Vital Force #4

Vital Force #4.

Zine: Vital Force
Issue: 4
Created by: Mike Ging
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: West Chester, PA
When: 1989

Somehow I missed out on issue three, but this is the next and last issue of Mike Ging's Vital Force that I've got. Traditional black and white copy of the cover this time instead of colored card stock. Number four is a photo-heavy issue with a ton of great shots. 

Notes: This was damaged in the mail, returned to sender, and then returned to me with a new mailer and this note... 

Vital Force #2

Vital Force #2.

Zine: Vital Force
Issue: 2
Created by: Mike Ging
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: West Chester, PA
When: 1989

The more I've gone back through the Vital Force issues I have, the more I love what Mike Ging was doing with this zine. Hyper-local, super-metal, cut-and-paste progressiveness.

Notes: Swatch Impact Tour review. Not sure if it was Swatch or if the Meadowlands Arena wouldn't allow cameras in the venue for this show, but either way, restricting photo access was/is nonsense. Exposure is everything...

Vital Force #1

Vital Force #1.

Zine: Vital Force
Issue: 1
Created by: Mike Ging
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: West Chester, PA
When: 1988

Another issue number one. Did I mention how much I like inaugural issues? So much good stuff crammed in here. So much metal. The best part is right up front – Ging doesn't care if you like the zine or not, as long as the West Chester scene is promoted to the world. Isn't that what every zine is supposed to be about? Zine is short for fanzine. Who's a bigger fan of your scene than you? I dig it.

Notes: The Haro '88 Tour show review has a photo caption that says "Rick Rolling," which is Rick Moliterno rolling through some... rolling trick. Hard to see in the photo. Given today's pop-culture definition of "Rick Rolling" I thought this was quite funny. In "??? of the month" best car is noted as Saab 900 turbo two-door black with works. 1988? Agree completely.

Style Zone #7

Style Zone #1.

Zine: Style Zone
Issue: 7
Created by: Matt Bennett
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Whitby, Ontario
When: 1989

Death of Bruce Lee and Bent and Mutilated creator Matt Bennett's regular zine. By regular, I mean he made six before this one under the same name and anything else I've seen has been a one-off. With a visually similar style and sensibility between titles, Bennett manages to keep his high-contrast look familiar. This is the art of zine making and Bennett does it very well. This one has a little bit of freestyle, a little bit of art and after-school detention, the usual toilet photos. 

Notes: I would like to see anything else Bennett made. Anyone got anything?

Stabilizer #1

Stabilizer #1.

Zine: Stabilizer
Issue: 1
Created by: Carl Marquardt
Format: 8 1/2" x 14"
Where: Kew Gardens, NY
When: 1987

I love the first issue of any zine. There's an optimism and unbridled creativity that is unparalleled. Stabilizer is a mish-mash of a freestyle zine with some cool stuff inside. There's a story about Peachtree City, Georgia and the halfpipe they built to address their skateboarder "problem," a missive about how contests are judged, Mongoose and Vision Street Wear ads and a heavy photo section with some great bmx freestyle action. This is the only issue of Stabilizer I have. Does anyone know if Carl kept up the fight?

Notes: Legal-size paper format. Carl had a badass typewriter that also had a cursive function. And yes, Jody Watley is a babe.

Bust It #10

Bust It #10.

Zine: Bust It
Issue: 10
Created by: Mark Mack
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Elkhart, IN
When: 1990

Another Mark Mack episode, except this one is printed entirely on a light blue paper. I dig the NAIL (News and Intelligent Lies) section. Interview with the fine fellows of the Excessive Intensity team out of Mishawaka, Indiana and a fantastic Mat Hoffman interview. There's some interesting writing and all the photos are consistently good. 

Notes: I only have two issues of Bust It. I kind of wish I had more.

Bust It #9

Bust It #9.

Zine: Bust It
Issue: 9
Created by: Mark Mack
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Elkhart, IN
When: 1989

Blue cover! Nice photos, lots of typewriter and just an overall good feeling of scene. I only have a couple issues of Bust It. Not sure how I came across this one. Maybe Terry Nourse of RIP zine. Noticed both Bust It and  S.E.P. addresses in RIP, so we must have corresponded properly at some point.

Notes: Photo of side glide curiously referenced as a "Land Speeder." I don't remember that alternate name for the trick. The full-page House of Bicycles advert with two hard-flash shots of bikes laid down and a business card is just late 80s zine ad perfection.

Anarchist Monthly #11

Anarchist Monthly #11.

Zine: Anarchist Monthly
Issue: 11
Created by: Aaron Pfendler
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Forestport, NY
When: 1989

Minimalist skate cover. Some great record reviews, a bit of shopping cart abuse (hey, we all did it back then), a cool article about Paul Weinman. I made an ad for Dan and Jay's Zeen! Gary Burchart wallride photo closes this one out. AP used some old-school computer art I did for him as the back cover/mailer. The scarecrow image was created in Microsoft Paint and printed on a state-of-the-art dot matrix printer. The original image is red, white and blue. 

Notes: The "Letter Carriers: We Deliver!" stamp is perfect in this format.

No Place Like Home

No Place Like Home.

Zine: No Place Like Home
Issue: Unknown
Created by: Tred
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Bear, DE
When: 1988

Great Paul Weinman White Boy two-page intro, a general clip-art vibe with clean layout, color 3D centerfold and some cool photos of and by Spike Jonze.

Notes: Tred mentioned the similarity of his cover art and that of Loft Zine #6, and said that the resemblance was purely coincidental. For some reason, I have two copies of this issue. Both have a red paperclip attached to page 10 (see PDF). I don't know why. 

Bones Brigade

Powell Peralta zine/catalog.

Zine: Bones Brigade
Issue: Vol. II, No. 5
Created by: Powell Peralta
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Santa Barbara, CA
When: 1988

Another example of when a company puts out a catalog in the form of a zine. This is actually a really good one for what it is. There's some interesting, cool content and it's not just a thinly-disguised marketing effort. Oh, and head gaskets make the "New Products" section. Remember those? 

Notes: I did join the Bones Brigade for $12 and got a cool yellow members only t-shirt and a whole bunch of other stuff. So I guess the marketing effort worked. 

Anarchist Monthly #12

Anarchist Monthly #12.

Zine: Anarchist Monthly
Issue: 12
Created by: Aaron Pfendler
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Forestport, NY
When: 1990

This is the last issue I've got for you of Aaron Pfendler's Anarchist Monthly. More cool Alberto Kroeger art, a fair amount of freestyle photos, an interview and photos with me and my favorite skateboard of all time (and an existential comic I drew), an amazing ad for the Aggroman video, and a really nice scene check on Puerto Rico. Pfendler's incredible diversity (and profound productivity) was always why I loved regularly getting his zines in the mail.

Notes: If anyone knows of AP's whereabouts or contact info, I'd love to know.

Anarchist Monthly #10

Anarchist Monthly #10.

Zine: Anarchist Monthly
Issue: 10
Created by: Aaron Pfendler
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Forestport, NY
When: 1989

Another clean, militaristic cover on issue 10. This one starts out with an interview with No Fraud from Venice, Florida. There's a good two page spread of zine reviews. The photo of me, Dan Ferrell and Gary Burchart in front of a statue at University of Kansas brings back fond memories. 

Notes: Again with the great negative space-use on the back cover/mailer. AP is knocking them out of the park every time now.

Anarchist Monthly #9

Anarchist Monthly #9.

Zine: Anarchist Monthly
Issue: 9
Created by: Aaron Pfendler
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Forestport, NY
When: 1989

My absolute favorite AM cover. I see this one in the shoebox and I know exactly who created it. There's a photo of Stecher with The Dead Milkmen's Jasper Thread, shot when the Milkmen came to Lawrence on their Beelzebubba tour and we took Mr. Thread out for pizza before the show. AP rips on cover bands, relays a disaster averted on a tricycle and there's a Jack the Ripper cover (see previous issues for Ripper comics).

Notes: Another nice back cover mailer layout.

Anarchist Monthly #8

Anarchist Monthly #8.

Zine: Anarchist Monthly

Issue: 8

Created by: Aaron Pfendler

Format: 8 1/2" x 11"

Where: Forestport, NY

When: 1989

The Nuclear Issue. This one starts with an invitation for discourse on "Recipe for Anarchy" by Daryll Geerts. There's an interview with The Blistertones. I dig the back cover on this one... the way that AP layed it out for the address is particularly nice.

Notes: "I know why they call it a decade now. 'Cause it takes ten minutes to learn."

Anarchist Monthly #7

Anarchist Monthly #7.

Zine: Anarchist Monthly
Issue: 7
Created by: Aaron Pfendler
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Forestport, NY
When: 1989

This issue sees the Skinhead Peanut Farmer take aim at the Smurfs with a hilarious comic, and AP takes aim at Oliver North. Portland, Oregon's Poison Idea are interviewed. There's some good, angsty prose. 

Notes: Alberto Kroeger presidente bottle on the cover.

Anarchist Monthly #6

Anarchist Monthly #6.

Zine: Anarchist Monthly
Issue: 6
Created by: Aaron Pfendler
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Forestport, NY
When: 1988

Look mom, I made the cover of Anarchist Monthly! That's my ass in the bottom right corner, doing some flatland foolishness on my first Haro. I'm not sure where my copy of AM five is, so next in the series is issue six. This one's got an artistic Jack the Ripper update, a great long interview with MSI (More Stupid Initials), a rare photo of Jason Stecher on his Rodney Mullen and me playing on swings.

Notes: The "Day in the Life" of The Skinhead Peanut Farmer comic is pure fucking awesomeness.

Anarchist Monthly #4

Anarchist Monthly #4.

Zine: Anarchist Monthly
Issue: 4
Created by: Aaron Pfendler
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Forestport, NY
When: 1988

I used the second page of issue four of Anarchist Monthly as the cover image, because AP sent this one with a protective mailer on the outside. Read as: blank cover and back with an address. It was around issue four where I started accumulating a prodigious number of Anarchist Monthly stickers, as Aaron and I were sending stuff back and forth almost monthly. This issue has another Alberto Kroeger work, a Marty Schlesinger interview, some good old fashioned scrapbooking cut and paste, and a page listing for the first Heins/Schierling collaboration, Monkey Meets the Blowtorch. There's a shot of me grunting out as much of a method air as I could muster off of side of our junk launch ramp (black O.G. Powell Tommy Guererro, neon green rails, Tracker trucks, Powell freestyle wheels) and an image I sent of a bar-split boomerang by Jeff from Topeka, shot at the Rick Allison Western Auto show in Emporia. 

Notes: I swear there's a Rockville BMX sticker on that Tommy Guerrero. 

Anarchist Monthly #3

Anarchist Monthly #3.

Zine: Anarchist Monthly
Issue: 3
Created by: Aaron Pfendler
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Forestport, NY
When: 1988

The early issues of AM were a lot of freeform loose layout with typewriter text and a lot of handwritten goods. This tight and tidy issue has a Chris Lashua interview, a little bit of bike, a little bit of skate, and an interview/artwork with Alberto Kroeger.

Notes: This is the first time I remember seeing Alberto's work.

Anarchist Monthly #2

Anarchist Monthly #2.

Zine: Anarchist Monthly
Issue: 2
Created by: Aaron Pfendler
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Forestport, NY
When: 1988

Anarchist Monthly number two is packed with good stuff – an interview with Mark Lewman, comics/art and a fair amount of Pfendler prose. 

Notes: I love the zines from back in the day that had the receiver's address on the back page of the zine with stamp and postmark. Not only does it carbon copy the zine as far as age, but there's usually hand-scribbled notes to whoever is receiving the zine that postal workers would inevitably read. 

Anarchist Monthly

Anarchist Monthly.

Zine: Anarchist Monthly
Issue: unknown
Created by: Aaron Pfendler
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Forestport, NY
When: unknown

Aaron Pfendler's Anarchist Monthly was consistently one of my favorite zines, and it's the title I have the most copies of in my collection. Pfendler and I traded content for a couple of years, and there's even an interview with me in issue 12. I'm not sure which issue this is, but I do have 2-12, so it's somewhere after 12 I'd imagine. 

Notes: Vital Force zine address in this issue, probably how I started trading zines with Mike Ging in Westchester, PA.

Whiplash #9

Whiplash #9.

Zine: Whiplash
Issue: 9
Created by: Lou Wolgast, Darren Kraft
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Newton, NJ
When: 1989

Issue nine of Whiplash has a piece about Lou Wolgast and some of his art, a cool Arizona trip recap and the usual thoughtful writing. The xerox on this particular issue was really tight, with nice, crispy photos and text. Good layout. 

Notes: In the 'zine review section, there's a zine called Drop Dead Oklahoma that I wish I'd sent off for back in the day. It sounds fantastic. 

Whiplash #7

Whiplash #7.

Zine: Whiplash

Issue: 7

Created by: Lou Wolgast, Darren Kraft

Format: 8 1/2" x 11"

Where: Newton, NJ

When: 1988

BMX freestyle was having a hard time at the end of the 1980s. The AFA was waning and factory-sponsored contest-culture was dying out. Like skateboarding at the time, the sport had a huge pop-culture influence and subsequent cash influx by bandwagon-esque companies. But just when you thought it was going to stick, there was an equally huge decline and mass exodus of funds once the market determined the "fad" was over. What was left was a grand mal seizure-like shaking out, and an underground that rose from its ashes. 

This transition was documented well in zines like Whiplash. 

Notes: No notes. It's a great zine.

Warp 'Zine #5

Warp 'Zine #5.

Zine: Warp 'Zine
Issue: 5
Created by: Brett Foster
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Jefferson City, MO
When: 1989

This issue has some fine coverage of the Kansas AFA State Championship Freestyle comp in Wichita, a Woodward vacation story, and a Plywood Hoods sighting while Brett was at Woodward.

Notes: The photo of Kansas City local Ben Mahoney from the AFA series brought me back a bit. I remember seeing Ben ride a number of times, I just don't remember where and when. It was 30 years ago, but I remember the face...

Warp 'Zine #6

Warp 'Zine #6.

Zine: Warp 'Zine
Issue: 6
Created by: Brett Foster
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Jefferson City, MO
When: 1989

Brett Foster put  Warp out from the capital city of Missouri – Jefferson City. There wasn't a lot of bmx freestyle news coming out of the midwest, but Brett was on top of it, especially new tricks. This issue has write-ups of summer tours by Mongoose and Haro, and the AFA Masters Finals in Wichita, Kansas that Eric and I also attended. Excellent representation of bmx freestyle in the midwest at the time.

Notes: Brett and I met once at an amateur contest in Kansas City. He rode flatland and did very well if I recall correctly. I have negatives from that contest somewhere, and I think there's a few shots of Leo "Animal" Chen riding the quarter pipes, and I think Dennis McCoy was there for a bit. The last page of this issue has a pair of MMTB stickers on display, among others. 

Swank Zine

Swank Zine.

Zine: Swank Zine
Issue: unknown
Created by: Tod Swank
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Solana Beach, CA
When: 1987?

Swank Zine is legendary in the medium of stapled and xeroxed paper. I don't own any from back in the day, but picked up this one on eBay because they were selling an original Swank Zine sticker I wanted, and the zine happened to come with it. The inside cover says Swank Skate Zine 1, but I'm betting this is some sort of bootleg reprint. The condition is too good to be 30-plus years old and I got the zine and sticker for five bucks. Who knows? If you can shed any light on the matter, let me hear about it in the comments.

Notes: The Neil Blender art and squirrel comics are fantastic. 

Gus #2

Gus #2.

Zine: Gus
Issue: 2
Created by: Duncan Scott Davidson
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Fremont, CA
When: 1989

When Gus showed up in my mailbox, it blew my mind. Any preconceived notion about what a zine was supposed to be, or how it was supposed to look, or how THICK it could be, was blown away. With a heavy pink cover? Damn. Davidson must have had some dough to put this thing out. Letters in this issue from Jenkins and Swank confirm, the Swami's stapled and xeroxed paper was on fire. Plenty of subversive content, a good amount of art and prose, a lot of skateboarding and freestyle. Be patient with the PDF on this one. Clocking in at 66 pages, It's going to take a few moments to load.

Notes: Yes, Swami, we were all in love with Krys Dauchy too. 

Dan and Jay's Zeen #1

Dan and Jay's Zeen #1.

Zine: Dan and Jay's Zeen 
Issue: 1
Created by: Dan Ferrell, Jason Stecher
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Emporia, KS
When: 1988

Friends Dan and Jay put out this zine about the same time that Eric Heins and I were making Monkey Meets the Blowtorch, so there was a bit of friendly rivalry. Imagine it, two zines coming out of little, inconsequential, no-skate-scene Emporia, Kansas. EMPORIA, KANSAS! Come on! This issue has a couple of great interviews with Joe Jack Talcum of The Dead Milkmen and legendary influencer/provoker Steve Rocco. Two photos of Scott Sorenson who left Emporia for SoCal and made us all proud by getting sponsored and returning occasionally to get us stoked on new tricks and gear. Extensive/exclusive use of a dot-matrix printer and handwriting for text. Art-wise, there's a very cool Mike Vallely pointillist drawing by Tony Love and Arnie Anderson's "The Last Adventures of Gruesome Freddy Fox" comic is brilliant. Dan and Jay's Zeen was far more subversive than anything Eric and I did in MMTB, and I love it for that. 

Notes: Jason Stecher and Joe Jack Talcum had a lengthy correspondence through the late 80s. The 1993 Dead Milkmen song "Jason's Head" is loosely-based on some of that correspondence, or so the story goes. Stecher is responsible for our taking Joe Jack Talcum to pizza before a show in Lawrence, Kansas, which was certainly a highlight of our young lives. In the story about Allyn the hippie vampire, Corvette and Rodney are originally referenced in MMTB issue 1, and Dan and Jay's follow-up story about the homely pair is hilarious. The cover of this zine is also the mailer, so the "to" and "from" addresses are actually the front cover. The cover image above is technically from the back of the zine, but it's more visually interesting than the front.

Trend Bike Source Christmas card

Trend Bike Source Christmas card, 1989.

What: Trend Bike Source Christmas card
Created by: Greg Neal, Gregg Hansen
Where: Austin, TX
When: 1989

This one is not a zine at all, but still an important part of my collection of ephemera. I have a few letters from Greg Neal when Eric and I did MMTB zine, and Trend was pretty much the Rockville BMX of the midwest. It was cool to get a Christmas card in the mail from, in my estimation, one of the best bike shops in the world. 

Notes: Trend Bike Source became Empire BMX, and I rock an Empire sticker on both of my old-school freestyle bikes. I wish I still had my Trend Bike Source t-shirt. 

S.A.D. 'Zine (Skaters Against Disco)

S.A.D. 'Zine (Skaters Against Disco).

Zine: S.A.D. 'Zine (Skaters Against Disco)
Issue: unknown
Created by: Bruce
Format: 8 1/2" x 11" 
Where: San Jose, CA
When: 1990

This issue of Skaters Against Disco is mostly ramp skating, with Ray Barbee going ollie to tail at Mark's ramp in San Jose on the cover. There's a cool July 4 Buena Vista backyard pool contest that sounded like one helluva time, and a NorCal warehouse/ skatepark filled with ramps run by guys named Corey and Kendall... maybe Corey O'Brien and Jeff Kendall? The timeline and internet searches seem to confirm.

Notes: The contents page has text at the bottom that indicates Bruce is leaving soon. I still don't know who Bruce is. Someone help me out.

S.A.D. 'Zine (Skaters Against Disco)

Skaters Against Disco. 

Zine: Skaters Against Disco
Issue: unknown
Created by: Bruce
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: San Jose, CA
When: 1990

I really don't know much about this zine. It was done by a guy named Bruce, but there's no hint of his last name. He mentions John Kopke (Grocery Meat), Chris Johanson (Karmaboarder), Nancy (Nancy's Magazine), Ron Corral (Corn Beef is Lord), Louis (The Harsh Realm), Matt A. (No Way Jose), Bill Keaggy (ACC), Rick Schlueter (TNR Zine), Rob (Robzine), Luke Strahota (JOD) and Dave D'Andrea (Stuntwood) in this issue. If you know Bruce, hit the comments and fill in some details.

This issue has quite a bit of ditch skating, which I dig. The centerfold is a couple of chunky, contrasty skate photos but it's the accompanying text that I really enjoyed. It asks why people give skate spots such stupid and obvious names, and I had to laugh at all of the spots in Emporia that, in retrospect, were painfully obvious in their monikers. Dolly Madison ditch, Rec Center banks, the mall curbs. The only ones that might be a bit more inconspicuous were Shit Ditch (because the sides were six feet tall and at a 60-degree angle, and it was pretty shitty to skate it) and Chellsea Track (originally a ditch called Hell Track because one side was super steep like the drop-in to the bmx track in the movie Rad... someone spray painted Hell Track on the slope but it was grafitti'd with additional letters to spell out "Chellsea" for some reason). It didn't really matter. We weren't trying to hide anything because there were less than a dozen kids that skated in Emporia anyway. There was no "Locals Only" attitude because there were hardly any locals to begin with.

Notes: Commonwealth LA had a 1980s zine retrospective called "No Shitty Ads" last year, and Skaters Against Disco was one of the zines that popped up in the L.A. Taco coverage of the event. 

Cold Turkey #2

Cold Turkey #2.

Zine: Cold Turkey
Issue: 2
Created by: Dave D'Andrea
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Bristol, CT
When: 1990

The second issue of Cold Turkey from Dave D'Andrea is more of an art piece than the previous installment. No skateboarding, no bmx, no music reviews. Issue two is straight-up prose and art under the pseudonym "blue." Reading between the lines, I imagine this was a breakup issue. Hey, we've all been there, and sometimes that lost love manifests itself as copier toner, all over the paper.

Notes: The cover of this issue is one of my favorites. Simple, graphic, great copy machine texture, great photograph.

Cold Turkey #1

Cold Turkey #1.

Zine: Cold Turkey
Issue: 1
Created by: Dave D'Andrea
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Bristol, CT
When: 1990

Zine from a cool cat in Connecticut, Dave D'Andrea. He did a number of zines (Cold Turkey, Stuntwood, Sudden Impact), but maybe it was all just the same zine with different names. They did change up quite a bit, but the Dave style was always the same D'Andrea.

Notes: This had to be from fall 1990 to possibly early spring 1991. The "thanks to" on page 4 references "my main man from Kansas and college man #2 Ryan." I was at University of Kansas at the time. Not 100% sure this is the same Dave, but internets searches seem to confirm the backstory somewhat. Please let me know if otherwise.

Amputees and such...

Amputees and such...

Zine: Amputees and such...
Issue: unknown
Created by: Duncan Scott Davidson
Format: 5 1/2" x 4 1/4"
Where: Fremont, CA
When: 1989

Amputees is a quick art blast from Nor-Cal Swami Duncan Scott Davidson. Diminutive in size, but packed with prose (Mung the Merciless) and art/photos (Mel Bend), it's a nice follow-up to The Swami's other pint-size zine one-off Zipper Full of Scrotum. 

Notes: Quite a few zine makers used alternate monikers for print – Mung the Merciless and Mel Bend are such examples. 

Loft #4

Loft #4.

Zine: Loft
Issue: 4
Created by: Club Homeboy
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Torrance, CA
When: 1988

Another great issue of Loft from Jenkins, Jonze and Lewman. This one boasted a full-color supply section centerfold. I have two copies of this issue, though one is missing the centerfold, so I can only assume that I must have ordered something. 

Notes: Loft #4 showed up recently as a "reissue" printed on yellow paper on Amazon for $20 plus $9 shipping. Curious...

Loft #2

Loft #2.

Zine: Loft
Issue: 2
Created by: Club Homeboy
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Torrance, CA
When: 1988

Loft was the official zine of Club Homeboy, what would now be called a "lifestyle brand" but back then was just another way to see what coolness the Freestylin' magazine master cluster of Andy Jenkins, Mark Lewman and Spike Jonze were up to. You paid your membership dues and you got a t-shirt, wrist wrap, stickers and a laminated membership card/security badge. For those who care (or don't), my member number was 342. You also got a copy of Loft in the mail every once in a while. 

Notes: "Loft" was the name of the zine from issue two forward. I don't remember what issue one was called, because I don't have it. I learned a new word from this issue – habiliments. What I'd give now for a "Factory" t-shirt for 8 bucks. Also, Jive Handles grips were available for $8.75, which was a steal.

2-HIP promo catalog

2-HIP promotional catalog/zine

Zine: 2-HIP
Issue: Promotional catalog
Created by: 2-HIP Promotions
Format: 8 1/2" x 11"
Where: Leucadia, CA
When: 1988

When zines started becoming a little less underground, skateboard and BMX companies began using the format as a way to get information to consumers/customers faster and cheaper than monthly magazine adverts could. Many of these zines were just thinly-veiled, long-form ads with little to no content at all. 

Ron Wilkerson's 2-HIP Promotions put together some of the best BMX vert and street contests coming out of the 80s, when the AFA was on its last legs. If you joined the 2-HIP Society, you got a limited-edition shirt, hat, stickers and a one year subscription to the quarterly 2-HIP zine, which was probably a lot cooler than this slapdash catalog. Still, it was a way to get information out there, and we didn't get a lot of information about anything in Emporia, Kansas. Ron was always generous and very cool about writing back to fans.

Notes: I wasn't a 2-HIP Society member, so I never did see any official 2-HIP zines. I did find a letter and autographed Haro sticker that Ron sent me, probably with this promo catalog. 

Letter from Ron Wilkerson.

Autographed Haro Air Wear sticker, 3 1/2" x 2 3/4".