My First Powell Peralta - Brand new out the box

And here it is. The Powell Peralta Old Skool Ripper I bought over a month ago.

Unbelievably in that time I've barely skated it, apart from at the first run of the now infamous infamous Bombing Florida 2011 event.

I'm stoked I took these SLR pics of it looking all bright and shiny, because it's so friggin' cool to look upon, one can hardly decide on whether to thrash it or place it on an easel in the spot the TV used to be!

By now you guys know the drill, we're going to examine this thing like it's the rosetta stone and we're all aliens who are trying to understand it while marveling at it's sheer stoke capabilities. 

The leering face of the Winged Ripper is silkscreened in a single metallic gold colour. The deck itself is dipped in matte black and has a shiny jet black transfer base on both sides.

One of the main reasons I chose this model over a more familiar reissue is I'm often accused of living in the past. As a 10 x 31" deck, it's an early 80's pig shape but with very modern deep concave. A perfect blend of old and new principles in a very original retro board.

The reverse side is a re-coloured version of the classic Ripper graphics silkscreened directly onto a substrate which is then transferred onto the deck. Skateboards are way more concave now so screening complicated graphics can be expensive and challenging for companies.

In this closeup, the new Halloween colour scheme makes the 1983 graphic really pop. Look at the Escher-like detail in the hatching!

Powell Peralta's K15 concave is very deep with a sharp angled tail and plenty of clearance for monster size wheels.

You can see the shape of the tail is slightly rounded and very steep.
Helps this very heavy tank ollie into the contemporary parks.

The nose is a few cm's shorter than the tail and has a mean little upturned snout that isn't large enough to be used as another tail but clears pools and tight bowl corners with ease.

I own very few things with a stamped serial number, and this is one of them.
The decks also come with a warranty certificate and registration form.

Fast forward to November and the deck now sports Independent 169's, an original black Tailbone and a Nosebone. Behind the back truck there's evidence of the marks only coping can make when used for dropping in ...