Darren Navarrette #15.

"Sam Hitz and me would fight for a pair of Zombu wheels, 50s. They'd get 'em at the skateshop and he'd jump on his bicycle and I'd run, and the first dude there would get the last set of Zombu wheels. He got 'em, and I had to ride 45s."

Darren recalls the struggles of finding bigger wheels for vert in the 1990s. Vert Is Dead fully endorses footraces for deciding things and larger wheels.

Here's what a Zorlac Zombu wheel looks like:

The photo is by Chris "Rhino" Rooney.

For the quote: Thrasher - March 2009 Volume 29 Number 3

The Skateboard Mag - September 2009 Issue 66

Brue Killers.

"We've got nothing better to do than watch TV and have a couple of brews."

Creature made some cruiser boards with a built in bottle opener. Was Gravette even old enough to drink in 2009?

The photo is by Keith Wilson. I think I got the name right.

The Skateboard Mag - August 2009 Issue 65

Josh Perkins.

Born Dead.

I'm going with a week of Creature for Halloween this year. I figure it is a smart move to stick with a classic for spooky season. Creature was resurrected around about 2005 or 2006 after roughly eight years in the graveyard. They released a video called Born Dead in 2006 to showcase the new team. The OGs of Darren Navarrette, Al Partanen, and Sam Hitz were on the squad, along with new faces like David Gravette, John Ponts, Cody Boat, and a few others.

Josh is from Cape Neddick, Maine. His other sponsors were Sessions, Independent, Dekline, and Accel Wheels. For his part in Born Dead, Josh skated a lot of handrails. He slammed a bunch on those same handrails, too. His skating reminded me a little of Jon Allie. In addition to the 50-50s, feeble grinds, Smith grinds, lipslides, and 5-0s, Josh did a pop shove-it down a big four block, cruised a bowl, and did a nice ollie shifty off a bump on the sidewalk. This backside 180 ollie is in his section. He skated to the haunting punk sounds of The Rakes.

It was super tough to find Creature ads, especially ones I hadn't posted. I don't think they do an ad every month and they always rotate where they are in the mags. At the same time, I flipped by so many Ricta ads. I suppose one product sells itself and the other needs all the promotion it can get.

The photograph is by Chris "Rhino" Rooney.

Thrasher - August 2006 Volume 26 Number 8

Darrell Stanton & Dennis Busenitz.

As the world turns.

The photo is by Gabe Morford.

Transworld - December 2002 Volume 20 Number 12

Think Team 2003.

Thinking folks.

Think was fairly consistent with taking a team photo each and every twelve months. They might have even run two group ads in the same year once or twice. Long time riders Pat Duffy, Pancho Moler, and Danny Fuenzalida are there along with the elusive Jessica Krause and a young Daryl Angel. Jason Masse has ridden for a few companies over the years, including Real and World Industries. Sean Payne lives in Hawaii so that's a rock solid excuse for skipping picture day.

Thrasher - April 2003 Volume 23 Number 4

Rob Dyrdek #5.

Diamond shine.

I figure I had to include DC in this week of ads with profile photos. They weren't afraid to head into the studio to make a little photographic magic happen, as is the case with Rob admiring his new shoe model.

Transworld - October 2002 Volume 20 Number 10

Shorty's Team 2002.

Guilty of fulfilling the dream.

There's definitely a team vibe to this photo, but it also starts to feel that things are beginning to drift apart. Shorty's was a little bit past their high water mark in 2002, but still a fairly big entity in skateboarding.

Thrasher - September 2002 Volume 22 Number 9