Eddie Elguera.

El Gato.

Eddie invented a lot of vert tricks at the end of the 1970s and early 1980s, including the Elguerial. That's a fakie invert with a 360˚ backside rotation. He rode for Variflex back then and was on H-Street in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He currently rides for Hosoi, Osiris, and Indy. Eddie is still rolling and involved as a pastor with The Rock Church in Palm Desert, California.

Transworld - December 1988 Volume 6 Number 6

Fred Olande.

Mike McGill's Skatepark.

After rolling with the Z-Boys, Fred would ride for H-Street and New Deal. He had tricks in a number of early 1990s videos, including H-Street's Not The New H-Street Video, Risk It by Speed Wheels, and New Deal's 1281. He mostly skated vert and did a variety of more technical tricks in his video parts. There was street skating as well in the big pants/small wheels days.

Transworld - October 1988 Volume 6 Number 5

Ron Chatman #4.

Airwalk opts for crazy neon color usage and layout.

I wanted to get some more Ron on here and it was a no-brainer to scan this ad, but I'm not sure I like it upon further review. It's rather confusing to look at. Oh well, it was the 1980s.

Elsewhere in the modern day skateboard world, Wes Kremer won Thrasher's Skater Of The Year award. I was a little surprised he was the winner. He earned it. There were a lot of deserving candidates as always.

I got the new issue of The Skateboard Mag a couple weeks ago. It is now under the management of The Berrics. They made the magazine a larger size and completely redesigned it. The core editorial staff who founded the magazine are still onboard. All of the staff writers are not. In fact, there are no writers listed on the staff and most of the articles don't have more than a paragraph or two of text. This is what happens in the age of the internet and shortened attention spans. All of the regular columns are gone so I guess Vert Is Dead is never getting a Sklog. On the positive side, the Mag is a photographer's dream since there aren't many pesky words getting in the way. The photos and printing look great. There's a photo essay on Guy Mariano and a general brief history of skateboarding in Los Angeles. They have tapped into the vaults and are reprinting older photos that the staff took in the Transworld days, too. It will be interesting to see what direction The Mag goes in from here.

Transworld - December 1989 Volume 7 Number 8

Monty Nolder #3.

Monday with Monty.

You get a nosepick and a backside Smith grind from this Florida vert legend.

Daniel Sturt took the photos.

Transworld - October 1988 Volume 6 Number 5

Ron Cameron & J.J. Rodgers.

You can't go wrong with Ron, J.J., and Blockhead.

Thrasher - December 1989 Volume 9 Number 12

Ken Sigafoos.

Skate Hell.

Ken was an East Coast vert power and was pro for Brand X. He started getting more into art and painting in the early 1990s. There has been graphic design work for Scum, Gouge, Hell, and of course XXX. He currently tattoos people in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

The late Bernie Tostenson founded Brand X in 1983. He was the artist who created several iconic graphics for Sims before moving on to start his own company. Brand X changed to XXX in 1989. The Brand X team included a few notable riders. Transworld staffers John Dettman and Britt Parrott were sponsored by the X. Chuck Treece of McRad fame was on the team. Dave Crabb, Rob Mertz, and Circle A founder Bob Schmelzer were pros in the late 1980s. Future G & S pro Bill Tocco was also on team. Other riders included Dan Tag, Sean Goff, Jeff Croteau, Scott Collins, and Chris May.

Thanks to Skately for having older Brand X ads in the library.

Geoff Graham snapped the photo.

Transworld - August 1989 Volume 7 Number 4

John Grigley #3.

The Old Ghost tweaks an air off a launch ramp.

There must have been more than a few awkward interactions when the Tracker staffer had to drop the ad off at Thrasher every month.

Brandon Westgate's Zoo England part is really good. Gonz versus the curved rail for Fourstar is entertaining.

The weather was really nice yesterday so I used some vacation time to extend my lunch break to an hour. It was good to get in a proper session in the middle of the day before the next batch of snow gets here. We aren't supposed to get that much. It should warm back up for the weekend and beyond.

Thrasher - April 1989 Volume 9 Number 4