Never realized how much of my childhood was full of boogers, vomit, monsters and maggots until just now... and that's the magic of Jim Phillips and his brain trust at Phillips Studios.
With VCJ's precision coupled with Stecyk's mysticism proving to be a winning formula at Powell while Vision continued on it's dark, often-random course with Grigley's ghosts, Takakjian's psycho shapes and Greg's Evan's alligator geometry, Jim Phillips and crew stepped up with Santa Cruz to largely fill in this gap with a nauseating scope of disgust that would prove perfect for teenage consumers. The Screaming Hand, the Evil Eyes, Jessee's Neptune, the Cell Block Guy, the Speed Wheels Shark, Roskopp's Bull's Eye, the Elite 'thanes... the list goes on and on. Beyond classic.
To think that so much of this iconic imagery was often created just to sell goofy shit like Rip Grip, Cell Block 3's, Foam Boards and Spidey. And I'm still grappling with how that "puke=ultimate wheels" equation managed to manifest itself in the minds of an entire generation...
But it worked.
14 comments:
Be back Thursday.
Wow, that was a blast from the past. I remember kind of being put off by those ads even as a kid, but there was always a thrill to be had. The colors, the outrageous images - a unique recipe and a fitting contrast to the other big 80s brands. Thanks Chops!
I was 12 years old for 15 minutes,great effort!
Thought I'd seen all of the Santa Cruz/NHS ads from that era,too,great to see some I hadn't seen.
Fucking awesome. Thanks. Elite 'thanes FTW!!! Funny how different sk8 imagery was throughout the years. Look at T Mag's pants too! Holy cow... Haha. I must have gone through dozens of OJ2's until spitfire came out.
Awesome! This stuff was a little too gross for my tastes, but I remember being really impressed by that "Pick A Winner" ad at age 13. How did they do that???
I am riding some vintage 1988 Street Razors right now. I have another set as back up too. They are still better than 99% of today's wheels.
These were the ads I always looked forward to when that new thrasher hit the mailbox. So gross but so cool(to the 15 yr old me). A large number of these ads made it up on my bed room wall.
Super rad post Chops
Always wanted a set of Slime Balls but never got em. Bullet 66's were the shit!
I'm still not sure how the Slimeball Fizz had anything to do with anything either. Ask Chef Pierre I suppose...
Their ads were always awesome. Like the precursor to Garbage Pail Kids.
Still, I can't respect NHS. They make longboards.
There really was quite a bit of maggots and vomit in their ads.
My first set of real wheels were blue Bullet 60mm combos (95a). At some point I also had some hand-me-down 92a red Slimeballs. They felt way too soft. It still surprises me that it took so many years before companies started making wheels reversible/ symmetrical.
Mic-e Reyes holding a girls butt lol How much footage is there of him from back in the day?
Dig the Roscopp target series.
Did anyone ever own one of those foam core decks? Seems like such a bad idea.
Yes....haven't seen quite a few of these. By the way...stumbled onto this the other day;
http://www.jimphillips.com/
with all the re issue stuff going around, i wish i could get some oj 2 freeze streets. those were a game changer for me. good post. all the good times growing up skateboarding curbs and launch ramps are right here.
Dig Johnee Kopp's backside smith pose...though he did do the first handrail.
Nice ads from SCS, it´s like a time machine I always tought that ads better than other brands. How we love this things here in Brazil so creative and fun. Thanks.
I used to stare at these ads trying to figure out how the skaters were doing what they were doing. Combine that with all the art and bright colors, I was hooked. The power of advertising had me buying so much skate gear. Santa Cruz was definitely my first phase of skate obsession. OJs, Slimeballs, and Bullet wheels were so good then. These advertisements don't only show the genius of marketing towards skaters, they are also a big part of my youth. A special time for a lot of my friends and myself. Keep rolling friends, don't ever quit.
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