the world now and it is top shelf stuff. He's even released it on DVD. Dan showcases more Minnesota skateboarding with the likes of Matt Boeltl, TJ Moran, and a few others. It's totally worth checking out.

Slap - June 1996 Volume 5 Number 6