Whats up with 'Penny' boards

-
pishta

pishta

I know I'm right....
Joined
Oct 13, 2004
Messages
23,826
Reaction score
13,683
Location
Tustin, CA
Penny boards, those retro plastic skateboards with gumball wheels? We'd get laughed off the street back in the day rockin a nylon skateboard! Now they are everywhere, what goes around, comes around eventually. I knew I should have kept those shorty shorts!
 
Wasn't nylon OK in the 70's version of the skateboard craze?

I believe "Mako" was a popular brand.
 
Variflex, those were like bouncing on a rail of plexiglass. I rode a plastic Newport and was dismissed as I didnt have a Sims or Alva plywood deck, but that changed when I reached the 10' mark of a 15' ramp on it. Ah, to be young again.....
 
pishta - did you grow up in OC? Old enough to remember The Concrete Wave? (First for-pay skate park to open in the area, IIRC). Went there on my plastic board (no kicktail even) - no fun...
 
I don't see a serious skater on one of these.. like said above, hipsters ..or kids who are learning - remember the 8"x30" Alva!? Remember thinking "holy ****, that board is huge!"? Then a year or so later there were 10" x 30"s out there - then Kryptonite wheels and we were friggin' sailing, Gullwing trucks.. so weird but they worked - - then Independent came out with their trucks and really set the bar... oh to do an invert again... or an ollie air.. or just hammer the hell out of a frontside air al la George Orton...
 
pishta said:
Penny boards, those retro plastic skateboards with gumball wheels? We'd get laughed off the street back in the day rockin a nylon skateboard! Now they are everywhere, what goes around, comes around eventually. I knew I should have kept those shorty shorts!
Click to expand...


Because a real skate board scares them!
 
I am building a ramp in my yard. Wife said no. I said too bad!

I remember the plastic boards from the '70s with the clear urethane wheels. Penny boards are basically the same with no kicktail.
 
really!? that's awesome - 1/2 pipe, 1/4 pipe or..??
rmchrgr said:
I am building a ramp in my yard. Wife said no. I said too bad!

I remember the plastic boards from the '70s with the clear urethane wheels. Penny boards are basically the same with no kicktail.
Click to expand...
 
ScampMike said:
really!? that's awesome - 1/2 pipe, 1/4 pipe or..??
Click to expand...

Just a mini. My friend has one in his backyard and he can't use it anymore, he has a bad back. So I said I would take it. Just have to take it apart, truck it over to my place and reassemble. It needs a new surface though. Looked into skatelite, that stuff is expensive!

Honestly though, I would have built one anyway regardless of whether he was getting rid of his, just happened to be good timing.

There are skateparks near me and I was going regularly at one point last year until I slammed really hard. Concrete hurts!

Hoping my kids might get into it at some point too. There are a lot of 'rad dads' out there nowadays. but I ain't one of 'em though, I do it for me. My 8 year old is not real athletically inclined, was thinking maybe an individual type sport might be more to his liking. The almost 4 year old will love it though.
 
Are these guys speaking English? LMAO. I have NO idea whut's goin on, LOL
 
I have been toying with the idea of some kind of ramp but I know me - I'm insane and know I would "go for it" and the extra 100lbs. I have on me that wasn't there when I was 17 - - well, it would be ugly.. LOL I don't have the "go slow" gene. I was doing inverts, ollies, rock and rolls, foot plants - - all at the top of whatever ramp I was on... now just the thought of dropping in scares the crap outta me.
rmchrgr said:
Just a mini. My friend has one in his backyard and he can't use it anymore, he has a bad back. So I said I would take it. Just have to take it apart, truck it over to my place and reassemble. It needs a new surface though. Looked into skatelite, that stuff is expensive!

Honestly though, I would have built one anyway regardless of whether he was getting rid of his, just happened to be good timing.

There are skateparks near me and I was going regularly at one point last year until I slammed really hard. Concrete hurts!

Hoping my kids might get into it at some point too. There are a lot of 'rad dads' out there nowadays. but I ain't one of 'em though, I do it for me. My 8 year old is not real athletically inclined, was thinking maybe an individual type sport might be more to his liking. The almost 4 year old will love it though.
Click to expand...
 
pishta said:
Penny boards, those retro plastic skateboards with gumball wheels? We'd get laughed off the street back in the day rockin a nylon skateboard! Now they are everywhere, what goes around, comes around eventually. I knew I should have kept those shorty shorts!
Click to expand...

You must not be old enough to remember the FIRST skateboards that had metal Roller skate wheels on them !!
 
65Vart said:
I had clay wheels on my first board. Poly "universal grippers" came along.......whole new ballgame......paradise found.
Click to expand...

My first 'bought' board had composition (read "clay") wheels - had made a couple out of 2x4 and old clamp-on skates before that. First urethane wheeled board (ball bearings) was a plastic shark board (but it was cool because it was running bigs-n-littles - the back wheels were wide, while the front wheels were 'normal' (skinny)). Then bought urethane wheels (also ball bearing) with holes just inside the edge (for shock absorption), then made a board for that setup in woodshop (running Bennet trucks), then, eventually bought a used G&S warptail with precision bearing wheels.

The only 'ramp' we had was a drainage ditch at one of the elementary schools that we also used to jump our bikes off (down/up and the 'jump side' had a shelf of about 1' of dirt above the top of the concrete ditch that we wore a pretty deep groove in.

We used to use our camping rain ponchos as spinnakers and 'sail' whenever the Santa Ana winds would kick up.

Good times...good times...
 
Built my first board after the CAL 240 was a G&S board with green Kryptonic wheels (10.00 each which was a lot of money to me), cant remember what trucks. Topics like this can sure get off ABody Mopars in a hurry. All about the memories.
 
wow - you guys remember which boards, wheels and trucks you had..?!? impressive.. the only one I remember is the one I won at a contest.. Alva deck, Independents and OJ's.. even had a kicktail pad and grab rails.. maybe even one of those goofy plastic nose guard things.. ahh, glory days
 
You guys are so old. A kid just buzzed my house riding one of these.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1AUJZlWEqo"]The Top 7 Best Electric Skateboards You Can Buy - YouTube[/ame]

My first skateboard had metal wheels btw.
 
I
Not me, but my second and favorite pool.1986.

Me, No Comply over a 2ft bench. 1992.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top