Why I Love Old School Skateboards 

Sorry if it seemed like I was rambling! I didn't write a script as I found I couldn't put down what I wanted to say in written form. Yes, I know I kept pronouncing Murray as "Murphy" and kept calling Lucero's jester a joker. What do you think of old school boards? Do you have one? Comment below!

Yoooo this video is rad! Thanks for the shout out homie 🖤🖤🖤 keep killin it 🖤

I'm 46 years old and I'm so happy to see the new generation skating in style and just for fun! Congratulations! Cheers from Brazil!

The shapes that evolved during 1990 - 91 were on point for me, but the graphics from 1985 - 90 can never be beat IMO 🤠

Totally agree with you ! "Old School" shapes and graphics are so much better than what they produce now.

You’re a breath of fresh air! You rip & are realistic about your abilities. You’re a skate purist. Love your content even if you did call Fingers “Murphy”. Keep doing your thing!

Old school shapes are my favorite, what I started skating with and still skate with. You hit great points here

As a skater from the 80's till now, you have an amazing grasp of the historic decks of that era. The Natas Panther SMA and Mike V elephant were true stand outs for street decks.

I started skating again about 2 years ago and I am 40. I love the old school shapes and it’s super cool to see younger people riding them as well. I ride the old school ripper right now.

This seems like a really nice kid and I fully agree about the personality and style in older models

Initially my first impression of these boards was that they looked like toys... as a longboarder I've started to appreciate different board shapes & I've noticed that as long as one can do a few fancy tricks with any board, it can all look cool

To conclude “I just find these types of decks cool” the end My old school deck just arrived and I’m so excited to deck it out Im currently saving up right now

My 1st board was the Madrid Lucero Jester in ‘84. Also had the Lucero LTD Cross and the Riky Barnes 1-2. Ended my skating on a Blockhead Omar Hassan Arabian Knights that I had up until a few years ago. Glad to see a young guy likes the old shapes too.

This was a great vid. With you all the way on the 80s/90s pre popsicle decks being king. I'm still skating at 61 and have witnessed the entire progression from my first skate on a 'Roller Derby' with clay wheels back in the late 60s/early 70s

Same here bud, they’re so much fun to set up and skate. I do also love my Andy board, it’s awesome for skating

I'm about to be 49 years old next month and I just recently got the first Mark Gonzalez in a reissue so I can start skating again, watching all those boards you listed made me feel like a kid. I like that Lucero board you had the beginning with the neon green cross, we have one friend in our group that skated a Lucero bored other than that I never saw anybody else. My first pro board was at hot pink Mike McGill that you have pictured and I also had a Rob roskopp monster face but it got run over and broke eventually I got a Lance Mountain and then a Tommy Guerrero second generation the last board I skated in 1992 was the two-faced Mark Gonzalez board. I skated from 1987 to 1992 👍

I started around 86 or so, had some cheap boards before that. My first real board was the Roskopp target 4, which honestly that monster graphic looks alot like what roskopp looked like back then. I didn't have a huge choice at the shop I bought it from, they had maybe 20 decks. My 2nd deck was the OG Mike McGill. I skated up until like 1998 and on and off for years. I've been back skating the last 3 years now. I honestly don't dig the old school shapes because they were hard to learn on when I was like 7 years old, they were heavy and clunky. You have to also factor in Rails, nose guard, king pin guards, copers, tail guards etc that we put on those boards. Which made it way more heavy. I remember the evolution into popsicle shapes, when popsicle shapes were the new thing a lot of tricks were invented. I progressed really fast when they came out and wheels got smaller and we lost all the rail guards etc. I all the sudden was on another level with progression. Since I've started skating again it's like sacrilegious to skate old 80s shaped boards because they're too short at 30" and the wheel base is also on the smaller end. I'm just not into the 80s shapes at all, but I could see how a full squared off tail could benefit in transition. I think it's rad that it came back and I love seeing people skate those boards. But it's not for me, being that I'm in my 40's and I want to progress back to my teen years. I can't see myself progressing on an old powell shape at all. All there was in the 80s was transition skating and that's why those boards died off when vert died. My favorite years of skating was when popsicles came out so it's hard to give them up and I can say I never will. However I do dig larger size boards like 8.5 and 8.75 with like 56 or 58 mm wheels, for transition, that's as far as I can go with nostalgia from the 80s. 80s skating was an odd era, and just weird part of American history. I can't say I miss the 80s that much but I do miss the 90s and 90's skating. Just my 2 cents you all can do whatever you want, if that's what you want to skate more power to you. Skating can be whatever you want it to be nowadays, unlike the early 90s when you had to skate popsicles, ride small wheels, and big pants etc.

i totally agree with you. What it is is that when you can tell the nose and tail then if you know if the rider is regular or goofy, then you can tell if the rider is riding switch or fakie.

Damn straight man ! I got tired of popsicle boards over 20 years ago when I kept snapping them in half. I'm 42 and grew up skating all kinds of boards. $150 wasn't easy to come by when I was 8 years old, so I had a lot of hand me down boards and I was glad to get them and thrashed them till the tail was gone. Im skating a Santa Cruz 9.5 with indys and 65 mm Slimeballs . Its heavy and hauls ass ! My best board was a huge 1989 Jesse Martinez and my best friend literally stole it, but he at least left my wheels and trucks .

Keep skating and never stop; it's a source for life! Money comes and money goes, people love you and people leave you, influencers and role models fall from grace. If there's nothing else to lean on, get out there and skate! The Eternal master architect of the multi-verse gave us this gift, so let's not take it for granted. After years on the bench, I am skating again.

My dad skated in the late 50's in socal. I skated the 80's stuff and I put the 80's decks on my wall for nostalgia sake. I respect the new game, but the old shapes will always keep my attention. I love the jessee sungod mini, roscopp monster face, and cab dragon bats. I have made a few inventions/art forms for my decks but patent costs have me in neutral. I been meaning to get a Hosoi for my den. Respect

Just came across today 7/28/23. Almost 48. Bought a popsicle 3 yrs ago and did not care for it. Ended up buying a moose deck old school and enjoy it now. Back in the day I rode a Walmart board until Summer came and finally bought a SS joe Lopez bbq, then moved to a ray barbee standing rag doll, then last was a vision jinx with the bat all cut up taking entire length of the board. I think it was one of the 1st to have a slight flipped up nose. OG boards or even repos with slight tweaks are my preference to the modern board for sure. But “you” should skate what you love and enjoy the ride! Cheers!

Have been skating since 1980 and i love 1980 borads. I skated alot of borads and had fun with these borads. Still skate these borads and agree with you. It is fun to do tricks from the 80s.

Boards like those are great for cruising and vert. All that much width recovers better for most skaters. Personally I don't mess with those sized decks cause they would make me feel like a hog on the side walk but Im proud most skaters are bringing them back to the norm.

i love your videos, and how detailed you are in general when talking about things. be it a trick or a skateboard product, you always discuss everything so thoroughly and clearly. 😍

Very nice video! I started developing a curiosity about these old school shapes about 5 years ago and now they are the only thing I skate. I agree with everything you said regarding style, looks and feel. They are such fun boards and once you start getting into them it's very hard to back! At least for me :)

My man!!! I’m soooo proud and glad that you being a representative of the new generation are laying down some representation for the old school OG designs. It’s just like Maverick when he found the old school F- 14 against the new advanced SU-57 it’s not always the plane it’s the pilot. I want everyone to take a moment, stop and think about one thing- ALL the pros from the 80s and 90s that had a bigger uniquely designed board we’re doing all the tricks you are doing right now did them with a heavier board bigger wheels and little to no kick nose. There is a REASON why they were successful- remember Hosoi’s hammerhead? Yeah there is a REASON why they were successful. If you’re going to get good- you’ll get good with EITHER a popsicle or old school- an F-14 or new tech. Me I’ll take the old school F-14 OG Powell Peralta and STILL pull off what I can with the new stuff and do it just as good if not better. Keep representing the old school my man! We with ya! Keep shredding!!😉🙌🏼🤙🏼🛹

I love the fact that you’re just doing what you want to do. Also, John Lucero is the man!

I like your channel and just subscribed to it! Keep posting!

This video is great. I ride a Powell Ripper. It's very comfortable. I like seeing a video talking about the old shapes and commentary for present day. 👍

Just found your channel and I'm very impressed with your skating skill especially on an old-school setup I was born in 84 and my first setup was a dune gossimer deck and I skated that deck till it was toast lol we didn't have any skate parks in the 90s and we had to improvise and build ramps and half pipes in buddy's backyards but im almost 40 now and I'm getting that skate itch back please keep posting I'll keep watching.

Awesome and informative video!

Got my first shaped skate deck when I was a teenager, now about 8 years later I've gone full old school. Rocking the Roskopp 4 in the striking pink, Indy 169s and blue G-Bones, absolutely love it

I used to skate big stair sets and all that but I'm old now and these boards are dope for af

Dude ur so cool! U sound like me I absolutely adore 80s skateboarding and shapes my current setup is a kendall from SC love ur videos keep it up!!

Love the video man✌️

THanx a great video. there were tons of great graphics on boards. You brought up some of the very best. Maybe G&S , Neil Blender should have been on as well. But you nailed it pretty much. thanx again. and yes I´m into Ol school decks also. part of the reason is that´s what I rode back in the 80´s mostly. and my big feet seem to fit better on wider boards. Other than that haven´t seen any Popsicle shaped 9.5 wide boards yet.Love to know if anyone has one or several of those. Love to try em out as well.

I used to think that skating would be harder on old school boards because they are heavier and stuff. I recently bought a polar 92 shaped board and realized it's actually a lot easier for me to do a lot of tricks, I feel like in that era of skateboarding is the best and the kind of shape that was used in the early 90's is really comfortable for street skating or tranny. You see guys like gonz and jason lee using those boards and they can still do gnarly stuff, obviously could be harder to do lines where you have to pop your oddly shaped nose but i still think its better than a normal popsticle

Just subscribed, your channel is fantastic! Love that you make your own boards and really have a unique skate style! You really embody the DIY ethos that makes skateboarding great. Keep it up.

AN 80's kid here !!! I've 2 80's style boards. Yes I've a modern popsicle but all have their own charm of performance but I like my 80's style better.

Chris cook with the bull was my favorite, and Douglas board can’t even find a pic of it

Kendall had two more. Graffiti, and hands on world breaking it in half. But that snake has to be one of my favorites. There is a follow up to the snake where it's on a more modern shape and the mouse got his buddies and they are poking at the snake with spears and it's retreating. Cool stuff though. Should get that Karma tsocheff dogtown shape, he's from my hometown. Had three Thrasher covers.

really enjoyed your coverage. I had some Powell & Peralta's and some Santa Cruz's mostly, as a kid in the mid 80's. my favorite shape-function though was Tony Magnuson's Alien, with Hell Concave, by H-Street. have you riden anything like that?

Its the square tail and wider surface area just before the front bolts for me. The square tail caters to my style of skating and makes no complies a breeze and the wider front helps my size 14 foot catch hospital flips and heelflips better.

I have recently got the 80s skateboard bug at 39 and havent skated sense I was 24 so I have to relearn everything now and get hurt much easier but I have really enjoyed my Winkowski deck and Im thinking about getting a Vision and a Roskopp face deck. I really like the shape and style of those 3 boards.

That Alva board is rad dude

I miss all my skateboard s the first 2 tailed i board I remember was a 2 tailed valelley it had the barnyard scene all yellow ducks and 1 brown one

You rule! Don’t let anyone tell you what to ride.

i think one big thing to notice is: in the 80s and early 90s Vert skating was THE shit! Big Boards = less wobble!

I agree bro you get a new shape as well as new graphics

Cool to see a young enthusiast; and I've enjoyed some of the wheel and deck reviews. Quick question; I'm sure you've acquired dozens of decks; but, just was curious how many sets of trucks you own, lol... aka, how many completes set up at any one time? I'm at 5 myself, one street popsicle and 4 cruisers of various sizes and wheel softness/hardness's...

i have a mcgill skull/snake reissue, slight kick on the nose. stage 6 indy 149s, with grindking kingpins. sc oj2 60mm wheels from the '80s.

yea i find i have so much more fun riding old school boards and theyre great on transition.

The popsicle shape came out from the old "Double-Tail" Decks imho.. Like the one Andy Anderson made

Old school shapes take a lot of the pressure to be technical away, you're just out to have fun.

Guys are getting very tech with those late 80s and early 90s boards. Shucks we were doing tech combo lines before Tony Hawk and on those old boards. The best ones are like 89 and 90.

Gee... I've ride the OG Steve Saiz when it first came out after my first board, Ray Underhill. You talk a lot about better to your preference. I came from Public Domain, Ban This, Propaganda, Hokus Pokus, Streets on Fire.. Era... I'm so very very bloody happy that is over!!! Thank you Plan B ! ! ! You know these boards were un-skateable. In '88 we already started to skate switch. Which no-one did back then. We did cuz of boredom. I want to skate other way as good as one stance, cuz tricks were limited. But my buddy was also a surfer. So we ride "Fakie" we said back then and Nollie called "opposite Ollie". When it really happens in the video's it's until much much later. In '88 a friend we all look up to he drew a popsicle shape deck if he could have his own signature skateboard. It all came out of all what we have spoken and ideas we only could have been imagine. Always find the boards too heavy. Guess we run ahead of time, but the tech and gears weren't. I've waited for years after. I've quit skating for 15 years. Then I start skating again for awhile. Learn hard flip from a young skater in 6 tries, true story. He was also very surprised. With a old Skool setups' we could hardly do a Kickflip, also a true story. But the prints are very cool back then. Shapes and graphics are the identity of a skater, like a code. For Pros or amateur's, we touch no-ones' board. That's our code! Hated those boards, but Love the whole Era!!! Missed the skate days! Best time of my life...

Hell yea I have a og ripper checker. And I just bought a sage Steve cabllero Chinese dragon with Indy 169s bones super red Indy red risers 1/8 powel rib bones rails red and gold trippin hardware. Oh got powel skull grip tape with 93a dragon wheels green. Can’t wait to set it up suppose to come tomorrow and my other stuff is waiting at the skate shop to get setup Tuesday hell yea. Can’t wait to be off Tuesday and shred this thing. My og ripper checker has pretty much the same setup but has creature bone saw rails with the dye powel ripper grip. I love Powell man got my first 80s deck a a month ago and building another already. I will never go back to a popsicle I love not having a nose it feel right now. And 10x30 is perfect for me. I find not having a nose make me have to do the trick the correct way cause there no steep concave to flip off of. They feel so good to skate I recommend trying one if you haven’t and mad they are fast

Luv it

i like something in between, like a '90-'91 shape. like what dressen has out on santa cruz these days.

For me just a lot cooler. Powell Peralta hour glass shape, Natas small nose, Cabs are cool. They're like art pieces. And popsicle sticks look like a popsicle stick.

New do ! Liked

You should checkout old school videos like Shakle Me Not, Rubbish Heap, Ban This and H-Street - Hokus Pokus. We did skate big stairs, handrails and flip tricks on these boards.. Checkout Steve Saiz parts in Ban This..

nice i feel same way

its like how freestyler skaters are just better on freestyle boards. yeah u can do what u want on a popsicle but its just more fitting and makes more sense with that kind fo setup

To esperando pra pegar um old school. Aqui no Brasil eles custam muito caro!!!

Hi ....loved the video. What size trucks do you have on that Saiz deck. Looking to build one and am stuck between getting 159mm or 169mm indy's. Take care

What deck and build would you recommend getting for someone wanting to get back into skating? A budget friendly option.

The pig deck feels better on the feet! F**k progression! Have fun yo! Unless yer tyrna turn pro.....more props to you! My go to deck is Vision Gonz face deck on 60 97a's with rails so i can slide the crag.....lol P.S first edition Kendalls graphics were sick too!

I have a hard time enjoying the aesthetic of old school decks. It just looks like shape for the sake of shape. Like the elaborate paper aeroplanes I’d make as a kid that could barely fly as far as you could throw them.

Love skating old schools only

I here ya man ! .......im 45 ...my jason jessie ...and Gator kill !!!! 🤙

I love spoon shaped boards

i do old school tricks on a popsicle board but no one says shit to me irl skaters are too busy doing their own shit to care i thought about getting a pool deck or a freestyle deck but i've started to feel comfortable on a popsicle shape with a mellow concave so i'm not gonna change it just bc its what i'm comfortable on

Miss u bboys

I am 44, I started skating just before my 11th birthday in 1989...trust me, old school boards were not so fun then especially for smaller people as the concave was often non existent and pop was hit and miss, usually miss! The best board I had was a Natas Blacktop Kitten for pop! Shaped board nowadays really are much better even if the same design and even press! Don't get me started on the 1988/89 Powell boards with Bonite, those things were like skating a paving slab with wheels! Imagine a shaped deck now but with less concave and made of "price point" wood, only worse! Imagine bearings that seize after a week and trucks that baseplates crumble, kingpins snap to the point u need to have spare kingpins on u, wheels that become egg shaped after a few powerslides...imagine all that, and then imagine how the price of decks and parts were 3x more expensive in equivalent money then! In the UK in 1989, decks were £40-45, now they r £50-£60, but minimum wage was £2.50 then, now it is £9.50! Don't dreram about the 80s and 90s too much thinking u would like to be there: it sucked bad!

Teach me man

What size risers do you usually use with these old school decks

Shaped boards are so much fun! They have a lot more personality and style than popsicle boards imo. Ride wide!!!

Alot of the tricks that they do now adays came from that era . I have a popcycle and a lucero reissue deck and i feel better on the old school shapes feel more confortable .

What wheels and bearings should I get for my rob roskopp Santa Cruz x simpsons home one board ?

Hey! Just wondering, for measure, what is your shoes size compared to the size of your boards? I'm a very short 16 yo guy with a 4.5 shoe size and would like to skate powell peralta boards. I currently skate welcome but was just wondering

I like to ride the old school boards for a lot of reasons. Main one beinfg they're cool as fuck!! Favorite models to ride are the Mike V Powell Elephant, and the Tom Knox punk deck from Santa Cruz. Second reason. I got size 12 and half size feet. Old school decks are wide enough to place my feet comfortably, and have better board control. If I do skate a popsicle deck it has to be at least 9 inches wide. Or else I'll destroy the front of my shoes in a matter of days. Last but not least for the third reason. Skating those boards(especially if you're used to skating on popsicle boards) will humble you real fucking quick, because you realise the leg power those old pros needed to get air with little to no nose on the board. That took some getting used to.

Review your Alva 77.

What are the wheels you have on the Steve Saiz board?

Lucero ripped the graphic from a cereal box of the time..

Do some story search about Neil Blender, he got one of the best graphics and histories behind them, he started a brand last year called the heated wheel or something like that, check it out! You could do a whole video only on Neil Blender, the underrated genius, before videos and magazine could ever capture his huge impact on the skateboarding history

Thorne have you seen Ray Barbie skate? Check him out in Powell's Ban This video. I want to get one of his old school decks if Powell re-releases it. His original ragdoll deck is sick.

Best boards to treflip crook El toro with

The Dogtown Aaron Murray graphic is actually because of his real missing fingers, search out about it, that's why the skull fingers.

I’ve been riding flat old school boards for 3 years and they are so much more fun

Dude I agree 100%. I grew up in the 80s these shapes nowadays are just boring. I like side rails on the board as well. Skateboarding at its heart was always about screw the trends. Good video man.

I was skating when they switched to the designs you see today in the early 90's, yeah they worked better but had none of the graphics, history or character of the 80's designs. The 80's boards rode so much better too. They did the same thing with snowboards when they switched to the silly rocker design in the mid 2000's, what a joke, give me a mid 90's firm board over that wet noodle garbage. The designs and history from back then were the golden era of snowboards as well. Noah Salasnak / Sims, Jeff Brushie / Burton , Jamie Lynn / Libtech the list is endless

Anyone that thinks you cant do tricks on an old school board is ignorant. Most flip tricks we do today were invented by Rodney Mullen on a skinny flat skateboard in the 80's. Also Mike V's Public domain part all done on an old school Powell board. Skateboarding is about having fun and expressing yourself. Skate what you like.

Im really happy they are makeing og decks again,but pissed its limited production,n only collectors n resalers grab em up im fuckin skater,not a resaler or collector!! And why no mini's? Cheers!

Jeremy Klein candy bar I want.. 9.5 and 10.34 gang

Christopher’s last name is actually pronounced as ‘height’

Kind of a throw away video. Basically you said you like them because you like them

That original deck had two different noses.Powell got lazy when they reissued it

Done