This will be a weird review of a somewhat unique board that I came into possession of through the strangest of circumstances. I’m writing it only because I feel the denizens of the ‘fish will appreciate knowing about yet another longboard in the many that we review and document for you. So here are my impressions of the Dregs Maggie complete that I’ve ridden over the past few months.

What it is. Dregs lists this board in their website as a The Scenic Dregs Maggie. It’s a seven-ply deck, pressed with concave, wheel cutouts, a massive kicktail and upturned nose. The brightly-colored graphics match the feel and look of several Dregs advertisements, and are heat-transferred onto the deck with some pixelation. The new Gullwing M1 trucks support the deck, over Krypt wheels that measure 70mm in diameter and feel to be about 78a durometer. Stock, Sector-9 style bearings, without spacers, keep things spinning.

Weird times. Dregs CEO “Biker” Sherlock doesn’t think too much of Silverfish Longboarding. We heard a diatribe from him at ASR in September about what a “favor he’d be doing us” to allow his products to grace the pages of the ‘fish, and he seemed genuinely upset that we didn’t ask him to sign our breasts with a Sharpie. I found myself in the unbelievable situation of watching he and my cohort prepare to pound the bearing oil out of each other, when the big guy just laughed at the celebrity and suggested that separate universes was fine. We find our stoke elsewhere, and Sherlock told us he’d make sure that his companions as Sector 9 would want nothing to do with Silverfish, too.

So, how weird is it when with further discussion he suggested I’d come down and meet and check out his boards?! He said he would loan this one out and we would go from there. He wasn’t there when I dropped by but his staff were friendly and helpful enough. Very weird, but it’s all about stoke and I’d hoped he’d come around to see us for what we are: a community of the most stoked skaters anywhere!

The Maggie was offered up as a “loaner” (which is not how we usually operate), so I could see how stoked and core Dregs really is, and I brought the board back to the crew to check out. A few weeks later, I learned that the piestorm of attitude was still in full swing, with someone at S9 telling me we were not worth his time and more or less parroting the same eulogy of anti-stoke that Biker was spouting. You know honestly, I think Biker prolly isn’t that bad of a dude. People say you can’t be successful being a nice guy and I guess that is the S9 coalition strategy. When it comes down to it, it may be hard for big company execs or cloud-struck photographers to really grasp what we are doing here, but I digress…the board is actually pretty fun to ride. So, screw the ‘tude, and make your own judgements about sad little corporate kings of sad little hills. Let’s just ride!

The Ride. Initial riding was done at the Trace Breaker, a semi-slo, left hander. The first thing that struck me was how amazingly accessible the tail was. It was really well placed and easy to utilize. I am a very “four wheels down” grounded sort of rider but this deck was really just begging you to slap its tail. I was whipping drift carves easy on my first sessions. I found the deck to be very responsive but not overly accurate in its lines --the bushings were way soft. For conventional trucks, however, the M1’s really let you slap out alot of carve.

A friend said he “found the flex of the board to be firm and quite stable, although the trucks are a turny, unstable style. At lower speeds the deck is downright agile with the Gullwings, although twice I had to stop because hard turns caused the lower bushing to come out of the seat, then leave the trucks skewed at an angle instead of going straight. One such event left the board turning instead of straightening out, and resulted in a bail that hurt the board way more than me. I think the simple fix is just to use a better bushing and that the OEM units are just way too soft to maintain their shape. Neighbors and kids on campus liked the look of the deck and were evenly split about the nose: some thought it looked cartoonish and stupid, but the kick-flipper in my neighborhood used it to toss the board around like a giant street deck. He really liked the board.”

Almost every rider that checked out the deck knew of my issues with it and almost every person really liked it. Heck I liked it and I almost sold out my integrity just to get to test it. Then again here I am riding (writing) the review so stoke or not, I am good to my word. I had more than one or two of the riders tail dragging just kicking it around showing how without even stepping on the deck before what an adaptable shape it really was.

The nose and the tail in by opinion are a duality, I really liked the tail but could have done without the nose. More than one of the riders I lent it out to would just whip it all over the place making it obvious to me that the nose was just as utilitarian as I found the tail but eh, riding for me, didn’t need the nose. The concave, however, was killer: no worries on that just perfect slope as a toe and heel catch for placing the feet in standup and just drifting it out.

I really had a blast with it on bigger stuff. Hitting the Devils Backbone and Loretta, I would slather the hill with huge speed drifts just chalking my lines on the hill really shredding the thane. On the faster runs, my drop-knees tended to force my rear foot into the wheel well but I never had any problems, it was just awkward. The cutouts provide no-fear carving and a really sick feel just slapping your weight into the rail and feeling the M1’s crank. Not highly accurate, like I said, but defiantly a high-speed carving delight. Eventually I was pulling slide manuals on my toeside and just ripping the pendys at high speeds. The shape really is conducive to soft wheel sliding and these krypts really give up the line when you push’m. Method was slapping down surrender 360’s today on Pump Station like it was nothing. Where does the skill end and the deck begin. In the mind, I would say. Perception is everything, dig?

Conclusions: This board has way more stoke than its maker! If you’re looking for an adaptable shredder then maybe it’s your deal. It carries too much baggage to find a home in my quiver, which is good ‘cause I have to give it back this week. But, it shows that the designers and marketing team at Dregs are still cooking up unique skateboards with radical graphics on them.