Tom Penny #3.

Velvet Underground.

There was a whole lot of mystery concerning what footage Tom would have in Sorry. After a run in the mid to late 1990s tearing up all the spots around California, he vanished to parts unknown. It turns out he was living in France and skating a mini ramp in a barn. There would be stories of Tom sightings or rumors about things he did, which only added to his mystique. Skateboarding seems to love guys who shred and then disappear without a trace. If the internet existed back then as it does now, none of this would have happened. We wouldn't have the rumors of how when éS requested an idea for a pro shoe he sent them an old and smelly Timberland boot to work from or that he kept skating a mini ramp at party in total darkness after the lights were turned off.

Tom's part in Sorry opens up with him skating his mini ramp in France. He throws down the expected kickflips and whatnot. After that short segment, the video jumps to an intro for Arto Saari's part where Arto is lying at the bottom of a handrail after a harsh slam. This transitions from Arto in the hospital to a trippy full section of new footage of Tom on the streets. He is mostly skating in Europe and England with a line at Belmont in California. The line was the last thing filmed just before the premiere.

Tom is doing a nollie backside 180 in the TSA ad. The photo is by Julien Deniau.

Video grab: Thrasher - September 2002 Volume 22 Number 9

TSA: Transworld - January 2002 Volume 20 Number 1