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Neil blender coffee break deck8/10/2023 ![]() So with this "safe" assumption in mind, I returned home and boasted about the existence and whereabouts of this board to a collector in Canada who had a notorious thing for Natas decks. What with the obvious history and location of the shop, I just figured I would be laughed right back out the door. I never bothered to ask Jim, the owner of the shop, if he'd consider selling the Natas. The walls and ceiling of this shop were then tiled with vintage boards: everything from '80s Sims, Powell-Peralta, Dogtown, S.M.A., Vision, Schmitt Stix, and Rip City to early–'90s World Industries, Blind, Plan B, H-Street, and 101, but the keystone, I thought, was an original, unskated, canary yellow Natas that he had autographed in 1985. I was a novice then, not yet savvy to the wiles needed to compete amongst my collecting peers, and it was in this green state that I entered Rip City Skates in Santa Monica, California. I have many regrets as a self-acknowledged and semi-retired collector of skateboards, but perhaps one of my biggest to date involves the first SMA Natas. Just one of the perks of being a nimble garage operation, I suppose, because once SMA flew north to Santa Cruz this model was only printed in a conventional color scheme on light blue, white, and, if I'm not mistaken, black dips without the distinguishing split-fountain blend in the foliage. Unlike the first Natas, which was produced exclusively in yellow, this model was not only screened in an assortment of limited and unexpected color ways but certain boards were done up in automotive-like metallics, while others received a special gloss black spray-coating with hot pink rail edges. What Kevin Ancell had started, artist Chris Buchinsky came in and spruced up in 1986 with a tropical landscape that fleshed out the graphic to its full board shape potential.īeyond that, though, and what differentiated this version of the board from its 1987 counterpart manufactured at NHS, was the screen-printing and overall paint jobs. My explanations for all were, in general, tongue-in-cheek with a liberal dose of sincerity and/or humility, but my reasoning on the SMA Natas was this: "Who wouldn't want to stake their professional claim on having drawn the panther on Natas's first deck?"īut if I had to take my pick of "the one" Natas board to own it would have to be his second model on Santa Monica Airlines before the brand merged with NHS in 1987. ![]() Christ, Santa Cruz Rob Roskopp I, Blind Danny Way Nuke Baby, and the very first Santa Monica Airlines Natas Kaupas model. Included on that list were the following: G&S Neil Blender Coffee Break, Zorlac John Gibson Cow Skull (the Pushead version), 101 Natas Kaupas Devil Worship, Santa Cruz Jeff Grosso Toy Box, Blind Guy Mariano Accidental Gun Death, Powell-Peralta Steve Caballero OG Dragon, Blind Jason Lee American Icons, Powell-Peralta Mike McGill Skull & Snake, 101 Gabriel Rodriguez Jesus H. In 2002 I was contacted by Aaron Meza to whip out a space-filler article for Skateboarder about the Top 12 board graphics that I wish I'd created. ![]() ![]() I'm only dredging it up now because: 1) It pertains to the graphic legacy of Natas Kaupas, whom we are celebrating this month with an extra fucking special guest model, so it is of a rather relevant nature and 2) Some of the information is long since outdated, which irks my OCD to no end, so it gives me a chance to make a few timely edits and updates. ![]() To my less than enthused surprise the remnants of the site can still be found on the interweb, even though it was abandoned long ago and sure as hell stopped paying the monthly rent. But there it remains, a faded Modelo can littering the back roads of the information super highway. The following is an 11-year-old post of mine from the brief window of time when I'd set up a blahg to go hand-in-glove with my two Disposable books, circa December 2009–June 2011. ![]()
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