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...

Jay Adams Book Kickstarter

Dave Hackett has almost reached his goal in getting this book made, to help fund it, visit his Kickstarter Page:
Jay Adams Book Kickstarter Page

SUP Saturday: Jim Muir

Saturday morning over on the north side of the Venice Breakwater, Jim Muir was back on his paddle board after being out for about two months with a foot injury.

Related blog posts:
Allen Sarlo Surfing In The Storm
Jay Adams Surfing Trestles

Allen Sarlo Surfing In The Storm.

The rain on Wednesday didn't stop some surfers from getting out there to catch some of the 6'-7' plus waves that the forecast was calling for. Legendary Z-Boy Allen Sarlo was out among a handful of others surfing the Venice Beach Breakwater as the rain came pouring down.

Need a cool Christmas gift, how about a print of one of these, or any other surf or skate photos. From 4x6" to big 24x36" and larger, you can even choose the photo to be printed on canvas or metal. There's also coffee mugs, magnets, and other items the photos can be printed on. Check the link below for more photos :

Video: Tim Jackson Remembers Jay Adams

For photos from Jay's Memorial Paddle Out:

Allen Sarlo talks about Jay Adams last days

"Jay didn't pass, because he lives so much in our present, in our heart and in our soul. Jay had this magic ability to make all of us all feel so good, just around his precense, to watch him surf is amazing. Jay's candle was burning on both ends, and did it ever burn bright" says Jay's longtime friend, legendary surfer Allen Sarlo.

Sarlo was with Jay when he passed away, Jay had invited Sarlo to join him down in Puerto Escondido, Mexico where Jay had been on a surfing vacation.

"He was Facebooking me and telling me to come down, and I was reading his Facebook and was like dude Jay just Facebooked me and told me to come down, and Solo (Scott) was in the next office 'yeah man, you should see these pictures', he was like we gotta go down there and I'm like okay, but Tahiti is fucking going off, but he goes 'No, no, no, we're going to Puerto.' I go alright, we're going to Puerto. I felt it, man, right there I just felt it. The look in Solo's eyes, I was just whoa dude, we're going to Puerto."

Sarlo reads the last message Jay sent him on Facebook: "Still in Mexico scoring waves everyday, for the last 2 months, Puerto's been like Pipeline and Backdoor. Allen, we need to get together we get back to celebrate that we're still here. Get the guys together and celebrate that we're still here. So when I get back, let's set it up. Hey Allen if you have the time, come on down, just a few days. we'll stay in a really nice hotel, we have the wives swim in the pool and you and I will go surfing."

"It's like okay, I'm thinking, I'm down." says Sarlo. "Anyways, his last words were in this Facebook message was 'I love you brother', and I was just like ah man, it just brought back so many memories, I lived like 200 yards away from him on Venice Blvd and we grew up surfing right there, straight down Venice Blvd. I go dude, who surfs Venice Blvd, it's a piece of crap shore break. He goes 'no, we're going to surf it', so we get down there and he's 8, 9 years old and I'm like whoa dude, I've never seen anybody surf here and he made it look so fun and so good. it was just amazing."

"Anyways, last days, we get down there, Solo and I walk in and Jay is right there: 'I got your room right next to us, we're going to wake up at 6 in the morning and go surf the secret spot.' I go 'Dude, just bring coffee man, I need coffee'. He goes 'okay'. So (next morning) he comes in and hands us like 4 cups of coffee with sugar and cream, and my son goes 'who fucking brings us coffee in the morning?' I go that's Jay Adams, dude. It was so good that Jay was there."

"And we surfed and the swell was big. We're all under gun, except for Jay. He's got the boards. He was showing me these pictures and he got a triple barrel. Dude, a triple barrel. It was triply good. I'm looking at it going no shit, there's one tube, then a section then I go fuck, it's a triple barrel. It was the longest, the whole beach was talking about it, it was amazing."

"We surfed, we ate dinner at the night, we played pool, we just laughed, and the final day he was saying 'I don't feel so good' and I'm like oh shit. He's going 'but Al the point's going off, we're going to the point, we're going to the point!' I go 'dude, it's like 110* man , I dunno if I'm going to surf.' I went down and just hung and watch Jay and Solo surf. Jay got 2 perfect waves. He got a 6ft pefect wave, outside the point all the way othe beach. I was going 'Whoa dude that wave was insane'. And then I seen him paddle back out. What the heck, dude, he's going back out for another. And another magic, magic wave, from all the way outside the point he rode it all the way to the beach, stepped off on the sand, then I turn around, I was in the palapa drinking a little mai tai, checking things out, then I see the Toyota just cruise, and I go there goes Jay back to the hotel."

"And then at night (back at the hotel), I saw the lights were out and I go, 'Jay went to bed pretty early you know.' Solo said 'Yeah, he's not feeling good.' We all just ate, went to bed" recalls Sarlo. Along with Sarlo and Solo, Sarlo's son Colton was with them as well as their friend Paul Fisher who is a registered nurse.

"We were all just going to sleep, and all of a sudden Solo is waking me up, going 'Dude it's an emergency, Jay's not breathing!' Oh man, you kidding me, so I woke up, walked in the room and Tracy (Jay's wife was there)...we're all working on him. Solo's working on him, my son, Calton, and this nurse, registered nurse that just came on the surf trip was so amazing...we just wouldn't give up on him. Then you know, I just got up, I let Solo work on him and my son. I just got up, took 2 steps back and I just took it all in and I saw Jay's spirit just in the room and I just saw this big smile on his face and just know that he just went so peacefully."

Sarlo also remembers something Jay's wife said, "Tracy made a funny statement, Tracy went 'Yeah, we messed around right before'. Yeah Jay! So he went out man, he went out on top of the world. And with the Lord in him."

For photos from Jay's Memorial Paddle Out:

Tony Alva: Dogtown Pride Story

R.I.P. Jay Adams

The Original Seed, the most influential figure in skateboarding, Jay Adams has passed away. If you're reading this blog, you pretty much know who Jay is. Only 53 years old, Jay was down in Mexico with his wife and kids, surfing everyday, when he suffered a heart attack last night.

“In contests, Jay was simply the most exciting skater to watch. He never skated the same run the same way twice. His routines were wickedly random yet exceedingly tight and beautiful to watch: he even invented tricks during his runs. I’ve never seen any skater destroy convention and expectation better. Watching him skate was something new every second– he was “skate and destroy” personified.” –Stacy Peralta




“I was a P.O.P. local from birth. The ORIGINAL MASCOT. My dad rented surfboards under the Northside of the pier. All the guards at the park used to let me in for free. FUCK Disneyland, I had P.O.P., surf and all. I surfed the cove with Mickey Dora before leashes were invented.” –Jay Adams
“He (Jay Adams) didn’t give a shit about money, and I don’t think that’s why he did it to begin with. He never was interested in any of the material rewards that came from skateboarding. I think that he just basically had a total Fuck You approach to the whole commercialism of skateboarding.” –Tony Alva .

Shogo Kubo Memorial Paddle Out

At noon on Saturday, July 19, family, friends, and fans gathered at the Venice Beach Pier for a paddle out in memory of legendary skateboarder, original Z-Boy Shogo Kubu who passed away last month.