We’re releasing a small quantity of a new graphic called Deadly Guys. It may look familiar if you’re old enough.
In January of 2004 we travelled from Portland to Vancouver, BC to meet up with Art & Steve Godoy to deliver some of their new boards. It was our first and last “Pro” model, and our second year of business. More on how that came to be later…. Steve was going to be visiting Art so it was the perfect time to see them both in person. We had a great time (more on that too, later…) and I was especially excited to visit P.D.’s Hot Shop, the home of Skull Skates. How excited? Really excited. I had made a pilgrimage from the midwest out to their shop in LA in the late 80’s, and to say it was going to be one of the highlights of the visit for me would be an understatement.
We hung out in the shop for a bit and shot the shit, and all was well. I loaded myself up with about $300 worth of merch including hoodies, t-shirts and one of their Dead Guys long boards because they didn’t have any short boards with that graphic in stock and I wasn’t afraid to ride a long board in public. I’m still not afraid to do that… At the counter as they guy is ringing up my order I casually mentioned we were huge fans and had our own skateboard company with our own coffin model in a different shape. As soon as the words were out my mouth, the shop guy put the longboard back on the rack and gave me a new total with no explanation. When I asked him what was up he said he couldn’t sell me the skateboard because we would just copy it. I told him that was ridiculous because at the time, you could buy most of Skull Skates lineup at the venerable Cal Skate in Portland where I lived, and I purposely wanted to spend my money in Canada at their shop. He was polite but resolute in his refusal to sell me the board. As a result I decided not to buy anything, and left feeling downhearted.
When we came out of hiatus Steve (Grover) wanted some art done fast before we changed our minds. I had art with Trump and Putin almost done for the 3rd Detente model from that orange baboon’s first term that I couldn’t bring myself to finish so I scrambled for ideas. Somehow a riff on Skull Skates Dead Guys rebranded as “Deadly Guys” entered my brain. Where do ideas come from anyway? It seems sort of familiar so I did a web search to make sure I wasn’t copying something preexisting, remix notwithstanding of course. When that came up empty, I cranked out some new art and here we are, Deadly Guys from Cold War Skateboards. Normally I might have balked at this confrontation with a brand I loved, but I remembered my 21 year grudge and said screw it.
So there you have it. The Cold War Deadly Guys model is available in 4 sort-of assorted shapes, each with a 14.5″ wheelbase and 8.5″ wide or so… Steve has ADHD and could’t make it simple. There’s even a warning printed oright on the deck letting you know it’s not a Skull Skates deck, and you should probably buy something from them instead. This is what it is supposed to look like. Temper your expectations, as your results will definitely vary. We’re already getting some pushback on the content, but all 6 of these guys are undeniably deadly.
We haven’t printed anything in about 7 years, and this is predictably not our best work. This background color is actually a split fountain with neon yellow on the outsides and neon green in the middle, but after a few passes it all mixed together into one color. It’s almost as if we are hacks and whoever screened those original Skull boards knew what they were doing. Either that or our ink was too thin. Get yours at select skate shops in Portland, Oregon including Cal Skate, Rips, and Commonwealth. ( …and now Surf Zone in Puerto Rico! )You may have to visit in person or actually (shudder) call them up. Shout out to the ever-glorious Cal Skate, the first shop to carry Cold War, they didn’t hesitate to support us again. Respect.
