My mate Rory and me with our rides.
This is my first proper board.
Like everyone else I had a "Skika" first, which was basically a cheap complete spoon nose like the ones you can still get in Makro and Game. They were always white with a secondary colour like blue or red and everything from the grip, to the wheels would be this secondary colour. They had a huge tail skid which looked something like an apple mouse stuck on upside down. Before that I had what we called a banana board - which was a small plastic Dogtown looking toy skateboard with rollerskate trucks and wheels. Number one cause of broken arms in the 80's!
One Christmas my ballies* gave me this blank (allegedly Powell Peralta) deck and I added the tail skid, rails, nose bone and everything later, bit by bit. I can't really tell how old I am here but I don't remember those trucks and wheels at all. I managed to get one hand-me-down Independent truck and, thanks to a cheque from my dad and a trip to Island Style in Pickering Street, added a Pirate Skate truck on the back and four green slimeballs knockoffs,which were the last things I had on that setup if memory serves. I rode that thing in rain or shine until about age 13 when Chris Cormac's famous backyard halfpipe was finally torn down in favour of a pool which no one ever swims in.
I'm surprised that apart from that skull one, I put such lame stickers on my board! Maybe the really rad Jim Phillips stickers were always sold out, or too expensive?
It was a rad board though, what a pity I got rid of it to get that kak blue Powell in the post below ...
It's a shame there's no photo of the other side of it cause I had this siff transparent grip tape with barbed wire printed on it, and flies!
*Ballies = Parents
