Rails.

I'm a little reluctant to include rails as a gimmick as they can serve a functional purpose, especially on ramps. Early 1990s street skating was quick to eschew all plastic accouterments that had been a staple of 1980s setups. The masses haven't exactly gone back in the twenty years since, although rails still have their fans today. The dearly departed vert powerhouse Blaize Blouin was a supporter of a plain board without plastics because that stuff was just extra weight. On the other hand, Kevin Staab and Joe Johnson would bend a rail around the nose of their boards to make it easier to grab. It might have even been for noseslides, too. Rails certainly can be acceptable as Lance Mountain, Jeff Grosso, and Jason Jessee's boards all look really cool. Ride 'em if you want to.

Paul Schmitt at Schmitt Stix was always tinkering with ways to improve skateboards and his rail designs offered a variety of options. The Type II model are designed to improve your grip with the extended edge. The other rails are low profile and would be good for street skating.

World Industries usually had the coolest stuff way back when. The Skinny Little White Boys were neat. I never had a set of Bedpan Risers, but I always wanted a pair.

Z-Products ditched mounting hardware altogether and came up with Z-Skinz. These were thin plastic rails that had an adhesive backing that you stuck on your board. I never had any. Matt Hensley had a couple photos with a Z-Skin stuck on his board so that probably helped them sell.

Finally, we have the Cellblock rails by Santa Cruz. They were experimenting with different sizes and shapes as well. I had a few sets of Cellblock rails. I think they did slide faster than Powell Peralta rails, but don't hold me to that.

The Mike Folmer photo is by Paul Schmitt.

Mike Folmer: Thrasher - January 1989 Volume 9 Number 1

World Industries Plastics: Thrasher - February 1989 Volume 9 Number 2

George Watanabe: Thrasher - January 1990 Volume 10 Number 1

Eric Dressen: Thrasher - May 1990 Volume 10 Number 5

Gleaming The Cube.

Movies about skateboarding... that always turns out well.

Transworld - April 1989 Volume 7 Number 2

Bolts.

Every so often efforts are made to reinvent mounting hardware. This frequently involved some type of joined bolts with a metal connector that went over top of the griptape, as was the case with U-Bolts and Bridgebolts. There was a Deadbolt version that ran the long way from the front to the back truck mounting hole. Saving on not having to use a screwdriver was a big selling point.

One other method to get rid of that pesky screwdriver was to design a bolt that was pounded into the top of your deck. This is what Thunderbolts were. I couldn't find an ad so I rummaged around in the garage and found the actual bolts to take a photo of. The bolts have two little nubs under the head that are supposed to hold the bolt in place. However, since skateboarding rattles around the trucks and loosens the hardware, this would become problematic when the bolts needed to be tightened. The little nubs would wear away at where they were sunk in and no longer do their intended job. Plus they theoretically weakened the board from the impact of pounding in the bolts. This idea pops up every now and again.

I'm assuming Skully Nuts were just regular bolts. I only scanned the ad because of the cool skeletons.

Skully Nuts: Thrasher - November 1989 Volume 9 Number 11

U-Bolt: Thrasher - December 1989 Volume 9 Number 12

Grind King Bridgebolt: Thrasher - September 1990 Volume 10 Number 9

Dirt Wheels.

There have always been attempts to take skateboards off road. One method is to make a larger, softer wheel that can handle the dirt. Another is to have inflatable tires or build a contraption that resembles a skateboard for the most part. Adventure today.

The Road Weapon seemed like an unusual wheel to me way back when. It's bigger than a T-Bone and much softer. Corey is riding a Santa Cruz long board in the photo. You would need extra riser pads to prevent wheel bite with a larger wheel, too.

Jeff Phillips and his friends were into dirt boarding as something to do out in the Texas countryside. I think there even was a little video of him riding a dirt board somewhere.

Blockhead ad photos are by El Steam.

Dirt Clods and Road Weapon: Thrasher - July 1989 Volume 9 Number 7

Dirt Board: Transworld - October 1989 Volume 7 Number 6

DanXer.

"More Fun Than Your First Driver's License!"

The next two weeks are going to be spent on the assorted products that have been sold as innovations for skateboarding. Some of them have merit, others made sense at the time, and the rest leave you wondering.

Starting off in wonderland is the DanXer made by Chaos, Inc. from Troy, Michigan. Did anybody out there have one of these things? What's up with the silver rail? It should be noted that this ad was designed in 1988 and ran in 1989, yet it proclaims dawn will break on 1990.

Transworld - February 1989 Volume 7 Number 1

Satva Leung.

Welcome To Hell.

Satva was an amateur added to Toy Machine by Jamie Thomas. After parts in Heavy Metal and Welcome To Hell, he left the Machine for an opportunity to turn pro at Imperial for their Dynasty company. He later did his own company called Judah with artist David Flores in the early 2000s. Satva has been a team manager for Ricta and Mob Grip, as well as a DJ and videographer.

Walker Ryan dropped a new part on Thrasher today. It's well filmed and full of exotic spots in foreign countries. Ryan strings together some nice lines and tech tricks without overdoing it. I like what that guy is bringing to skateboarding.

I did a whole week of Toy Machine without an Ed Templeton post. Whoops.

RIP Corey Chrysler.

Vert Is Dead will be back on Monday, April 21. I need a break. Feel free to leave requests in the comments. Gleam that cube.

Transworld - July 1995 Volume 13 Number 7

Panama Dan Zimmerman.

Heavy Metal.

Dan is a Boston local who is originally from Panama. It is fairly easy to connect the dots on how he got his nickname. He had parts in the Toy Machine's Live and Heavy Metal. His Live part was all indoor skatepark footage. For Heavy Metal, Dan was out on the real streets of Boston. He rode for Nation after Toy Machine.

The photo is by Chris Ortiz.

Transworld - June 1995 Volume 13 Number 6