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