Gilbert Crockett #6.

Gilbert grinds a long rail in green. I dug this ad and decided to put together a collection of Alien Workshop scans from 2012.

Vert Is Dead will be back on Monday, August 15th.

I'm worn out and blank on ideas. Enjoy some of the 3400+ previous posts. Feel free to leave content suggestions in the comments. Wish me luck at the dentist, too. Thanks.

The picture is by Eric "Rodent" Cheslak.

Transworld - August 2012 Volume 30 Number 8

Dylan Rieder #9.

Big sky boardslide.

Who was doing the art at the Workshop towards the end? Was it back to Mike Hill? I know Don Pendleton had left long before 2012, but the graphics stayed in a somewhat similar style. Although Don's designs initially built on what Mike and Neil Blender had established for the company's visual identity so everything is a continuation or an evolution of the original ideas.

The photograph is by Mike O'Meally. The trick was in the Cinematographer Project.

Transworld - July 2012 Volume 30 Number 7

Omar Salazar & Grant Taylor.

The Cinematographer Project featured the 2012 Alien Workshop team. Benny Maglinao was the primary filmer with an assist from company owners Mike Hill and Chad Bowers. The music was by Icelandic band Apparat Organ Quartet. You get some quality tricks from Jason Dill and Anthony Van Engelen. New am Kevin Terpening had a few neat no comply moves. Donovon Piscopo made his Workshop debut after riding for Zero. The part was probably highlighted by new pros Gilbert Crockett and Jake Johnson.

Omar's ollie off a ledge and into a bank is in the Cinematographer Project. Grant's ollie in an Anti-Hero looking Alien Workshop ad is not.

Grant's photo is by Ryan Flynn.

Omar: Transworld - March 2012 Volume 30 Number 3

GT: Transworld - April 2012 Volume 30 Number 4

Jake Johnson & Gilbert Crockett.

Ten Years Deep.

Jake and Gilbert turned pro for the Alien Workshop in the spring of 2012. They had the bulk of the closing tricks in the Cinematographer Project part. The photo of them in the window is included in the video. Jake had been an am on the Workshop for a few years and Gilbert switched over from Mystery. They are both presently pro for Quasi.

The photos are by Ryan Allan, Joe Brook, and Zach Malfa-Kowalski.

Transworld - May 2012 Volume 30 Number 5

Tyler Bledsoe #7.

Sirius Alpha.

2022 marks the 10th anniversary of the Alien Workshop section in Transworld's Cinematographer Project video. The segment showcases the team on a tour around the Midwest and East Coast in the summer of 2011. This would wind up being the swan song for the Workshop, although nobody knew it at the time. One unique fact about the video is that even though it was for a Transworld project, the corresponding tour article ran in Thrasher.

The photo is by Joe Brook.

Transworld - February 2012 Volume 30 Number 2

Tony Manfre #2.

State of the Union.

When we last checked in on Tony, he had quit enjoi in the middle of tour on the streets of Arizona. Fortunately, the folks at Shut came along and picked him up soon after. He still skates and has a career making music as a DJ.

I set up a new board. It was needed. I've been skating a half step slow and without much pop lately. It's annoying as I was doing fairly well for me over the last month or so.

Ben Colen was the camera man.

Thrasher - January 2007 Volume 27 Number 1

Tino Razo #7.

Gone Max Fishing.

Here's an anecdote from Neckface about Tino:

"I met him in front of Max Fish when he was working the door. He always said I could go in whenever I wanted because I was underage, but I wouldn’t. I’d just hang with him out front and we’d talk about metal, skating and graffiti. Years later I went in and they couldn’t get me outta that fucker. Tino asked me one time, 'Did you fart?' I said, 'Nope.' He replied, 'Did I?' It’s still one of my favorite quotes."

I've said it before and it bears repeating, but if you want a total time warp to a bygone era, revisit Patrick O'Dell's Epicly Later'd photo website.

Neckface quote: Thrasher - December 2020 Volume 41 Number 12

The photo is by Chris Shonting.

Thrasher - November 2006 Volume 26 Number 11

Luis Tolentino.

Knockout Punch.

Luis was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to New York City with his family at a young age. He started skateboarding when he was a little kid. Luis has dabbled in cross training by taking up boxing. He's noted for doing some big ollies. His other sponsors included DVS and Thunder.

The relaunch of Shut was around longer than I realized and was running ads into 2008.

Zach Malfa-Kowalski photographed the sequence.

Thrasher - December 2006 Volume 26 Number 12

Javier Nuñez #3.

Off the couch in 'Kids' and up on the bench.

Javier finally turned pro for Shut in 2006. I thought he was pro before then, but he was not.

The sequence is by Ben Colen. Shut credited all the photographers as a DJ in their ads.

Thrasher - October 2006 Volume 26 Number 10

Todd Jordan & Felix Arguelles.

Breaking news.

Eli Morgan Gesner, Adam Schatz, and Rodney Smith relaunched Shut in 2006 for the 20th anniversary of NYC's OG skateboard company. They went with an old time newspaper style design for all the ads. I do not believe Shut II lasted very long. Or at the least they stopped running ads and scaled back on having a pro team after about seven months.

In other news, I watched the new Grains video from Kevin Delgrosso last night. It's called Act Three and builds on the foundation of filming in out of the way spots across the middle of the USA. Act Three is very well edited and moves along nicely. The skateboarding is solid and relatable. The video has the all important rider credits, too. I'd highly recommend picking up a copy of the DVD or at least watching it on the internet.

I swear I skateboard more and better during the work week than I do on the weekends. Saturday and Sunday are just a drag every way possible.

Todd's photo is by Jonathan Mehring and Felix's photo is by Seu Trinh.

Todd: Thrasher - August 2006 Volume 26 Number 8

Felix: Thrasher - September 2006 Volume 26 Number 9

Jay "SAD" Stephens #3.

SAD in Axion. Those shoes are nice.

It is another Rick Kosick photograph.

Big Brother - September 2000 Number 64

Adam McNatt #4.

The Speed Demon spins his Grind Kings into a rather difficult type of crooked grind. Adam's got a good photo incentive sticker job going, too. ATM, Darkstar Wheels, Arnette Sunglasses, and Counter Culture Clothing are all well represented in adhesives.

Rick Kosick snapped the photo.

Big Brother - February 2000 Number 57

Ronnie Bertino #4.

Grind King did put together a team of heavy rippers, including Ronnie, Daewon Song, and a young Ryan Sheckler. The complaint I heard about the trucks was that they were too light. And possibly the bushings were askew, which led to Daewon's famously odd truck preferences.

The photo is by Rick Kosick.

Big Brother - February 2000 Number 57

Dan Pageau.

"We like to keep our streets clean, eh."

Dan is from Montreal, Quebec. He rode for World Industries and Globe. Presently he runs a foundation called Skateboard Lessons that teaches kids how to skate in Canada.

I finally got a print issue of Free mag. It's way better than the internet version, which is pretty darn good. I'm going to see if I can get some more issues from Theories of Atlantis, for the sake of future content, ya know.

The photograph is by Rick Kosick.

Big Brother - April 2000 Number 59

Phil Hajal.

Phil was a vert pro in the 90s and 2000s. His hometown is Gainesville, Florida. He owns Ocala Skateshop and is a realtor. He had an ad for JNCO doing a 360 flip indy in this same issue of Big Brother, too. His name popped up on Skate Twitter and that's what led to this scan, which turned into a week of Grind King Trucks.

Grind King was started in 1988 by Donald Cassel. He designed an inverted kingpin that wouldn't catch like the regular bolt on grinds. His product line expanded to include Bridge Bolts and a couple of board lines. Cassel developed the trucks in the early 90s and has kept the product going over the years.

The photo sequence is by Rick Kosick.

Big Brother - May 2000 Number 60

Paul Rodriguez #4.

Made You Look.

I didn't realize Paul was on Fourstar when he was on City Stars. I thought he didn't start riding for them until he was on Girl. Although being on Fourstar gave him a connection to Girl when City Stars came to an end.

I have to figure out some new stuff to scan. Work was fairly busy most of June and then was a bit slow due to the holiday. I skipped nearly all the internet and computer use on my three day weekend because I was burned out on screen time. I've been pondering a look back at Photosynthesis, but I feel that has been well covered enough already.

I put some new wheels on my board. My heelflips magically returned. They had been off the last few weeks so I did a bunch of them last night. Skateboarding is strange sometimes.

Atiba Jefferson was the photographer.

Big Brother - March 2001 Number 70

Javier Nuñez #2.

Javier is from Bayonne, New Jersey. When he was in middle school, he'd take the bus into New York City to skate with his friends. He rode for Dead End and had a profile in 411. Javier would go to Philadelphia to skateboard with Stevie Williams. Kareem Campbell helped him move out to Los Angeles and added him to the Menace team. Javier is an actor and has had roles in Kids, NYPD Blue, How to Make it in America, Southland, and more.

The photo is by Sean Peterson.

Big Brother - April 2001 Number 71

Caine Gayle #4.

Caine is certified Muay Thai teacher. He also won a bronze medal at the 2001 X-Games in Skateboard Park.

Dave Swift snapped the photo.

Big Brother - May 2001 Number 72

Joey Suriel.

Joey was born in New York and grew up in Los Angeles. He rode for ATM Click and 60/40 before getting on Kareem Campbell's Menace. Joey stuck with Kareem and rode for All City and City Stars. His favorite skaters from 2001 included Andrew Reynolds, Cairo Foster, plus the teams at Girl and Chocolate.

The late Jaya Bonderov took the photo.

Big Brother - July 2001 Number 74

The Price of Style II.

Catalog heads, this one is for y'all.

Since archival price records from the late 1990s and early 2000s are a tad spotty, this ad of shoes and gear from C & C Ride Shop was a nice discovery. They have all the hot brands of the day, including Axion, Circa, DVS, Fourstar, Lakai, Matix, Osiris, and Sens. C & C ran the same spreads in December 2000 and February 2001, except they swapped out the Axions for Osiris. And yes, they were running four page ads in Big Brother.

Top Four: Big Brother - December 2000 Number 67

Osiris page: Big Brother - February 2001 Number 69