Friday, May 31, 2013

Jeff Pang #3.



13 Steps.
In The Dark.
In The Rain.
'Pang' deck with new concave available now.
Beauty is most sublime when it is simply implied.
Power is at its strongest when it is evident to all.

Pang rode for Underworld Element, Cream, and Zoo York. He was also the team manager for Zoo. He's the sports marketing director for DC Shoes these days.

There was a cool look back on NYC skateboarding in Transworld last month that talked to a bunch of the heads from the mid 1990s.

This closes out Cream week. This one was a lot harder to put together than others because there was not a whole lot of source material to work with that I actually had. More New York City stuff on Monday.

Gunars Elnuts photogaphy.

Slap - January 1997 Volume 6 Number 1

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Joey Alvarez & Rick Ibaseta.




Nothing without control.

Since one of these ads looks like an accident with the Photoshop Magic Wand tool, I decided to do a two for Thursday special.

Joey was also on Metropolitan Wheels.

Peter Huynh did a lot of the design work for Cream. I thought he maybe had a Venture or Indy ad at some point, but I couldn't find one, which seems to be the recurring theme of the week.

Joey: Thrasher - February 1996 Volume 16 Number 2

Rick: Thrasher - April 1996 Volume 16 Number 4

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Cream Sports Team.



Here's the team posing with Jovantae Turner, who unfortunately got mostly cropped out of the photo. There is a color version of the pic in an FTC ad that fits everybody on the page.

Thrasher - May 1995 Volume 15 Number 5

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Rick Ibaseta #3.



It's going to be a short week of Cream and related things.

Rick was an am and turned pro for New Deal. He was part of the original team on Andy Howell's Underworld Element. After things started to change at UE, Rick started Cream. The team was Jeff Pang, Joey Alvarez, and Peter Huynh.

I had the hardest time finding any ads for Cream. I checked Thrasher, Slap, and Transworld twice over from 1994 to 1996. I'm making an educated guess that they advertised in Big Brother, which I barely have any issues from for those years. I'm also going to make an educated guess that the Chrome Ball Incident and Skately have documented most of what Cream did put out.

Tobin Yelland did all the work.

Transworld - June 1994 Volume 12 Number 6

Friday, May 24, 2013

Damian Carbajal.



I like this photo.

Damian did a bunch of big ollies and impossible variations in Not The New H-Street video.

The H-Street timeline is simultaneously useful and a little hard to read.

This wraps up a look back at T. Mag and M.T.'s skateboard culture influencing beast from the late 1980s and very early 1990s. The team got too big, there were financial issues, and skateboarding went through a rebellious teenage phase where everything sucked so H-Street started to lose the coolness that it once had. The company stuck around for a few more years, but after the big names left for Plan B, things were never the same.

It will be a week of Cream starting on Tuesday. I got a couple of their ads and I'll figure something out to fill in the other day or two.

Have a good weekend.

Thrasher - January 1991 Volume 11 Number 1

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Chris Livingston.



Achilles Last Stand.

Chris is from Phoenix, Arizona. He had been on H-Street since the Shackle Me Not days. He was part of their next batch of pros after the company became established. He did a lot of technical vert tricks. Chris has made a couple of comebacks over the years and has been sidelined with injuries from time to time.

It does look like H-Street is making boards again. The current team includes Tony Magnusson, Ron Allen, Eddie Elguera, Dave Hacket, and Art Godoy. It looks like you can pick up the classic Shackle Me Not and Hokus Pokus videos on DVD, too.

Sin Egelja was the photographer.

Transworld - August 1991 Volume 9 Number 8

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Brennand Schoffel.



Devious as it may seem.

Brennand rode for H-Street. He turned pro for them and made the in house move to Life when that company was started. He was also on A-1 Meats. Brennand possibly enjoyed riding scooters with Matt Hensley.

Daniel Sturt took a lot of photos for H-Street.

Thrasher - September 1990 Volume 10 Number 9

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Sal Barbier #5.



Five years.
1250 posts.
Thanks.

Sal rode for a few different smaller companies before landing on H-Street. He turned pro for them and was part of the original group that started Plan B. After leaving Plan B, he had his two of his own companies, Twenty Three and Aesthetics. He also had a couple of popular shoe models on éS. I really liked his part in Hokus Pokus and probably watched it every day over one summer.

It's a photo by Mark Waters.

Transworld - July 1990 Volume 8 Number 7

Monday, May 20, 2013

Jason Rogers #2.



The Arcade.

It's another week of H-Street classics.

Jason was pro for H-Street. He was one of the well rounded skaters on the team and could skate both vert and street. Jason started Arcade Skateboards at the end of the 1990s. The team included Tyrone Olson, Daniel Haney, Jay "SAD" Stephens, Steve Hernandez, Malcolm Watson, and Pontus Alv. After a hiatus, Arcade has been back in business for the last couple years.

Next week will be a short one with the holiday, but I will have some ads for Cream scanned. It was looking like that was going to be a request that went unfilled until I found a couple of things.

The photo is by Mark Waters.

Thrasher - July 1990 Volume 10 Number 7

Friday, May 17, 2013

Ron Allen #3.




In it for the long haul.

I wonder what Brian Anderson will end up doing next?

The photo is by Luke Ogden.

Thrasher - May 1990 Volume 10 Number 5

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Matt Hensley #7.




Fortunate Son.

Transworld - March 1990 Volume 8 Number 3

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Danny Way #3.



Power edge.

After leaving Powell Peralta for H-Street, Danny quickly began to establish himself as one of the best. He would have been fifteen in these photos and skating on par with a lot of older pros. He was riding both street and vert with an equal level of skill. Danny helped build H-Street as the name for innovative skateboarding in the early 1990s. He left briefly for Blind and then returned before the Plan B exodus happened.

Christian Kline took the photos.

Transworld - February 1990 Volume 8 Number 2

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Colby Carter.



"His name is Colby Carter and he's going to work."

Colby is from Phoenix, Arizona. He shared a part with Brian Lotti in Hokus Pokus. Colby put together a bunch of street lines with some tech stuff. A backside 360 down some stairs was a big deal for 1989. He is currently the lead designer and marketing director for California Skateparks.

I picked up Transworld's Perpetual Motion on Sunday. I'm liking the parts from Tom Remillard and Silas Baxter-Neal. Silas' handrail to handrail hop is amazing. Walker Ryan and Josh Matthews are pretty good, too.

Thrasher - January 1990 Volume 10 Number 1

Monday, May 13, 2013

Tony Magnusson.



H-Street.

Tony started H-Street in 1987 with Mike Ternasky. It was known as Magnusson Designs up until 1988. This was probably a good name change because self titled companies don't always work out for the best. The early team included Matt Hensley, Ron Allen, Danny Way, John Sonner, Eddie Elguera, and Brian Lotti. There were a lot of guys on the team over the years so I'm just mentioning the bigger names. They shook up skateboarding with the Shackle Me Not video in 1988. Instead of the high end Powell Peralta productions, Shackle Me Not was more lo-fi and filmed with standard video cameras. No fancy gimmicks, just raw skateboarding that the kids could identify with. And did they ever. H-Street went on to become one of the biggest companies in skateboarding in the late 1980s and early 1990s until things got a little too big and everything fell apart. It was a good run while it lasted.

Transworld - January 1990 Volume 8 Number 1

Friday, May 10, 2013

Chad Muska #4.



The Muska.

I miss the Toy Machine devil cat logo.

The Deathwish video is tight. Not a lot of filler and a lot of skateboarding that goes by at a fairly quick pace. There's also a lot of backside 360s. I'm not sure I was feeling some of the song choices, but at no point did the music not fit the skating or the skater. I realized two things while watching it last night: 1. Deathwish has a lot of guys on the team that go by nicknames: Lizard King, Furby, Slash, and Moose. 2. Skateboarding is really complicated these days with all the technical tricks.

I got two weeks of H-Street starting on Monday. That gives me two to three weeks to track down some Cream and Metropolitan ads.

Transworld - December 1995 Volume 13 Number 12

Thursday, May 9, 2013

Donny Barley #2.



Gnarly Barley.

Ed's black on dark brown handwriting:

Life in America will bring you down. Do not let Donny trade shirts for Ramens. You consumers are being controlled.

Never forget Tim Brauch.

Transworld - October 1995 Volume 13 Number 10

Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Jamie Thomas #4.



The Chief.

Jamie moved out to San Francsico in the early 1990s from Alabama. He turned pro for Experience and then switched to Invisible. From there it was on to Toy Machine in 1995. He started what was initially a clothing company called Zero with help from Tum Yeto. The rest is history.

I do have to ask a few questions as to what is going on with Zero these days. It seems like a lot of long time team riders are leaving and the whole New Balance partnership is peculiar. I can understand working with another company to develop a line of footwear, except when you already have an established shoe company in house with Fallen. It doesn't exactly make sense, especially with the current economy and the potential for things to go wrong with an unproven brand entering the skate shoe biz. New Balance isn't a Nike, where people will slurp up anything they do just because it has a swoosh on it. I guess we will see how it goes.

Transworld - August 1995 Volume 13 Number 8

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Josh Kalis #4.



Heavy Metal.

Josh had been riding for Invisible with Jamie Thomas. When Jamie left, he went with him to Toy Machine. It wasn't long before Josh was abducted into the Alien Workshop since he was hanging out with the guys on the team. He stuck with the Workshop until leaving in 2009 to ride for Stevie Williams' DGK. Josh and Stevie have been friends from the early 1990s era of Love Park in Philadelphia so it was a change that made sense. He's been on DC Shoes for most of his pro career, too.

There's a slight possibility I'd never seen Heavy Metal, Toy Machine's second video, before last night. I picked up the Toy Machine DVD box set when it came out and when I was watching it, the video didn't seem familiar to me at all. I'm pretty sure I must have at least watched it once when I got it, but I might not have. You can start to see the influence Jamie Thomas had on things. There was less random stuff and the skateboarding was more organized. The soundtrack veered more toward oldies and classic rock with the exception of Ed skating to the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. It's also neat to see Ed cruising around doing every flip trick in the book, even some nollie and switch ones. The same goes for Jamie. Drake Jones has a few cameos.

Gabe Morford took the photo.

Transworld - May 1995 Volume 13 Number 5

Monday, May 6, 2013

Pete Lehman.



Break - In.

Pete had a respectable part set to Fugazi in Live, the first Toy Machine video. He also rode for Voice. That's about all I got.

Anybody have any requests for next week and beyond?

Transworld - November 1994 Volume 12 Number 11

Friday, May 3, 2013

Charlie Coatney & Jerry Fowler.



We will rock you.

Jerry was on the early version of TV and Television. He was on Toy Machine and turned pro for Rhythm. He was also on DNA Skateboards and currently is on Hopps. Jerry was sponsored by Pig Wheels and Dukes Shoes.

I'm going to make an educated guess that Charlie was a Huntington Beach local that Ed thought skated well enough to be on the team. His part in Live was solid enough for the time.

Transworld - August 1994 Volume 12 Number 8

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Joe Nemeth & Panama Dan Zimmerman.



Questions.

Joe is from Las Vegas. I don't think he is related to Crazy Eddie Nemeth from San Jose.

Dan is from Panama. It's fairly easy to see how he got the nickname.

So Jason Dill and Anthony Van Engelen have quit the Alien Workshop. I don't think there's been a major industry change like that in a while.* I figured they'd be moving to working behind the scenes with the company since they are getting older and seem to have been running things lately.

* Unless of course you're a hardcore old school guy who can't believe Tony Hawk is riding for Indy after all those years on Tracker.

Transworld - June 1994 Volume 12 Number 6

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Jahmal Williams #2.



Hopps.

Jahmal was another skateboarder who was on Television and stuck with Ed when Toy Machine was launched. He has also ridden for Powell, American Dream Inc., and Infamous. Jahmal started Hopps in 2007 and has been doing that ever since. The team includes another Toy Machine alum in Jerry Fowler and Joel Meinholz.

Transworld - April 1994 Volume 12 Number 4