Tony Hawk #8.

The Birdman.

Tony tests out his new deck. The shape is a larger version of the skull board that everybody is familiar with and features somewhat re-imagined graphics. Around this time decks started to shift with an emphasis on longer noses. I find it interesting how wide the board is and how the tail is somewhat on the short side. It's almost too wide at 10.375".

A friend had this board. His was white with neon green griptape. I remember the board as being large with a deeper concave than what we were used to. It was somehow comfortable to ride, if I recall correctly. For how and what Tony was skating, this new design probably made a lot of sense. For a bunch of kids skating small launch ramps and slider bars, it probably wasn't the optimal board for our needs.

Powell had a similar ad with Lance Mountain that was shot from overhead from March of 1989.

Vert Is Dead is going on a winter break and will be back on Monday, January 16th.

Topics on the agenda for the new year include Planet Earth, Rhythm, and Cliché. Feel free to leave suggestions in the comments. And if you need a daily fix of nostalgia, you can always browse the older content since this thing has been around for eight years with over 2,000 posts. Have a safe and happy holiday.

Transworld - June 1989 Volume 7 Number 3

Lance Mountain #9.

Keep on rockin' in the free world.

Thrasher - September 1989 Volume 9 Number 9

Tommy Guerrero #7.

Junk Collector.

Tommy's from San Francisco, California. He started skateboarding in 1975 with his brother. He also skated with Bryce Kanights and Ray Meyer, who both happened to live in the neighborhood. Tommy was one of of the first to be sponsored and subsequently turn pro for street skateboarding, although he was pretty good on ramps, too. He helped start Real in the early 1990s and still is involved with the company to this day. TG plays music as well and has released several albums over the years.

I got skateboarding twice over the holiday break. I hit up the indoor park after taking care of the last of the shopping on Friday. Things had dried up enough on Christmas that I was able to roll at the local park for a bit in the afternoon. The weather has been alternating between rain and high winds as of late. The snow is supposed to be back real soon so that might be the end of skateboarding for the year.

There was a minor crisis at Vert Is Dead HQ with a little leakage in the basement due to melting snow. Fortunately the stacks all stayed dry and my dad adjusted the drainage from the gutters so things should be good.

Thrasher - May 1989 Volume 9 Number 5

Allen Midgett #2.

Fear of Trains.

Allen was pro for Schmitt Stix. He was also sponsored by Thunder Trucks.

RIP Carrie Fisher.

The photo is by Charles Harmon.

Transworld - September 1989 Volume 7 Number 5

Ron Chatman #7.

"A long time ago I used to like Jeff Grosso a lot. I saw this one video where he was an amateur skating in a contest at Upland in the Combi Pool. I remember that made me totally stoked - he just hauled. He did sadplants and was just jamming. I skated there, and I knew how burly it was - I just tripped out."

For the quote: Transworld - March 1993 Volume 11 Number 3

Thrasher - August 1990 Volume 10 Number 8

Ozone 1990 Catalog.

Ozone was a mail order company based in Pomona, California. I somehow wound up with a couple of their catalogs in the early 1990s. They were heavy on H-Street gear and I know I ordered stuff from them. You get a sampling of World Industries/Blind, later period Powell Peralta, early New Deal, Vision/Sims/Lucero/Tuff Skates, and SMA/Santa Cruz for decks. There's plenty of Airwalk, but I find it odd they didn't carry Vans. Vision's soft goods are well represented, too. I can't believe that Hokus Pokus cost almost forty bucks. No wonder we only bought two videos a year back then. Of course, there were only two video being released a year so it all evened out.

Hope everybody has a good holiday.

H-Street pro Brennand Schoffel is on the cover.

Paul De Jesus & Trent Gaines.

Polar Propaganda.

When I watched "I like it here inside my mind. Don't wake me this time." for the first time, I recognized the music from the last part with Roman Gonzalez, Paul Grund, and Kevin Rodrigues. I couldn't figure out exactly where I knew the song from, but I was thinking it was from a Powell Peralta video. I watched the video again and checked the credits. Pontus Alv wrote that he really liked the part in Propaganda with Ruben Dominguez, Paul De Jesus, and Trent Gaines so he used the same song. You can see the influence by how the part has three skaters mixed together (which is common throughout the Polar video), the similarity of the filming and editing, and the use of text on the screen. It's cool to see when people pick up on a somewhat lesser known item as an influence and apply it to something new. Sure beats recycling the same well known tropes.

Ruben, Paul, and Trent all rode for Powell. Trent was sponsored by H-Street and Planet Earth later on. Paul rode for Dogtown, too. I think he might have had a pro model from them. His name comes up occasionally in interviews. I don't really know much about Ruben.

Sorry Ruben, I couldn't find anything in print for you.

Both photos are by Chris Ortiz.

Paul: Thrasher - June 1991 Volume 11 Number 6

Trent: Thrasher - April 1991 Volume 11 Number 4