Vintage Skate Magazines, Catalogs, Newsletters & More...

Part 1 of a in depth look at a collection of various skateboarding memorabilia from the late 1980s and early 1990s. Every week (or so), we will pick a couple items to go over and give them high-resolution scans.


The late 80's and early 90's, back before EVERYTHING was on the internet, skaters had to rely on magazines to see what was going on in the skate universe. While there were skate videos, every few months or so one of the big companies would release their team video, on VHS tape, it was the magazines that kept you up to date. Luckily, there was no shortage of magazines. There was the two main ones, Transworld and Thrasher. Then you had Poweredge, WARP, Big Brother, and a couple others, as well as a variety of free zines. These skate zines ranged from regional scene zines, to the skate company produced zines, to the home-made photo-copied DIY zines.

Here we have a magazine from Europe called R.A.D. This was the UK's main skate magazine, the initials stood for Read And Destroy. Next to it is a couple issues of Poweredge Skateboard Magazine, which was created by Makaha Skateboard's founder Larry Stevenson.

Strange Notes was a free 'zine by Santa Cruz Skateboards that showcased their products and team. Strange Notes was also a video magazine, the first skate video magazine. It launched in 1987 and they are still making videos today releasing them on the Strange Notes Youtube Channel

That is the first issue of LowLIFE Magazine. It was Powell's answer to World Industries infamous Big Brother Magazine. It came out in 1993, right after Stacy Peralta had left the company and it re-branded itself from Powell-Peralta to the Powell Corporation. Unlike Big Brother, this mag was free. Also in the photo above is the first issue of Kor Magazine. Based out of San Diego, Kor was a free skate/surf/snowboard/music mag.
There's Jay Adams on the January 1989 issue of Thrasher Magazine. Next to the magazine are a pair of Thrasher Calenders.

Another thing skaters would look forward to was the mail order catalogs, just like the kids used to do with those Sears' Christmas Toy Catalogs, you'd get these catalogs and drool over all the stuff you wanted. In the photo above is one of the California Cheap Skates mail order catalogs. That's Tony Magnusson on the cover. Also in the photo above are some random flyers and letters, including a sponsorship letter from G&S, several H-Street newsletters, a Powell-Peralta Intelligence Report, and other various letters from Skull Skates, Swatch, and Acme. Also a couple contest flyers, one is for joining a shop team for a Los Angeles, CA shop that was called Rail Slide. We'll be scanning all these items (plus a ton more) and putting them in upcoming posts.

To be continued...