Cheeky comments about Gary Lee, Ged Wells and Selina Scott? Vernon was on form this month.
HEFTIER HOGS SLIMMER LEE
Pacer’s range continues to evolve. They’ve brought out a new version of their Hogs shoes. These have a beefier sole, which will please everyone who liked the originals for their ‘instant worn in’ feel but were less chuffed with the ‘pretty soon worn out’ pay-off. These new ones are holding up much better. They also have an extra rubber patch, like Ollie reinforcement on the inside of your foot, which prevents the sole pulling away. Colours are the same as last time: red, black, blue or green at around £25 a pair.
Gary Lee’s new board is much improved, too. The long tail’s much steeper, which will solve one common complaint, and fact the shape’s much less gimmicky. The concave’s completely new too with a spoon shaped nose — though that’s the site of the one unusual feature: the tip of the nose itself is almost convex. The new nose is slimmer/ more pointed as well, so this board is a little bit lighter than the old one. The Gary Lee deck sells for around £33, making it one of the most painless ways of replacing a thrashed econo plank.
WHAT IS TIMZ? DO YOU KNOW?
Timz are a new company from Las Vegas whose claim to fame is the recent signing of Bill Tocco. Hotshot sent us this Youngblood model, a mini with a mission. It’s coffin shaped with more of a front sides turn up than a concave. They sell for something around £43.
AIR TOOL
Air Tool’s another new name. This deck company has been set up by an EX employee of Rocco’s, we’re told. That sounds believable when you look at the decks. ‘Diss Me Not’ says the graphic on this Hunchback model and proclaims itself as street/ ramp/ all purpose sort of thing. Very like the Rocco shape. But nothing to do with Rocco at all. Nuff said.
DOG TOWN K9 WHEELS
A new wheel with a revived name and a surface texture similar to the Vision grip tape cleaner. But they’re not as good to sniff. Looks like they’ve been sanded after being lathed or something. Centre set bearings, reversible. Doggy graphics that look more like bears. Hotshot sent us these and expect them to sell for around £24 a set.
POWELL LONG SLEEVES
Designer chic from the house of Powell Peralta. These are actually rather good. They’ve got the trendy mock turtle neck, which gives them the edge over conventional long sleeve T’s. They feature tres discrete logos on the body and even niftier ones tucked away on the sleeve. A mere £25. Here’s a Hawk, but they’re all pretty hot. Liked the Lance a lot.
GED WELLS KNEW MY FATHER
Is Ged Wells Britain’s answer to Shaun Stussy? Is Insane set to take on the great fashion houses of the world? Will we all claim to have known Ged Wells before he was Selina Scott? All this and more may be the case.
With backing from Slam City/ Rough Trade and a new range, Insane is going from strength to strength. The Mock Turtle neck long sleeve Ts (£23) and sweats (£30) are at the top of the range with ordinary hooded sweats (£27) and regular T’s (£12) making up the rest. Trousers are on the way.
The insanity is in the form of cat’n’mouse, dog eat dog, hand, mouth, foot, tortoise and assorted fish graphics. Natty elephant prints are to come, along with yet more acclaim from glossy fashion mags no doubt. Kosher stuff. But will it rhyme, we ask ourselves?
Available now from Slam City and other familiar skate outlets, and no doubt soon from Harrods, Joseph Pour La Maison etc…
LOTS MORE DECKS
Talk about running out of space… we got a ton of new decks sent in for this issue. Some scheme to affect your Christmas lists no doubt. The manufacturers and distributors of this lot are going to whinge about being lumped all together. To cheer up at least one set, we’ll make the point that this group includes our favourite new decks of the month, so read on.
Jinx’s bats are more subtle today, so he obviously doesn’t believe the hype. A nice deck if you like getting your nose in. The Vision V6 concave has a big old straight nose which seems to mellow the concave near the front. Concave runs to the tail, but not beyond.
The Sims Buck Smith seems more of an all round board without any major distinguishing features like the Jinx nose. Garish sun and moon graphics are a matter of taste…
The Lucero Grosso is a nifty number. Nice lines provided you like the blunt nose. The tail might be too short for some. Nice inventive devil graphics to take the piss out of the moral majority. Miller’s mini from Schmitt is pretty damn good as well, and was given the thumbs up by all the assorted drifters who fill the office. So the Miller and the Grosso get our vote for this month.