Signed England Team Poster 1998

Contribution & Words: Phil Carr

Signed by The ENG team at PlayStation Skatepark, London 1998


Lets go back. Back to Burslem College, Stoke on Trent, 2004. During an incredibly dull study session in the computer lab where instead of learning about curing rates of concrete my attention was on eBay. Specifically on a listing for a pair of used “Salomon ST8’s with Free pro designed pads and Extras”. 

I didn’t need any of the above at the time I was more than happy with my Salomon Vinny Minton pros but the consumer whore in me coupled with curiosity as to what these “Extras” entailed got the better of me. So I chucked in a bid within the dwindling seconds of the auction and low and behold I was the winner! Yes! Only to see that it was Collection only. Oof! Slight Burn.  Needless to say I fulfilled on my end of the deal and headed to Birmingham the next day to collect the haul. 

The seller was a young man (a few years younger than myself) who had matured and decided that rollerblading was not to be in his future. So when he asked if the skate stuff was for my kid, my own self consciousness prevented me from coming clean and with a gulp of shame I simply replied “Yep” and proceeded to fill my car’s boot with nostalgia. 

Before returning north on the M6 with some Size 10 ST8’s, Pro Designed ramp knee pads and some silver Roces sunglasses my guy comes back like Columbo to tell me hes got “just one more thing” and pulls out the beauty you see here before you:- an original, signed, framed England clothing team poster autographed by the 98 team; Dustin Latimer, Jon Julio and Josh Petty. Featuring quite possibly Jess D’s greatest ever photograph of a young DL executing a perfect parallel grabbed Alley-Oop fishbrain at the top of a Californian Storm Drain to the amazement of an on-looking bare footed child wearing his Dad’s shirt. To say I was impressed was an understatement. I was told that the poster came from the London PlayStation park stop of the England tour back in 1998

There’s so much to love about this poster from the image’s overall blueish hue and Julio’s cargo shorts, to Petty’s smouldering, G.Q good-looks glaze.
Now, what I know about photography you could fit on the wall of a Boss Speed Bearing but I know what I like and I feel that this image has great composition. Like how the background elements such as the road crash barrier and the arrow of the one-way sign draw your eye to the subject and how barefoot kid’s line of sight causes you to glance up once more to see Dustin shredding.

I even enjoy the way the ink on the signatures are fading. I like to think of Julio and the squad that British Summer’s day signing a stack of these things on the bonnet of their mercedes sprinter tour van for an army of Grommets. To the point where they’re sharing their last black Sharpie and refuse to let a kid go home without an autograph because they’re professionals Goddammit! 

From the time I brought this home literally every skater I’ve ever shown this to has responded in more or less the following fashion “This is sick. Never sell it. But if you do let me know ok.” Over the last 16 years I’ve looked at this poster most days. I never imagined I’d sell it but since moving house last year I don’t really have space for it anymore, sadly. I suppose I could have stored it in my loft but in my opinion an artifict such as this requires love, appreciation and preserving for the community which is why when I toyed with the idea of letting it go I knew there was only one option. It breaks my heart to sell it but I am happy in the knowledge that it couldn’t have gone to a better home

Enjoy.

Phil Carr, 2020

“The Legacy Series” Episode 1 Mike Scott

   


I first met Mike back in 2001 when I made the move from California to St.George Utah and at the time I was about 13 or 14. He was already in his 20’s so I was one of the younger guys blading along with my brother. As luck would have it Mike had a younger brother who was not only my age but also went to the same school as me and so that was a big help in being a regular part of the crew shortly after my move.At the time Mike was pretty much doing his own thing outside of being a celebrity blader but still got free product regularly and did some filming trips to California. While he wasn’t in the lime light I still viewed him as not only one of the best rollerbladers around but also a good friend. Being 14 around a guy who was kind of on edge at times, he pretty much always pushed us younger guys to skate at our best. Obviously Mike went from making some decent cash being a professional rollerblader to having to get a “normal” 9 to 5 job. At the time being a teenager I didn’t understand just how tough that would be for someone who had given so much to be left with so little doing something you love. As the years went on Mike went through a whole lot of life changes, from losing his younger brother to drugs, moving away from Utah to Las Vegas, almost dying from pneumonia, dealing with multiple injuries, getting divorced, getting married again, and of course being a dad to 5 girls which you know would be one hard job.

Mike has been through it all and even though he just turned 40 I strongly believe he loves rollerblading possibly more than he has ever before. I also believe he is skating better than he ever has before which is a testament to how important he is to our sport. After all these years of ups and downs, I can truly say Mike is still one of the best rollerbladers who has ever put on skates and we are lucky to have him around still. Mike has had an interesting history from being the 1996 vert champion beating out his idol, to making some of the most memorable street section with Senate, to being one of the first riders for Razor skates. As someone who you would think would be burnt out on doing something for so long you can just tell there is no stopping him anytime soon.

– Manuel Rodriguez

In-line Skater Magazine 1995 – 1998 Production Discs

Contribution & words by: Justin Anderson

At it’s peak, Inline Skater Magazine had a readership of over 100,000 which made it the largest skate mag.  The magazine was primarily edited by Wade Jones who was a skateboarder in his younger years but understood the passion Rollerbladers had for the sport.

 Roadhouse – UCI ’96

Wade made it a point to incorporate lifestyle elements into the magazine, bringing in unique content such as profiles of musical artists 311, Offspring and others before they hit the mainstream.  He also understood the value of good photography so he hired the best action photographers in the business to produce quality that skaters would appreciate.


Matty Mantz – AO Topside Pornstar ’97


Justin Anderson, the provider of these discs, was Editor At Large of the magazine and reviewed the magazine for content and technical correctness before publication.  He ran the largest aggressive skating web site, Aggressive.com, and was active in the community teaching at Woodward, judging NISS and ASA competitions and otherwise being an ambassador of the sport.

 TJ Webber ’96

These discs are the original source material used to lay out the magazine for printing.  The photos came in on physical slides and were reviewed with an eye piece and light board.  Selected slides were then sent off for digitising and came back on discs like these.  As you can imagine, the entire production process of magazine production was very time consuming and typically took around 6 weeks given the staffing levels of the magazine.  For this reason less than 12 issues would go out in a year and/or “gear guide” magazines were employed as filler content.

 Dion Anthony – Royale, Woodward ’96

The magazine was built in Adobe FrameMaker primarily by Wade and a production assistant.  It shared offices with various American Football magazines, so they shared resources to save money.  As you can see in one of the discs, some football images were included so that magazine would be able to meet their deadline.

 Arlo Eisenberg – Bio 540, Venice ’96



1996 British Championships Competitors Bib

Contribution and words by: Rob Dubber


The year is ’96, I’m 17 years old and I’m a rollerblader!

I’d been skating for 4 or 5 years by the time the 96 British champs came round and I’d already skated the 2005 Radlands Jam in Northampton and placed 3rd in Open Street. For the ’96 British Champs I was stepping up and entering Expert Street.

The ‘96 British Champs were held at Rehab Skate Park in Wakefield. I’d seen the park in the magazines and heard testimonies from friends who’d been so it was clear the place was Rad. I was stoked to finally be going and getting to skate the best park in the UK.

The skate park scene in 1996 was totally different to what it is today. The Sony Playstation Park in London was still 2 years away from being built and there were certainly no council skate parks like there are today.

My skate grounds in those days were the streets of London and the concrete of Southsea skate park. I lived and breathed Parliament Square and the Southbank undercroft. Weekends were spent travelling to Southsea and I was there for the infamous weekly Sunday sessions. But Rehab was where it was at… it was THE UK rollerblading Mecca.

In ‘96 I was entrenched in the British rollerblading scene and I knew all the main players skating at the competition. John Goodfellow was a Southsea local and, in my view, the best skater in the country and of course I knew Ben and Dean Jagger. Everyone did in the late ’90’s.

My crew was my brother from another mother Chris Keward and the soon to be established Roadrunner team; Nick Lynch, Ray Whybro, Ant Mackie, Simeon Hartwig, Filipe Hawkins and the Webster Brothers. I also skated with Lewis Neil and Jenny Logue. Jenny won the Womens ’96 British Champs and deservedly so. She was gnarley! I’ll never forget 2 or 3 years later driving past a giant billboard advertising an energy drink and there was Jenny, 10 foot high, airing over a giant fizzy drinks bottle!

In ’96 though, my man was Adam Fryatt. The original back flipper. Skate film maker. And menace to society.

I used to stay with Adam in Southsea pretty much every weekend and following the British Championships we would travel the country skating and filming for the Dirty Magic Video Magazine series. Fast forward 10 years and I bumped into Adam in Queenstown, New Zealand. He still had that sparkle in his eye and a crazy night of hip-hop, rum and Dunedin weed ensued.

We were all there at Rehab on the day of the ’96 Championships, pushing boundaries and hyping each other up. Despite it being a competition there was no competitiveness. Everyone was amped to be there and to watch each other’s runs.

It’s been 23 years since the competition so my memory is hazy but back then Rehab skate park was set up with a large street section, a smaller street section off to the side, a large bowl and the Vert ramp. In the years following the competition, the park owners built a huge flat bank at one end of the park and built wooden bunks beneath it. I have vivid memories of the whole Roadrunner team getting the National Express Coach to Wakefield and staying for weeks at a time. Skating all day, partying all night and sleeping under the ramps!

As for the actual competition, my overriding memory was it being unbelievably hot. It would have been sensible for us, the competitors, to conserve energy but we all skated solidly from the moment we arrived until it was our turn to compete. At 17 it hardly mattered. I wasn’t short of energy in those days… and no one told me about competition strategy so to hell with that shit!

In the end, I finished fifth overall and was stoked. I finished ahead of the late great Richard Taylor and for sure that was last time I beat him in any competition as he soon went on to become one of the best skaters in the world. Rest in Peace Richard I hope your Bio 540’s are as appreciated where you are now as they were back then!

Peace and Love

Rob Dubber


Rob Dubber – Soul, Westminster 1996.