Natas Kaupas #6.

Natas flies frontside in his pro model sneaker, which was one of the first items of signature footwear for a professional skateboarder. It seems hard to imagine a world without pros having footwear named after them these days.

I can live with it.

Paul Duffy took the photos.

Thrasher - January 1990 Volume 10 Number 1

Barker Barrett #5.

The OG East Coast powerhouse grinds a Jersey barrier.

Barker has ridden for a lot of companies over the years, including Shut, Planet Earth, Zoo York, Creature, and Scarecrow. I know that's not all of them and I'm not going to try to count guest boards. Barker helped pioneer technical street and mini ramp skateboarding in the 1990s. It's always a treat to see new footage or photos of him.

The picture is by Evan Klanfer.

Thrasher - April 1989 Volume 9 Number 4

Remy Stratton #10.

Frontside slider in Texas.

Remy was pro for G & S and Acme. He moved over to the industry side of things in the mid 1990s and started working for Volcom. He is now in charge of the skateboarding aspects of the company. Remy always comes up with some unique ideas for Volcom's videos and ads.

RIP Lemmy Kilmister.

Thrasher - February 1991 Volume 11 Number 2

Kris Markovich #17.

"You better learn how to balance if you're going to be a skateboarder." - Cris Collinsworth

Kris goes over a fire hydrant with a nose bonk. I could never figure out how to do that trick. This would have been from when A-1 Meats was putting together their Dancing In The Dirt video. I think Kris was riding for G & S at the time.

Grant Brittain took the pictures.

Transworld - May 1991 Volume 9 Number 6

Nicky Guerrero #3.

Merry Christmas!

Here's hoping everybody got some nice new gear from Santa. Best wishes to all for a happy and healthy holiday.

Transworld - October 1988 Volume 6 Number 5

Ray Underhill #7.

Always remember those who have left us too soon.

Transworld - January 1991 Volume 9 Number 1

Blaize Blouin #5.

Lost in transition, but certainly not forgotten.

The weather is warm here, but the predictions about rain keep on changing for the next few days. I'm keeping a positive outlook on things and hoping skateboarding will get to happen outside over my long weekend. I just have to make it through the work day first.

Transworld - June 1989 Volume 7 Number 3

Wade Speyer #12.

Speyer slays.

Wade grinds a pool in an ad for K-9 wheels. There's something simple and effective about a lot of the Dogtown ads. I like 'em.

Thrasher - May 1990 Volume 10 Number 5

Alan Petersen #11.

Goin' Out West.

Alan was pro for SMA and Consolidated. He eventually moved way out west, as in he went all the way to Australia. We haven't really seen much of AP since then.

SMA ads that ran in Transworld were a little different from the well planned designs that ran in Thrasher. I have a feeling the changes were caused by the departure of Natas Kaupas to start 101 and NHS not exactly knowing what to do with the company. The simple BW layouts are functional, but they don't have the same impact as the older ads.

Transworld - August 1991 Volume 9 Number 8

Lance Mountain #7.

The Chronicles of Lance.

Thrasher - January 1992 Volume 12 Number 1

Don Fisher #2.

Fish goes sideways at Studio 43.

The photo is by Steve Sherman.

Thrasher - February 1990 Volume 10 Number 2

John Fabriquer #2.

Absolutely Fabulous.

Fab takes on the gap backside at the Kennedy Warehouse. Ben Schroeder had a similar photo doing a frontside air in a Dogtown ad.

Max Schaaf dropped a nice video part with a lot of vert ramp shredding this week. Huf needs to do one next.

One more day of skaters you haven't really heard of and then famous people for the rest of the month.

Temmerman was the photographer. Never heard of that name before.

Transworld - August 1989 Volume 7 Number 6

Anarchic Adjustment.

Bloody mad clothing from England.

A fashion week leftover. Anarchic Adjustment was a British clothing company that had an office in San Jose. They ran a few ads in Thrasher in 1990 and that was probably about it.

Thrasher - March 1990 Volume 10 Number 3

Colby Carter #2.

The Windy City.

I always a fan of this guy from the H-Street days.

The photo is from the Chicago Shootout Pro Streetstyle contest that was held in September of 1989. The event took place at the Odeum Expo Center in Villa Park, Illinois, near Chicago. The street course consisted of a bunch of quarterpipes, banks, and assorted obstacles. Tom Knox won the contest and turned pro for Santa Cruz afterward. Christian Hosoi placed second and Tony Hawk was third. Colby finished eighth.

Thrasher - December 1989 Volume 9 Number 12

Claus Grabke #3.

Inverted in Germany.

I usually rode some type of Speed Wheels back in the day, but never really bought anything else from Santa Cruz or their related companies in the years since. I needed some new bearings this fall so I got a set of the new Bronson Speed Co. bearings NHS is making. I'm even using a sheet of Mob griptape on my current board. I feel I prefer Jessup a little bit better. The Bronson bearings seem great. I might even grab a Santa Cruz reissue deck after Christmas. The future is wide open.

Thrasher - June 1990 Volume 10 Number 6

Tom Groholski #6.

Inverted in the Garden State.

Transworld - February 1989 Volume 7 Number 1

Pat Ngoho.

Slasher Risk.

Pat is from Los Angeles, California. He was pro for Z back then and is still skateboarding today. He had parts in the Speed Wheels videos. Z Flex recently made a guest board for Pat.

Congrats to Anthony Van Engelen on winning Thrasher's SOTY.

Thrasher - October 1989 Volume 9 Number 10

The Blockheads #2.

The classic Blockhead pro team of the late 1980s.

Dave Bergthold's creation celebrated its 30th anniversary this year. There was just something about the company that registered with me. I know everybody is big on the Powell and Santa Cruz reissues, but I like seeing the smaller brands get a bit of the spotlight, too.

I've squeezed in a little lunch break skateboarding the last couple days. I also got to roll for a long time on Saturday and Sunday. The weather is looking to stay nice, but there might be a slight chance of rain in the days ahead. I'll take as much of this mild December as possible.

The photos are by Steve Sherman and Daniel H. Sturt.

Thrasher - April 1989 Volume 9 Number

Bryce Kanights #3.

The Hook.

It's neat to see old spots make a comeback. This thing obviously made appearances in enjoi's Oververt video. New Element pro and transition ollie champ Greyson Fletcher also scored an ad here in the new issue of Thrasher.

Bryce was pro for Madrid, Schmitt Stix, and Dogtown. He is photographer and was at one point the photo editor for Thrasher. Along with Derek Rinaldi and John Dettman-Lytle, Bryce runs the Skate Daily website.

The photo is by Steve Sherman.

Thrasher - January 1991 Volume 11 Number 1

Tony Hawk #7.

Horizontal loop.

Tony goofing off in the driveway. That's Ray Underhill in the background to the right. I believe they even filmed a little segment for Propaganda on the small ramps. This is one of those ads where you could identify with the pros as riding something similar to what you and your friends had at home.

Transworld - August 1991 Volume 9 Number 8

Jesse Martinez #2.

"I'm no pro, I just skate."

Jesse's part in Rubbish Heap consisted of him skating the midsize plywood ramp in the photo sans pads. He rips it up.

Thrasher - May 1990 Volume 10 Number 5

Mike Vallely #5.

Another Crime.

The Street Plant head honcho does a street plant. This photo was probably taken during the filming of Public Domain.

Note: This ad ran on the inside cover of Transworld and sustained some damage over the years. I cleaned up what I could, but it does look a little funky on the right side.

Transworld - December 1988 Volume 6 Number 6

Guy Mariano #3.

Video Days.

The big news of the last week was that Guy Mariano and Eric Koston left Girl after being there from the beginning. Guy also switched up his footwear sponsor by leaving Lakai for Nike. A footwear change to the Swoosh doesn't seem all that odd. Quitting Girl seems like a drastic change, especially when they stuck by him during his down years. At this point there is a whole lot of speculation, but no answers as to where Guy and Eric will end up for sponsorship. Is the new trend for pros to quit their board sponsor and then not have a deck with their name on it for the foreseeable future? Refer to Johnny Layton, Geoff Rowley, and Mikey Taylor as examples, although Mikey did just land on SOVRN. I don't see them starting another new company so I wonder what is going on?

I guess this means both are off Fourstar, which I thought Guy and Eric had a stake in. On the plus side, Fourstar has added Frank Gerwer to the team. The new issue of Thrasher has a story and video on the clothing company's recent European tour. Maybe the thinning of the ranks and a little reorganization at Girl will be a good thing, if we get to see more of Rick Howard and Mike Carroll on board.

Finally, Rick McCrank has retired from the professional ranks.

Check out the Chrome Ball Incident for a new interview with Gabriel Rodriguez.

Transworld - Volume 9 Number 11

Scott Oster #2.

Boys Of Summer.

Vert Is Dead takes it back to the late 1980s and early 1990s for the month of December. I went more early 1990s and focused on street skating this time around.

The best video I've seen in a long time is Jeff Kutter's Boys Of Summer. It's backed by Supreme and features all the skaters you would want to see presented in a casual fashion. Boys Of Summer feels like it was filmed on an old VHS camera when everybody was out skating instead of being a major media production. It has the corresponding 1980s soundtrack to add to the throwback vibe. There's also assorted movie clips thrown in for good measure.

Scott has a couple of tricks in Boys Of Summer. He used to pro for Dogtown and Alex Olson issued a guest board for him on Bianca Chandôn.

The photo is by Cesario "Block" Montano.

Transworld - August 1991 Volume 9 Number 8

Brian Anderson #5.

Top shelf, next to the peanut butter.

That's a hockey reference for scoring a goal, as in the Canadian sport and not the skateboard company.

So are some of the seemingly random rumors that get posted on the Slap message boards actually turning out to be true?

Vert Is Dead will be back on Monday, November 30th for the usual month of older scans from 1988 to 1991. Enjoy your Thanksgiving or the week in general.

The photo is by Skate Mental.

Thrasher - May 2006 Volume 26 Number 5

Max Schaaf #11.

"Money has nothing to do with the value of life, but that's just common sense."

Thrasher - July 2006 Volume 26 Number 7

Billy Marks #2.

Aqualung.

Joey Shigeo was the photographer.

Thrasher - May 2006 Volume 26 Number 5

Ed Templeton #21.

Templeton Tuesday.

Ed brings back the slightly old school impossible tailgrab for this vintage Toy Machine ad. I always like skating the sides of loading docks. It's like a natural launch ramp.

Congrats to Frenchman Aurelien Giraud on winning the 2015 Tampa Am. Every little positive helps.

The photograph is by John Bradford.

Thrasher - August 2006 Volume 26 Number 8

Matt Bennett #3.

Mandatory Monday Machine.

A younger Matt B. takes a different approach to a handrail. The backside 180 to fakie 50-50 is a neat looking trick that doesn't come up all the often. Huf did one on a ledge in Skate More that looked really smooth, too.

The photo is by Scott Pommier.

Thrasher - June 2006 Volume 26 Number 6

Cody McEntire.

The Catfish.

Cody won the 2006 Tampa Am. He's from Belton, Texas and turned pro for Think. Cody currently rides for Blind and Vox. He recently dropped a new part on the Thrasher website where he does a ton of flip tricks caught really cleanly.

Be careful out there today. Good luck to all the ams skating in the 2015 Tampa Am at the Skate Park of Tampa this weekend.

Thanks to the links from the Ride Channel in their story on 11 companies that went out of business that would be huge today.

The photo is by Shaun Mefford.

Thrasher - May 2006 Volume 26 Number 5

Kevin "Spanky" Long #4.

"When asked who I thought would win, I always said, "I don't care as long as it's Billy Marks or Spanky." With Billy and his white pants stumbling into 13th, I put all my money on Kevin. Conscious or not, Spanky put together the kind of run that even the street purists like to see - ollie based, more-tech-than-big-air-oriented, and with a calm, flowing style. These are the kinds of runs that Eric Koston does, incidentally. Kevin backside 180d the big rail the hard way to flat, spun well-sprung 270 backside flips over the pyramid hips, hit up the big rail and looked good doing all of it. It's nice to have a Tampa Am champ that everyone can get behind. Good, one, Kev. He won the mini Ducati motorcycle which he can ride straight into the pro ranks, as far as I'm concerned." - Michael Burnett

Kevin won the Tampa Am in 2003 and turned pro for Baker sometime after.

For the quote: Thrasher - May 2003 Volume 23 Number 6

Thrasher - June 2003 Volume 23 Number 6

Kyle Berard.

The Cardinal.

Kyle won the Tampa Am in 2000 and then won the Tampa Pro in 2001. He's from Virgina Beach and used to have a skateshop with his dad there. Kyle has ridden for World Industries, Consolidated, and Mike Vallely's Elephant Brand. I think he might have been on Illenium, but I'm not positive on that. These days he has his own skatepark building company called Front Rock Concrete. They specialize in backyard landscapes for skateboarding that combine street and mini ramp type elements. The designs look awesome.

So what exactly happened to everybody who was riding for Elephant? I know Mike has his Street Plant project going with Kristian Svitak and Jason Adams returned to the Black Label. Neil Hendrix was on the team as well. I'm a little curious as to how it ended.

Thrasher - February 2001 Volume 21 Number 2

Judd Hertzler #2.

Swirlies.

Judd won the third Tampa Am in 1997. He would go on to ride for Foundation and Unbelievers. I was a little surprised to see his name on the list of winners. It's slightly odd to announce that Mike Rafter is pro in an ad that features Judd, but it was the 1990s. Arsenal was a branch of S.O.P., the company that did New School and ATM Click.

Alan Wong took the photos.

Slap - December 1996 Volume 5 Number 12

Donny Barley #3.

Meglomania.

Since the Skate Park of Tampa is having their annual Tampa Am contest at the end of the week, I thought a week's worth of previous winners made good sense. Theories of Atlantis man Josh Stewart won the first Tampa Am back in 1995. Gnarly Barley got the victory in 1996 and subsequently turned pro for Toy Machine.

The photo is by Rick Kosick.

Transworld - June 1996 Volume 14 Number 6

Omar Salazar #3.

Hell in a Bucket.

Thrasher - December 2005 Volume 25 Number 12

Nate Jones #3.

Uncle John's Band.

Thrasher - November 2005 Volume 25 Number 11

Nilton Neves.

Stir It Up.

Thrasher - June 2005 Volume 25 Number 6

Dylan Rieder #5.

Truckin'.

Thrasher - February 2005 Volume 25 Number 2

Reese Forbes #5.

Touch of Grey.

It was going to just be Rasa Libre scans paired with Dead song titles for the week, but then a few things happened in skateboarding.

It appears Geoff Rowley is off Flip. I thought he had moved into position of ownership after they left Blitz Distribution. This is a little surprising since he is kind of the face of the company.

The new issue of Thrasher is out. There's a good interview with Jim Greco that features a guest appearance by Jeremy Klein. Klein also did the interview. Anyway, Greco's current phase seems to be 1990s skate rat and that's working out well for him. He says he rides the same board for three months at a time. That seems like a long time for a pro who does some gnarly tricks.

There's a new Alien Workshop video out that I need to watch.

Congratulations to the Kansas City Royals for winning the World Series. This makes up for last year. A tip of the hat to the New York Mets on winning the National League Championship.

Thrasher - January 2005 Volume 25 Number 1

Eric Dressen #2.

Happy Halloween!

Ed Dominick took the photo.

Thrasher - June 1998 Volume 18 Number 6

Dr. Slimeballs.

Blood & Guts.

Santa Cruz often went with the gross out option for their line of Slimeball wheels. Here you have Ben Schroeder, Monty Nolder, and Rob Roskopp dressed up as the worst surgeons in the world.

The Rip Grip on the handle of scalpel is a subtle bit of product placement.

A little 151 tomorrow.

Transworld - August 1989 Volume 7 Number 4

Laban Pheidias #5.

Idle hands are the devil's playground.

Invisible was not afraid to bust out some costumes or come up with unusual themes for ads and videos.

Transworld - March 1996 Volume 14 Number 3

Chris & Ricca Gentry.

Outer Space.

Chris Gentry started his own company called Kingdom in the mid 1990s. He had been pro for Vision before this. His wife Ricca was also prominently involved in the effort. Their ads were notable for featuring the couple floating in the final frontier.

Chris Ortiz did the photography, Shannon McMullen did the hair, and De'arnna Kilekeras did the makeup.

Transworld - November 1996 Volume 14 Number 11

Rob "Sluggo" Boyce #3.

Pinhead.

Sluggo gets dressed up as the memorable character from Clive Barker's Hellraiser movie franchise.

The sequence is by Derek Kettela. The mugshot is by Jody Morris.

Transworld - November 1999 Volume 17 Number 11

Retired Girls.

The whole key to a successful Halloween is a good costume. This week Vert Is Dead takes a quick look at the use of costumes in skateboarding over the years.

The plot behind the Chocolate Tour was that the now retired Girl team was getting the boot from the old folks home they were living in if they didn't come up with the rent money. The Chocolate team loaded up the van to drive across the country doing demos to raise the funds. They also made some cash a few other ways that were slightly less than legal. Hilarity ensued on the trek to Florida. At this point in 1999 Girl was growing as a company and Spike Jonze had developed his directing career in Hollywood. This gave them access to higher quality effects and costumes so Tim Gavin, Mike Carroll, Eric Koston, Rick Howard, and Rudy Johnson were all aged to perfection to play senior citizen versions of themselves.

Transworld - November 1998 Volume 16 Number 11

Tim Gavin #4.

Save it for later.

You can't spend three weeks on DVS without mentioning the Gav. He was one of the first team riders and helped build the company as he transitioned from being pro to working in the industry. Tim is doing Filament Footwear these days.

Gone phishin'.

Transworld - May 1996 Volume 14 Number 5

Daewon Song #3.

This Modern Love.

Daewon did something different for his part in Skate More and skateboarding was the better for his efforts. Rather than stick to the usual schoolyard picnic table trickery we were used to seeing, he searched out some more unusual spots. It also felt like he simplified his trick selection, in terms relative to Daewon of course. There was still the mix of manuals and blunt slides, but he was also doing pole jams to fakie and going back to his Z-Boy roots with transition and ditch skating. Granted he was doing kickflip transfers in a steep pool or jumping into some tight transitions, but again that's Daewon.

The photo is by Giovanni Reda.

Thrasher - April 2005 Volume 25 Number 4

Steve Berra #4.

The Faint.

Steve put together a solid part of the classic tricks you would expect from him for Skate More. You get some backside kickflips, backside 360 ollies, and a full Cab or two down some stairs. He also flips into a few tricks, like the frontside noseslide in the ad. I believe there was a minor internet stink caused by his part because he skated a few man made obstacles that were built to look like real street spots. I understand the slight problem that could arise from that, but at the same time, building your own spots is fine. I suppose living in California with access to a lot of places to skate could minimize the need to do such a thing, but at the same time it reduces the ongoing conflict of where do you want to skate/I don't know/that's not a spot/how about/we went there yesterday...

Was Jereme Rogers pro for Girl? I've been looking around the internet and can't find proof positive there was a board with his name on it, although I'm fairly certain he was.

The sequence is by Atiba Jefferson and the portrait is by Giovanni Reda.

Transworld - October 2005 Volume 23 Number 10

Jereme Rogers.

Lasers.

Jereme had a part in P.J. Ladd's Wonderful Horrible Life, the Coliseum skate shop video from 2002. This landed the kid from Boston spots on the Girl and DVS teams. He later left Girl for Plan B in 2008. Jereme briefly retired from pro skateboarding to focus on a rap career. He later returned to skateboarding with his own company called Selfish. Jereme's section in Skate More consisted of a lot switch and regular flip tricks done down stairs along with smooth ledge tricks. He looses a few points for skating to Jamiroquai. I believe he was a mystery guest with Chocolate on this year's King Of The Road contest. I suppose we will find out soon enough how that went.

Thrasher - July 2005 Volume 25 Number 7