Jim's Selection

And now for something completely different.....

Here is friend of the blog and founder member of Cardiff Skateboard Club Jim's selection of vintage Skateboard decks.

I started collecting skateboard decks around 2000. It was a way for me to avoid spending every penny of my earnings on getting wasted. A way to build something of value for my future…because the way I was going back then, I was going to end up with nothing but a ten year hangover and an empty wallet, but now look at me. I’ve got piles of wood hogging every inch of space in my flat. Dope.

Ok, so I mainly collect Deathbox decks. Deathbox is a British company that was started in 1987 by Jeremy Fox. He recruited an amazing team of British rippers, including Graham ‘Mac’ Maceachran, who did all the graphics. In 1995 the entire Deathbox team relocated to California, rebranding themselves as Flip and pretty much taking over the world with the help of Messrs. Penny and Rowley.

The most OG deck has to be the Mac ‘Hitler’ mini. I remember seeing one of these in the window of Pugsley’s surf shop in Llantwit Major back in 1988. The thing just reeked of quality. It put American decks to shame…I knew then that this was something way cooler than the skulls and swords of Powell, the day-glo tackiness of Vision or the art department professionalism of Santa Cruz…this was RAW. Mac didn’t give a shit about drawing properly, he just put his ideas into physical form using his rudimentary skills. Once they were silk screened onto a glossy curvy skateboard deck they took on a new life…

The Sean Goff is kind of a lame graphic by Deathbox standards, but this deck was his first with them and it marked their ascendancy to top of the pile in the UK. At the time Goff joined the team, Deathbox were a staple of every magazine. Skate Action, RAD, and Skateboard! wouldn’t go a single issue without some mention of Deathbox. At the time, they were the biggest names in UK skateboarding, even though…in these pre-digital times…most people had never seen any of the team skate in the flesh. At least not until Channel Four ran their legendary contest footage in {INSERT NAME HERE}…but that’s another story.

The next few decks are all from the early 90s. This was probably my favourite era for skateboarding. I think the best thing was just how fast things were changing at the time. To be honest, Deathbox got a little left behind after 1992 and if it weren’t for the phoenix from the ashes miracle that was the Flip brand…we’d have seen the last of Mr Fox and crew.

But this is 1990…and Deathbox are about to unleash one of their best graphics EVER.

In my opinion, the most iconic Deathbox graphics are their teapot logo, the Dossett Jester, and my favourite, the Rocker Hydrant. I love the Rocker Hydrant model so damn much that I’ve got two of them. One is NOS with griptape, the other is slightly used. Either way these are rare as hell. One was an Ebay find, the other I got off a guy in France. I think this deck sums up everything that is great about Deathbox. The bold, naïve graphic, thickly applied in high quality silkscreen to a huge deck with preposterous concave, a pro nobody outside the UK knew, and absolute domination of the UK skate scene. Everybody was riding these, or knew these from seeing them in mags. Alex Moul rode these when he was making up new tricks every day. This deck was the epitomy of the underdog UK scene. It’s a tongue in cheek reference to the fact that, at the time, the fire hydrant was an icon of skateboarding and something we don’t have in the UK. The way I saw it, this was a big FU to the USA. Siiiick.

The next two decks are a 1991 reissue of the classic Wurzel Organ Grinder model and a Dossett Marlboro. I think the original Organ Grinder is one of the best shape/graphic combos Deathbox did. This one has a more generic early 90s shape, but it’s minty minty NOS and has a flawless natural finish. The Dossett has a very similar shape and is also NOS. I like this graphic, it’s following on from a trend for offensive graphics that Deathbox have been a part of since their beginning, but which was also kicking off in popularity Stateside, as the Yanks had finally started to see through the moronic adherence to skateboard etiquette that demanded every board should be decorated with skulls or 80s throwback graphic design. Rocco and World Industries had given the industry a major kick in the pants and the new wave of companies were going all out to shock with decks like the Natas Challenger and Satan models, and various rip-offs of Disney and Looney Tunes icons.

This brings us to 1992…and by this point I’ve lost interest in Deathbox. They started releasing lame graphics like the Nordien Quatbi Giraffe model…quite possibly the worst graphic EVER to disgrace a skateboard deck. They also lost the edge on the innovation front, and their decks started to look second rate compared to the super fresh products the Rocco camp were putting out. As a little taster of what came out of that era, here’s a Chris Senn Star Wars slick. You don’t get more 92 than that.

We jump forward now to 1995. Deathbox have moved to California, Tom Penny is showing everyone how to skateboard properly, and Geoff Rowley is peddling his scouser stuntman schtick and releasing dope ass graphics like this Yellow Submarine deck. Ok, so it’s not a Mac graphic, but this is a nice way to round off the collection. I’d go a couple of Penny decks, but I’m hapy with what I’ve got.

Way back in 1996, before Harold Hunter passed away, before they became a TK Maxx staple, before Ashton Kutcher and Dr Z were anywhere to be seen…Zoo York used to be dope. No, I’m serious…Zoo York used to be proper gritty, underground, raw to the core, dope.

These decks are from their first run and the Manhattan Bridge ones are totally iconic. I’d say these decks totally define the mid 90s. If you don’t think so, you probably never padded your tongues, wore a peaked beanie, or wished you could do dope nollie hardflips like Reemo.

The stack. These are my stash. Interesting decks, decks I thought were cool, decks that I saw going cheap on Ebay and couldn’t resist, decks friends have given me. Some of the notable ones are early designs by Cardiff artist Godmachine, a Pritchard deck from 97, and a 96 Alien Workshop.

This last one is a Crayon Deck. Crayon from Cardiff, and they are about to unleash some of the coolest and most ‘gotta get’ decks of any company for years, but that’s in the future. In their recent past is this one, done by my old housemate and top friend, Tom Hobson. I like the fact that it’s kind of rough and ready, but it just works really really well. These boards sold out and helped establish Crayon as more than just a throwaway company.

That's it. Hope you enjoyed the trip through my mild obsession.