Mike Bouchard #3.

Liberty Bell.

The late Mike Bouchard does a backside nosegrind in a well designed advertisement from Nicotine Wheels. It's another week of Capital and their assorted companies. I'm not above letting the calendar decide the copy at this point. Plus their ads just look cool.

I did skateboard a little over the weekend. I wanted to go someplace else for the sake of variety, but grownup life had me rolling at the local park in the mornings before it warmed up. I think I got my new trucks dialed in. I might need new wheels, even though my current ones are two months old so they should not be done yet.

The photo is by Kelly Ryan.

Slap - July 1997 Volume 7 Number 7

Jaime Reyes #5.

Long distance traveler.

Since New York is known as the city that never sleeps, it is easy to see why Rookie went with so many nocturnal advertisements. I like how they took chances with arty photos, too. Jaime landed a spot on Real when Jim Thiebuad and Tommy Guerrero were visiting Hawaii in 1993 or 94. She did a nollie heelflip in front of Jim and he was impressed enough to add her to the team. Later she would move to NYC and turn pro for Rookie. Jaime had a Thrasher cover in April 1994. This pretty much wraps up my look back at Rookie as I've covered nearly everything with them. They definitely made a positive impact on skateboarding in the late 1990s.

I set up a new board with new trucks for the week. The breaking in process has not been going smoothly. I want to see if I can get the new bushings to work before I replace them with some old ones. Add in that I can't really skateboard very well any more so things just aren't fun right now. I need to get a new pair of shoes going, but I'm waiting until I get the trucks dialed in first. We shall see how it goes. Hope everybody out there has a good weekend.

Grant Kino and Giovanni Reda took the pictures.

K-grind: Slap - July 1998 Volume 7 Number 7

Kickflip: Slap - June 1999 Volume 8 Number 6

Jessie Van Roechoudt #9.

Nighttime ghosts of the old city.

Alexis Zavialoff and Joe Brook were the photographers.

Stairs: Slap - October 1997 Volume 6 Number 10

Nite: Slap - June 1998 Volume 7 Number 6

Shane Medanich.

Night & Day Flights.

Shane is from Eastchester, New York. He moved out to San Francisco after riding for Rookie. He's a musician and the founding drummer for skate rock titans Hightower. Shane was also the music editor for Lowcard. It appears he is still playing a lot of music and possibly works as a teacher.

The photos are by Tim Stanton and Giovanni Reda.

Ollie: Slap - September 1998 Volume 7 Number 9

Banks: Slap - April 1999 Volume 8 Number 4

Rookie 1999.

Orange & Blue.

Rookie had established itself with a solid team and very well designed advertisements by 1999. They found their NYC niche and added a few people to the roster. I don't really have much else to add as the story has been told fairly well already. This week is probably about the last batch of Rookie scans as I've posted the bulk of them. Many of the remaining ads have sequences with small photos and I never like how those look. I don't know. Just appreciate the cool photos and sensible fonts.

The photographs are by Angela Boatwright, Gabe Morford, and Mike O'Meally.

Slap - May 1999 Volume 8 Number 5

Rookie 1997.

The New York you don't know.

I think this is the first ad for Rookie. I like how they contrast their version of the city with the famous landmarks and the Zoo York/Supreme/Metropolitan crew. The New York City based company began as a clothing line by Catharine Lyons and Elska von Hatzfeldt that expanded into a proper skateboard entity. I'm mildly surprised Rookie debuted in Big Brother as they seem out of place in that mag, but it makes sense with the NYC connection to Dimitry Elyashkevich. I don't believe they had any other ads in Big Brother and stuck with Slap for the bulk of their existence.

It was nice to see the Knicks win a championship. Nothing against the Spurs, but this was probably New York's best chance to get a ring.

The photos are by Dimitry.

Big Brother - Spring 1997 Number 25

Ryan Wilburn & Anthony Furlong.

Torquing some air.

A pair of Southern rippers blast off for Torque. This was probably both guys first bigger sponsor. Ryan was on Stereo by the end of 1997 before switching over to Consolidated. Anthony is from Georgia and has ridden for Zoo York. That's about all the info I have on him. The graphic design for Torque was pretty decent. That's what caught my eye. It's very much of the middle 1990s, but also avoids the pitfalls of the era.

The park has been empty and the winds have calmed down so I've been going there to skateboard in the evenings lately. It's nice to roll around fast. I'm not really skating so great any more for me and it is wearing me out. I'll get a few tricks every time out that make me think I can still do this and the rest of the time is frustrating. I might just need some new trucks. And on that note, hope everybody has a good weekend.

Pete Thompson took his camera to the Skate Park of Tampa for Anthony's photo.

Ryan: Big Brother - June 1997 Issue 26

Anthony: Big Brother - December 1997 Issue 31

Chad Kramer.

Monster centipede.

Chad is from the Reading, Pennsylvania area. He'd make appearances in the mags when they trekked out east. There's a possibility he skated with Bam Margera and his crew. I don't know anything about him other than he had a lot of ads for Torque and could obviously skate transitions.

I think that's East Coast vert legend Dan Tag in the frontside feeble ad.

One photo is credited to Back. I'm not sure on a full name.

Back tail: Big Brother - Spring 1997 Issue 25

Flip: Big Brother - September 1997 Issue 28

Feeble: Big Brother - October 1998 Issue 41

Richard Kirby & Stormy Pruitt.

Film Grain.

Here's a pair of shredders for Torque. Richard would go on to ride for Santa Cruz and run a company called Big Mess in the 2010s. He has rails on his board, which was uncommon for 1995-96. I think he is wearing some Duffs. Richard might also play in some bands. Stormy is an Atlanta ripper from the 1990s. I don't know too much about him. He'd always pop up any time the mags visited the South.

Richard's photo is by Noah Martineau.

Richard: Slap - February 1996 Volume 5 Number 2

Stormy: Slap - November 1996 Volume 5 Number 11

Thomas Taylor #2.

High Tension.

Torque was an Atlanta based company run by the late Thomas Taylor. He also ran the Stratosphere shop. His son Grant took after the old man and can really tear it up on a skateboard. Thomas sponsored a lot of Atlanta locals along with fellow Southerners for Torque. Sadly, he passed away in 2023.

The photos are by Alf Elder.

Slap - January 1997 Volume 6 Number 1

Marc Johnson #19.

"For careers you say you want to be remembered for your art."

Marc Johnson recently passed away at the age of 49. He started as a teenager from North Carolina who moved to California in the early 1990s for the sake of skateboarding and became one of the best to ever do it over the next three decades. The ups and downs of his life are well known and there's no need for me to restate any of it.

There's something innocently wonderful about these old Maple ads. Skateboarding was improving in 1994-95 and yet it still retained that smaller underground DIY charm. You could tell from the assorted photos and interviews that Marc was bringing something unique to the table. As he grew older and established himself, his philosophy on skateboarding developed fully. He injected humor and levity into the skateboard world at the end of the 1990s when it was needed and that shaped things going forward.

For all of his videos parts and achievements, I always come back to the first third of Marc's part in Lakai's Fully Flared from 2007. I stick to the front end because as the part moves along the skateboarding crosses the line from being fun to being work. He skates to "Goodbye Horses" by Q Lazzarus. I had never knowingly heard that song before and figured it was of the era without realizing it was from 1988. It's a great tune that fits exactly with his tricks and personality. The melody of the song sets a mood that is somehow both melancholic and comfortable. Some of my favorite moves from the part include a frontside 50-50 to back foot flip, a rock to pivot on a natural transition in Australia, and a straight nollie over a bump to bar. I'm not adding anything by saying that a really good part in an important skateboard video is really good, but it's fine to appreciate nice things without overthinking why they are nice things sometimes.

And with that the Shampoo Lounge is closed.

Ed Dominick took the photo in the overseas ad. He might have taken some of the other pictures, too.

Progress: Transworld - June 1995 Volume 13 Number 6

Television: Transworld - July 1995 Volume 13 Number 7

Sunset: Transworld - December 1995 Volume 13 Number 12

Andy Stone & Pepe Martinez #2.

Fine Artists.

Andy and Pepe were staples of the DC scene in the 1990s. The pair were on Element before leaving to ride for Capital. They were part of the original team at Nicotine Wheels, which gave them the connection for when boards started being made. Having two established pros is an effective way to start a new brand on the right foot. Cool photos and solid graphic design also helps a lot. It's too bad there were some issues that led to Capital falling apart. Sadly, Pepe passed away in 2003. I always forget Andy rode for 101 and BBC prior to Element. He works as a civil engineer and has done some skatepark design.

For last week's Chany Jeanguenin post, The Dirt of Luck refers to the album by Helium. This was Mary Timony's band with Ash Bowie of Polvo on bass. They had a couple albums on Matador and two videos that were shown on MTV at least once.

I've been skateboarding a bunch now that the weather is milder and there is more daylight in the evenings. I'm still not really skating great for me and it is a drag. I think I'm just getting old.

Vert Is Dead is taking a late spring break.

It's probably going to be two weeks off. If it winds up being three, don't worry, I'll be back.

Ryan Gee and Lance Dawes were the photographers.

Andy: Slap - August 1996 Volume 5 Number 9

Pepe: Slap - July 1996 Volume 5 Number 7

Sean Mullendore #11.

Set Freedom Plaza free.

It's weird how we mythologize skateboarders who are wistfully obscure. Sean isn't exactly an unknown, but he wasn't getting the same amount of coverage that Chet Thomas and Willy Santos were back in the day. He certainly wasn't on the level of fame like Chad Muska or Tony Hawk either. That's fine. The more esoteric characters are somehow more appealing because you don't know much about them beyond a handful of photos and a couple blurbs on how they totally destroyed the local spots. What makes them fascinating is the not knowing. We know that Sean had more pop than everybody else and that he possibly works on very expensive automobiles. That's it. And that's plenty.

I legit can't believe I've been scanning and writing stuff for this thing for 18 years. Thanks for the support.

The photos are by Pete Thompson.

Capital: Slap - June 1996 Volume 5 Number 6

Nicotine: Slap - December 1996 Volume 5 Number 12

Ryan Hickey & Matt Willigan.

Strobe flares.

It's a couple of arty photos of night time skateboarding that I thought looked neat. Ryan is a proper New Yorker who rode for Zoo York, Supreme, Stereo, and Capital over the 1990s. Matt was on Capital and Nicotine. He is a graphic designer and has done work for Girl, Converse, éS, and more.

The photos are by Thomas Campbell and Adam Wallacavage.

Ryan: Slap - August 1996 Volume 5 Number 8

Matt: Slap - December 1996 Volume 5 Number 12

Brian Howard #4.

Tall ship, tall air.

Planet Earth pro Brian Howard does a method to fakie in front of a nice nautical scene. Nicotine was a wheel company that was rolled out in 1995. The original team was Chris Hall, Pepe Martinez, Andy Stone, and amateur Reese Forbes. This soon led to Pepe and Andy leaving Element to start up Capital Skateboards. It's cool that they included a few rippers vert on the team to go with the street shredders.

The photo is by Dimitri Elyashkevich.

Slap - October 1996 Volume 5 Number 10

Kevin Taylor #8.

Substantial.

It's a Capital blowout for the anniversary week. This was an East Coast entity run by Mike Agnew and distributed by Intensity Skates mail order. They had a ripping team and some fresh looking graphic design for the 1990s. You could tell that whoever was doing the catalogs for Intensity was doing the ads for Capital because they clearly knew what they were doing. When we last checked in with KT, he was pro for Aesthetics and getting an ad every other month. Prior to Aesthetics, he was riding for Capital. I think he skates for Hopps these days after being on Pittsburgh's Scumco & Sons. I like all the banners on the wall behind Kevin.

The photo is by Pete Thompson.

Slap - May 1996 Volume 5 Number 5

Chany Jeanguenin #4.

The Dirt of Luck.

The Swiss all-terrain ripper holds on to avoid floating away. I don't know how much a little helium in the insole would actually reduce the weight of a shoe, but you have to give Converse credit for trying something different. I can't recall ever seeing many Converse in the wild. Were they selling? The shoes look like a big athletic company's attempt at copying the excessively padded skate shoes of the day. I don't think I've seen too many pairs of their current effort either. It seems like a lot of pros and sponsored ams wear them so I imagine they do move enough kicks to keep the skate team going.

We had all the spring weather this week which even necessitated skateboarding in gloves a couple of times. Have a good weekend.

Atiba Jefferson handled the photography.

Transworld - June 2000 Volume 18 Number 6

Felix Arguelles.

Disco Inferno.

Felix is from New York City and got into skateboarding in the 1980s. He skated both vert and street until some injuries caused him to focus more on street skating. Early on he was sponsored by Shut and World Industries. His folks relocated to Miami and Felix moved with them. At this time, Chris Miller offered him a spot on Planet Earth. After enduring a bunch of late night prank phone calls from Jeremy Klein and Ron Chatman, Felix moved out to California to ride and work for Planet Earth. He was pro and also served in a team manager type of position. This would lead to starting Rhythm in 1995. Rhythm was a second board company by Planet Earth with a focus on fresh styles and gave us the classic Genesis video in 1997. Felix was sponsored by Converse in the late 1990s and scored a pro model shoe. He moved over to the industry side of skateboarding in 2000s while still skating a lot.

The photos are by Frank Galland and Jeff Taylor.

Transworld - August 2000 Volume 18 Number 8

Kenny Anderson #6.

Kenny is the OG that gives your boot up or reboot a degree of instant credibility. When Elwood was brought back from the deserted high plains, he was one of the riders on the new project since he had previously ridden for the brand. If I recall correctly, Kenny signed up with Converse with the hopes he could make a skate version of the Chuck Taylor. That didn't happen the first time around, but he got his chance when they had a skateboard team again in 2008.

Frank Galland was the photographer.

Transworld - December 2000 Volume 18 Number 12

Converse Team 2000.

All Stars.

This was the Converse team in the fall of 2000. They would declare for bankruptcy in January of 2001 so this was essentially the end of the line. The crew was Jerry Fowler, Chany Jeanguenin, Will Harmon, Joel Meinholz, Kenny Anderson, Ricky Oyola, Felix Arguelles, and Danny Supa. Jayme Fortune and Stéphane Larance were also on the team, but missed photo day. I like how they brought back the early 90s tradition of running small sequences in the ads.

The photos are by Ben Colen, Ryan Gee, Geo Reda, and Jeff Taylor

Transworld - October 2000 Volume 18 Number 10

Converse.

With the recent talk about brands such as enjoi and Madness being resurrected from the dead company wasteland, Converse is a forgotten entity in this category. They went bankrupt in 2001 and were bought by Nike in 2003. The skateboard team was revived in 2008. Kenny Anderson was the lone holdover from the first go round. I have no idea how accurate the gossip is, but there are rumors floating around that Nike might be making cuts and looking to sell Converse. I'd imagine they would keep some semblance of a skate team since they are fairly well entrenched in skateboarding at this point, but you never know how anything will turn out these days.

Thrasher - June 1999 Volume 19 Number 6

Kevin Taylor #7.

Pittsburgh Razorback.

KT was putting in some serious work for Aesthetics in 1999. I dig the Arkansas Razorback graphic. I don't recall if the Fayetteville crew was stoked on the board. I imagine they were. They were still telling stories about when the 1994 Foundation tour came by the Skate Station and got a couple photos in Transworld. Kevin had so many cool ads in 1999 that I couldn't pick one so I went with the triple shot. As the years roll by, Aesthetics keeps on looking better and better. They're like a good band that broke up before they made a bunch of crappy albums so their legacy remains intact.

Things have been about the same lately and I don't have all that much going on. Have a good weekend out there and maybe it will warm up a little.

Ryan Gee took at least one of the photos.

Razorback: Transworld - February 1999 Volume 17 Number 2

Race car: Transworld - September 1999 Volume 17 Number 9

FDR: Transworld - November 1999 Volume 17 Number 11

Rob Welsh #10.

Forbidden 14.

Rob ruins the graphics in his debut for Aesthetics. His previous sponsor was Mad Circle, which closed up shop around this time. He's riding Kevin Taylor's Razorback deck and wearing the DC Rick Howard shoe with the velcro straps. You don't think of Rob as a handrail skater, but he did have a few pics on them over the years. I thought this was a unique ad that I didn't really remember from when it was published.

Transworld - October 1999 Volume 17 Number 10

Sal Barbier #9.

Eppic.

You sort of don't know much about Sal as he seldom had interviews and moved over to the industry side of skateboarding, but at the same time, it feels like you know who he is. He's from Louisiana and was a big part of H-Street before riding for Plan B. He would later start Twenty Three Skateboards which led to Aesthetics. Sal had an iconic pro model shoe on Etnies and éS, which further adds to his legacy. He always comes off in interviews as caring about skateboarding while not being afraid to say if something is wack or crack a joke about things. I think that's what makes him relatable and a favorite.

Transworld - August 1999 Volume 17 Number 8

Clyde Singleton #8.

Soul Train.

Clyde does a nose bluntslide down a picnic table for Aesthetics. Aesthetics was Sal Barbier's company in the late 1990s that he started after the clock hit zero on Twenty Three Skateboards. The initial team was Sal, Clyde, Kevin Taylor, and Rob Welsh. Clyde recently scored a guest model on Birdhouse and was the emcee for New Balance's Running The Numbers tour in the fall of 2025. It's good to see he's still out there doing his thing.

Transworld - July 1999 Volume 17 Number 7

Keith Hufnagel #18.

Horns up.

The late Keith Hufnagel takes a crooked grind up a rail for Elwood. Elwood was Sal Barbier's clothing company. He started the brand in the late 1990s at the same time he started Aesthetics Skateboards. They were firmly on the fresh side of the fashion aisle. Some team riders over the years included Anthony Van Engelen, Rob Welsh, Shiloh Greathouse, Jahmal Williams, Clyde Singleton, and Gino Iannucci.

It just keeps on being too windy for skateboarding to be fun outside lately. I set up a new deck yesterday and did skate a little, but the breeze was a factor. My ollies seemed to be popping better so that was cool. Ah the perks of living next to a Great Lake.

Transworld - May 1999 Volume 17 Number 5

John Rattray #8.

Flight patterns.

The Predatory Bird perches a fastplant on a barrier.

The weather has been a mix of mild and rainy round these parts lately. I went to JSP in Jamestown last Saturday. I skated like crap, but I bought some new wheels and a t-shirt. It's still been too windy to go to the park much of the time so I've been trying to skate in the driveway when it is dry. Have a good weekend out there.

The photo is probably by Alex Irvine. I'm not completely sure if I got the first name right.

Transworld - June 2006 Volume 24 Number 6

Gailea Momolu #3.

"Gailea Momolu. Bryan Herman. And Rodney Mullen. He was like the first dude I ever met. He was really nice to me. He taught me some things. He's the best. Very smart guy, too. Gailea's my favorite, though. Will always be. No one better. No matter how much time has passed, that's just my favorite. That's it. He's sick." - Antwuan Dixon

Arms down Gailea is Antwuan's favorite skater.

The photo is by Scott Pommier.

For the quote: Thrasher - May 2026 Volume 47 Number 5

Transworld - May 2006 Volume 24 Number 5

Jerry Hsu #14.

“Quit spray painting your shoes. We all know they are Osiris!” - Shiloh Greathouse

Jerry got on Osiris in 1998 thanks to Dave Mayhew. They were both riding for Maple and Osiris was a new shoe company that had room on the team. Jerry always wanted to ride for Emerica and had the opportunity to do so in 2007. His shoe models for Osiris and Emerica looked very similar, which makes sense given it is the same skater, but still is rather quirky.

The photo is by Jonathan Mehring.

Transworld - April 2006 Volume 24 Number 4

Caswell Berry #12.

Vantablack.

Caswell tosses a 360 kickflip over a rail in the dark of the night. I bet nobody remembers when he rode for Powell or that he turned pro for Toy Machine.

Jonathan Mehring was the photographer.

Transworld - March 2006 Volume 24 Number 3

Garrett Hill.

Red & Black.

Garrett is from the San Fernando Valley in California. He got into skateboarding because of his brother Gantry and grew up skating with Paul Rodriguez and Mikey Taylor. Garrett was sponsored by Sixteen Skateboards early on. As their riders grew older, Sixteen would try to help them find more age appropriate sponsors. This led to riding for Zero when Garrett's sponsor-me tape wounding up in the hands of Jamie Thomas. Later on Jamie would let him do a spinoff brand called Threat with Forrest Edwards as the other rider. Threat didn't last long and Garret was back on the Zero squad. In addition to Osiris, he also rode for Fallen. His other sponsors included Thunder and Altamont Clothing. Garrett can possibly speak Russian and knows how to play the guitar. He's not adverse to sewing his own clothes either.

Note: These ads are very elegantly shot photos of Osiris shoes that look great in print, but some of the magic vanished upon scanning twenty year old pages of a magazine. Sorry about that.

The photo sequence is by Joey Shigeo.

For the info: Transworld - November 2009 Volume 27 Number 11

For more info: Thrasher - January 2009 Volume 29 Number 1

Transworld - February 2006 Volume 24 Number 2

Howard Cooke.

The Clash.

Howard is from Liverpool, England. He rode for Consolidated, Spitfire, and Heroin Skateboards. There's a cool photo of him by Wig Worland doing a frontside slash grind on the extension of a giant quarterpipe at the Edge Lane skatepark in Liverpool from 1996. The picture was used for the cover of Sidewalk, a British skateboard magazine. It also appeared in the Dysfunctional book curated by Aaron Rose. Howard plays bass and was in the hardcore bands Walk The Plank and Cold Ones.

The weather has been warm and dry for the week. I've been skateboarding in the driveway and haven't had the time to hit up the park or anything different. Everything has been a chore lately and it is not much fun. I'm not digging it. Have a good weekend out there.

Nik Freitas took the photographs.

Thrasher - May 2000 Volume 20 Number 5

Richard Paez #4.

Hamburger Jr.

As of the year 2000, Richard was sponsored by Consolidated, Independent, Puma, Spitfire, and Volcom. His preferred terrain includes backyard ramps, pools, and skateparks. He likes to watch sports, with the Cowboys and the Lakers being his favorite teams. For music, he's into Motörhead, Suicidal Tendencies, Hank Williams Jr., and Bay Area rap. Way back then Rich was riding a 7.5" wide board with Indys and 53 mm Spitfires.

The photo is by Nik Freitas. It's neat to see how Nik's photography improved over the years with his photos for Consolidated.

For the info: Thrasher - July 2000 Volume 20 Number 7

Thrasher - September 1999 Volume 19 Number 9

Alan Petersen #21.

Caddyshack.

AP flips frontside on the ever unpopular with the neighbors backyard mini ramp. Power is still going as a distributor and handles Death, Blast, Heroin Skateboards, Film Trucks, and a bunch of others in the United Kingdom.

The photo might be by Dave “Nelly” Nelson. That's my best guess based on the internet. Nelly might also only be a surf photographer, but the biography on his website loosely matches the specifics for this picture.

Thrasher - January 1999 Volume 19 Number 1

Consolidated vs. K2.

Adios.

Consolidated was always down to shed light on any shady business dealings going on in skateboarding. This feels like such a bygone era, even with taking into account that attitudes and opinions are going to change over time. Enough years have passed where there are now real skateboarders working in positions of influence at the bigger corporate brands so maybe things are different in the present day than what Consolidated feared might happen. It's also worth noting that Consolidated outlasted K2 in the end.

Investment: Thrasher - March 1999 Volume 19 Number 3

Zip Code: Thrasher - May 1999 Volume 19 Number 5