Gordon & Smith Sidecut “Prototype” 1983? For Gator Skateboard Gullwing TeamRider. This is an interesting find. This is a board that has been setting around for a while. I have been trying my best to remember the era and my experiences during the birth of Old School BMX and Skateboarding. I have tried, with due diligence, to place this board in some sort of a timeline. But, please, if there are any G&S historians out there, please step up… Mark was 1st sponsored by Gullwing Trucks before being signed to his 1st actual Skateboard deal with G&S, Gordon & Smith. Side note about my history, and the memory i referenced earlier… I was a vert BMXer in the early and mid 80s. I was “sort of” in the scene, traveling back and forth between Escondido and OKC. Back to G&S and this skateboard. My best friend, neighbor and fellow BMXer, here in Escondido, had a narrow and scary 8ft high x 8ft wide x 16 foot long half-pipe. Standard for the early BMX Plus and Freestyle Magazine readers who used the blueprints from the magazines. Escondido Jeff’s ramp was superbly built by his crafty father. It was just a gnarly 8′wide x 8′ high x 8′ floor. Skinny and very fast. We had a lot of fun on that ramp. Just him and me most of the time. Not many people trying to get air back then. Tight group of people. Then out of nowhere, “Gator” showed up. He had punky Dreadlocks. I don’t remember him bringing anyone. He just came by himself. Jeff’s mom walked him in like a little boy wanting to play. He just wanted to “checkout” the ramp. So, we watched him ride. He was mind blowing. Contrary to reports of arrogance, he was amazingly nice and appreciative to all of us. I had already seen him ride around town, though. My father was a professional photographer and had taken pictures of him around Escondido on several occasions and at the San Pasqual Highschool parking lot. The school parking lot back then had great swells on the edges. It was easy to catch air, do foot plants, hand plants, etc. NOSTALGIA ASIDE AND BACK TO THIS SKATEBOARD. Neal’s (Blender) first board in 1982 was the 1st Sidecut’ G&S Skateboard. G&S asked him what he wanted. He asked them to shape it like Tom Inouye’s board without the bulging out tail because it looked like a penis. Ironically, the next gen “Sidecut” would apparently do just the opposite, bulge out the tail just a little and eventually be call it the “Foil Tail’, then, simply the “Gator Board. The original “Proline Sidecut” and the Sidecut were way different boards than what the Sidecut evolved into in late 82 early 83. Around the same period, Gator is filmed at Del Mar on a “Sidecut” board with full company graphics. Then not long after, his “Sidecut/Foil Tail board was photographed with his “handwritten “Gator” across the belly. Skateboard companies asked skateboarders to draw their own design. While Gator’s name obviously stayed in the middle of the design, his art was disregarded. While, Neil Blender became known as an artist… When Neil submitted his art, he expected G&S to “fix” his art. But, G&S printed it to his exact design. He is ow considered a great skateboard artist. But, the fact that I found this board here in Escondido is intriguing. The fact that this board came out around the same time that Gator was getting huge is intriguing. The fact that Gator was riding as a “Team Rider” for Gullwing around this time and this board is littered with “Gullwing Team Rider” stickers is intriguing. Or, is this all possibly coincidence? Not, many kids that i knew could afford this board back then. For this reason, I have held onto it for a while just to gather more history. The 80s G&S history has been terribly preserved, almost undocumented, and what is documented, is hard to decipher. While at the same time, it has still retained the respect as one of the most rad surf and skate company of the early 80s and in history. Not along ago I found another old board. It was a “Santa Barbara” “Team Member” skateboard. And, though I had done hours and hours of research, I didn’t know much about it at the time. So, I listed the board at a very high price – hoping someone would comment. An actual team member and friend if the creator. Until that moment, there was no way of truly knowing. But, I accepted a lower offer. This board is unfinished wood. No paint, no sealer, nothing. This board although unfinished, has the Proline grip-tape yet it has the “Tail” cut. This board presented here, in my opinion, appears to be a “Prototype” post Neal “Sidecut” board, designed with a slightly flared tail “possibly” to “court ” Gator. The mass market “Sidecut” board was extremely short-lived. It was very temporarily called the “Sidecut” with a few shots of Gator on the “Stock” board at Del Mar. Then the style was changed to “Foil Tail” and subsequently – the “Gator”. This would later become one of the most famous skateboards in history. Unfortunately, the board was made for Gator by G&S. But, then Vision took and mass-marketed the design. Not, much is known about how that was allowed to happen. But, the early Vision board is a almost paper cut-out of the G&S board. And, Gator would never have had this board in the first place with out Tom Inouye & Neil Blender and G&S. Interesting it is the dark world of G&S. These boards were very expensive and certainly not widely produced pre-Gator. So, yes, I believe this is a prototype, ang very quite “possibly” a prototype board designed as for “Gator” to “TEST”. I “believe” it is the FIRST “Gator” board! I can not confirm if this is in fact a prototype made for Gator. I do 100% believe, at the very least, that it is a prototype. I always do deep research before making any claims. I very much believe, very quite possibly, that this was personally owned and given to Mark “Gator” Rogowski by G&S as a prototype to test. If anyone with authority can confirm or not please do. So far, there have been no confirmations or shut downs. This item is in the category “Sporting Goods\Outdoor Sports\Skateboarding & Longboarding\Vintage”. The seller is “mehran917″ and is located in this country: US. This item can be shipped to United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Denmark, Romania, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Estonia, Australia, Greece, Portugal, Cyprus, Slovenia, Japan, China, Sweden, Korea, South, Indonesia, Taiwan, South Africa, Thailand, Belgium, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria, Bahamas, Israel, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Croatia, Republic of, Malaysia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Panama, Jamaica, Barbados, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Brunei Darussalam, Bolivia, Ecuador, Egypt, French Guiana, Guernsey, Gibraltar, Guadeloupe, Iceland, Jersey, Jordan, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Liechtenstein, Sri Lanka, Luxembourg, Monaco, Macau, Martinique, Maldives, Nicaragua, Oman, Peru, Pakistan, Paraguay, Reunion, Vietnam, Uruguay, Russian Federation.
- Brand: G&S Gordon and Smith
- Type: Skateboard
- Custom Bundle: No
- Model: Sidecut – Foil Tail
- Theme: The 70s 80s
- Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
- Modified Item: No
