The Firm #2.

Transworld - November 1996 Volume 14 Number 11

Salman Agah #2.

Thrasher - December 1996 Volume 16 Number 12

Ray Barbee #3.

Thrasher - October 1996 Volume 16 Number 10

Lance Mountain #3.

Thrasher - August 1996 Volume 16 Number 8

The Firm.

Transworld - September 1996 Volume 14 Number 9

Caine Gayle.

All hail Caine Gayle.

Caine was on Prime before changing to Plan B. He was on at the end of the company and would soon migrate over to Kareem Campbell's All City/City Stars. Caine was also on DC Shoes and Axion.

That wraps up a look back at mid 1990s Plan B. Due to there not being enough days in the week, Pat Chanita and Brian Emmers were the two riders who were left out. I'm going to do a month of random 1990s scans in January so I will include them then.

What's the over/under on a bigger riot for Pretty Sweet than for Bake & Destroy? But seriously, stay safe out there, kids.

Vert Is Dead will be back on November 26. I need a break.

Transworld - January 1998 Volume 16 Number 1

Rick McCrank.

Pretty sweet.

Rick got his start as an am for a small Canadian company called Cherry Bombs. His first major sponsor was Plan B, but unfortunately this was at the end of things and he soon wound up on Birdhouse. He had the first part in The End. Rick filmed his tricks in about a week due to deadlines. From Birdhouse, he switched to Girl and has been there ever since. He runs a skateshop in Vancouver called Anti-Social.

Scott Serfas took the photos.

Transworld - April 1997 Volume 15 Number 4

Jeremy Wray #4.

50-50 on a tall ledge.

Jeremy rode for Blockhead and Color before getting on Plan B. He took tricks to new levels by doing everything bigger, longer, and higher than people before him. He was also really good at skating assorted rooftop ledges and gaps, which leave you little margin for error. When Plan B ended, Jeremy switched to Element. This was good for a while, except until Element started featuring some of the legends on their team a whole lot less than they should. He left Element within the last year or two and I'm not exactly sure what he is up to these days.

The photo is by Atiba Jefferson.

Transworld - March 1997 Volume 15 Number 3

Matt Hensley #6.

Shackle me not.

Matt had retired from skateboarding in 1993. He came back to Plan B after the passing of Mike Ternasky in 1994. Skateboarding photos were a little rare the second time around for Matt, but they were worth it. The pivot with the street sign is awesome, even if my scanner did wash out some of the color. It reminds me of the days of skating sketchy ramps with PVC coping in the driveway.

Transworld - December 1996 Volume 14 Number 12

Pat Duffy #3.

It's onto the second week of mid 1990s Plan B.

The Terminator jumps down a big set of stairs.

Pat had the opening part in Plan B's Questionable video in 1992 and soon turned pro. He rode for the company until it's end and then was on Think. He was also on the short lived Legacy before rightfully being added to Plan B round two.

Transworld - November 1996 Volume 14 Number 11

Colin McKay #6.

Front crooks.

Colin also rode for Powell Peralta and stuck with them until the start of Plan B. Along with Danny Way, he took the more technical side of street skating to the vert ramp, using the coping as somebody would use a ledge. He's from Vancouver. After that he rode for Girl and the brief Alien Workshop offshoot Seek. Obviously Colin was back on for round two of Plan B in 2005. He's been on DC Shoes for the long haul.

Transworld - October 1996 Volume 14 Number 10

Danny Way #2.

Only one way to do it.

Old joke I know, but I haven't made it on here yet.

Danny was sponsored by Vision way back when and then rode for Powell Peralta in the Public Domain days. Once he joined H-Street, it was game on and skateboarding wasn't the same. After a little switching back and forth between H-Street and Blind, he settled in at Plan B. He won Thrasher's SOTY award in 1991, too. Danny rode for the B until the company was put on the shelf at the end of the 1990s. He was on Alien Workshop until the Plan B resurrection in 2005.

I haven't voted for SOTY and I might not bother, but I would give Darren Navarrette some serious consideration for my vote. Dennis Busenitz would be another choice, based on his Pushing SF part. I still need to watch Austyn Gillette's new video part, along with whatever Brick Harbor posted the other day of Dennis.

Get well soon, Tempster.

Paul "Skin" Phillips did the camera thing.

Transworld - July 1996 Volume 14 Number 7

Sal Barbier #4.

The Swamp Rat travels from demo to demo.

The photos are by Jody Morris.

Transworld - February 1996 Volume 14 Number 2

Ronnie Bertino #3.

When I took the look back at Plan B's Questionable video in September, I only used one Plan B ad over those two weeks. The early ads had something interesting about them, but truthfully they weren't great in terms of design. They were almost too basic. In compiling scans for this part of Plan B's history, I noticed the ad quality improved greatly. The layouts tended to be arty enough to make them stand out without overdoing it.

Ronnie had been riding for Blind and made an in-house sponsor change to Plan B. He had ridden for Alva and Think before Plan B, 23 after and then finished out his pro career on ATM. Ronnie helped pioneer a lot of tech switch tricks, such as 360 frontside ollies and backside lipslides.

Jody Morris was the photographer.

Transworld - November 1995 Volume 13 Number 11

Rodney Mullen #4.

Casper slide/flip/over/frontside/whatever.

Vert Is Dead is going to spend the next two weeks looking at Plan B from the years of 1995 to 1998. I figure Rodney is a good place to start. After giving up his freestyle board for a normal street board, the Mutt continued blowing minds by taking all his freestyle tricks to street skating.

The picture is by Daniel Harold Sturt.

Transworld - June 1995 Volume 13 Number 6

Barker Barrett #3.

OG East Coast legend.

Barker is from Carversville, Pennsylvania. He has ridden for a few companies over the years. He was part of the SHUT team and then rode for Planet Earth. He was also on the early days of Zoo York and Creature. When Russ Pope changed things to Scarecrow, Barker made the switch as well. Afterward, he moved behind the scenes at Element.

There's a Barker guest board out on Dogtown with graphics by Alyasha Owerka-Moore. Grip one while you can.

Starting on Monday it will be two weeks worth of Plan B from 1995 through 1998. Probably more stuff from the first two years than the second two.

Transworld - May 1996 Volume 14 Number 5

Adam McNatt.

Speed demon.

Adam was on the Scarecrow wheel team. He has ridden for a few companies over the years. At the time of this ad, he would have been on Tony Magnusson's Evol. This was the company Tony did after H-Street ended in the early 1990s. Adam was an am for Alva back in the day with Ronnie Bertino and Pat Brennen. He then switched over to Powell Peralta and turned pro. After Powell, he was on 101. Natas even let him drive his car for the 101 video in 1992. Then he skated for Goodtimes right before Evol. Finally, he rode for ATM at the end of the 1990s until his retirement from the pro ranks in the mid 2000s. I think that's everybody. He is a tattoo artist these days.

Thrasher - December 1996 Volume 16 Number 12