Thom Hornung.

Happy Halloween!

Transworld - February 1996 Volume 14 Number 2

Shamil Randle #3.

"Check out Shamil Randle's backside 5-0 to frontside 5-0 transfer at Fort Mason."

A little something for Halloween on Monday and then back to Mouse on Tuesday.

The photo is by Luke Ogden.

Thrasher - December 1996 Volume 16 Number 12

Daniel Castillo #2.

Terror Metal.

Daniel was on World Industries before joining Chocolate. He was a forever amateur until finally turning pro around about 2008. Daniel is from Culver City in California. His video parts include a bunch of switch tricks and manuals. He's got inward heelflips down.

I have to give a shout out to DVS for sponsoring so many of the guys on Chocolate. It was getting a little hard to find photos I hadn't used already or even just photos of some of the riders. Thanks, dudes.

The photo is by Socrates Leal.

Thrasher - November 1997 Volume 17 Number 11

Gabriel Rodriguez #3.

Paranoid.

Gabe does some tall tailslides, a 50-50 or two, a fakie crooks, and big half Cab over a sizable planter in an all too brief clip in Mouse. He's one of those guys you wish had put out more footage because what you did see was great.

Thrasher - December 1996 Volume 16 Number 12

Chico Brenes #3.

OG Chocolate.

Chico has been with Chocolate since the company was started. He's the only original rider still left on the team. World Industries sponsored him before Girl decided they needed a sister brand and offered Cheeks a seat in the van. All those smooth nollie heelflips have served him well.

I got Colin Read's Spirit Quest DVD yesterday. I watched about half of it last night. It's rather lengthy, but supposedly it's Colin's last video so he wanted to make it all inclusive. I was interested in checking out Spirit Quest out after reading about the vid in Transworld. The video has lots of NYC street skateboarding and reminds me of Zoo York's Peep This and Mixtape.

Thrasher - November 1997 Volume 17 Number 11

Mike York #3.

So nobody knows the name of the song from his part?

Mike opens up the Chocolate section of Mouse. He does a lot of technical street lines on an assortment of ledges and school yards out in California. There are many 360s flips, crooked grinds, and backside tailslides. He turned pro after the video.

Thrasher - April 1997 Volume 17 Number 4

Rudy Johnson #6.

Time is tight.

Rudy had a few tricks in a shared part with Jovontae Turner and Tim Gavin in Mouse. He did some 180 to grind variations while wearing some early DC Shoes. His son Diego is a skateboarder and recently shared a clip with dad for Royal Trucks.

Jenkem's Welcome To Hell week is way better than the one I did here. Josh Stewart's tour footage of Jamie Thomas attacking the streets is intense.

Thrasher - August 1996 Volume 16 Number 8

Tim Gavin #5.

One and done.

The Gav's only trick in Mouse was a 50-50 on an access ramp handrail. The photo was used for a DVS ad announcing his pro shoe. He basically retired from the professional ranks at this time and moved over to the industry side of the business.

The photo is by Lance Mountain.

Transworld - February 1996 Volume 14 Number 2

Jovontae Turner #4.

1. 1964 Volvo (black)
2. 1960 Volkswagen Bug (ragtop - green/white)
3. 1988 Volkswagen Fox
4. 1972 Datsun 510 (yellow)
5. 1959 Volkswagen Karman Ghia (blue)
6. 1961 Volkswagen Bug (Sal Barbier's old ride - blue)
7. 1963 Volkswagen Bug (convertible - red)
8. 1986 Volkswagen Jetta (blue)
9. 1971 Datsun 510 (Bryce Kanight's old ride - gold)
10. 1972 Chevy K5 Blazer (primer yellow)
11. 1986 Ford Mustang 5.0 (convertible - grey)
12. 1972 Toyota Corolla (mango)
13. 1972 Toyota Corolla (primer grey)
14. 1957 Volkswagen Karman Ghia (red/white)
15. 1989 Honda Civic (white)
16. 1968 Chevrolet Cutlass (convertible - yellow)
17. 1959 Volkswagen Bug (white)
18. 1974 Datsun 510 (black)
19. 1990 Honda CRX (silver)
20. 1968 Cougar (gold)
21. 1984 Volkswagen Cabriolet (red/black)
22. 1984 Volkswagen GTI (white)
23. 1984 Volkswagen GTI (ragtop - silver/white)
24. 1985 Volkswagen GTI (white/black)
25. 1985 Mazda RX7 (grey/black)
26. 1986 BMW 325 (green)
27. 1986 BMW 535 (cinnamon)
28. 1974 Porsche 914 (green)
29. 1967 Volkswagen Fastback (primer yellow)
30. 1961 Volkswagen Notchback (primer grey)
31. 1972 BMW 2002 (red)
32. 1973 BMW 2002 (white)
33. 1974 Toyota Corolla (Kareem Campbell's old ride - primer grey)
34. 1980 Volkswagen Rabbit (gold)
35. 1972 Chevrolet Chevelle (white)
36. 1984 Mazda RX7 (blue)

For the cars: Thrasher - October 1995 Volume 15 Number 10

Transworld - June 1995 Volume 13 Number 6

Sean Sheffey #5.

Sheffey's part in Mouse has him blasting big ollies and cruising around doing lines. He throws down a lot of switch kickflips and 50-50s. His ender is an over the top 50-50 down a handrail, a trick that has become a staple of the top pros and ams in the current skateboard world.

Big props to Transworld for doing an entire issue focusing on women skateboarders. Let's hope this wasn't a one time thing and they continue to have at least a little bit of coverage of non-dudes each month.

Paul "Skin" Phillips took the photo.

Transworld - April 1996 Volume 14 Number 4

Jeron Wilson #4.

Mouse turns twenty this year so I figured I'd better do something to honor a classic skateboard flick. This was the third video from the Girl and Chocolate camp and was their most polished effort by far. Whereas Goldfish felt pieced together to promote a new company and Las Nueve Vidas De Paco was a try at blending a spaghetti western with a skateboard video, Mouse upped the production values a lot. There were skits, but since Spike Jonze was now an accomplished music video director, they looked a lot better and even incorporated special effects. The skateboarding is top notch stuff and Mouse serves to document the technical side of street skating that was going on from 1995-96. The soundtrack was mostly hip hop, oldies, and funky classics. A lot of the parts were on the short side compared to what goes into skateboard vids today because there weren't second angles, slow motion, lifestyle shots, and mandatory high fives back then. Or there weren't as many of them. Efficiency can be a good thing.

J Dubs opens the video lots of ledge tech and cleanly caught flips. He even hits up a couple of handrails. Jeron turned pro shortly after Mouse was released. He had previously ridden for Real and Blind.

Transworld - July 1996 Volume 14 Number 7

Dylan Rieder #6.

Better days.

Rest in peace.

Transworld - January 2014 Volume 32 Number 1

Toy Machine Toys.

Transistor Sect.

It only seems appropriate that a company named Toy Machine would make some actual toys. These were produced in 2000 and based off characters Ed Templeton would draw. There was also a Turtle Boy action figure. The one I have has a lot of price tag residue on the package so it's not looking great for a photo. I guess I could open it, but that seems a little pointless. Now that I think about it, skateboarding had a toy fascination going on at the tail end of the 1990s. There were models of pro skateboarders, the finger board explosion happened, and there was that adventure comic Dave Carnie made for Big Brother. We always have been living in interesting times.

Chad Muska #7.

"For a long time, Muska and I filmed and skated everything together. It got weird, though, towards the end of filming. Muska really wanted last part and he was blowing up, but he got hurt toward the end and I was still filming. I learned a few of his forte tricks, and he wasn't able to do them because he was hurt.

I was supposed to be making the video, and encouraging everyone along, and all of a sudden I was battling with someone on my team. So I took the back seat and we decided he would have last part. I figured my part would be what it was wherever it was. But things escalated from there. The computer crashed the night of the premiere. It was a debacle, the worst scene ever. Muska was pretty drunk that night. He blew up on Ed Templeton in front of a thousand people and ended up leaving the team. But, in the beginning Muska and I were pushing each other super hard. He had so much energy." - Jamie Thomas

The Muska was on Toy Machine up until the premiere of Welcome To Hell when all hell broke loose. Ed kicked him off the team and Chad soon joined the new board effort from Shorty's. He has said that this was a turning point in his life and caused him to refocus his priorities. Tricks from his part did surface in the Fulfill The Dream video from Shorty's in 1998. The full Muska part is included on the Welcome To Hell DVD in the Toy Machine video box set.

I've been picking good days to take off. It was about 80˚ F and sunny yesterday. I took a short trip to Erie, Pennsylvania and skateboarded at their city park. I even managed a few ollies over the hip at the place.

RIP Dylan Rieder.

For the quote: Skateboarder - March 2008 Volume 17 Number 7

Big Brother - Issue 20 Spring 1996

Jamie Thomas #8.

"My friend had this tape on tour in Australia, and we listened to it a lot. I heard that song ["Hallowed Be Thy Name"] and thought it was amazing. But that was probably a year or two before the video came out. It's been like that for me with every video. I have a song in my head for ages, then I try to film to the song. Once you find a really epic song, the goal from there is to do it justice."

Mirroring.

Welcome To Hell marked the first appearance of Zero with a quick little commercial for the then clothing company. The clip featured the Chief, Scott Copalman, Adrian Lopez, and Wade Burkitt. Wade's backside lipslide that was used for a Transworld cover was in the segment.

Vert Is Dead will be back on Thursday with the Muska.

For the quote: Skateboarder - March 2008 Volume 17 Number 7

Thrasher - November 1996 Volume 16 Number 11

Ed Templeton #24.

Cover Model.

It's a little odd to see Ed flying around over transitions. He also wanted to use After School Special as a title at first instead of Welcome To Hell. It's probably for the best it wasn't called that. His part has a lot of the usual Ed tricks - there are a plenty of feeble grinds and nose bluntslides. He even fits in a perfect backside tailslide into a line.

Happy Thanksgiving, Canada.

The photo is by Tobin Yelland.

Transworld - October 1996 Volume 14 Number 10

Donny Barley #4.

Gnarly Barley.

Adam Wallacavage took the photographs.

Thrasher - January 1996 Volume 16 Number 1

Satva Leung #2.

Superstar.

In addition to making concerned citizens angry, Satva has one of the more technical parts in Welcome To Hell, with a variety of nollie tricks and a couple switch flips. There are a lot of frontside noseslides and a few 50-50s, too. He took a photo of Chad Muska grinding a big kinked rail that wound up in Thrasher before anyone ever saw the video footage of the trick. Satva is working as a video producer for television and the internet currently in the Bay Area.

I've been liking the part from Michal Juraś in the Polar video as of late.

Slap - October 1997 Volume 6 Number 10

Brian Anderson #6.

The Street Pirate.

Brian is from Groton, Connecticut. He was working as a line cook in a kitchen, but decided to give the skateboard thing one last try and the world is a better place as a result. A lot of his sponsor me tape was used in Welcome To Hell. Brian would later turn pro for Toy Machine and won Thrasher's Skater Of The Year award in 1999. He switched to Girl in 2002. Brian left Girl in 2013 to start his own company called 3D. That came to an end in 2016 and BA is supposedly riding for Anti-Hero now. His feet have been sponsored by Sheep, Axion, Savier, and Nike over the years. Brian recently announced that he is gay. He's pretty much one of the best skateboarders ever.

Transworld - December 1996 Volume 14 Number 12

Elissa Steamer #3.

Hightop Adidas.

Elissa's part in Welcome To Hell was mostly filmed by Jamie Thomas in her home state of Florida. She has a mix of technical tricks like switch heelflips and nollie tricks. There's a couple of rails and big gaps, too. All of this was done to the smooth sounds of The Sundays.

It appears that Huf has recreated the Airwalk Jim Shoe with the new Boyd model. I kind of thought the Soto was going to be a Jim Shoe replica from the internet photos, but in real life, they are not the same at all. I like the pair of Sotos I have, except that the laces do not stay tied at all and I've taken to double knotting them.

Thrasher - September 1996 Volume 16 Number 9

Mike Maldonado #3.

Welcome To Hell.

It's been twenty years since Toy Machine released their third video. The classic piece of skateboard cinema featured full parts from Jamie Thomas, Ed Templeton, Donny Barley, Brian Anderson, Mike Maldonado, Elissa Steamer, and Satva Leung. This was Jamie's first solo video project where he was putting everything together. He did the editing and a good chunk of the filming. Dan Wolfe, Dan Sturt, and Lee Dupont contributed to the camera work as well. Chad Muska was supposed to have the last part, but he was kicked off the team at what was to be the premiere of the video. A few issues came to a head and an ill timed computer crash was the straw that broke the camel's back. Fortunately, all parties have subsequently patched up their differences.

Toy Machine went on tour in the early summer of 1996 for Welcome To Hell. They would do a demo and play the video at whatever shop was hosting the event. The team stopped in Buffalo at Urban Threads, a clothing and skateboard shop. The demo took place in the parking lot next to a 7-11. There were a couple of wedge ramps and some wooden manual pads placed among the parked cars. Things were a little hectic, but it all worked out. Jamie and Donny were getting some big air time and the cops never shut the demo down.

Mike has the opening part in Welcome To Hell. He does a lot of big ollies, 50-50s, and boardslides. All his tricks are done with a lot of pop and he has a fair share of lines. It all just looks good. Mike is from West Chester, Pennsylvania and had ridden for H-Street before getting on Toy Machine.

Pete Thompson took the photo.

Thrasher - July 1996 Volume 16 Number 7