Skate Reanimate

Natas was always one of my favorite skaters back in the 80s. I was reminded of how innovative and influential he actually was when I watched the old Wheels of Fire and Streets on Fire vids from Santa Cruz. Here’s a clip from Streets:

I stumbled across an eBay auction for a vintage Variflex “Joker” complete skateboard and had to post up the image here:

This happens to be the first skateboard that I owned. I had had my eye on this particular model for a long time, and it probably took two months or more of saving before I could call it my own. I still remember the sheer consumer joy I felt returning from the store with my mother, board in hand. I remember examining the copers, rail guards, thick wheels, and, best of all, the hardcore skull graphics.

I rode this board from 6th – 7th grade, when I “upgraded” to a Santa Cruz Rob Roskopp “Face” deck:

Turned out it was actually a knock-off (as the other skaters in town were too quick to point out) with no concave–a serious setback, both physically and morally, for a young skater. Eventually I saved up enough for a real pro deck, a Santa Cruz Jason Jesse “Sungod” Small with matching orange grip and red Gullwing Super Pro III trucks and (I believe) black Powell G-Bones wheels.

This was skateboard fulfillment, and maybe it was because by then I had been skating for a couple of years on flat, bulky boards, or maybe it was because I finally had a board that I loved, but I do remember my skating improving significantly after this–just in time for my brother to build that classic half pipe in the backyard. More on that some other time…

Fine retro skills! This was probably about the time they started hating on Mullen and calling him “The Robot”.