Mike Taylor #2.

In my first Mike Taylor post back in June, I was wondering if the guy ever went pro. It turns out he did go pro for G & S. He wasn't around too long and I'm betting that giant knee brace had a lot to do with it.

Sin Egelja took the photo.

Note: This is not the same Mikey Taylor who currently rides for Alien Workshop.

Transworld - April 1991 Volume 9 Number 4

Karma Tsocheff.

This guy has been in the game a long time. There's been a big change since when I started skateboarding. Pros would "retire" when they hit 23, but keep on skating. Now they just keep on going - like Lance or Salba. I tend to think of Karma as one of the "hot new street pros", but when you've had a board with your name on it for almost twenty years, then you aren't the new kid anymore. Keep on rolling.

Thrasher - June 1990 Volume 10 Number 6

Rick Ibaseta.

Time to take it back to the streets.

The photos are by Tobin Yelland.

Thrasher - September 1990 Volume 10 Number 9

Jeff Phillips #8.

Jeff Phillips #8.

"If you were to ask someone who they thought would be the winner of the Dallas contest, nine out of ten times you would hear the name Jeff Phillips. Not wanting to let anyone down, Jeff put it all together and eased his way into first place."

One last post to make up for yesterday's sleepy and drunk entry.

O did the camera stuff.

Transworld - May 1990 Volume 8 Number 5

Jeff Phillips #7.

One of the things about Jeff Phillips is that he rocked tie - dye shirts. I guess he was way ahead of one of the current fashion trends in skateboarding. Of course every young whippersnapper in a tie - dye probably doesn't know about Jeff, but they should. Here's a quote from a Transworld interview:

"Is there any connection with Jeff Phillips and tie dying?

Yeah, I think so because I think I was one of the first to bring it back, well, not really bring it back. Tie - dye Mary out of Nashville, Tennessee, who by the way has some of the old farm patterns, knows how to tie so many different patterns. She's the best tie - dyer in the world. Like this shirt I got on right here, this thing's three years old. It's been in the wash so many times - it's still brighter than any new tie - dye you see. Allison turned me on to her. I didn't really think about ties before, but that used to be a white shirt; now look at it. I just flipped out. All of a sudden something clicked. Instant, I dig them. I think they so rad. Tie - dyes are intense. I've got cool - looking - tie - dues that anyone could wear. And she has some of the best patterns ever. After I started wearing them and stuff, then a few other people - Tracker has a tie - dye shirt. And now it's around everywhere it seems."

The photo is by Jamie Mosberg. It was from a Life's A Beach ad. I cropped it because the background was a light screen of the BBC logo that didn't show up when I scanned it. The company ran a series of ads that were a rip off of the American Express "Membership has it's privileges" advertising campaign. I think this might be one of my favorite photos ever.

This wraps up Jeff Phillips week. Thanks to everyone who has checked out and enjoyed the website. There will be more as the weeks go on.

For the photo: Transworld - February 1990 Volume 8 Number 2

For the quote from an interview with Britt Parrott: Transworld - October 1988 Volume 6 Number 5

Jeff Phillips #6.

Speedwheels keeping things sick.

Transworld April 1989 Volume 7 Number 2

Jeff Phillips #5.

"Enjoying a fun session at the Rocky Point quarterpipe."

Frontside disaster on a janky quarterpipe with PVC coping on the beach in Hawaii. Beautiful.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays.

Jamie Mosberg took the photo.

Transworld - September 1989 Volume 7 Number 5

Jeff Phillips #4.

I never had a Jeff Phillips deck, but I wanted one. The boards looked like they had a very good shape with lots of concave and kick, especially in the nose. For a company that sponsored mostly vert pros, BBC boards seemed to be built for street skating. They appeared to be more functional than what Powell Peralta or H - Street were putting out. Whether that is how the boards were, I don't know. The Phelper even gave them the thumbs up in Product Patrol, so they couldn't have been that bad.

The shop in my town carried all the Life's A Beach clothing, but they never had the boards. They even had the Skaters From Uranus video. This was one of the first videos I ever saw, along with Public Domain and Streets On Fire. Looking back on it today, I think it was better to get a more rounded view of skateboarding than just the relatively safe Powell stuff.

This photo is from the Shut Up And Skate contest at the Skatepark Of Houston. The event happened in early November 1988. Tony Magnusson won, rookie Brian Pennington took second and Phillips placed third. Danny Way won the amateur contest.

Transworld April 1989 Volume 7 Number 2

Jeff Phillips #3.

"Blunt at the Skatepark of Houston, 1988."

This is how Jeff did blunts. He'd pop out of the vert ramp and balance on the tail in the space between the coping and the deck. Then he'd yank it back in to fakie. Fucking gnarly. I don't think anybody else did the trick this way.

Another thing about Jeff is that he was into building models of Japanese animated characters. That is what is going on in the small picture of him holding the demon mask by Grant Brittain.

Tod Swank took the blunt picture.

Transworld - October 1988 Volume 6 Number 5

Jeff Phillips #2.

Do you still have your helmet with the skull painted on it?
Yeah, that helmet, people keep asking me, "Doesn't it smell?" Well, don't you think I change the pads? It's just a plastic shell. Come on. I've had it a long time.

Aside from the talent on the skateboard, Jeff was famous for wearing a helmet with a skull painted on the top. He's doing a frontside boneless in Arizona from 1987 for the big photo.

Both photos are by Grant Brittain. The question and answer are from an interview with Britt Parrott.

Note: The photo of Jeff holding his helmet was on a different page in his interview than the frontside boneless. I put the two together in Photoshop because it was a small photo and you can't do a feature on Jeff Phillips without mentioning the skull helmet.

Transworld - October 1988 Volume 6 Number 5

Jeff Phillips #1.

This whole week is dedicated to the late Jeff Phillips. He was an all around great skateboarder from Texas who committed suicide 15 years ago this Christmas. Jeff was pro for a number of companies including Zorlac, Sims and Life's A Beach. He won some pro vert contests and even beat Tony Hawk without using the McTwist. Legend has it he was tripping on acid at the time. Phillips had a good run during the mid 1980s, got hurt and mounted a comeback in the late 1980s. He won some more contests, Life's A Beach had a solid team and he even opened a skatepark in Dallas. Unfortunately a couple of years later the interest in vert and parks waned, which didn't help out his mental state. As Thrasher noted on their website in the latest From The Crypt section, Jeff Phillips would have won the Rumble In Ramona if he was around today.

Jeff had an interview in the first issue of Transworld I bought. Sometimes the first impressions of new things stick with you the longest.

The photo is by Jamie Mosberg.

Transworld - June 1990 Volume 8 Number 6

Phil Esbenshade #2.

Phil E. throws down a sweeper.

The photo is by Christian Kline.

Transworld - September 1989 Volume 7 Number 5

Limpies #2.

If you make a giant piece of abstract sculpture that looks like a turd, you figure this photo is going to happen sooner or later.

Transworld - May 1991 Volume 9 Number 5

Limpies #1.

Limpies was Chip Morton's clothing company with the slightly inappropriate logo. A company like this could really only have happened right at that turnover from the 1980s to the 1990s. You kids don't know what you missed. There was no internet, there were only three skateboard videos a year, cameras used film, people made 'zines and you could buy music on cassette. It was totally awesome. Anyway, that's why guys like Michael Burnett and Michael Sieben advise the young folks to run away when old people start talking. We tend to ramble on.

Now back to Limpies. According to their ads, Limpies didn't sponsor anybody, except for Mike Youssefpour's girlfriend. Several pros who wore the clothes included Ron Allen, Jim Thiebaud and Sean Sheffey.

Transworld - February 1991 Volume 9 Number 2

World Industries Nice Ad.

If you don't have anything good to say, don't say anything at all. I bet there are a few people who wished World took this approach more often back in the day.

Thrasher - June 1990 Volume 10 Number 6

Thomas Morgan #2.

"Not quite the age of the majority, but that doesn't really matter, does it? Thomas Morgan. Torontosaurus."

Thomas Morgan in the G & S days. I had a friend who was from Canada and he would go skating at Tornotosaurus when he went to visit relatives. He would bring back stories about how good guys like Morgan, Bill Weiss and Jason Corbett were. I never got to go with him to Toronto, but I did make it to Sud Skates in St. Catharines once or twice. If the internet can be believed, Suds is still around after twenty years.

The photo is by Spike Jonze.

Transworld - January 1991 Volume 9 Number 1

Marc Johnson #2.

"With the charm of Face, the cunning of Murdock, the intuition of Hannibal and the gold links of B.A. Baraccus, Marc Johnson is the new A - Team look out. F/s boardslide on the run, fool."

The week started with Marc and the week ends with Marc. This was from when the A - Team was launched. I miss Big Brother's dumb ass captions. It's all in the hands.

Tobin Yelland did the photography thing.

Big Brother - September 1997 Issue Number 28

Matt Field.

Field ollies on an Anti Hero Andy Roy Elephantitis deck. He rode for Sheep before IPath started. Sheep was a short lived company done by Sole Tech. Ed Templeton, Frank Hirata, Rick McCrank, Brian Anderson, Mike Manzoori and Matt Reason all rode for them. They had one video called Life Of Leisure. I saw it exactly once and thought it was good, but I honestly don't remember anything about it since it was 11 years ago. Sheep was going more for the arty and/or vegan crowd. I liked their shoes and was bummed when they discontinued the brand. I don't know how much I would like the shoes today because I won't wear sneakers that are predominately black or white. Let's hope there is no reissue plan in the works.

I am by no means one to point fingers on spelling errors, but elephantitis was spelled wrong on the Andy Roy board. It should have been elephantiasis. This misspelling is a common mistake according to Wikipedia. Also in a bunch of the Sheep ads, Matt Field was named Matt Fields. I know this happens all the time in the skateboard world. I used to be a newspaper photographer and it always bothers me when I see a typo in a name.

Big Brother - December 1997 Issue Number 31

Thrill Of It All.

The other side of mid to late 1990s skateboarding: Zero.

Three things that weren't happening back then were heavy metal, skulls and big drops. Jamie Thomas saw an opportunity and ran with it. The result was money in the bank because the kids ate it up. As long as there are teenage boys, you are always going to have a market for something like this. It's hard to believe that in 1997 there weren't many companies with skull and sword images that were taken seriously, if any. Scarecrow? * I don't think so.

I'm not much of a Jamie Thomas or Chad Muska fan, beyond wishing I could do frontside kickflips on transitions like Chad does/did. I was fascinated by how much people got into them. At the time there weren't really any pros that were worshipped the way these two were. Skateboarding was a little plain, in a good way, without any singular defining trends happening in the mid 1990s. Most of the tricks were tech and lines were important in videos, as they should be. The jeans had slimmed down and plain logo shirts were popular. The fashion meter was definitely tipped toward the fresh side instead of the hesh side until Jamie's group of Zeros came along. They skated big rails. They jumped off dumpsters. They put the slams in their video parts. They were dirty. They had long hair. They wore tighter jeans. Their shoes weren't fresh. And if they were, they got spray painted gold or something.

Two things about the Muska:

JT Alutz gave him some props on noseslides in a Thrasher interview within the last couple years. His advice was to check out the technique on nosesliders because he did them the right way. I don't know why this stuck with me. It's kind of funny.

The reason I went with Chad is because of Marc Johnson's quote from the Direction ad about always carrying a ghetto blaster. It all started when I was looking for Sheep ads and the week filled in from there. Who else do you think of in skateboarding when you hear the words "ghetto" and "blaster" together?

* I did have a Dorian Tucker from them that was awesome, but that was more because it was the only board I could find that was 8" wide.

Note: Some of this was going to go in the comments for the Muska, but I'm brain dead today and felt it deserved to become proper content.

Big Brother - June 1997 Issue Number 26

Chad Muska.

"All I'm fuckin' doin' right now is skating and partying, that's all my life consists of. I'm not even into doing anything with my life. I don't even care. That's all I've ever done and that's all I plan on doing the rest of my life. I'm not even lookin' toward the future whatsoever. I'm just livin' day by day and doin' my thing and whatever happens, happens."

How did the Muska not win Thrasher's Skater Of The Year at some point in the late 1990s? He was hands down the biggest name in skateboarding from 1997 to 2000 and probably a little past that. I know there was some long since smoothed over politics between Jamie Thomas and Thrasher that prevented the Chief from taking SOTY, but what was stopping Muska? All the kids were either little versions of him or Jamie during those years with a few Tom Penny imitations thrown in the mix.

I think the first major bit of coverage that Chad had was in a Transworld article by Thomas Campbell on a road trip to Las Vegas in late 1993. This was an epic Mountain Dew and Taco Bell fueled tale involving the antics of a sizable crew in Sin City. The group included Tim Brauch, Jason Adams, Chris Pontius and Jesse Paez. They discovered the Muska and he had a couple of pictures in the story. He was soon sponsored by Maple, switched to Toy Machine and was kicked off to become the first rider for Shorty's board team. Chad also had one pro model sneaker on eS, which gave the world a shoe where you could hide your weed in a stash pocket in the tongue. Bless those stoners and their crazy ideas.

Here's the caption on Rick Kosick's photo:

"Chad Muska been born on the moon the way he defies gravity. F/s kickflip."

Big Brother - Number 20 early 1996

Marc Johnson.

"Dude, there he was, my hero lying face down in the gutter. From that day on I've always moved in the right Direction. Carry your ghetto blaster wherever you go. You'll always have a party."

MJ pops a beautiful ollie during the Maple days.

Direction was a mid 90s wheel company done by Santa Cruz. Like any wheel company not named Spitfire or Pig, they weren't around very long. You can see they had a solid team by the list of pros.

Jeff Kendall snapped the photo.

Transworld - November 1996 Volume 14 Number 11

Bryce Kanights.

A big thanks to Bryce Kanights and Chris Sprouls for making Vert Is Dead the site of the week on Skate Daily last week.

The photo is by Steve Sherman.

Transworld - September 1989 Volume 7 Number 5

Reese Simpson #2.

"The subject is Reese Simpson, who's probably considered old and washed - up by the general skating public. But if you were to see him ride today you'd find out just how good he still is. He's a great friend and all - around one of the best skateboarders ever."

Jamie Mosberg's photo of Reese Simpson that ran in the Transworld photographer feature. There was a request for some Reese and I'd been meaning to put more pictures of him up on the site.

Transworld - March 1993 Volume 11 Number 3

Kris Markovich #4.

"On this day two very young girls rode by on a bicycle. They stopped just a few feet away from the gap and tried to steal something from a woman having a yard sale. Kris saved the day and the woman instantly changed her attitude on skateboarding. All of a sudden skateboarding was good and and the two young girls were the criminals. At that moment, one person's view of skateboarding had changed. Technically the photo was chosen for the same reason as Reese's. If you ever get the chance to see Kris skate he'll most likely blow your mind. Kris does bigger shit than anyone, skates faster, and he's definitely not scared. Kris is a good friend whom I also respect greatly."

This photo and caption are by Jamie Mosberg from a feature in Transworld on all their photographers. Each guy got two pages. Mosberg filled his space with photos of Markovich and Reese Simpson. I'll post the Simpson pic tomorrow.

Transworld - March 1993 Volume 11 Number 3

Kris Markovich #3.

This was 101's rebuttal to the Foundation ad. When the F - Troop started, Swank was partnered with Steve Rocco. That's why it says that Foundation products are once again available through World Industries. Here's Markovich's take on the whole deal:

"Just Swank having fun. I thought it was funny. Tod's pretty rad, he's the only person who will mess with Rocco. Everyone else is just scared, but Tod doesn't really care. He and Steve are friends, but he just does it anyway. A 101 ad I had that came out in the last Thrasher said I don't ride for Foundation and that Foundation products are being distributed by World Industries. Probably a month later, the first Color ad will be coming out, so I guess there will be a lot of confused kids out there for a little while"

The interview was from when Markovich was starting Color, a short lived effort due to poor financial backing. The team that was assembled for Color
wound up becoming the team for the Rocco distributed Prime, more or less. Some of the guys on Color went to other World Companies - Jason Dill to 101 and Jeremy Wray to Plan B.

For the quote: Transworld - July 1993 Volume 11 Number 7

Thrasher - April 1993 Volume 13 Number 4

Kris Markovich #2.

"You might have noticed the Foundation ad in the April issue of Transworld because it featured Kris Markovich. It seems Foundation owner Tod Swank liked the photo so much that he called Kris to see if it would be okay to use it for an ad, and Kris said yes. Well, some folks got a little uptight, and word on the street is that World Industries is now claiming that they own the Foundation (and are making copies of all the F. Models) and are even running ads in Big Brother and Thrasher just to confuse everyone. Swank called up to say that he is the sole owner of Foundation and nobody big or small should get in his way."

This was a funny little incident that happened in the early 1990s. At the time Markovich was riding for 101. There were a lot of new companies at that point and riders were switching teams every other month it seemed. Swank's fake ad implied that Markovich was now on Foundation. It confused a bunch of people and pissed a few more off. I'll post the response ad from 101 tomorrow.

For the quote: Transworld - June 1993 Volume 11 Number 6

Transworld - April 1993 Volume 11 Number 4

Kris Markovich #1.

Markovich was one of my favorite pros during the 1990s. You always got an insane video part from him. He skated bigger and faster than just about everybody else. This is probably why companies were willing to put up with his team hopping ways. He bounced around a lot. G & S, 101, Color, Prime, Element, Foundation, Hollywood, Blind, Crimson and Given all put out boards with his name on them. Markovich also rode for Dogtown, but I'm not positive he ever had a pro board for them. I stayed a fan up until Hollywood. That company seemed like a bad idea that never should have happened and then he switched to Blind. I'm kind of liking his current art and the graphics for Given. Maybe he's got one last banging video part in him.

For shoes, Markovich rode for Airwalk, Vans, Duffs and Adio. I'm not even going to try for wheel sponsors, but the list would include A1 Meats, Union, Spitfire and Pig. He seems to ride Ventures a lot. There were some Indys and Orions in the mix, too.

Note: Vert Is Dead is the Site Of The Week on Skate Daily this week. Hot damn.

Transworld - May 1991 Volume 9 Number 5

Shawn Mandoli.

I feel like J.A. Andade whenever he wins on Around The Horn and has his "Andade Lounge" bit, but I'd like to welcome Shawn Mandoli to the Vert Is Dead Lounge. Thanks for checking out the site. Here's an ad where nobody almost died, unlike that Real one from the other week. The Deluxe Store has had some dope ads over the years.

Thrasher - January 1994 Volume 14 Number 1

Mike Carroll #2.

Thanks for the link the other day, Sanger. Here's a picture of one of your bosses from the 1991 Thrasher Calendar. MC frontside blunt slides in San Francisco. This is another example of a cool looking board set up. Blue anodized Indys, H - Street green deck, blue rails and a sticker collage in the middle. Might those be A - 1 Meats for wheels? You can even see the spray paint on the Airwalks.

The photo is by Bill Thomas.

Todd Congelliere #2.

My boards never looked cool compared to what the pros rode. I never had the skinny rails or the World Industries Bedpan risers. I still want a set of those things. That bear is awesome.

The high point of Todd's career in terms of contests was when he got 5th at the NSA Norfolk Pro Vert contest in the fall of 1990.* Tony Hawk won, Jeff Kendall got second, Omar Hassan was in third and Chris Miller placed fourth.

* As far as I can tell the contest was in late 1990 since the coverage was in early 1991. There was no date listed in the Transworld article. I don't think it would have been in 1991 since the magazines had a longer turnaround time from event to print than today.

Thrasher - October 1990 Volume 10 Number 10

Todd Congelliere #1.

Todd wasn't around for very long in the skateboard world, but he made quite an impression before moving on. He could do any bigspin variation on vert - bigspin to disaster, bigspin to back tail, etc. There was even an appearance in the tours/demos section of Plan B's Questionable. He started the band F.Y.P while riding for Mike Smith's Liberty and created Recess Records, which is still going today. Liberty was backed by Steve Rocco. Todd and Mike were the pros. A vert only company wasn't going to last in the early 1990s and Liberty was soon gone.

Thrasher - October 1990 Volume 10 Number 10

Jovontae Turner.

I didn't care for World Industries' Love Child video when it came out. I was expecting something more like Plan B's Questionable. Instead it was a bunch of little kids who looked even smaller by their oversized clothes and an oldies soundtrack. The oldies didn't fly by my freshman year of college taste in punk rock. I can't really say I like that type of sound today either. The baggy clothes I guess were fine by 1992 standards, but turquoise is a nasty color no matter what year or size. As time went on, I noticed people started saying that this was a good video. I gave it another chance and although it will never be one of my favorites, Love Child does have its moments. Or at the least it launched the careers of guys like Chico Brenes, Spencer Fujimoto and Daewon Song. Shiloh Greathouse deserves some props, too. However, Jovantae Turner skated like a grown man with proper style in this sea of Bob shirts and 42" Blind jeans. I watched Love Child recently on the VCR and I wish he had given us a few more full video parts instead of disappearing.

Luke Ogden took the photo at Wallenberg.

Transworld - August 1991 Volume 9 Number 8

Double Dip.

Some of the older guys in my town were pissed off when skateboards started to evolve into the precursor of the popsicle shape that we take for granted today. This was in 1990 and 1991 before things got worse or better, depending on your point of view. They hated freestyle and double tails. It didn't take a rocket scientist to see that skateboarding was changing and having a nose the same as the tail on a board was much more functional. Of course some of the early attempts at having a symmetrical board were nasty. Vision tried and there was a Powell Tony Hawk that resembled a barn door. Or an uncut Naked blank. Does anybody else remember Naked? Their whole deal was that you could order an uncut blank and make your own shape. It made for an ideal shop class project. Too bad the idea sounds better on paper than in reality. When one of my friend's tried it out, the end result sucked. Of course he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed and a high school shop isn't going to have all the fancy tools that a woodshop geared toward the production of skateboards is going to have.

Transworld - February 1990 Volume 8 Number 2

Phil Shao #4.

"Nosegrab backside air over the wood extension at Jim's."

Although he's gone now, we can be thankful Phil graced the Earth with his presence.

Luke Ogden took the photo.

Note: I'm going through old scans I hadn't posted. I've got a week off for Thanksgiving and I'm planning on getting a lot of new stuff ready to upload. There will probably be some sort of big Jeff Phillips tribute around Christmas time.

Thrasher - January 1998 Volume 18 Number 1

Real Summer Tour 1995.

"Over the course of two and a half months, who knows how many miles will be covered? Last year Mandoli fell asleep at the wheel, the tour ended and what was left of the van never came back.

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

1995

The year the van survives"

It's cold, snowy and they are fixing the heater at work, so I'm craving some warmer weather. Only 7 months until June.

This ad is a year after the infamous Real tour where Sean Mandoli fell asleep while driving and nearly sent the team to the spirit world. It also marks the return of Mic - E Reyes to the Deluxe camp after a stint on the San Francisco Police Department.

Slap - September 1995 Volume 4 Number 9

Street Sheet.

Gary Scott Davis' two pages of weirdness in Transworld. He gets a little help from Randy Colvin, Steve Sherman and Miki Vuckovich this time around. I always liked the random columns in TWS that were more like 'zines.

Transworld - June 1989 Volume 7 Number 3

Chris Miller #2.

"Chris Miller caught here shucking one last fastplant."

This is the Miller steez I was talking about yesterday.

The photo is by Chip Morton. I believe Chip was the man behind Limpies Clothing. Worst/best company logo ever.

Transworld - April 1989 Volume 7 Number 2

Lester Kasai.

"Occasional visitor Lester Kasai proceeding to slap a titanic air into the square pool's corner pocket."

I made it onto Crailtap yesterday by sending in the scan of this photo with Ty Evans in the background. The Girl/Lakai videographer is sadly located under Lester's butt in the photo. I'm not even going to try to make a joke about that.

Grant Brittain's picture was from one of the last sessions at the Pipeline in Upland, California. The article it was used with was about the closing of the park. The Pipeline was open from the 1977 until 1988. I remember seeing the pics in the mags and it looked super burly. There wasn't a lot of concrete around in the late 80s with the focus being more on street and wooden ramps, which made the place stand out even more. Guys like Chris Miller and Steve Alba were some of the locals/regulars. Every Miller photo from there is beyond amazing.

The small photo by O is of Gerry Hurtado carving the banked slalom run.

Transworld - April 1989 Volume 7 Number 2

Danny Sargent.

Danny Sargent and Ed Templeton were the new street shredders for Schmitt Stix and then soon after, the New Deal. Since Vision was partnered with Schmitt, there would be some overlap of sponsors, which is why Sarge is rocking the VSW. I do recall wanting a pair of the DV8 high tops, but I never got them or even tried very hard to get a pair. I stuck with Airwalk. Sargent's parts in the New Deal vids were great. His Useless Wooden Toys performance was raw SF footage with no music so you heard every grind and every screech of urethane. As for 1281, Sargent pulled a switch backside 180 down the Big 7 at EMB. He was one of the first people to do a big gap switch. Unfortunately, he faded from the spotlight because of heavy drug use and that was the end of his pro career.

The photos are by Christian Kline.

Transworld - March 1990 Volume 8 Number 3

Mark Heintzman #2.

"Lofty sentence. Mark Heintzman presents a thesis on progressive aeronautics to a vacant faculty. School W."

Full G & S setup.

Steve Sherman took the photo.

Transworld - March 1990 Volume 8 Number 3

Tim Gavin.

I got the Beauty & The Beast DVD yesterday. I only had time to watch the Anti - Hero edit, but it was obviously very good. Any Max Schaaf, Brian Anderson and Julien Stranger footage is always a great thing. But that got me thinking that they could have dragged the Gav along on the trip, too.

Transworld - June 1994 Volume 12 Number 6

Paulo Diaz #2.

More Paulo? Why not? This is from an ad for Kools, Mark Gonzales' clothing company that was backed by Union Wheels. Kools existed briefly when the Gonz got back into skateboarding after leaving Blind. That's if I remember things correctly. I'm too tired tonight to cross check some phone numbers in ads or try to figure out which came first: 60/40 or ATM Click.

Note: Union Wheels did fund 60/40 and Kools. The fine Chrome Ball Incident has a Gonz post up today and in the mix is a 60/40 advertisement, so I was able to check the phone numbers without having to do much research.

Transworld - July 1994 Volume 12 Number 7

Paulo Diaz.

Paulo is rocking such a classic early 90s kit: X - Large t - shirt, baggy jeans and Pumas. The nose slide is nothing to mess with either. Along with Salman Agah, Paulo was one of the first people to do big stuff switch on street and he did it with his own unique style. He started off on Powell Peralta, switched to Stereo and wound up on Chocolate before disappearing into the rock and roll world. I've read rumors about him having some assorted problems over the years, but I hope he's doing OK these days.

Floating removable axles? Uh, yeah, that's a good idea. Sorry, Tracker. I did ride your trucks a couple times and they worked fine, but that was before 1993.

Transworld - January 1993 Volume 11 Number 1

Alan Petersen.

Nose grinder in a pool. This is fucking gnarly.

Thrasher - January 1991 Volume 11 Number 1

Lori Rigsby.

Lori Rigsby rode for Powell Peralta and had a part in Public Domain. She did a lot of technical mini ramp tricks and thus became the dream girl of numerous lonely boy skaters who were looking for a lady friend that understood skateboarding. Then she kind of just disappeared.

Now about the Indy ad. If anybody under thirty actually reads this, there used to be a rivalry between Independent and Tracker trucks. (Wait, you've never heard of Tracker? Well, there used to be a company by that name that made things to hold the wheels on your board. Tony Hawk even rode them.) The rivalry sort of lives on today with Transworld versus Thrasher. Transworld was started by Tracker owner Larry Balma before eventually winding up in the hands of AOL Time Warner. Balma's problem with Thrasher was that they kept it a little too real with things like swearing, sex, drugs and rock & roll. The Skate & Destroy motto didn't sit too well with the Tracker camp either. As a result, Transworld was started. Anyway, about the trucks. Trackers had plastic baseplates that were designed to make the trucks lighter. They were also more likely to break since plastic obviously isn't as strong as aluminum. So there you go. Indy disses Tracker.

The photo is credited to a Mr. Richard Meter. Pen name? Probably.

Thrasher - June 1989 Volume 9 Number 6

Jeff Grosso #2.

Mothra for Halloween.

Thrasher - November 1989 Volume 9 Number 11

Riky Barnes #4.

Ah, the good old days when pros could get away with a 5 - 0 on a curb for a serious advertisement.

Thrasher - July 1990 Volume 10 Number 7

Riky Barnes #3.

This is the graphic for Riky's first pro model. John Lucero's art from this time is some of my favorite stuff in skateboarding. I had the t - shirt. I wish I still had it. Lucero at this point was distributed by Santa Cruz/NHS before a failed partnership with Vision. Black Label was started after the Vision deal fell apart.

Thrasher - September 1989 Volume 9 Number 9

Riky Barnes #2.

It's pretty cool how pros sold just on image back in the day. If a guy had a neat graphic, it didn't matter a whole lot about the person. Of course if the pro did have an interesting personality to go along with some good art, then it was even better. This is why people still care about Jeff Grosso and not Bill Tocco. As I'm typing this, I realize I don't know all that much about Riky Barnes, other than I liked his board graphic. Looking at the photo today, I notice the obvious Duane Peters influence, which probably explains the leopard spot hair. Maybe. Also the nose ring is something else. Not many people had those in the late 1980s.

Thrasher - June 1989 Volume 9 Number 6

Wade Speyer #2.

Wade throws down a street grab back when street grabs were a legit trick and not frowned upon by the You Will Soon crew.

Thrasher - February 1991 Volume 11 Number 2