When We Was Rad:
Skateboard History from UK Vintage Magazine

Category: Adverts

  • Gullwing Trucks Advert February 1990

    Gullwing Phoenix: now there’s a name with history. In my case the history dates right back to working for Alpine Sports in 1978 and having to try to shift thousands of the original Phoenix and the earlier split axle Gullwings after the collapse of the first British skateboard craze. A lot of that was done…

  • Split Skates Advert February 1990

    Split Skates was a skateboard phenomenon for a while around this time. Their aim was to have the biggest range in stock and a glance at the wall of their Manchester shop suggested they’d hit the target. Despite the size of the Manchester scene, the city never got enough coverage: Warrington or Goshen always seemed…

  • Billys and Skateboard Gang Video Advert

    This Billys’ advert features their Fab Feb Sale with Blanks at £19.99 and various “surplus” decks at £29.99. Free griptape and Powell rails (or similar) with any deck over £40. “That’s about 13 quidsworth free.” They were also selling skate T-shirts at £9.99 which sounds more like the death throws of HSC in 2005. I’d…

  • Santa Cruz Big Balls Advert

    Santa Cruz adverts ran on the back of R.a.D magazine for most of its life, but this one, featuring Rob Roskopp montaged onto a picture of some surgery, was hidden away on page 10. That would almost certainly have been because of a fuss over another Slimeballs advert for Vomit or Spewage wheels which showed…

  • Death Box Alex Moul Advert

    A brilliant composite ad for Alex Moul, Death Box wunderkid at the time, Pete Dosset’s new deck and DoDo wheels. And a very prominent Vision patch too — shoe sponsors were probably the coming thing then. Does anyone have any idea who took the picture, please? Several photographers who were destined for great things were…

  • Rollersnakes Skateboard Mail Order Advert 1990

    This Rollernsakes advert is a classic if you want to see what prices were like in 1990. Santa Cruz, S.M.A and Magnusson decks all cost £43.99 while Powell and G & S were £47.99. A Death Box board would set you back £40. Stussy T-shirts were £14.99, Stussy TomTom shirts cost £32.99 and their Homeboy…

  • Vision Advert Inside Cover February 1990

    Grant Brittain supplied the photograph for this Vision advert. For some reason it shows their Californian address instead of the usual address for Shiner, their British distributors.

  • Pacer Street Scoot Advert

    The legendary Dave Currey was both the featured rider and the designer of the advert. He also did the graphics on the scooter itself. Dave was a colossal influence at this time, but largely unrecognised — the Pacer advert hints at the work he was to do later for Vision. He then went on to…

  • Hills Skateboard Advert

    Hills were a BMX shop in Muswell Hill, London, who took to skating in a serious way. Their ads were very professional, but the skater in this shot is uncredited. The ramp is Chingford. Can someone help out with a name, please? Looking through this advert you can see all the usual suspects and it’s…

  • Spalding BMX Advert

    OJs, Slimeballs and Bullets for on £3.50! Skate T Shirts for £9.50 and complete Santa Cruz boards for around £60? I’m not sure what was going on there. Most of the advert was devoted to BMX, naturally enough, with complete bikes such as a Diamond Back Pro “Similar to Harry Leary” going for only £159,…