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

Kenny Hughes #7.

Coastal Hiway.

I've been slowly trying to get more posts of Kenny on here. He was quite the ripper in the 1990s and early 2000s. He's one of those pros that didn't have many interviews so you don't know a lot about him. You'd just hear stories here and there. It adds to the mystique. This might have been his only advertisement for Emerica. Kenny would soon depart for DC Shoes. The switch k-grind was in Element's Third Eye View video from 1998. Everything about this ad is great - the traffic signal photo, the trick, the design, the colors, and the text.

I've been skateboarding lately, but it's not going great. Every trick can randomly become a chore. I don't know, man. I maybe need to take a week off or not be old. Have a fun weekend and stay cool.

Slap - June 1997 Volume 6 Number 6

Phil Shao #15.

Modern freeway systems.

Emerica was running a team list in their ads up until the fall of 1997. The pros were Jamie Thomas, Marc Johnson, Chris Senn, Phil Shao, Donny Barley, Kenny Hughes, Dan Drehobl, John Cardiel, and Darren Navarrette. Tim McKenney and Mike Maldonado were the amateurs. I'm curious about Cardiel's time on Emerica. I don't believe he ever had an ad for them. He was wearing the shoes in his coverage from 1996-98 and did have a few tricks in the Yellow video from 1997. Has he ever mentioned Emerica in an interview? This is one of those curious little bits of trivia that I'd like to know more about. It reminds me of when Rick Howard was on éS for a couple months before he was on DC.

Slap - August 1997 Volume 6 Number 8

Mike Maldonado #7.

Brutalism.

I believe this was Mike's only ad for Emerica. I didn't remember that he even rode for them. It's sort of hard to tell what shoes Mike is wearing in a lot of his photos, but they look like something from Emerica or éS. He was added to the Axion squad in 2000. I miss when skate shoe companies had a line of assorted, somewhat generic in a good sense, plain cupsoles. I might as well make this the obligatory happy 30th anniversary to Welcome To Hell post. It seems like only yesterday the Toy Machine team was doing a demo in a Buffalo parking lot on the tour for the video.

Slap - October 1997 Volume 6 Number 10

Ed Templeton #36.

Description.

Ed was added to the Emerica team in 1998 after Sole Tech put Sheep Shoes out to pasture. He had previously ridden for Vans. He gradually faded away from Emerica as his formal pro career wound down. I think Ed assists Jamie Thomas with his WARSAW shoe project to some extent these days while cranking out the art for Toy Machine. Ed isn't really a backside tailslide guy and this bank looks so rough and bumpy.

Slap - April 1998 Volume 7 Number 4

Andrew Reynolds #21.

Balancing Emerica.

The Boss floats a frontside ollie back in the Birdhouse days. It's a little uncommon to see a skatepark photo of Andrew, particularly for an ad. Emerica has been fairly consistent with their graphic design from the beginning up until now. You seldom see any horrible missteps. Sometimes they try a different green or use fonts that are too small, but they always round back into form. I appreciate that effort. It's cool they have a good looking aesthetic that allows for variation while sticking to their overall image.

Slap - June 1998 Volume 7 Number 6

Jim Menscer #3.

Red Medicine.

Jim was part of the Phillie scene with Ricky Oyola, Matt Reason, and the rest of the crew. I wasn't sure if he turned pro, but this ad confirms that he did. He also rode for Sub Zero and Kastel. His music tastes in the 1990s included Superchunk, Sebadoh, and Fugazi.

I hope everybody has a good holiday weekend. Try to stay cool out there and party smart.

The photo is by Kelly Ryan.

Slap - April 1998 Volume 7 Number 4

Rob Pluhowski #8.

Frame grab.

Everybody's favorite Habitat amateur blasts a set of stairs to a small landing pad for First Division Wheels. Rob previously rode for Element before being an original rider on Habitat. His feet were sponsored by Vita and DVS. He came to the conclusion in the early 2000s that skateboarding wasn't going to be a stable career for him as he got older and peaced out from the biz at a good point in his life. You have to respect that.

It's been hot here and things are hectic with the holiday for work so I am worn out. I've been skateboarding in the driveway in the evenings when it is less hot. It keeps being hit or miss for me. I think I'm tired, even if I don't really feel tired. Adult life is grand. Maybe some new shoes will help.

I'm puzzled as to why they didn't include a credit for the photographer. Maybe they weren't sure who submitted the sequence when the ad was being designed.

Slap - November 1997 Volume 6 Number 11

Andrew Currie #2.

First division from UK Colonies.

Andrew hails from Queensland, Australia and has ridden for SMA, Foundation, Silverstar, Hoon, and probably a few other companies over the decades. I wanted to find some more information on him as I feel he had an interview in print somewhere, but I ran out of time to fully do the research. He got a lot of coverage in Slap in the 1990s so he's a familiar face you maybe don't know too much about.

Happy 125th, Australia! I apologize for being a few months late. Happy Canada Day!

Slap - October 1997 Volume 6 Number 10

Sergei Trudnowski #3.

These are the mystic guards.

Sergei was part of the mid 1990s Philadelphia crew with Ricky Oyola and Matt Reason that ushered in a return to larger wheels and boards while emphasizing doing fundamental tricks properly. They treated the city as a skatepark instead of posting up at one spot constantly. You see the continuation of their ideas carried on by guys like Quel Haddox, who explores Phillie to find construction sites to ollie over.

Ryan Gee was the photographer.

Slap - February 1997 Volume 7 Number 2

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