As part of The Hundreds’ “Garage Brands” series Anthony Pappalardo (the writer) recounts the story of Dave Bergthold and Blockhead Skateboards. It is a good story of skateboarding, Sacramento, and staying true to a dream no matter what.
“I wanted to work in skateboarding, because that’s all I cared about,” he said. “Skateboarding was absolutely fucking dead at that point,” he [Bergthold] said of the industry landscape of the industry in 1985. “There were magazines and there was a scene, but you could count the number of skateboard companies on your fingers and toes. I was working delivering pizzas and saved up about $3,000. I ended up buying a batch of boards—about 60 decks total, because that’s what they [Uncle Wiggly] could make a day. I decided I needed an ad in Thrasher, so people would take me seriously. I don’t remember how much it cost, but it had to be around $800, so I spent almost a quarter of my budget just on this one ad.”
Thanks to his dedication Dave B. is still working in skateboarding and you can still buy a Blockhead skateboard. For a better understanding of why this is such a good thing, read the rest of the interview by clicking the link.
It’s been a long time, but Gary is still at it with the Skateline NBD, mixing up talk of hookers, Jesus, and skateboarding. As usual, he has all the bases covered.
You have four days left to enter to win the chance to skate with the original Bones Brigade as they celebrate their 30th Anniversary at a secret Southern California location on September 30, 2016.
How do you enter? Click here and then each time you donate $10 to the Tony Hawk Foundation, you are entered to win a spot. The more you donate, the more chances you have. Here’s what you’ll win:
All-day excursion to participate/bear witness to BONES BRIGADE history being made at a secret Southern California location on Friday, September 30, 2016 (Guests will meet in Los Angeles).
Dinner with the Bones Brigade
A load of swag from the Tony Hawk Foundation and the BONES BRIGADE
A professional photographer will capture the experience, and photos will be made available to guests after the event
One-hundred percent of the proceeds from this experience will benefit the Tony Hawk Foundation to further its mission to bring free public skateparks to at-risk youth throughout the U.S. Oh, and if you’d don’t like risk and want to be sure you’re at the event, you can purchase two spots for $7,000. Click the link for more info.
The crew at Prisma Guitars takes old skateboards, glues them together, and then cuts them up and turns them into guitars that Tommy Guerrero plays.
“Skateboards are made with seven layers of hard rock maple—a familiar guitar wood—and some of the layers are randomly dyed colors. Through working the materials, we get the colors to come through,” says Nick Pourfard, founder of Prisma Guitars. “Every single time I build one, it’s a different result. I never make the same guitar twice.”
When a footwear company is known for making sports shoes there’s no reason for them to leave their heritage behind just because they’re also into skateboarding, right? Well, that’s apparently what adidas believes. And that’s why their new Adi-Ease Premiere Universal skate shoes look so much like their soccer shoes.
Inspired by the iconic soccer shoe “Universal,” the shoe bridges rich adidas heritage with modern street skating. The Adi-Ease Premiere Universal takes detailed design cues from the Universal yet maintains the silhouette and board control of the popular Adi-Ease Premiere skate shoe. The updated Adi-Ease features a premium full grain leather, deco stitch toe and a PU Molded sockliner.
The Adi-Ease Premiere Universal comes in two colorways of White/Scarlet (above) and Core Black/White and is available for purchase through specialty retailers and the adidas Skateboarding website for $90.
Damn. Kyle Wester certainly goes fast on his skateboard.
On August 29th, 2016, Kyle Wester set out to break the Guinness Fastest Skateboard Speed Downhill record. The previous record was held at 81.17mph/130.63 kph. With the hill conditions just right, Kyle switched out his wheels one last time before making history. . . Kyle Wester uses Santa Cruz Skateboards, Road Rider 73mm Shred Mags wheels, Bronson Speed Co. G3 bearings and Mob Super Course Griptape.
But we’re guessing you’ll need a little more than his equipment to break this record any time soon.
Tommy Guerrero and Matt Hensley sit down to talk skateboarding, and we’ll just make a guess here, music? Flogging Molly maybe? There are probably no two people in the world who could discuss these topic betters. Seriously. And this is only part 1.
Our favorite skateboarding photographer (Grant Brittain) prints one of our favorite skateboarding photos (you know the one) of one of our favorite skateboard company owners (Tod Swank). Doesn’t get much better than that, really, but here are the details from SLVDR.
The SLVDR Craftsman Guild series visits the legendary skateboarding photographer Grant Brittain. His career goes back over three decades and began out of a passion for skateboarding and documenting his friends as subjects. In our visit he chooses the negative of perhaps his most iconic photo and develops and prints it in his private darkroom. It’s a lost art and represents the true craft of photography and a real photographic icon.
Group Y will be celebrating 10 years in action sports and youth culture with a special gathering Wednesday, August 10, 2016 in Huntington Beach, California. The event kicks off at 6:30 PM at SeaLegs At the Beach with food, drinks and a speaking appearance by Ryan Kingman, President of the newly launched Villager Goods coconut water.
“It’s incredible to see how Group Y has grown over the past decade with the support of the sports and entertainment industry, world renowned athletes and creatives, our dedicated marketing partners and the media.” says Mark Sperling, Group Y co-founder. “When we started back in 2006 there was a huge need to create a forum that would allow this community to come together to share ideas and experience that would grow the industry and address the uniqueness of youth culture programs and products. This night will be about sharing stories, creating new ideas and saying thank you.”
We know it seems like the Vans US Open of Surfing just ended yesterday, but it’s time to get back out in the mix. You’ve had enough time to recover, but then who are we to talk. For the official word from Group Y including all the details, please follow the jump.
