Skateboard collecting was once the preserve of a select few skate-nerds. With skateboarding’s massive growth in the last 10 years and with the young guns of the 1990s now well into their 30s, more and more people are looking for those grail decks of their youth to hang on the wall.
A lively community of vintage deck trades and sales thrives on eBay, Facebook pages and forums like skullandbonesskateboards.com. The older heritage companies like Powell and Santa Cruz have not been slow on the uptake in this market and we are now awash with reissues. While great to fill a hole in your collection on the wall these don’t have quite the same feel as the original.
Decks from the early 2000s now litter eBay as people started buying boards at the time purely to save as an investment and sell later. Queue endless Element Bam and Birdhouse Tony Hawk decks, mass-produced with heat-transferred graphics. Add to this, various niche companies making their own versions of defunct brand decks as well as fakes and you have an awful lot to pick through to find something truly interesting and unique.
So we were super stoked to get this Commemorative Alien Workshop Heath Kirchart retirement deck from 2010 here at the SuperEight office. Numbering 40 of only 120 pieces, this is a rare beast. Heath was undoubtedly one of the best street skaters of the late 90’s and first decade of the 21st century, bringing tech to handrails and breaking down barriers in terms of shear size of obstacles it was thought possible on a skateboard. He retired relatively early, going out at the peak of his abilities. The skate world was shocked but impressed with his decision – leave on a high and don’t hang around, milking skateboarding like so many others have done. To mark his retirement, Alien Workshop put out this deck, made unique with the CNC routed bottom laminate and natural wood stain on cherry and walnut veneers. No paint, just beautifully cut wood. Topped off by Heath’s signature on each one. An instant classic.
In the below video, you can how the board was made:
We have also included a gallery of our board (no. 40 / 120) for you to get a closer look, feast your eyes on something very rare in modern skateboarding, a truly unique piece of skate art to commemorate an amazing skater.
