Jamie Thomas #5.

Leap of Faith.

Not much to say about this one.

Back on Tuesday. Have a good Labor Day weekend.

Grant Brittain took the photos.

Transworld - September 1997 Volume 15 Number 9

Aaron Harrison.

Jumping off of dumpsters.

Aaron has also ridden for 151 and ATM. I think he was on a small company or two, like Room 21. He jumped into some big banks in the Thrill Of It All video. He also blasted the wrong way out of a couple big banks, too.

Transworld - August 1997 Volume 15 Number 8

Scott Copalman #2.

Communication Breakdown.

Scott is from Arizona and rode for Balance before Zero.

I like the simplicity and the repeating subliminal text of the early Zero ads.

Transworld - May 1997 Volume 15 Number 5

Wade Burkitt.

Zero made its debut in Toy Machine's Welcome To Hell video with a short commercial. It featured Jamie Thomas, Adrian Lopez, Scott Copalman, and Wade Burkitt. Wade's backside lipslide from that commercial was also photographed for a cover of Transworld in 1996.

Thrasher - May 1997 Volume 17 Number 5

Zero.

You gotta start somewhere.

It's going to be Zero for the next two weeks. I figure with their new video coming out soon that now is the time to take a look back at the early days of the company.

Zero was launched in 1996 by Jamie Thomas while he was riding for Toy Machine. It was initially a t-shirt brand with a few logo boards backed by Tum Yeto. After about a few months, it was clear that Jamie was going to end up making Zero his full time project and things developed from there. Jamie put together a team and the company released their first video in the summer of 1997.

Thrasher - February 1997 Volume 17 Number 2

Danny Wainwright.

Big ups.

The Reese Forbes Ollie Challenge happened at the Long Beach trade show in February 2000. The event was sponsored by Element. They had a 33" jersey barrier and then added more height in 1" increments. The final battle came down to Danny and Reese. Neither could clear 45" so they bumped the height down to 44 1/2". Reese didn't make it and Danny did.

The results:

Danny Wainwright 44 1/2"
Reese Forbes 44"
Rob Gonzalez 41"
Stacy Lowery 41"
Jake Stewart 40"
Brian Young 39"

Zilch for the next two weeks. It's going to be nine days of Zero starting on Monday since they have a new video out soon.

Ride in peace, Phil Shao.

Sidewalk Surfer - August 2000 Issue 49

Mark Baines.

I'm a sucker for switch pop shove-its.

Remember when the Koston 2 seemed like an odd piece of footwear?

The photo is by Sam Ashley.

Sidewalk Surfer - August 2000 Issue 49

Alan Rushbrooke.

Unabomber was founded by Pete Hellicar, Jon Robson, and Harry Bastard in 1997. Why they picked the name that was applied to mail bomber Ted Kaczynski is beyond me. The company looks to still be around, focusing a little more on clothing than boards. I don't know much about Alan, other than watching a couple of video clips with him today on the Sidewalk website.

Bummer about Skateboarder.

I'm backing the opinion of Gary Rogers on skateboard footwear. I should just see if somebody wants to do a collab of a boat shoe with weed leaf graphics on it so I'd never have to go to the day job again. Those have to be two of the worst trends in skateboarding right now.

Sidewalk Surfer - January/February 1998 Issue 23

Andy Scott #2.

"Andrew Scott gives Stockport's vert the go-ahead with the 'kickflip indy test'. To achieve poster simply cut each page out carefully John Noakes style and then sellotape each bit together round the back. Piss easy!"

Flip OG.

I enjoy that completely British caption, even if I don't fully understand it.

Wig Worland took the photo.

Sidewalk Surfer - January/February 1998 Issue 23

John Rattray #3.

New balance in the old world.

I scanned a week's worth of things from the British skateboard magazine Sidewalk Surfer. I would buy an issue of the mag whenever I saw it at bookstores back in the late 1990s. Their coverage was about the skate scene in England and surrounding countries, along with the occasional article on visiting US teams on summer tour. Sidewalk is still around and recently put out their 200th issue.

Was Panic a sister company of Blueprint? I always thought Rattray rode for Blueprint before joining up with the Zero Army.

Sidewalk Surfer - October/November 1997 Issue 21

Nevada #2.

Gustavo Vargas created the Nevada comic that ran in Slap from 1994 to 1998. He did a few graphics here and there as well. And then he completely vanished. There's nothing on the internet beyond what I've put up. At some point down the road, I'll scan a few more of these. If anybody knows what happened or what Vargas is doing these days, please share.

We're going to the United Kingdom on Monday. Digitally, sadly not actually.

Nevada #2: Slap - October 1995 Volume 4 Number 5

Nevada #3: Slap - September 1997 Volume 6 Number 12

Nevada #4: Slap - November 1997 Volume 6 Number 11

Nevada #5: Slap - August 1998 Volume 7 Number 8

Origin #2.

"My favorite Origin ad was the one where Justin Reynolds was praying, "Please, God, let me save skateboarding." I saw that shit and was like, "That's just like that time I was on acid and climbed up on to the roof of a burning house and had to swing down to a windowsill to save a baby, but the house was actually a merry-go-round in the park, and the burning baby was a half-empty beer I left on the sliding board." That's why Origin is the best: It just makes you thirsty. For beer. And skateboarding." - Chris Nieratko

A little more Origin for the week.

Brad Hayes also rode for Acme and had parts in the early Baker videos. Justin Reynolds rode for a ton of companies over the years and now runs Riviera Skateboards. Ron Whaley was on SMA and Santa Cruz for most of the 1990s and is back with the Dot currently.

How did Chops do all those multi-scan posts? After tomorrow, it is back to doing one a day for the foreseeable future.

One photo is by Rowland.

Brad Hayes #2: Big Brother - August 2003 Number 99

Justin Reynolds: Big Brother - October 2003 Number 101

Steve Kindle: Big Brother - January 2004 Issue 104

Ron Whaley #4 and Product Review: Big Brother - March 2004 Issue 106

Origin #1.

"We come from skateboarding."

Origin started in late 2002. The pros were Mike Santarossa, Ron Whaley, and Brad Hayes, Justin Reynolds was added in 2003. The ams were Steve Kindle, Eric Schumm, and Kyle Sellers. The first ad was a little unspectacular and used the font Papyrus so I didn't scan it. The next three ads were all similar to Mike's ad, with different color schemes for the three pros. After that, they moved on to normal advertising with skateboard photos.

I don't know a whole lot about Origin. They had a solid team with Santarossa, Hayes, and Whaley. In looking through Big Brothers from the early 2000s, there were a lot of random start-ups that weren't around long, probably due to questionable financial support in a difficult economic period. It's interesting to see some of the things that have been slightly forgotten over the years.

If you need a good laugh, check out Bernie O'Dowd's Skateboarding Saves. I added it to the links. It's like a Sick Sad World for the skateboard nostalgia scene.

The photos are by Joey Shigeo and Rowland. Not sure on a first name for Rowland so if anybody knows, say something.

Mike Santarossa #2: Big Brother - January 2003 Number 92

Eric Schumm: Big Brother - April 2003 Number 95

Kyle Sellers: Big Brother - May 2003 Number 96

Mike Santarossa #3: Big Brother - July 2003 Number 98

The Driven #2.

More of Jason Jessee's world.

One of the projects that Jason helped produce was Dave Carnie's Whale Cock Skateboards. I believe Dave came up with the phrase whale cock while being interviewed by a Japanese fashion magazine and decided to get some boards made. The first Whale Cock deck was a small freestyle/slalom board and made on a tour of Media Skateboards, of all places. This was the initial ad for the company.

There's a really good chance there will be a Vert Is Dead update tomorrow. If not don't worry, I'll be back on Thursday.

One: Big Brother - January 2003 Issue 92

Two: Big Brother - February 2003 Issue 93

Three: Big Brother - May 2003 Issue 96

Whale Cock: Big Brother - November 2002 Issue 90

The Driven #1.

Pray for me.

The Driven is Jason Jessee's company that he started sometime after he left Consolidated. I'm pretty sure it is run out of his garage. It's also still going today. Hard Luck is a wheel company and I think 100% Skateboarder is another board brand. Some of the stuff mentioned in the ads relates to Jason's interest in motorcycles. Otherwise the content is strictly from Jason's warped mind.

I'm switching things up a little for the week from the usual one scan a day just because of how weird the Driven ads are. They make a little more sense grouped together all at once. There's going to be bunch of Nevada comics on Friday, too.

One: Big Brother - September 2002 Issue 88

Two: Big Brother - October 2002 Issue 89 (Jen Hardison took the photos.)

Three: Big Brother - November 2002 Issue 90

Four: Big Brother - December 2002 Issue 91

Van Wastell.

1984 - 2008.

Van rode for Consolidated and City Stars before getting on Krooked. Appropriately enough, he was also on Vans. He had the opening part in Krooked Kronichles video.

Odd things for next week.

Thrasher - March 2004 Volume 24 Number 3

Bobby Worrest.

Pitcrew.

Bobby was one of the first ams on Krooked. He turned pro for them a while ago and is still holding it down, style untuched.

Thrasher - June 2003 Volume 23 Number 6

Mark Gonzales & Van Wastell.

"We ain't tuching your style!"

Gonz and Van wreck a handrail.

Thrasher - June 2004 Volume 24 Number 6

Dan Drehobl #15.

This a 'zine Dan did about a trip to New York City. It's most likely from 2003. It's funny.

Riley Hawk's latest video part garnered favorable reviews from the staff that skateboards (or used to skateboard) on TMZ last night. They even showed a couple clips. Yeah, I watch TMZ.

Congratulations to Jake Donnelly on turning pro for Real.

Krooked.

Welcome to "our" world.

Krooked was started in 2002 and backed by Deluxe. Mark Gonzales had been riding for Real before being given the keys to a new project. He was the only rider in the beginning. Dan Drehobl soon switched from Think. Bobby Worrest and the late Van Wastell were the ams and later turned pro for Krooked. Mark also released assorted limited edition "Gest" boards for skaters that he liked. The first two went to Alex Gall and Matt Rodriguez.

This is either the first or second catalog for the brand. There's also a small catalog that is die cut in the shape of the face that appears on the last page that came out around the same time. I'm thinking the die cut one was probably the first.

So anybody do anything crazy with a helicopter during my week off?