Gershon Mosley #8.

Automation avoidance.

GMOS was wrecking spots for a good chunk of the 1990s. He was pushing what you could do with switch stance skateboarding as well as skating mini ramps. I think he would've been riding for Powell in 1996 before joining the A-Team in the fall of 1997. This is essentially an Emerica ad masquerading as an Etnies ad.

Thrasher - June 1996 Volume 16 Number 6

Jamie Thomas #19.

Nice receptionist.

This ad is an outlier in the changeover from Etnies to Emerica. Jamie's trick and headband basically dictated a vintage 1970s look. The 50-50 was in Welcome To Hell, which premiered right about the same time as the mag hit the newsstands. I imagine they wanted a last call for their old style of design before starting the new project. Or maybe not, as they did use something somewhat similar for the debut of Emerica. I like everything about this one.

Thrasher - May 1996 Volume 16 Number 5

Dan Drehobl #37.

Decay of modern society.

It's neat to see how Etnies developed the aesthetic for Emerica in their last couple ads under the old name. Yogi Proctor was the graphic designer and he had a vision for what the artwork should be. Emerica has more or less stayed consistent with this look over the decades. Obviously there will be changes as time passes, but they haven't strayed too far from the original concepts.

I don't associate Dan with Etnies as much as I do with Emerica. This must've been his first ad for Etnies since I don't recall any others. He had his fair share of ads for Emerica in the later 1990s and early 2000s before he switched to Vans. It's also a little odd to see him wearing the Etnies shirt since he usually wears thrift store tees, plain shirts or button downs.

Thrasher - April 1996 Volume 16 Number 4

Chris Senn #15.

Etnies America.

I decided to take a look at the transformation of Etnies to Emerica for the next two weeks. The publicly visible part of the change happened in 1996 and moved along from month to month in the ads that ran in Thrasher. I'm sure there was more behind the scenes stuff that took longer, but the advertisements create an easy to follow chronological breakdown of what happened. I'm going by memory so things might end up a tad hazy. Anyway, this Etnies ad has the company listed as Etnies America. I'm considering it the starting point of the changeover.

Chris Senn is in peak SOTY form in this ad. His son Anakin makes a guest appearance. It's wild to think the kid would grow up to be a pro skateboarder like his dad.

Thrasher - March 1996 Volume 16 Number 3

Sean Mullendore #12.

Tones of magenta.

Sean squeezes a switch 50/50 against a wall in an alley. I didn't remember this Capital ad and thought I'd covered most of their stuff. It's always nice to unearth something you had missed or forgotten about. Sean ripped around DC and was sponsored by Capital, Stereo, Circuit Wheels, and a few other companies.

The season is slowly changing from summer to fall, although our weather tends to stay mild for the weeks ahead. I've been trying to fit in skateboarding whenever possible, but the lack of daylight and occasional rain is throwing me off. The next feature will be a look at how Etnies switched over to being Emerica. I've got some Dukes Shoes and possibly éS planned for the future. Have a good weekend out there.

The photos are by Ben Wagner.

Big Brother - Spring 1997 Issue 25

Wade Speyer #15.

Evil Eye.

Wade trucks a frontside pivot up to the top of a tall vert wall. I like this photo and had been looking for the ad for a while, but couldn't find until recently. The trick was in his part in Dedication, the Think video from 1998. That's the part where Wade destroys the spine ramp at the indoor park in Antioch.

RIP MIC-E.

"This year Mic-E Reyes is at the helm and he never sleeps."

For the Real ad: Slap - September 1995 Volume 4 Number 9

Thrasher - April 1997 Volume 17 Number 4

Scott Bourne #12.

Bourne winner.

I watched the Mongolia trip section from Strongest of the Strange a couple of times recently. Scott traveled to Ulan Bator, the capital of Mongolia, with Pontus Alv, Muki Rüstig, Vincent Gootzen, and a young Chris Pfanner. If I recall correctly, he had a rough journey because a vegan diet isn't an easy option out there. I think the part is really cool because of the atmosphere the less traveled location creates for skateboarding. The crew still manages to find some ramps and hit a few street spots. The plaintive Neil Young song sets the proper tone for the place and the distance they travelled. It's neat to see Pfanner blast a couple of big gaps and stairs before he became a household name.

The photo is by Bryce Kanights.

Slap - March 2001 Volume 10 Number 3