Cerebral Ballzy

This 7" EP was put out by the Volcom Ent. Vinyl Club, who have been doing a record club since 2008. I signed up for it the first year because they had announced 2 bands that I was interested in (and it was not too expensive). I stayed in for a couple more years as they announced more bands I liked. Cerebral Ballzy was not one of those bands. I had not heard of them until I pulled this record out of the mailer. Needless to say this was my favorite cover of the series. I went to grab a track from this EP off of youtube but I found this video instead, which features lots of skating and '80s pros.

Acrobatic Run

Pocket Power was a line a toys from Tyco/Sega. I vaguely remember the commercials but did not remember the skater. This guy is from 1990. He fits in a pocket sized cartridge which holds the figure, his board and a ripcord. The ripcord fits into the center of the board which is basically a top. There is a small metal cylinder which protrudes from the bottom center of the deck and touches the ground. This cylinder spins with the top and moves him around. The figure can be placed on one of three pegs, which fit into his right foot or his upraised left hand. He also bends at the waist and both legs bend independently of each other. Varying his position will change his center of gravity and make him take different paths.

The Action Is Go

There's something about driving in summer that makes me want to listen to Fu Manchu. In 1997 they followed up 2 great albums (1995's Daredevil and 1996's In Search Of...) with their 4th album, The Action Is Go. The cover features a classic Glen E. Friedman photo of Tony Alva pulling a frontside air with headphones bandana'd on in the Dogbowl back in 1977. The back cover has a trippy photo of a '70s era OJ wheel. I first heard this album on CD about 10 years ago. It was my first introduction to stoner rock and I quickly explored Fu Manchu's back catalog as well as checking out the genre in general. About 5 years ago I found a copy of the 2LP at a punk rock flea market in DC for $5. I didn't realize when I picked it up that it was a pretty expensive record though it has since been reissued with a gatefold sleeve.

Stikfas

Stikfas are a line of figures from Hasbro designed to be articulable and interchangeable. There are many different figures with various accessories. You have to punch of pieces out yourself and assemble the figure and accessories. This figure is the Delta Boy Extreme from 2003. In addition to a skateboard he also comes with rollerblades, a scooter, skies and a snowboard. A clear stand is also included so you can pose him in various positions. Several other accessories are included such as pads, a helmet, ski goggles, some rockets (?) and stickers for the vehicles and his person (facial expressions and t-shirt designs). The figure is pretty posable although it is not possible to get him into most grab positions.

Goofy II

Goofy returns in bendable figure form. He is from a 1977 set that also included Donald Duck (featured here recently) and Mickey Mouse. Unlike Donald, Goofy has changed his outfit to skate, giving up his usual jeans, turtleneck, vest and boots look for a polo shirt, shorts and sneakers (although he retained his hat). Although his feet are not as large as Donald's, he is still not too difficult to balance in boneless action.

The Imposters

It's hard to go wrong with a cover like this. The Imposters' Pool Maintenance 7" EP was released in 2008 on Secret Records. They deliver a handful of early '80s sounding punk tracks and also cover the instrumental surf track "The Wedge" by Dick Dale.

Mr. Nibbles

Mr. Nibbles is the Del Taco mascot and also happens to be a pretty rad chinchilla. This figure is from 2007 and is from a set that also included Neena, another Del Taco mascot. His deck is the same size as the Sonic X-Tremes.

Lee Cooper Poly Denim

You don't often see anthropomorphic critters with more than 2 feet skating, but Lee Cooper comes in with a 14 legged caterpillar (or maybe centipede?) pushing pretty hard. Judging by the artwork and board shape I'd say this is probably from the mid to late '70s.

Izzy the Whatzit

Izzy the Whatzit was the Olympic mascot for the 1996 summer games in Atlanta. Looking back on the history of Olympic mascots there is really no contest for the worst. Still, you got to give him some credit as the only mascot that skates (at least as far as I can ascertain). While skateboarding has never appeared in the Olympics it did have a small spot in the closing ceremonies in Atlanta (alongside a barrage of BMXers and rollerbladers).

Skate Korpse

This 7" EP is definitely an example of not judging a record by its cover. I was expecting some second-rate 2000-era punk but what it delivered was some top shelf surf punk. To top it off they have song titles like "Bomb the Hills" and "Drain Your Pool." This is definitely a time where buying every cheap 7" with a skateboard on the cover payed off. This is their debut EP which came out in 2004 on Punks Before Profits. These guys also have a 12" out that collects all their 7" and comp tracks. I picked this up at Vinyl Conflict in Richmond, which is definitely worth checking out if you are into the area and looking for punk records.

Edit: Just scored a copy of the above mentioned 12" hours after posting this at Celebrated Summer Records.

Skateboard Gang

  Ollie McTwist

 E.Z. Duzzit

 Roxanne Roller

 L. Soar

 Wipeout

 Jimmy B. Chin

"Total" Lee Cool

The Skateboard Gang was a line of toys put out in 1986 by Mattel that consisted of 7 figures (6 different molds and 1 color variation). The figures all have rev-up action. There was also a ramp that went along with these guys that was basically a bank ramp with a curved top and a large lip that would turn the figures around. That seems to be where the color variant for Ollie McTwist came from (E.Z. Duzzit came with the ramp). These guys all have unique grip jobs and bottom graphics (except for Ollie and E.Z. who share a Gator style grip job). There are also three different board shapes - a rounded nose, a squared off nose, and a hammerhead.

Mosh Circle, Jerk Punks

Mosh Circle, Jerk Punks is a compilation LP of 4 Japanese thrash bands: BBQ Chickens, Idol Punch, Razors Edge and Tomorrow. Razors Edge's debut EP was previously featured on BPA. This is a joint release by the Japanese label Thrash on Life Records and 625 Thrashcore out of the US. The cover is drawn by the singer of Razors Edge (who also draws most of the Razors Edge artwork).

Sonic Skaters

The Sonic crew is back on boards. This incarnation is from 2003 and is a bit smaller than the later Sonic X-Tremes and the Bendables X-Tremes. This sets features the standard line-up of Pete, Cherrie, Molly (with Tot) and Junior.