The Firm skateboards' newest pro Bob Burnquist was recently spotted doing an air 30 feet above the 405 freeway in Carson, California. While it seemed the air might have broken Danny Way 's record, it was later discovered that it wasn't in fact Bob, but instead an Oakley billboard with his likeness on it.
Osiris shoes will be premiering their new skate video The Storm on September 9, 1999 at Spreckles Theater in downtown San Diego. The premiere will coincide with the Fall Action Sports Retailer Trade Expo, and all who care to check it out are officially invited. The video will be released worldwide on September 19.
In an attempt to keep the Tech Deck-generated demand for realistic skate toys fulfilled, Los Angeles-based Imperial Toy Co. is releasing a line of six-inch-tall plastic figurines in the likenesses of Danny Way , Rick Howard , Rob Dyrdek , Colin McKay , and Bob Burnquist . The scheduled release date for the molded toys is end of September 1999, and the figures should retail for between $5.99–6.99, and, in true Tech Deck fashion, will be sold everywhere. Rumor is, if the first series does well, figures with movable joints will follow.
There are some new additions to skateboarding's extended, dysfunctional family. Deluxe Distribution's Jim Thiebaud is the proud father of a six-pound, twelve-ounce boy named Jack born on June 18, and IASC's Jim Fitzpatrick is the proud grandfather of an eight-pound, six-ounce boy named Gavin born June 30. Jim informed us Jack's first outing was to a Bay Area skatepark, where he "got violent diarrhea." Both babies are in perfect health and on their way to promising skateboard careers.
Oops. In the captions on the opening spread of the 1998 TransWorld SKATEboarding Readers' Poll Awards article (September 1999) we wrote that Tony Tieu was standing next to Brandon Turner and some others, but we were wrong. It's Toan Nguyen , damn it! Sorry, Toan.
Recent team changes include Adil Dyani riding for Lethal skateboards, Sluggo riding for United clothing, Jerry Hsu turning pro for Maple, James Craig getting on DVS, Danny Garcia getting sponsored by Matix, and Phil Hajal riding for a new pad company called Infinite.
Neal Mims is the newest addition to the Droors team, putting him in quite impressive company. The Floridian joins Rick McCrank , Ronnie Creager , Caine Gayle , Chany Jeanguenin , Cairo Foster , and this year's Dortmund World Cup street champion Brian Anderson . Dub clothing's skate roster now includes Rob Dyrdek , Josh Kalis , Kevin Taylor , and Stevie Williams .
Birdhouse's Bucky Lasek and Tony Hawk have been on quite a streak lately. Bucky's won the last three vert contests he's entered - the San Diego X-Games, the Northampton Radlands, and the Dortmund World Cup - and, after thirteen years of trying, Tony Hawk pulled the first-ever 900 during the best-trick competition at the X-Games. Check out his groundbreaking maneuver in our next issue, three months after it happened.
On a final note, on June 26, 1999 photographer/film maker extraordinaire Spike Jonze wed longtime girlfriend Sophia Coppola (actress/daughter of genius father Francis Ford ) at the bride's father's winery. Among the groomsmen were Rick Howard , Andy Jenkins , and Mark Lewman . We wish the newlywed couple luck and love.
