The guest board is a recent phenomenon. In the past, the notion of a skater receiving a model on a company he didn’t ride for—even if his pro career had ended years before—seemed farfetched. Although the occasional am board materialized, actual pro models were reserved for a brand’s pro team.
And then something changed. In the early ‘00s, Krooked, Mark Gonzales’s company, began releasing decks as tributes to riders the Gonz presumably respected. Suddenly, skaters like Henry Sanchez, Shiloh Greathouse and Elissa Steamer—none of whom rode for Krooked—had signature boards bearing the Gonz’s illustrations.
Since then, guest boards have become a staple of many companies’ catalogs. We took a look back and came up with the 10 of the best models ever released.
1. MAGENTA – RICKY OYOLA
As Magenta’s recent clips have shown, the French company has a serious appreciation for the East Coast street skating of the ‘90s. So it made sense that the brand would release a board for Ricky Oyola, whose part in Dan Wolfe’s “Underachievers” laid the blueprint—wallrides, pushing through traffic, high-speed 50-50s, and all—that generations of skaters continue to follow. Naturally, the board’s graphic featured an old shot of Ricky ollieing in the middle of a busy street.
2. BIG MESS – JOHN CARDIEL
Big Mess, a smaller company, has paid tribute to figures like Randy Colvin, Barker Barrett and Keith Meek with its guest models. John Cardiel, one of the most beloved skaters of all time, was an obvious choice for a board. This deck definitely does his legend justice.
3. KROOKED – RAY BARBEE
It’s not like Ray Barbee never got his due, but with this guest board, Krooked showed love for the skater whose effortless lines in Powell-Peralta’s “Ban This” helped shape modern street skating. The graphic was at once a riff on Ray’s seminal ragdoll boards on Powell and a nod to his musical talents. When this came out, there were definitely skaters who hoped Krooked would put Ray on for real.
4. UXA – ZERED BASSETT
After Zered Bassett parted ways with Zoo York, his boys at UXA—Jeff Pang, Peter Huynh and Peter Bici—hooked him up with a guest model on a board. It didn’t take Zered long to link up with Expedition One, but this was definitely a sought-after item upon its release. The red camo graphic featuring the UXA bear might have had something to do with that.
5. SK8MAFIA – GUY MARIANO
If you’ve seen “Pretty Sweet,” you might have noticed Peter Smolik, the founder of Sk8mafia, cheering for Guy Mariano after a switch noseblunt heelflip varial body varial out. Peter is obviously a fan, a fact that this guest board, which pays tribute to one of the most important skaters of all time, only reinforces. The graphic may not be the most sophisticated, but in this case, it really is the sentiment that counts.
6. KROOKED – HENRY SANCHEZ
Henry Sanchez turned pro for Real—which, like Krooked, is distributed by Deluxe—and later switched to Blind, then headed up by Mark Gonzales. So when Krooked gave him a guest board, it was as though his career came full circle. Appropriately enough, the graphic was the Gonz’s rendition of Henry’s first pro model.
7. CLICHÉ – MARK GONZALES
Not that there are criteria for these things, but if there’s any skater who deserves a guest board, it’s Mark Gonzales. By now, the Gonz’s contribution to modern street skating—from some of the earliest handrail tricks through his original noseblunt slides and beyond—is the stuff of legend. Cliché paid its respects to this pioneer by releasing a deck bearing his name and artwork.
8. WELCOME – CHRIS MILLER
When it released this Chris Miller tribute deck, Welcome, a company known for shirking convention, said the board would not mark the beginning of a banal series of guest models. The deck paid homage to Chris, one of the most stylish skaters of the ‘80s, by reinterpreting an iconic graphic from his G&S days. Those yearning to skate one of Chris’s boards again were definitely happy.
9. BLIND – SEAN SHEFFEY
Before putting him on the team, Blind gave Sean Sheffey a model in its Brotherhood series. The board depicted a present-day Sheff standing in front of the silhouette of a graphic he had on Life skateboards. When this came out, the prospect of a comeback from one of skating’s most legendary figures seemed real.
10. KROOKED – JASON JESSEE
Krooked has run its share of classic guest models, but even in a catalog that includes names like Natas Kaupas and Guy Mariano, Jason Jessee’s tribute stood out. In this case, it was all about the Neptune illustration, an ode to Jason’s immortal Santa Cruz graphic. If you managed to cop one of the 200 units Krooked produced, consider yourself lucky.
WRITTEN BY: LUCAS WISENTHAL/Green Label
The second film, set to be released on April 15th, goes behind the scenes with professional skateboarder Arto Saari. Originally from Seinajoki, Finland, recent years have found Saari shifting his focus from a successful skate career to a career in photography.
The upcoming film is said to document some of that transition, sharing the process that is turning photography into his profession.
The third film, set to be released April 29th, follows Greg Hunt, a cinematographer and director from LA. He started out shooting photography in the 90s while living in San Francisco, but it was motion-picture that really captured his heart after experiencing a Super-8 camera.
From there, this newfound passion of his lead to him being a cinematographer for Transworld Skateboard Magazine. His short film follows him on his next adventure: shooting a skateboarding video with the Vans skate team.
The last installment in the series, due out May 13th, is that of Atiba Jefferson. A professional photographer from Colorado Springs, Colorado, his passion for photography began in high school. Combining his new-found creative outlet with his love of skateboarding, he began using his photography to show the world how he viewed the lifestyle of skateboarding.
Naturally, his fascination with skateboarding led him to California, where he would really put his skills to the test, eventually becoming a professional photographer. Since then, he’s done everything from covering Lakers games to shooting portraits of world-famous musicians and athletes. His short film share a brief look into his life as he travels the world, shooting and performing as a musician along the way.
Ray Barbee’s short film is nothing short of spectacular, so to say the rest are highly anticipated by myself — and hopefully you — is a bit of an understatement. Also, it appears Leica will be releasing an interview on their blog alongside each new video, as they have with Ray Barbee, so there’s that to look forward to as well.
To keep up with the series, either mark the dates down in your calendar, or go give Let Us Roam a follow on Vimeo.
