Just take the whole thing as a cautionary tale. Right? Viva la Bam indeed.
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Skateboarding
World Industries, the skate brand the keeps on keeping on, is diving in on a new apparel partnership deal with action mall monster Zumiez.
“World Industries shaped skate culture, graphics, and style in a way few brands ever have,” said John Dickinson, CEO SeaJack llc., owner of World Industries. “Partnering with Zumiez allows us to share that legacy with today’s skaters while building the next chapter of our story. It’s an exciting moment for everyone who remembers Flame Boy and Wet Willy, has ever pushed a board, or simply loves authentic skate culture.”
Love us some Wet Willy and Flame Boy. Thanks, Marc! For the official word from Zumiez, please follow the jump.
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We’d like to apologize. Kevin Wilkins didn’t like this photo from Huntington Beach summer of 2009. He said his Smith wasn’t locked in. But blame us for the bad photo because more often than not, Kevin was locked in. He was locked in to whatever he was doing. And it was a lot.
From the ‘zine days in Lincoln, Nebraska, to moving to SoCal the first time circa 1987 as editor of Wizard Publications’ short-lived Homeboy Magazine with the Master Cluster of Andy Jenkins, Mark Lewman, and Spike Jonze, to the TransWorld Skateboarding Magazine days, and being an original member of The Skateboard Mag team with Grant Brittain, Dave Swift, and Mike Mihaly, Kevin was in it for real.
Sadly, Kevin’s five-year dance with prostate cancer ramped up at the end of October. He moved home on hospice and died on November 4, 2025. He was 58.
Grant Britain summed up all our feelings on Instagram when he said:
“We will miss you Kevin Wilkins, thank you for your friendship, your humor, your dedication, your laughter, your creative spark, and your incredible spirit. You will always be in my memories, I love you, thank you for the 40 years of being friends. ♥️ to the Wilkins family.”
Our thoughts go out to Kevin’s wife Cheryl and the entire Wilkins Clan. If you’d like to help the family, please click here for their GoFundMe.
Kevin Wilkins and Brad Staba.
Kevin Wilkins with Zumiez’s Karyn Lewandowski.
Paul Schmitt and The Skateboard Mag’s Kevin Wilkins backstage at Grant Brittian’s Look Show at Subtext.
Kevin from Mark Lewman’s Homeboy story “A Dork In The Yard.”
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People with skateboards vs. a lowly self-driving taxi. Guess this is where we’re headed.
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Grit to Grind, a new book from Chronicle Prism charts the history of the Montana Skatepark Association and their work building skateboard parks across Montana.
Long before skateboard culture entered mainstream consciousness, for a group of teens growing up in Montana, skateboarding represented the ultimate expression of freedom and creativity. With no dedicated skatepark nearby, skaters sought opportunities several hours or hundreds of miles away—until a core group of childhood friends decided to band together and change the status quo.
The book even includes a foreword by Pearl Jam’s Jeff Ament. For the rest of the story, follow the jump. Or just click here to buy a copy for yerself.
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The whole docco about Sacramento, California’s own skate crew the N-Men is live on Youtube. If you know, you know. We always wanted it to be titled N-Men: Now The Truth Can Be Told. But we weren’t asked. Just watch it.
[Link via AHTBM]
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Long before co-founding Concrete Wave Magazine, before Longboarding for Peace, prior to writing the book Concrete Wave: The History of Skateboarding, and decades before creating The Inside Atlas, Micheal Brooke was a Canadian kid who was obsessed with skateboarding. So obsessed that it shaped his entire life.
Over the past summer, Brooke, now 61, decided to pull all his skateboarding thoughts together into one “book” a.k.a. manifesto. It’s on online book hosted by Vandem Longboard Shop in the UK and it’s titled: 50 Years of Skateboarding.
If you’re feeling nostalgic for Skateboarder Magazine, the dawn of urethane wheels, G&S Fibreflex boards, Warren Bolster, Steve Rocco, and the rest and have a few minutes to spend with a heartfelt, rambling, personal love letter to skateboarding from a true fan, then by all means, click the link.
[Link: 50 Years of Skateboarding]
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So, Tony Hawk’s 900 garage sale auction hosted at Julien’s Actions closed on September 23, 2025, and wow, did it bring in a ton of cash. The unofficial total (we added it up with Gemini’s help) was $1,759,290.00 for 99 items. Tony says “a portion” of the proceeds from this sale will go to The Skatepark Project so win-win all around.
Some highlights from the sale:
The 900 Board: $1,152,000
The 900 Helmet: $115,200
The 900 Adio Shoes (worn out): $64,000
The Sweaty 900 Kneepads: $57,600
Del Mar Skatepark Staff Shirt (our favorite item): $896
Signed Frosted Flakes Cereal Box: $512
Nixon Skateboard Watch: $5,120
Tony’s Richmond Skate Ranch ID Card: $2,880
So, the big question: who paid $1.15 million for a skateboard? Any guesses?
It also has come to our attention that when it comes to selling off old junk celebrity pays!. Mr. Hawk is a little ahead of us on our lifetime action sporting eBay sales, but we still have time. We have yet to tap into our complete Big Brother Magazine collection, nor our original set of Skateboarder Magazine from Volume 2 through Action Now. Maybe we should check with Julien first. . .
[Link: Julien’s Auctions]
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Neftalie Williams, the director of the Center for Skateboarding, Actions Sports, and Social Change, will moderate the discussions with Steve Van Doren & skateboarder Bryce Wettstein as part of a four-day celebration of action sports and culture at San Diego State University October 9-12, 2025.
“We are thrilled to welcome Steve Van Doren and explore the incredible legacy of Vans across skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding, music, and virtually every facet of youth culture,” said Williams. “His insights will help students understand how to build and sustain a culturally relevant business across generations. As the perfect complement Bryce Wettstein will share her journey as an Olympian, professional skateboarder, and college student — offering a powerful perspective that will inspire students and highlight the intersection of skateboarding, business, media, and culture.”
For all the info (and there is way, way, more) please click the link.
[Link: SDSU News]
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Former pro skater and longtime entrepreneur Erik Ellington is settling in to brew some non-alcoholic beer. It’s called, Easy Does It Brew, according to a profile on MyBurbank.com.
Eleven years sober, he created the non-alcoholic brew company with a clear mission: to encourage people to moderate their drinking while maintaining their social connections. The inspiration struck in 2022 when Ellington tried a non-alcoholic beer while quarantined with friends who had COVID. “Something happened where I felt like I was part of the party. I was participating in it when it wasn’t anything having to do with the alcohol. It all had to do with socialization.”
Sober skaters deserve your support. Click the link for the rest of the story.
[Link: MyBurbank.com]
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