Roman Gonzalez.

Classical architecture.

Roman is from Paris and lives in Marsille. He's been on Polar a long time and turned pro in 2021. I don't know too much about him. I keep buying his boards because they are always in the size I like. This is a good use of the two shot sequence, which can sometimes look very awkward.

I set up a new board last night. You can probably figure out from the post what it is. I've been trying to skate the park a little more since the lights are on and the sun sets earlier. I want to get to some of the other local parks, but never have the time or the weather ends up being weird. Skateboarding hasn't really been a lot of fun lately. I keep trying, but nothing ever clicks. It's getting frustrating. Have a good weekend.

Thrasher - March 2021 Volume 42 Number 3

Daniel Bergström.

Computer Age.

Daniel Bergström, formerly Håkansson, had the last part in Strongest of the Strange. This was Pontus Alv's first video from 2005 that laid the framework for what Polar would be. Daniel is from Malmö, Sweden and likes to skate odd, crusty spots. I only know a minimal amount of information about him. I feel content with one video part from twenty years ago where he absolutely crushed every spot to the sounds of Sonic Youth covering Neil Young.

The photo is by Nils Svensson. I had to crop it a little since it awkwardly ran across two pages.

Free - March/April 2022 Issue 41

Dave Mayhew #4.

Enjoy hats.

It's a bit of that classic Marc Johnson humor. In an era when everything was either hesh and serious or fresh and serious, a little silliness went a long way to stand out from what everybody else was doing. That's the spirit Marc brought to skateboarding and part of why he was so important.

Transworld - May 2001 Volume 19 Number 5

Spitfire Fun Facts.

Nitpicking.

The flame head logo actually first appeared in the May 1992 issue of Thrasher. It was in most of the ads after that. I'm not sure how they got December 1993 beyond somebody not doing enough research. I'm more than a little surprised Billy Pepper was mentioned in the Mag.

The bit about Frank Gerwer sending riders he wasn't stoked on the wrong size wheels is pure comedy gold.

Thrasher - December 2025 Volume 46 Number 12

Bam Margera & Matt Hensley.

The lonesome crowded west.

I was wondering why Bam's new Zero ad was lacking the impact of Daniel Sturt's iconic picture of Matt Hensley. I didn't recall the big trees being there. It turns out the world's largest cowboy hat and boots were moved to a new location in 2003 so it is impossible to take the same photograph again. In all honesty, Bam's photo is very good, especially when you see it in print, but it doesn't have the sense of space that elevates the picture of Matt to a classic image of the American open road.

The photos are by Green Gage and Daniel H. Sturt.

Bam: Thrasher - September 2026 Volume 47 Number 9

Matt: Transworld - February 1992 Volume 10 Number 2

Jake Johnson #9.

Keep on complying.

Jake steps to a no-comply over a famous Barcelona barrier. I thought this was a sick photo when it came out over a decade ago and it has held up enough in the information overload age to stay in my memory. I unintentionally wound up with back to back no-comply covers.

Has anybody ever hit for the cycle on covers by being on all the mags? That would be Thrasher, Transworld, Slap, Big Brother, Skateboarder, and The Skateboard Mag. You'd get some bonus points if you made it on the front of Poweredge, Warp, Heckler, or Stance, too. I think maybe one to three pros have done the Big Six plus Poweredge.

I completely forgot to include Transworld in the week. Oops.

Have a good weekend!

The photo is by Dan Zaslavsky.

Thrasher - October 2015 Volume 36 Number 10

Rune Glifberg #8.

Incineration.

Rune does a no-comply on the mini ramp at Empire of One Skate Shop in Flint, Michigan. This is good use of a bold black and white photo with only a smidge of red added to create emphasis. On a newsstand of color covers, the issue would jump out by being distinct in its own way. It's a little odd seeing Rune wearing those Vans with the double wide stripe. Maybe he didn't have a shoe sponsor in 1998? He started riding for Axion in 1999. I picked this cover because it was a skater doing an unexpected trick on different terrain than we are used to seeing them on.

Lance Dawes was the photographer.

Slap - October 1998 Volume 7 Number 10

Steve & Alex Olson.

The Freight Train & The Greyhound.

Steve teams up with his son Alex to do some doubles at the Supreme bowl in Los Angeles. You don't see doubles covers very often, which is probably a good thing and maybe the only time skateboarding actually does something in moderation. That's why this image occurred to me when I was picking out mags to scan. This is also unique in that Steve was on the cover of Skateboarder back in 1979 and Alex made the front in 2005. I'm not really sure what they were going for with those nicknames. Their interview was a whole bunch of hilarious bickering back and forth about stuff.

Note: I filled in the white box for the address label since it was an easy fix.

The photograph is by Giovanni Reda.

Skateboarder - November 2007 Volume 17 Number 3

Daewon Song #10.

Epic Pole Jam.

This was one of the final tricks in Daewon's part from Skate More, the DVS video from 2005. I remember being amazed by the skinny rock to fakie when the magazine came out. It's a relatively basic move done on a completely unstable obstacle, which makes it relatable yet seem utterly impossible. I imagine I saw the video after the mag came out due to the turnaround time on ordering Skate More. I don't think it lessened the impact of the trick, unlike when a shoe company drops the footage for a cover in a 14 second standalone commercial for an issue that technically shouldn't be out for another two months. There's no sense of wonder any more. Enough grousing about how everything is awful these days, let's get back to Daewon. He refined his schoolyard techniques and took his talents to assorted ditches, banks, loading docks, flatbed trailers, and whatever other out of the way spots he could find. To be exact, he hit up the well known spots of the day, too. In the end, the result was some very creative skateboarding and one of the most important video parts of the last 25 years.

Anthony Acosta took the photo.

The Skateboard Mag - August 2005 Issue 17

Bam Margera #8.

The OG Man Ramp.

It feels like Bam has come full circle back to what allowed him to do the movies and television shows in the first place: the skateboarding. I don't mind it. He seems to be having fun and is in a good place.

In looking at old issues of Big Brother, they sure put a lot of poop jokes on the cover. It actually made me pass on a couple of issues when I was figuring out what to scan.

I decided enough time has elapsed since I picked out some favorite covers that I could revisit the topic. I'm not sure if I necessarily picked out any favorites and went with random ones that were compelling for whatever reason. I tried to get a sampling of all the mags, too.

The photo is by Rick Kosick.

Big Brother - July 2001 Number 74

John Cardiel #22.

Where eagles dare.

Cards gets a 50-50 on a ledge with the help of his friends. I figured I had to wrap up a week of Anti-Hero with a classic.

I don't have much going on lately. I took the week off from skateboarding to hang out with some friends who were in town for the summer. I've been trying to be outside more, but it sort of doesn't feel like summer. I can't believe how fast the time goes now. Have a good weekend.

Slap - May 1999 Volume 8 Number 5

Tony Trujillo #8.

Police files.

Tony's interview in the March 2026 issue of Thrasher is a good read. He talks about some health problems he has had, getting sober for the benefit of his kids, the pluses and minuses of being around Jake Phelps, working as a stage hand, and playing in a band. It's cool to take in some of his stories about touring for skateboarding and music. It's also cool to see how he's grown as a person after nearly 30 years in the spotlight.

Slap - October 1998 Volume 7 Number 10

Bob Burnquist #12.

Maximum weirdness.

Bob glides through a unique one footed noseslide at Hubba Hideout. He was kicking his foot off for backside Smith grinds on vert so this was probably somewhere in his zone of odd things he felt comfortable doing on a skateboard. While researching this week, I discovered that Bob has never been featured on the Chrome Ball Incident.

Slap - February 1999 Volume 8 Number 2

Bob Burnquist & Tony Trujillo.

Circa 1999.

Bob flexes his street skills and Tony kickflips at the old days of a Vans park. That black & white photo always sketched me out. It looks scary.

Slap - July 1999 Volume 8 Number 7

Tony Trujillo & Eric J.

Nothing compelled me to get up.

Julien cut and pasted some literature and photos for this one featuring Tony and the late Eric J. I figured I might as well follow up Stereo and Real with the third board line out of Deluxe. I think I've scanned nearly everything from Anti-Hhero for the 1990s so this is about the last of it. I like the older ads that were more handmade over the use of Photoshop in the modern ads. The effect is theoretically the same, but the analog results are far superior.

Slap - December 1999 Volume 8 Number 12

Max Schaaf #18.

Journey to the end.

Max was doing some proper tech on the coping back in his heyday. Most of his maneuvers would cut it in the street on a ledge. He was wisely picking out classic tricks that will look good no matter what the terrain. I understand that everybody's skateboarding skills have improved over the decades, but a little bit of refinement in trick selection can go a long way.

Vert Is Dead is taking a summer break.

I need some time off from magazines, computers, and the internet. It will probably be a one to three week break. I'll see how things feel. Skateboarding has been going OK. I've been trying to roll every day for the sake of being outside in the summer. Have a good weekend.

Slap - February 2000 Volume 9 Number 2

Cairo Foster #15.

Built To Spill vs. Modest Mouse.

Cairo's video parts could spark the 90s version of the classic 80s debate over who is the better band, The Cure or The Smiths. He was only on Real from 1999 to 2002. I didn't realize it was such a short stint because I tend to associate him with Real. He was previously on Mad Circle right before the company went under. Cairo would start Popwar with Giant Distribution before a long run on enjoi. His nollie and nollie kickflip game was on point back in The Reason and Kicked Out Of Everywhere era.

Slap - July 1999 Volume 8 Number 7

Keith Hufnagel #19.

Stryct-Nine.

Keith had a rail and hubba phase for Real's Kicked Out Of Everywhere video in 1999. The part has that extra long kinked square rail he 50-50'd for a DC Shoes ad. You tend to associate him with more cruising down the street and busting tricks over anything in the way, but Huf dabbled with Zero style skating at the time. The results were pretty good.

I think I did have one of the Stryct-Nine nine ply boards. It was OK, but maybe not great. Something wore out on it faster than it should have or the plies separated. I don't remember the exact problem.

Slap - June 1999 Volume 8 Number 6

Salman Agah #9.

Hot Shot.

Big Salman crushes a handrail with a lipslide. This ad would have been from when he returned to Real after riding for the Firm. Salman had a few tricks in their Kicked Out Of Everywhere video from 1999. There were even some vert clips at Max Schaaf's ramp. Salman wasn't on Real too long before heading over to The Black Label in the early 2000s.

It's interesting how Real is constantly tinkering with board construction. None of the innovations seem to stick for long so it makes me wonder how well the new ideas work. Of course, they do probably pick out subtle things that do click and carry those forward for future deck designs.

Weren't there skateboard trading cards in the early 1990s called Hot Shots?

Slap - April 1999 Volume 8 Number 4

Real Team 1999.

Masters of Reality.

Real was running their usual heavy squad for 1999. These are some classic photos with Gonz mobbing a kickflip, Huf doing a big ollie wearing the DC Rick Howard IIs, and Max making a backyard pool appearance. Matt and Quim were also on the team, but didn't make picture day. From a design perspective, it's easier to put together an ad with five or six photos and not seven. I really dig the font Real uses. It's one they've used from time to time.

Slap - February 1999 Volume 8 Number 2

Ethan Fowler & Chris "Dune" Pastras #2.

Imperfections.

What do you do with somebody like Ethan Fowler? He's an important part of skateboard history, but flawed as a person. I don't really have a definitive answer. I suppose you recognize the talent to an extent while mentioning the transgressions.

I haven't posted anything with Ethan since the Free Skate Magazine interview with Benny Fairfax from May of 2021 was published. In the interview, Benny recounts how Ethan called him the n-word at a show Ethan's band was playing in Los Angeles. To say Ethan looks bad in the story is a major understatement. I have no intent to post anything else with him, but I found this ad and was pondering what to do with the characters who ruin their legacies.

I feel like the skate media probably covered for Ethan when he was at his peak. If you read between the lines and piece together assorted stories over the years, you get the sense that his personality could politely be described as prickly at best. I imagine there were a few incidents that were swept under the rug because he could do great backside lipslides on handrails. The fact that he has essentially vanished makes it much easier for him to be lost to the sands of time, which is quite possibly the best case scenario in this particular situation.

Slap - July 1997 Volume 6 Number 7

Carl Shipman #6.

Royal Air Force.

My mind might be a little fuzzy about this, but I think on one of the DC Euro Super Tours they were introducing Carl Shipman at demos as being from the USA simply for the sake of messing with him. It did not go over well with Carl.

Slap - June 1997 Volume 6 Number 6

Matt Rodriguez #7.

A Minor Lipslide.

It's well known that Matt is a musician, but I was mildly surprised that he is also a visual artist. He talks about drawing and wanting to study art at the university level in his Thrasher interview from May of 1994. It's very much possible I simply forgot Matt has done artwork for Stereo, Supernaut, IPath, and Creation over the years.

Slap - April 1997 Volume 6 Number 4

Mike Frazier #11.

Right side up, upside down.

Mike was a staple of modern 1990s vertical skateboarding. He rode for Powell, Birdhouse, Stereo, Toy Machine, Element, and Santa Cruz over the years. He missed having a part in a Toy Machine video. Mike was added to the team after Welcome To Hell and left before Jump Off A Building. I wonder how a part from him would have fit into a Toy Machine flick? His section in Tincan Folklore is a classic. Without double checking, I'm sure this invert was in there. It's good to know Mike is still out there shredding the ramps to this day.

I like how Spitfire would do team lists every now and again to answer any questions about who officially rode the wheels.

Profile: Slap - August 1996 Volume 5 Number 8

Invert: Slap - June 1996 Volume 5 Number 6

Chris "Dune" Pastras #6.

Sonic Raygun.

It maybe gets lost in the shuffle because Chris has worked in the industry for so long, but he's really good at skateboarding. This photo is great. Dune is wearing some Duffs, has the bigger wheels, and is locked in precisely on a frontside railslide. There might even be riser pads on his board.

Dan Rusin's new Into The Void video is out in the world now and it is top shelf stuff. He's even released it on DVD. Dan showcases more Minnesota skateboarding with the likes of Matt Boeltl, TJ Moran, and a few others. It's totally worth checking out.

Slap - June 1996 Volume 5 Number 6

Kenny Hughes #7.

Coastal Hiway.

I've been slowly trying to get more posts of Kenny on here. He was quite the ripper in the 1990s and early 2000s. He's one of those pros that didn't have many interviews so you don't know a lot about him. You'd just hear stories here and there. It adds to the mystique. This might have been his only advertisement for Emerica. Kenny would soon depart for DC Shoes. The switch k-grind was in Element's Third Eye View video from 1998. Everything about this ad is great - the traffic signal photo, the trick, the design, the colors, and the text.

I've been skateboarding lately, but it's not going great. Every trick can randomly become a chore. I don't know, man. I maybe need to take a week off or not be old. Have a fun weekend and stay cool.

Slap - June 1997 Volume 6 Number 6

Phil Shao #15.

Modern freeway systems.

Emerica was running a team list in their ads up until the fall of 1997. The pros were Jamie Thomas, Marc Johnson, Chris Senn, Phil Shao, Donny Barley, Kenny Hughes, Dan Drehobl, John Cardiel, and Darren Navarrette. Tim McKenney and Mike Maldonado were the amateurs. I'm curious about Cardiel's time on Emerica. I don't believe he ever had an ad for them. He was wearing the shoes in his coverage from 1996-98 and did have a few tricks in the Yellow video from 1997. Has he ever mentioned Emerica in an interview? This is one of those curious little bits of trivia that I'd like to know more about. It reminds me of when Rick Howard was on éS for a couple months before he was on DC.

Slap - August 1997 Volume 6 Number 8

Mike Maldonado #7.

Brutalism.

I believe this was Mike's only ad for Emerica. I didn't remember that he even rode for them. It's sort of hard to tell what shoes Mike is wearing in a lot of his photos, but they look like something from Emerica or éS. He was added to the Axion squad in 2000. I miss when skate shoe companies had a line of assorted, somewhat generic in a good sense, plain cupsoles. I might as well make this the obligatory happy 30th anniversary to Welcome To Hell post. It seems like only yesterday the Toy Machine team was doing a demo in a Buffalo parking lot on the tour for the video.

Slap - October 1997 Volume 6 Number 10

Ed Templeton #36.

Description.

Ed was added to the Emerica team in 1998 after Sole Tech put Sheep Shoes out to pasture. He had previously ridden for Vans. He gradually faded away from Emerica as his formal pro career wound down. I think Ed assists Jamie Thomas with his WARSAW shoe project to some extent these days while cranking out the art for Toy Machine. Ed isn't really a backside tailslide guy and this bank looks so rough and bumpy.

Slap - April 1998 Volume 7 Number 4

Andrew Reynolds #21.

Balancing Emerica.

The Boss floats a frontside ollie back in the Birdhouse days. It's a little uncommon to see a skatepark photo of Andrew, particularly for an ad. Emerica has been fairly consistent with their graphic design from the beginning up until now. You seldom see any horrible missteps. Sometimes they try a different green or use fonts that are too small, but they always round back into form. I appreciate that effort. It's cool they have a good looking aesthetic that allows for variation while sticking to their overall image.

Slap - June 1998 Volume 7 Number 6

Jim Menscer #3.

Red Medicine.

Jim was part of the Phillie scene with Ricky Oyola, Matt Reason, and the rest of the crew. I wasn't sure if he turned pro, but this ad confirms that he did. He also rode for Sub Zero and Kastel. His music tastes in the 1990s included Superchunk, Sebadoh, and Fugazi.

I hope everybody has a good holiday weekend. Try to stay cool out there and party smart.

The photo is by Kelly Ryan.

Slap - April 1998 Volume 7 Number 4

Rob Pluhowski #8.

Frame grab.

Everybody's favorite Habitat amateur blasts a set of stairs to a small landing pad for First Division Wheels. Rob previously rode for Element before being an original rider on Habitat. His feet were sponsored by Vita and DVS. He came to the conclusion in the early 2000s that skateboarding wasn't going to be a stable career for him as he got older and peaced out from the biz at a good point in his life. You have to respect that.

It's been hot here and things are hectic with the holiday for work so I am worn out. I've been skateboarding in the driveway in the evenings when it is less hot. It keeps being hit or miss for me. I think I'm tired, even if I don't really feel tired. Adult life is grand. Maybe some new shoes will help.

I'm puzzled as to why they didn't include a credit for the photographer. Maybe they weren't sure who submitted the sequence when the ad was being designed.

Slap - November 1997 Volume 6 Number 11

Andrew Currie #2.

First division from UK Colonies.

Andrew hails from Queensland, Australia and has ridden for SMA, Foundation, Silverstar, Hoon, and probably a few other companies over the decades. I wanted to find some more information on him as I feel he had an interview in print somewhere, but I ran out of time to fully do the research. He got a lot of coverage in Slap in the 1990s so he's a familiar face you maybe don't know too much about.

Happy 125th, Australia! I apologize for being a few months late. Happy Canada Day!

Slap - October 1997 Volume 6 Number 10

Sergei Trudnowski #3.

These are the mystic guards.

Sergei was part of the mid 1990s Philadelphia crew with Ricky Oyola and Matt Reason that ushered in a return to larger wheels and boards while emphasizing doing fundamental tricks properly. They treated the city as a skatepark instead of posting up at one spot constantly. You see the continuation of their ideas carried on by guys like Quel Haddox, who explores Phillie to find construction sites to ollie over.

Ryan Gee was the photographer.

Slap - February 1997 Volume 7 Number 2

Mike Bouchard #3.

Liberty Bell.

The late Mike Bouchard does a backside nosegrind in a well designed advertisement from Nicotine Wheels. It's another week of Capital and their assorted companies. I'm not above letting the calendar decide the copy at this point. Plus their ads just look cool.

I did skateboard a little over the weekend. I wanted to go someplace else for the sake of variety, but grownup life had me rolling at the local park in the mornings before it warmed up. I think I got my new trucks dialed in. I might need new wheels, even though my current ones are two months old so they should not be done yet.

The photo is by Kelly Ryan.

Slap - July 1997 Volume 7 Number 7

Jaime Reyes #5.

Long distance traveler.

Since New York is known as the city that never sleeps, it is easy to see why Rookie went with so many nocturnal advertisements. I like how they took chances with arty photos, too. Jaime landed a spot on Real when Jim Thiebuad and Tommy Guerrero were visiting Hawaii in 1993 or 94. She did a nollie heelflip in front of Jim and he was impressed enough to add her to the team. Later she would move to NYC and turn pro for Rookie. Jaime had a Thrasher cover in April 1994. This pretty much wraps up my look back at Rookie as I've covered nearly everything with them. They definitely made a positive impact on skateboarding in the late 1990s.

I set up a new board with new trucks for the week. The breaking in process has not been going smoothly. I want to see if I can get the new bushings to work before I replace them with some old ones. Add in that I can't really skateboard very well any more so things just aren't fun right now. I need to get a new pair of shoes going, but I'm waiting until I get the trucks dialed in first. We shall see how it goes. Hope everybody out there has a good weekend.

Grant Kino and Giovanni Reda took the pictures.

K-grind: Slap - July 1998 Volume 7 Number 7

Kickflip: Slap - June 1999 Volume 8 Number 6

Jessie Van Roechoudt #9.

Nighttime ghosts of the old city.

Alexis Zavialoff and Joe Brook were the photographers.

Stairs: Slap - October 1997 Volume 6 Number 10

Nite: Slap - June 1998 Volume 7 Number 6

Shane Medanich.

Night & Day Flights.

Shane is from Eastchester, New York. He moved out to San Francisco after riding for Rookie. He's a musician and the founding drummer for skate rock titans Hightower. Shane was also the music editor for Lowcard. It appears he is still playing a lot of music and possibly works as a teacher.

The photos are by Tim Stanton and Giovanni Reda.

Ollie: Slap - September 1998 Volume 7 Number 9

Banks: Slap - April 1999 Volume 8 Number 4

Rookie 1999.

Orange & Blue.

Rookie had established itself with a solid team and very well designed advertisements by 1999. They found their NYC niche and added a few people to the roster. I don't really have much else to add as the story has been told fairly well already. This week is probably about the last batch of Rookie scans as I've posted the bulk of them. Many of the remaining ads have sequences with small photos and I never like how those look. I don't know. Just appreciate the cool photos and sensible fonts.

The photographs are by Angela Boatwright, Gabe Morford, and Mike O'Meally.

Slap - May 1999 Volume 8 Number 5

Rookie 1997.

The New York you don't know.

I think this is the first ad for Rookie. I like how they contrast their version of the city with the famous landmarks and the Zoo York/Supreme/Metropolitan crew. The New York City based company began as a clothing line by Catharine Lyons and Elska von Hatzfeldt that expanded into a proper skateboard entity. I'm mildly surprised Rookie debuted in Big Brother as they seem out of place in that mag, but it makes sense with the NYC connection to Dimitry Elyashkevich. I don't believe they had any other ads in Big Brother and stuck with Slap for the bulk of their existence.

It was nice to see the Knicks win a championship. Nothing against the Spurs, but this was probably New York's best chance to get a ring.

The photos are by Dimitry.

Big Brother - Spring 1997 Number 25

Ryan Wilburn & Anthony Furlong.

Torquing some air.

A pair of Southern rippers blast off for Torque. This was probably both guys first bigger sponsor. Ryan was on Stereo by the end of 1997 before switching over to Consolidated. Anthony is from Georgia and has ridden for Zoo York. That's about all the info I have on him. The graphic design for Torque was pretty decent. That's what caught my eye. It's very much of the middle 1990s, but also avoids the pitfalls of the era.

The park has been empty and the winds have calmed down so I've been going there to skateboard in the evenings lately. It's nice to roll around fast. I'm not really skating so great any more for me and it is wearing me out. I'll get a few tricks every time out that make me think I can still do this and the rest of the time is frustrating. I might just need some new trucks. And on that note, hope everybody has a good weekend.

Pete Thompson took his camera to the Skate Park of Tampa for Anthony's photo.

Ryan: Big Brother - June 1997 Issue 26

Anthony: Big Brother - December 1997 Issue 31

Chad Kramer.

Monster centipede.

Chad is from the Reading, Pennsylvania area. He'd make appearances in the mags when they trekked out east. There's a possibility he skated with Bam Margera and his crew. I don't know anything about him other than he had a lot of ads for Torque and could obviously skate transitions.

I think that's East Coast vert legend Dan Tag in the frontside feeble ad.

One photo is credited to Back. I'm not sure on a full name.

Back tail: Big Brother - Spring 1997 Issue 25

Flip: Big Brother - September 1997 Issue 28

Feeble: Big Brother - October 1998 Issue 41