When the school bus dropped us off for another shitty day in the 3rd grade, that’s when I saw it. Another student was carrying it under his jacket. I don’t know what it was, but I needed to see it!
So the bell rings, and we file into our classroom. My eyes locked on the object like a sniper, ready to pull the trigger, watching his every move as he returned to the coat rack perpendicular to the classroom and placed this four-wheeled thing on the ground.
The teacher enters the classroom, and the class begins. I can’t focus on anything other than what the hell that thing is, and I’m within feet of it! After what seemed like an eternal lifetime, the recess bell rings, and off we go outside.
Following closely behind, but not trying to act like a damn fool, he places the mysterious object on the playground asphalt, stands on it, and starts rolling down the small sloping parking lot!
That’s all it took.
I had to try it. I eat complete shit and go to the nurse’s office for bandaids!
I couldn’t wait to get another chance at riding this new thing to be called a skateboard, But that came to a screeching halt after several other students hurt themselves, and the skateboard was not allowed back out on the playground!
So now what, no more Joe Cool Snoopy skateboard good times for me? Wrong! My best friend at the time, Tim, was having a birthday. His Dad was taking him to Toy R Us to pick something out. We got there and saw a Joe Cool sitting on the shelf. I said you should get this.
The one that grabbed his attention was A Grentec Coyote III, blue plastic with yellow wheels. He knew he had to have it. He had that same damn sparkle in his eye when I saw the Joe Cool Snoopy board.
Fast forward, Tim ends up giving me the Coyote and gets himself a Nash(Heat Zone), later giving me the Nash as well, and doesn’t seem to have any more interest in skateboarding! Now it’s just me and skateboarding, My brother soon picks up the Coyote, and we start skating together! We eventually get another department store brand called Malone and continue skateboarding, not knowing that a whole world of this shit is happening!
We both were into BMX and freestyle bikes then and finally came across a magazine at the local grocery store called BMX Plus. Now in the back of these magazines, they had tiny little ads for skateboards, black and white images you could barely make out. This is where it finally clicked that there was more to this skateboard thing!
Thrasher Skateboard Magazine
Summer of 1988, I came across a skateboard Magazine called Thrasher at the local grocery store.
My jaw drops. I could have been standing in a warzone and wouldn’t have noticed! On each page, I flipped, more and more stimulated, shaking. I was blown away that there were others, like my Brother and Myself, but these boards were different, the tricks, the clothes, Jesus Christ, what did I find?
I had to convince my Mom to buy this, but how?
It must have been the gleam in my eye when I asked because she didn’t hesitate. She just said ok!
After being in a coma after reading every article, carefully studying every trick, and looking at every damn detail of the graphics in the ads, I would pretend that I was also in the magazine. I would stare at the board ads in the mag and wish I could have them all, all the wheels, trucks, plastics, everything!
It’s now the fall of 88. Back to school shopping! I’m heading into the 6th grade, and while shopping at the local mall, I come across a hobby shop called Allied Hobbies!
The front of the store is littered with the images I’ve seen in the magazine, Jeff Grosso, Salba, Mark Gonzales, Slimeball wheels, Tracker trucks, etc.
I must be dead. This can’t be real!
Will my parents buy me one of these pro skateboards, this close to school shopping?
I highly fucking doubt it…
When I hear my Moms voice like an Angel overtop the shitty mall music, those are pretty cool! Yea, they are, and like a dumbass knowing damn well not even to ask such a stupid question, it just comes out…Could I get one?
Plies Of Maple Veneer
After what seemed like the mall closed and went out of business, she said let’s see after we get some clothes! It was like the whole world had stopped. Clothes? I don’t need clothes, do I?
So after shopping for clothes, I am patiently waiting to find out if I can get one of these sacred seven plies of maple veneer with ink splattered all over, making up some of the most iconic images I’ve ever seen!
We come across a surf-style shop called Tylers. This place never made sense to me since we lived in landlocked Pennsylvania. But anyway, my Mom asked if we wanted to check this place out. (So this whole time, I’ve been thinking, which one of the boards back at that hobby shop will I pick if I’m allowed?)
Sure, She says, so we head in…that’s when I see it, Natural stain, Fluorescent colors, a shape that stood out from the rest. I was drawn immediately to it. I picked it up!
This is the first pro board I ever held, starring at the graphic, just like Thrasher magazine. This was it. This was the one! An H-Street Art Godoy Samurai! Is that the one you want? My Mom asked. I was already at the checkout counter!
My story is just like the rest of our stories. Of course, not exactly, but we as collectors all started with that one shitty board and eventually found the holy grail that lit the fuse and created many friendships growing up. We’ve all lost best friends along the way, made new friends through the collecting sites, and just have had a blast collecting the boards of our Youth!