Customer Reviews

Skateboard Retrospective: A Collector's Guide

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The selective history of skateboarding thrown into a blender and set for puree. While there's some good historical action photos, and neat collectible skateboards, this book is so full of misinformation and jumbled facts that I don't know what to take for the truth. For example it says that Danny Way was an early pioneer of the air in the 70's. Danny was instrumental to taking vert skating to the next level, but not until the late 80's. The book is also merely a tool for the author to promote his own obscure line of skateboards, and for a small group of collectors to inflate the values of their private collections. As proof that the author has not done his homework, mixed in with the "glossary of skateboarding terms" are rollerblading terms! The book best covers the 60's, but after that it just falls apart. I could site more examples, and rant about how bad it is, but you get the point.

Skateboard Retrospective by rhyn noll is filled with lots of wonderful pictures showing skateboard decks/completes. The antique, vintage, & old school skateboard pictures are simply fantastic! The pictures helped me formulate a plan, then execute a vintage skateboard purchase strategy using this book. My hardcore sidewalk surfer days were 1973-87, on the hills of Univ Calif Berkeley, and flatlands of Palo Alto, Ca. Obviously the vintage section of the book was my favorite!!. I actively buy and use collector books as a guide due to an ebay addiction :-)I have a pretty good idea as to what is a good collector guide book and what is not. Thus, I recommend Skateboard Retrospective for skateboard collectors or anyone interested in general skateboarding history. I am not suggesting this as the historical skateboarding bible. It is interesting reading and the pictures fabulous!! Oh, this book got me back into sidewalk surfing again! Yep, in my suit/tie, bald and fat. Started, 2001 & am going strong as long as I don't fall!!
I can be seen on Sand Hill Rd, the venture capital location of the world... Guess a skateboarder never really grows up!

Ugh, where to start.
This book is full of mistakes,inaccuracies and I found one skater's name misspelled 3 different ways within 2 consecutive pages. The period between 1980 and 1985 is all but missing, and if anything, this book is a blatant self promotion of the author, Rhynn Noll, who happens to be the son of Greg Noll, legendary big wave surfer.
I'd love to know how the publisher, Schiffer books let this slide through with so many mistakes. If skateboard collecting is your thing, there are much better books out there, notably Sean Cliver's "Disposable". It doesn't offer price guides, but then again, Noll's are probably guesses anyway. "Disposable" and its counterpart, whose name escapes me right now, (something about a bible) are the most complete archive of skateboard art in print that I know of.
Avoid this one, not worth the money.