Black Label Skateboards

Professional skateboarder John Lucero founded Black Label Skateboards in 1990; the company is based in Costa Mesa, California. It offers various types of boards, with skulls and black flames being popular designs. Varied Black Label Skateboard deck sizes are also offered, including the 8 x 31 5/8 size, the 7 ¾ x 31 ½, the 7 ¼ x 32 1/8, the 8 1/8 x 32 ½, the 7 7/8 x 31 5/8, 7 ¾ x 31 3/8 and others.

The company has counted quite a few popular professional skateboarders on its team since it was founded. Among these is Mike Vallely, also known as Mike V. Mike started skating when he was around 14 years old, and two years later entered the Virginia Beach pro vert contest. Top pro Neil Blander was impressed by Mike doing handplants and eventually got skateboard legend Stacy Peralta to watch him skate.

Vallely started a company, World Industries, and many experts claim that his Barnyard deck, released in 1990, is responsible for the street skateboard’s gradual transformation into its current shape. It was 9 ½ inches wide by 32 inches long and was seen to be thin at the time it was released; it was similar to a freestyle board deck, in that it had straight rails and a kicked nose that looked like a tail. His career waned until the late 1990s as skateboarding experienced its renaissance. Mike also has a band and has written songs that have appeared in various skateboard video games, including the Tony Hawk series; you can also play as Mike V. in the video game Tony Hawk’s Project 8.

The Black Label Skateboard company also features a division called Emergency (originally named Red Cross) that counts professional skateboard legends among its team members. Emergency boards are designed with old school skateboards in mind, though there are also modern decks, even in larger sizes. Current riders include Duane Peters, while previous riders included Christian Rosha Hosoi.

Duane Peters is believed by many to have invented quite a number of skateboarding tricks, including the layback roll-out, the acid drop into a bowl, the sweeper, the indy air, the fakie hang up and the invert revert, among others. He was dubbed Transworld Skateboarding Magazine’s “Legend” in 2003. Christian Hosoi began skating at six years old and reached a popularity level in the 80s enjoyed only by Tony Hawk, with whom Hosoi had an ongoing rivalry.

The impressive roster of names is simply the frame around the impressive Black Label Skateboard decks that the company has to offer. Black Label Skateboard logos are also found on a variety of Black Label Skateboard clothing lines and accessories as well. You can go online to the official website of the company to check out the Black Label Skateboard picks that you might like the most.