South America.

This was the article documenting a trip to Peru, Ecuador, and Venezuela in 1997. A feature story on the same journey ran in Thrasher a couple months earlier. It was a heavy crew of the usual Hellride suspects, plus Mike Carroll, Sam Smyth, Salman Agah, and Rick Ibasetta. The weird thing is that there are no photos of Mike, even though it is mentioned in both articles that he was ripping on the trip.

The story and photos are by Lance Dawes.

Slap - June 1998 Volume 7 Number 6

Reminisce.

Reminisce was a column that featured recollections of the past from assorted pro skateboarders and industry types. It was neat to read the little stories about what went down behind the scenes.

Gabe: Slap - December 2000 Volume 9 Number 12

Whiteley: Slap - April 2001 Volume 10 Number 4

Ocean: Slap - August 2001 Volume 10 Number 8

Ode To VHS.

"My copy is disguised as Thrasher video #7. No one has ever asked to watch or borrow it, and buddy, no one ever will."

The funny thing is that I would probably be the one person to ask about watching Thrasher video #7.

A lot of the Slap content in the 1990s and early 2000s was rendered moot by the invention of video streaming services on the internet. Still there's something cool about waxing nostalgic about old skateboard videos that you couldn't see unless you had a copy at the time.

I'm not thrilled with how this look back at Slap has turned out. It was too much to undertake for such a short amount of content. Slap was in print for about fifteen years so condensing it down to nine posts wasn't a great idea. I also searched for stuff so haphazardly that I did myself no favors. That's why when I put together scans I keep each week to a rather specific and narrow time frame. I'll remember that next time. It sort of put a crimp in my plans to revisit other magazines that are now out of print. Oh, well. Live and learn.

Mark C. Miyamoto wrote the Video Days article and Richard H. Hart wrote the Penny Files.

Hello Teenage America - Slap May 1999 Volume 8 Number 5

The Penny Files - Slap November 2000 Volume 9 Number 11

Dan Drehobl #22.

Dan's friends say flattering things about him.

All the photos are by Gabe Morford.

Slap - August 1995 Volume 4 Number 8

Nevada #3.

Nevada was a comic by Gustavo Vargas that ran in Slap from 1994 to 1998. Vargas contributed other illustrations to the magazine as well as doing art for a couple of skateboard companies. He then totally and completely disappeared from the face of the earth.

Slap - December 1996 Volume 5 Number 12

Thomas Campbell.

The one and only TMoss.

That photo of Ed is rad. I dig the red and green board.

Slap - December 1995 Volume 4 Number 12

The Reason Why.

History lessons.

It's important that long running magazines dig through the archives to rerun older stuff that a current reader might not know about yet. Columns such as this probably planted the idea for doing a skateboard nostalgia website in my mind. It probably did the same for a bunch of other people, too.

The times sure have changed in 18 years regarding the slappy. A trick that got pushed by the wayside is once again a staple of skateboarding. Granted they aren't simply confined to curbs as they once were, but that's what progression looks like.

Note: Some of these articles might be hard to read on the screen, but if you drag the JPG to your desktop and open it on your computer, it will be easier to read. I scanned the bulk of the stuff in at a larger file size to facilitate legibility.

I'm not sure who wrote the Lee Ralph feature. Mark Whiteley penned the Julien Stranger article.

The Ralph photos are by Kevin Thatcher and Gabe Morford. Luke Ogden took the Sargent pictures. Chris Ortiz snapped Stranger photograph.

Lee Ralph: Slap - May 2001 Volume 10 Number 5

Slappys: Slap - June 2001 Volume 10 Number 6

Julien Stranger: Slap - August 2001 Volume 10 Number 8

It's Dribbling Baby!

Slap was always good for some creative writing pieces such as this one by Mark Miyamoto where he compares skateboarders to basketball players. I was in college at the time it was published. All of my friends were super into hockey while I preferred hoops so it was cool to read this, even if it is a little silly.

The new Sammy Montano part is great. His last trick is probably going to be #1 for the week on Quartersnacks. I also was stoked on the pop shove-it tail grab to nosegrind on a handrail by one of the new ams on WKND.

The photos are by Lance Dawes and Gabe Morford.

Slap - November 1995 Volume 4 Number 11

Wade Speyer #13.

Before it was the premier online site for skateboard gossip, Slap was a magazine printed on paper. The next two weeks are a small random sampling of articles from over the years.

Lance spends an action packed day with Wade. I think Wade would have been on Powell when the article was written. Hail Slayer.

The story and photos are by Lance Dawes.

Slap - July 1992 Volume 1 Number 4

Watch Video Days T-Shirt.

I got this shirt in 2003. Rick Howard was wearing one in Lakai's Beware of the Flare tour video. This guy Rob from England made them. Crailtap posted a link for the website and that was how I got in touch with him. I took a chance on entering the world of international mail order and everything worked out in the end.

It's also interesting to note that unless you had a copy of Video Days in 2003, you most likely couldn't watch it. I swapped VHS tapes of skateboard videos with a dude named Larry from Iowa. I think I taped him some Powell Peralta video or something random and he sent me a copy of Video Days. He put an obscure Alva promo on the tape, too. I suppose it is better having instant access to nearly anything these days, but at the same time I miss the aura of mystery where you actually had to be there for a specific thing. Seeing a photo of Julien Stranger wearing the Natas 101 pentagram shirt a few years after the fact is a better type of nostalgia than another batch of reissues.

Rhythm 1995 Catalog.

Rhythm was the sister company of Planet Earth. The pros were Felix Arguelles, Chany Jeanguenin, Jeff Taylor, and Richard Angelides. Jon McGrath, Phelps Ines, and Danny Montoya were the amateurs. Jose Gomez was the principle graphic designer and Ty Evans created the videos. They really pushed the athletic/collegiate vibe. The wheels were getting a little bigger, too.

It's interesting to see how skateboarding was growing in the 90s by the quality of these catalogs. There's a progression of improvement from Birdhouse's early video grabs to Maple's two color offset printing to Rhythm's full color page. The Alien Workshop would have stood on their own no matter what era. They probably did use a computer plus some paste ups. Also there was a fascination with legal size paper, as all of these except the Rhythm sheet are 8.5" x 14". I had to get creative on the scanning since my scanner can only handle 9" x 12".

Maple 1994 Catalog.

This was the debut product line from Maple. Jason Carney and Kien Lieu had been riding for Planet Earth before starting their own company. The pro team also included Thom Hornung and Paul Smith. The ams were Nick Bell, Marc Johnson, Joe McClellan, Chad Muska, and Jeff Nichols. They included a sticker with the catalog, too. I always wrote in for stuff just so I'd get some mail when I was at college.

Alien Workshop 1993 Catalog.

These were the Alien Workshop board offerings for the summer of 1993. I had the Thomas Morgan frog deck. It was a cool board with an orange background and a blue stained top ply, if I recall correctly. This whole series looked pretty good and featured the classic team lineup, just before Fred Gall turned pro. The Scott Conklin graphic is radical. It's also worth noting that the Rob Dyrdek and Duane Pitre wheels are 38.6 and 38.0 mm respectively. I was riding some Spitfires that probably weren't much bigger than that at the time. The warm and hazy days of ancient summers.

Birdhouse Projects 1992 Catalog.

This was the initial offering from Birdhouse. You got this letter and product list when you sent your five bucks in for Feasters, their first video. The VHS tape showed up in the mail in May so this letter was from April. The original team featured Tony Hawk, Jeremy Klein, Steve Berra, and Willy Santos. Klein had switched from World Industries, Berra from 101, and Santos from G & S. Ocean Howell was the lone am and had a couple tricks in the credits as Bucky Lasek karaoke'd Madonna's "Like A Prayer".

I like Feasters and the casual vibe of the whole thing. The soundtrack is good with the Pixies, New Model Army, and Peter & The Test Tube Babies. It is a little amateurish in production compared to other videos of the day, but that helps it out. The crew had an idea and was motivated to make something so that enthusiasm is reflected in the project. Everybody had a ripping part, too. It's a video that makes you want to go skateboard.

Caswell Berry #6.

"When I was in fifth grade I used to be into Cannibal Corpse. I'd wear Cannibal Corpse shirts to school. The teachers always thought I was wearing my dad's clothes and stuff. I guess I was a little hessian back then."

Caswell does a sizable late shove-it as seen in Bag of Suck.

Ryan Allan took the photo sequence.

For the quote: Transworld - March 2004 Volume 22 Number 3

Transworld - June 2004 Volume 22 Number 6

Mark Appleyard #4.

"The first pro I ever saw was Israel Forbes. He randomly turned up at this skatepark that I used to go to in Canada. He skated with such style - he was way better than anyone I had ever seen before. It was incredible."

Mark gives some props to a Vert Is Dead favorite.

This rail spot always looked neat. It seems like it might be sort of low and mellow, but I imagine it is not like that in real life.

The photo is by Michael Burnett.

For the quote: Transworld - August 2009 Volume 27 Number 8

Transworld - December 2001 Volume 19 Number 12

Colt Cannon.

Toxic.

Colt is from San Jose, California. He was on Think before switching to Element and turning pro for them. His other sponsors included Krux and Skateworks Skateshop. He was noted for jumping down large flights of stairs and grinding giant handrails. Two interesting things about Colt are that he put the line in his griptape between the front truck bolts and he was a big time Britney Spears fan.

It's raining today. But it wasn't raining at 7:30 AM so I did a couple ollies and a frisbee toss on the sidewalk before going into work. Sometimes skateboarding is all about paying very close attention to the details of the weather.

This photo of a nollie heelfip is by Pete Thompson.

Transworld - February 2001 Volume 19 Number 2

Jamie Thomas #11.

Calgary Flames.

Jamie had been on Adio prior to joining Circa. He was on the team for about four years before leaving to start Fallen, his own shoe company. Supposedly Fallen is rising from the pile of dead shoe companies, but I'm not sure on the details of that.

The photo is by Jon Humphries. It is from a Tum Yeto tour of Canada.

Transworld - September 2000 Volume 18 Number 9

Chad Muska #11.

Classic Muska Beatz.

Circa was started in 1999 after Chad left éS. It was backed by Four Star Distribution, which was a snowboard brand that made Forum Snowboards and Special Blend Clothing. Much like his skateboarding, Chad went big with his first pro model on the new company and unleashed this monster of a shoe on the world. It featured true California style construction - whatever the heck that was, the infamous stash pocket in the tongue, and nitrogen filled airbags. The shoe was also synthetic, which is a little surprising to me. Skateboard footwear was a tad more vegan friendly back in the day. I honestly didn't remember the picture of the shoe being so big in the ad. All I was recalling was the handrail photo.

After a week where the temperature barely topped zero, we got a heatwave over the weekend. Things dried up enough so I could do some ollies in the street on Sunday afternoon. It felt nice to roll after two weeks off due to weather.

Transworld - January 2000 Volume 18 Number 1

Grant Taylor #3.

You can't go wrong with Grant. His ollies on transitions are perfect. This park is in Quito, Ecuador. The Hellride crew revisited the place last year, 20 years after their first trip to the western side of South America. They even made Peter Hewitt reenact his Thrasher cover with a frontside invert at this same spot.

Besides Grant, I liked how Raney Beres was skateboarding on vert for 2018.

That concludes my disjointed and abstract best of the year list. Onward to vintage technical shoe designs for next week. There will be another look at the Hellride crew in Ecuador coming up in the not so distant future. I'm putting together two weeks worth of articles from Slap and the South America trip is getting included.

Thrasher - May 2018 Volume 39 Number 5