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 ...

Unwrapping the beast

Early 90's Skateboarding in Durban, South Africa

Now THIS is the way I remember it! Hell, these guys are the "best of the best" of their time and they wipe out as much as I do. See tricks like the no comply on the very cusp of invention in this beautiful timewarp, sent by xDoomx from STRAGE

My First Powell Peralta (Teaser)

Click for a slightly larger preview image.

And here it is folks, a 2011 Powell Peralta Old School Ripper. A real beauty and at 10"/24.5cm's wide, theres more to love than your common-or-garden-variety popsicle.

The concave, graphic detail and gold screened top logo are a sight to behold in person but you'll have to wait a couple of days longer for the next ramble, featuring meticulous closeups of every angle and detail, test fitting of tail/rail/nosebones and, exclusive to Board Brain®, candid video footage of yours truly going ape-sh*t upon unboxing it!

Who knows, maybe even some actual skating ;-)

Happy Friday you three!

Fat Friday 5 - The Chosen One

Powell Peralta Old School Ripper 2011
31.75" x 10"
K-15 Mega Concave

Board Brain finale announced for 2011

Truth is, I started out as a hell of a noob with only vague memories of boards, tricks and so on from the hazy late 80's before I discovered girls and exams and before we could get our hands on classic shaped decks, wheels and hardware again. The only goals were to have the balls to drop in again (with video evidence) and an even more vague goal of owning my first Powell Peralta deck.


It's been exciting documenting my rediscovery of the small details that made skating what it was before the popsicle revolution but viewer ratings have declined following the sporadic updates about new rails, old decks found again so it's time for Board Brain to reach it's finale.


There is a good solid backlog of really cool things acquired in the past half a year or so which will be dealt with over the course of the next couple of weeks. Following that, you can all watch me lose my mind when the chosen one arrives (The long-awaited Powell Peralta) and we'll end off with some videos of actual bona-fide skateboarding!


No expense will be spared in terms of image retouching or the amount of lumo colours per pic, so get padded up and ready for the ride!


Peace, BB

Board Brain, the toy.

Back from the dead! Sheesh it's been ages since I've been on here but fear not, the old skool obsession continues.


I was invited to customise a MAD*L for Toitoy in Cape Town and when the 10" blank arrived, ol' one-track-mind over here saw the monkey ears as a skateboard going through the little guy's head!


I wanted to post up the work in progress but time is tight so herewith, the finished piece:

A 10" MAD*L named Board Brain, customised using Montana spray paint, acyrlics and  custom-designed decals.

"Skateboarding is not a crime" sticker on a Mike Vallely Bolt deck.

Mike V to the last detail, plus a small punt for the band (you can see the original sticker in an earlier post)

My weekend whip gets a new bumper

As amped as I've been to pop a tailbone on each of my setups, I cling onto them like I do with stickers, the philosophy being that there may not in fact be an object on earth worthy of sticking a rad one onto. It started when I sold a spare guitar with a really cool No Use For A Name sticker on ... I missed the sticker more than the actual guitar.
Anyway, KFD have got some awesome stuff on the go at the moment so I wanted to get a shot of their board set up my way - old skool - to show them. The tail is already a bit thrashed but never too late for a pink plastic facelift!

Out with the drill and through the tail we go.

Even though the groms think KFD made a really wide "filming board", it's still approximately 1" slimmer than the smallest size Tailbone of the late 80's!

Enter the electric planer to shave it down to size.

E Voila! KFD returns to the present day in a time machine.

And now, the final product! Yup, it's a "hero shot" with some Photoshop augmentation but this ride deserves it dammit! KFD Pool Deck, Powell Thin Ribs, Powell Peralta Tailbone, Independent 169's, Killer bearings, 65mm Gooeys. Feast away, lurkers ...

Peace, BB

Deon's Custom Skate Art Deck

My good friend Deon and I met through collecting Star Wars toys and for many years he put his drawing skills on the back burner but now he's back as Jumpsuit Art, kicking huge butt and taking names!


I threw a gig/party/live art thing at a local club for my birthday and asked 6 people to customise some old skool inspired (flat and unrideable) decks I made from leftover 6mm plywood. I was particularly enamoured with Deon's one, especially since he took into account where the trucks would go and he used the space well. When I saw the drawing taking shape, I offered to top any bid. Little did I know the crafty gent had been planning to give it to me all along! Feast your eyes below.

The full deck showing the start of a gentlemen's duel. This is my kind of fish! It would make a hardy rider, with space left for a jawbone and tailbone. Click for a larger view (recommended).

I really dig how the photocopy-proof blue pencil sketching is still visible up close. As an illustrator myself I have to marvel at the perfect balance and poise of these dandy dudes.

Oops! Offence has been taken and sword-cane's are drawn. You can see in this closeup how crappy the plywood is - it must have been a nightmare to draw on using markers.

I'm stoked to have such rad stuff to draw attention to my crappy little blog. I'm sure anyone who's made it this far has been pleasantly surprised to find two posts with absolutely no whinging about scratching the Slasher or how wonderful Speed Demon Gooeys are! Stick with me, there's more to come. Cheers, BB.

Sam's Custom Skate Art Deck

How lucky am I to have such rad friends?

For my recent birthday I received not one, but two customised decks as a gift, amongst many other rad but non-skate related stuff. The first is a KFD deck sanded down to natural wood then painstakingly handpainted in gouache by my good friend Sam Breakspear aka Soopashy (she of the custom Slasher Munny last birthday). The subject of the artwork is kind of an inside joke but at least you can appreciate the ridiculously tight lettering and insane layout.

The full deck. Click for larger view (all pics).

The tightness of this hand lettered logo and the "Ozzie's Café" signage is font-like in it's crispness.

This little guy is so cool, and he's so stoked on his Santa Cruz! Look at the detail and authenticity of the logo and hardware - even the distress on the board and helmet. Insane.

No detail left out - even the typical sneakers–on–a–wire have become Vans Half Cabs!

Just one of two bits of stoking artwork to be uploaded today. Check out more of Sam's work here. I'll sign off on the next post.