Just The Facts, Ma'am:
Width: 9.50"
Length: 32.00"
Wheelbase: 15"
Nose: 6"
Tail: 6.75"
Construction: A fairly beefy, 7-ply maple. Tough ass shit, here.
Concave: Double kick, about 5/8" deep, no rocker. "Pretty deep", and uber-stiff. Worked the tits.
Price: $49.95, direct from American Nomad.
The Set Up:
1/2" hard risers, 60mm 92a NOS Santa Cruz Bullets, and Independent 169's. I really like this one...
The Good:
Oh, man... there's a lot to love about this one. First of all, it arrived at my house in pretty short order... which was amazing, since I'd sent a personal check for payment. I thought that would slow things down a bit. But, apparently, it didn't. So, that was cool. And, it was packed well, with a handful of goodies tossed in there... which was a really, really nice touch. Thanks, guys.
The inspiration: The late (and, great) Bernie Tostenson's Brand-X logo. Bernie basically wrote the book on how it's done, kids... everything from inking the actual art, to screening it onto the board. Photo from www.disposablethebook.com. I asked Sean for permission to use it, but I never got an answer... Sean? I hope it's OK, man. If it's not, I'll gladly yank it down...
Once I got the box open, the first thing you can't miss are the Brand-X-throwback, skull-and-crossbones graphics, superimposed over an Alva-like black-to-green, spray-on fade. This fucker is absolutely gorgeous, there's just no arguing about that. Set up with black Bullets, it looks super-classic, and uber-clean. Beautiful.
An old Alva ad, featuring Mr. Danforth. Note the black-to-red fade on his board... that's an Alva trademark, right there. Still pops, to this day.
Then, we have the shape. Oddly enough, the shape didn't really look like the one that was all over the Skull and Bones forums. The shape is kinda hard to really get a handle on, in the photos... which is why, I took a zillion photos of mine for all y'all. The shape is super awesome, though... sort of a more rounded and subtle, Steve Olson sort of shape. Killer...
I guess all that "black" does kinda hide the details. Just think "Olson", and you're gettin' there..
The deck is made in the good 'ol USA. You can super-bonus that shit.
I should add that Jay Kelly and Bill Danforth (the owners) are both skaters, and they're both great dudes. So, you're totally supporting the right kind of blokes, by buying this get-up. Check out the Jay Kelly Interview elsewhere on The Solitary Life; he's a real sport.
Bill workin' hard, out on the road. Which is what he's famous for. Blue-collared and well-traveled layback in Tupelo, Mississippi. Photo courtesy of American Nomad.
The shape is super-functional in all sorts of terrain, from big-ass bowls, to small-ass bowls, to loading dock banks (my favorite of the bunch), to your favorite scurb. The 15" wheelbase is a really, really nice touch. And, the wood is super-tough shit.
All in all, from the purchase to the skate, it was a pretty grand experience. One that I'll probably do again, and again, and again...
The Bad:
There's not a lot of "bad" going on here. The only things that spring to mind are the lack of rocker, which is always a bummer... but, especially on older-school decks, where rocker is an incredibly valuable asset.
That's it, the single complaint that I could muster.
The Final Verdict:
Great product, great price, great guys, and a great buy. How could you possibly go wrong...?!
