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