Carlsbad, Calif., January 18th, 2007.First it is, then it isn't! On January 4th, we broke the news of Randal Fuller's sale of his truck company to Sector 9 after our reporters received a very unofficial tip from some very stoked and excited sources that were licking their lips at the opportunity to bring this highly-recognized line in-house. Unable to reach Randal himself, and with very little likelihood of the buyer taking our call, we fleshed out the details, thoughts from the industry and projections about potential impacts as best we could and went to press. The resulting discussion, congratulations and concerns voiced by the skateboard community in this forum thread attracted the attention of many in our sport, including the parties to the deal. Check out the thread to read the concerns, complaints and anticipations projected and then, well, put a scratch through it, folks: the deal has been cancelled!
Randal himself has apparently pulled the plug on the deal with a retraction of his offer to sell. From what we've been able to ascertain, this wasn't an issue over money or politics (Randal Fuller and Steve Lake know each other...it's a smaller community in SoCal longboarding than it may appear from afar), but a simple change of heart by the crusty old surf dog about the legacy he's made for his trucks. (Yeah, we're teasin' Randal, who's crusty but not that old.) It's also apparently, and very understandably, upsetting to the boys at S9 Corporate who could just about taste the sweetness of assured volumes of the most well-known truck in longboarding. Click for more.
The Board Building Contests at the ‘Fish have been a showcase for cool designs, new materials, innovative techniques and builders willing to go outside their envelopes, whether they’re a first-timer or an old hand.Our December ’06 contest included one such exercise in testing limits, presented by Brian Morgan of Feral Arts.If you followed the contest, you know the innovation and the controversy.Whether you followed it or not, we think you’ll want to read Brian’s story…
All Your Crap Boards Are Belong Teh Me
Pressing wood veneer layers to form skateboards is not hard. Doing it well, predictably and consistently is. But what do you tackle when you - and what appears to be everyone else - are able to make veneer boards well?I've got this little sidewall/cap construction process developed to manage durability and production issues. I also have access to my latest (and last, more on that later) generation small production cradle press being prepared for delivery. How does one show off internal engineering to others who share your interest in a way that captures the imagination?
You can tell people about it."Yes Brian, that's all very well but, yadda, yadda, yadda....buh bye."Done it.
You can run around, putting people on your boards, one at a time...Done it.
Lastly, if you're sure it is finally dialed-in, you can enter something so ridiculously stupid in a contest and use da weemons to show it off...Done it!
Some years ago, while getting into building kite, sand, skim and surf boards, I ran headlong into the issues that bite all builders of similar forms: strength, durability, weight, and production complexity. My answer was to move the stringers out to the edges. I coined a cute name by joining stringer and rail into "StringRail" and commenced building boards.A few years later and things are coming together nicely. The building method is mature; the internal debates concerning materials are concluded and now real products are under test. At the same time though, the elusive, single-step, ultra-light composite skateboard production method isn't quite there. In this case, “not there” means the end results either suffer a high failure rate - snapping under load - or are bricks that look like a one-handed short bus kid got busy in a seventh grade shop class.
Such work does not measure up to other products crafted by such as Pavel, Wefunk or most importantly (personally that is), me. It was time to resolve that sore spot and so I decided to try something new.Time to take the wraps off of this pig to see what has been cooking and the results are...Garbage.
The Insect "Dragonfly" — delivered to your door for 100 bucks!
From now through the end of the year, Insect is offering our flagship model, and most popular deck ever, to Silverfish members at a whopping 20% off! On top of that, shipping to any location in the US is FREE! Just so you don't have to bust out your calculator, let us do the math. That's 35 bucks off the regular price! More than enough savings to pick up a new set of wheels for yourself, a run to the liquor store for your holiday party, or maybe a Chia Pet for that special someone in you life.
So here's the deal... the "Dragonfly" fiberglass/birch-core deck in any flex - 100 bucks - On your doorstep. Simple! We're making these extra special by laminating the Silverfish logo right into the 'glass. Get it while it's hot because this is a limited offer and will not be repeated.
The fine print: Due to the fact that all Insect decks are hand made to order, and the fact that this is the busiest season of the year for shipping, we cannot guarantee orders will be delivered in time to be under the Christmas tree. Some will make it, some won't. If your order is a Christmas present for someone other than yourself, let us know during checkout and we will send a gift card ahead of time to the lucky recipient.
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