Caswell Berry #12.

Vantablack.

Caswell tosses a 360 kickflip over a rail in the dark of the night. I bet nobody remembers when he rode for Powell or that he turned pro for Toy Machine.

Jonathan Mehring was the photographer.

Transworld - March 2006 Volume 24 Number 3

Garrett Hill.

Red & Black.

Garrett is from the San Fernando Valley in California. He got into skateboarding because of his brother Gantry and grew up skating with Paul Rodriguez and Mikey Taylor. Garrett was sponsored by Sixteen Skateboards early on. As their riders grew older, Sixteen would try to help them find more age appropriate sponsors. This led to riding for Zero when Garrett's sponsor-me tape wounding up in the hands of Jamie Thomas. Later on Jamie would let him do a spinoff brand called Threat with Forrest Edwards as the other rider. Threat didn't last long and Garret was back on the Zero squad. In addition to Osiris, he also rode for Fallen. His other sponsors included Thunder and Altamont Clothing. Garrett can possibly speak Russian and knows how to play the guitar. He's not adverse to sewing his own clothes either.

Note: These ads are very elegantly shot photos of Osiris shoes that look great in print, but some of the magic vanished upon scanning twenty year old pages of a magazine. Sorry about that.

The photo sequence is by Joey Shigeo.

For the info: Transworld - November 2009 Volume 27 Number 11

For more info: Thrasher - January 2009 Volume 29 Number 1

Transworld - February 2006 Volume 24 Number 2

Howard Cooke.

The Clash.

Howard is from Liverpool, England. He rode for Consolidated, Spitfire, and Heroin Skateboards. There's a cool photo of him by Wig Worland doing a frontside slash grind on the extension of a giant quarterpipe at the Edge Lane skatepark in Liverpool from 1996. The picture was used for the cover of Sidewalk, a British skateboard magazine. It also appeared in the Dysfunctional book curated by Aaron Rose. Howard plays bass and was in the hardcore bands Walk The Plank and Cold Ones.

The weather has been warm and dry for the week. I've been skateboarding in the driveway and haven't had the time to hit up the park or anything different. Everything has been a chore lately and it is not much fun. I'm not digging it. Have a good weekend out there.

Nik Freitas took the photographs.

Thrasher - May 2000 Volume 20 Number 5

Richard Paez #4.

Hamburger Jr.

As of the year 2000, Richard was sponsored by Consolidated, Independent, Puma, Spitfire, and Volcom. His preferred terrain includes backyard ramps, pools, and skateparks. He likes to watch sports, with the Cowboys and the Lakers being his favorite teams. For music, he's into Motörhead, Suicidal Tendencies, Hank Williams Jr., and Bay Area rap. Way back then Rich was riding a 7.5" wide board with Indys and 53 mm Spitfires.

The photo is by Nik Freitas. It's neat to see how Nik's photography improved over the years with his photos for Consolidated.

For the info: Thrasher - July 2000 Volume 20 Number 7

Thrasher - September 1999 Volume 19 Number 9

Alan Petersen #21.

Caddyshack.

AP flips frontside on the ever unpopular with the neighbors backyard mini ramp. Power is still going as a distributor and handles Death, Blast, Heroin Skateboards, Film Trucks, and a bunch of others in the United Kingdom.

The photo might be by Dave “Nelly” Nelson. That's my best guess based on the internet. Nelly might also only be a surf photographer, but the biography on his website loosely matches the specifics for this picture.

Thrasher - January 1999 Volume 19 Number 1

Consolidated vs. K2.

Adios.

Consolidated was always down to shed light on any shady business dealings going on in skateboarding. This feels like such a bygone era, even with taking into account that attitudes and opinions are going to change over time. Enough years have passed where there are now real skateboarders working in positions of influence at the bigger corporate brands so maybe things are different in the present day than what Consolidated feared might happen. It's also worth noting that Consolidated outlasted K2 in the end.

Investment: Thrasher - March 1999 Volume 19 Number 3

Zip Code: Thrasher - May 1999 Volume 19 Number 5

Consolidated Team 1999.

The Cube Crew.

This is the cast of characters that rode for Consolidated in the summer of 1999. It's neat how they worked in the logos for some of their sponsors, like Forties Clothing, Thunder Trucks, Vans, and Volcom. There's also a shirt for Skate Works, the local skateshop in Santa Cruz. This had to be one of the first mentions of Van Wastell, too. The illustration is by the late Moish Brenman.

Thrasher - June 1999 Volume 19 Number 6