The perfect collab | Simply Ranked
Plus: a pretty good collab, a ho-hum collab, Kawhi x Tiago, an anniversary, and more.
The definitive weekly ranking and analysis of all the skateboarding and other things online that I cannot stop consuming and how it makes me feel, personally.
The perfect collab
Rank: 10/10
Mood: 💻🤝🛹
Last spring, when responding to one of my many newsletter entries where I whinged about the ongoing churn of low-effort brand collaborations in the skateboarding space, Michelle Pezel of Antisocial Skateboard Shop suggested that we — the shop and this very newsletter — do a collab. The thing I had just been talking shit about.
Was this in jest? A deserved ribbing at my continued negativity? I mean, a collab between a special interest blog and a skateboard shop — had this ever been done? Could it even be done? It turns out, yes, it can, and now here we are, with some lovely mugs, t-shirts, and stickers celebrating this team-up and featuring wonderful illustrations by Hiller Goodspeed. Some are calling it the perfect collab.
Michelle, Rick, and Antisocial are the best, and it's an honour to abandon my personally held beliefs to present you with this Top Tier Swag.
For those who like to do their morning reading with a hot beverage, you may enjoy the 15oz ceramic Mug on Mug Mug.
For those with a closet full of graphic tees, here's another one for the collection. The Stinkbug is printed on a Comfort Colors® 1717 Heavyweight Adult Tee and comes in two colours (Pepper and Berry) and sizes small, medium, large, XL, and 2XL.
If you'd like any of this stuff, you can get it in person at Antisocial, online at antisocialshopworldwide.com later today, or if you subscribe or upgrade your Simple Magic subscription to a paid tier, I'll send you some as thanks (while supplies last).
There are two paid subscription tiers, Custodian of Simple Magic and Champion of Simple Magic, that you can sign up for monthly/annually for $2.5/$25 or $5/$50.
Become a Custodian of Simple Magic, and you'll get a bunch of stickers, a shirt, or a mug — your choice. Want to be a Champion of Simple Magic? You'll get a whole whack of stickers, a mug, and a shirt. Wow!
Be sure to email me at colenowicki [at] gmail.com first to confirm I've got what you want left before you give me your money. If you're already a paid subscriber, shoot me a message and I'll send you what you want while I've got it.
A pretty good collab
Rank: 7/10
Mood: 👹🤝🛹
Hey, not every collab can be perfect and not every collab is for everyone. Supreme's most recent partnership with Thrasher Magazine is not bad by any means. In fact, I'd say it's pretty good. The items the collaboration is built around are not to my taste, but the effort that went into marketing them — sending a handful of Supreme's roster to England and Scotland so they can film a solid Johnny Wilson-produced promotional video — is commendable and far beyond what most companies with coffers that have any semblance of depth do.
However, as I wrote this on Monday morning, the day the video went live, I couldn't find any more information on the collab items, and there were no relevant links in the YouTube video description or on Thrasher's site. I updated this on Wednesday to note that Supreme posted on Tuesday that the collection will go on sale this Friday. (Whew)
It is interesting that Thrasher and Supreme, likely the two most recognizable brand names to come out of the skateboarding market, would go to those lengths and announce this collab without the necessary product info at hand. I realize Supreme's whole thing is being willfully obtuse, teasing drops, and whatnot — and I'm no streetwear marketing genius — but as a guy whose attention span has been frayed by the internet as most others have, I will probably have forgotten about this by the time I press publish on today's newsletter [Editor's note: I had], which doesn't bode well for the regular Joe Consumers who might have been interested in picking up a slick Neckface-styled work coat while the hype was at its peak.
That aside, we got a couple of good Kevin Bradley clips out of it. Casper Brooker, too. Rowan Zorilla is always going to impress and Troy Gipson is a treat. If that wasn't enough, we got a Stu Graham flyout.
How does one gauge the success of a brand collab? Sales? Social media metrics? Entertainment value? I'm curious if there is evidence that the industry's long-standing commitment to brand collaborations bears out financially, or can one subsist solely on the hype they generate around their products as a whole? As Supreme's ailing revenue and recent sale to the owner of Oakley Eyewear might imply, no.
So, in this instance, for them to still put this level of effort in, I say sincerely: thank you.
A very good (sorta) collab
Rank: 9/10
Mood: 🏀🤝🛹
You would not be wrong to point out that the theme of this week's newsletter, which has become "brand collabs," is undermined by the inclusion of New Balance Numeric's recent promotional efforts for what is being called the Kawhi 4 x Tiago Lemos Collection. New Balance is one brand, not two, so how can this be a collab? Let me make my case:
- The personal brands of Kawhi Leonard and Tiago Lemos are collaborating.
- This is a sub-brand collab between New Balance Basketball and New Balance Numeric.
- There is an "x" between Leonard and Lemos' names, which can only mean a collab has taken place.
- Leonard won the Raptors a championship.
Satisfied? Let us continue. The marketing copy for this collab explains it thusly:
"After decades of skateboarding interpreting and reimagining basketball silhouettes, for the first time ever basketball is turning towards skateboarding for inspiration. The Kawhi 4 x Tiago Lemos Collection represents the symbiotic relationship between basketball and skateboarding’s deep cultures, while celebrating the stories of two icons that share a mutual respect for the street and court."
Sure, why not. The famously staid and stoic personality of Leonard is on display as he flatly narrates the ad spot while poorly filming Lemos on an iPhone as the latter switch-heelflips over a picnic table. It is, as is any collab's promotional offering worth its salt, entertaining. It makes me wonder how much Leonard got paid to make his way down to that empty schoolyard to watch Tiago work, as it's fair to assume a star of his stature and disposition doesn't get out of bed for free.
If Leonard wasn't already one of my guys, in the piece he charmingly, if unconvincingly, claims to have skated in his youth in schoolyards just like this.
I like to imagine they made him hop the fence to get in.
A ho-hum collab (featuring an outstanding Cordano Russell)
Rank: 5/10 (Russell 10/10)
Mood: 👼🤝🛹
That's correct; this is the second week in a row of extended Cordano Russell coverage and musings. Is that too much? Nah. I'd contend it's not enough. If Simple Magic became a regular propaganda rag for Russell, that would be fine with me. He isn't just one of the most exciting skateboarders currently on the scene; he's also one of its most interesting characters.
Take this recent commercial for a collaboration between Toy Machine Skateboards and Bronson Speed Co. While ho-hum in nature and execution — why do bearings need to collab with anyone or anything? — its subsequent promotional video does give us a fascinating eight-minute look into Russell's process when gearing up to take on what most others would consider a dauntingly large handrail. That process appears finely tuned, as it takes just a few flatground tricks before the former football player jumps down the rail, encouraged by his father, who hangs around the periphery of the action. It seems like most days are bring-your-dad-to-work-day for the younger Russell, which is special in its own right, as their relationship falls somewhere between father/son, coach/athlete, and best friends.
After a quick succession of warm-up tricks down the rail, Russell starts to throw out a very Russell combination — half-Cab-heelflip-boardslide. Approaching handrails in the fakie stance is something Russell has made his own. From fakie-heelflip-backside-lipslides to fakie-frontside-270-boardslides, he has an unusual arsenal of maneuvers that aren't always the most eye-pleasing, but their difficulty factor cannot be questioned.
The half-Cab-heelflip-boardslide falls into that category. It's a trick that many have attempted on a flatbar in their youth; the grom-quotient of stringing together these rudimentary tricks is high, but to do it down a rail of this size is far beyond those criticisms. He struggles for a time, taking a few good slams in the process, but eventually lands it in the most Russell-appropriate fashion: popping so high that he only touches down on the last foot of the rail.
Well, touches down isn't quite right, as he slams his whole 230lbs frame onto the slender metal railing before crashing back onto earth. There is an aftershock. The handrail wobbles. The photographer takes a beat before cheering his subject's success. Russell then celebrates himself, letting a predictable but genuine let's go pierce the afternoon.
A lot has been made of Russell's size and athleticism, which is understandable considering his frame makes him an outlier in the sport, but what also bears mentioning is his mindset. He is having fun, but he is deadly serious about it. He has a mission. A calling even, as his profuse thanks to his higher power makes clear. This platform, his current surge, and the responsibility that comes with it are all a blessing, as he makes clear at the start of the video as the Californian sun bores down.
"It's a hot day. It's a good day, though." Indeed.
More navel-gazing: anniversary edition
Rank: 3/3
Mood: ❤️❤️❤️
Hey, I know I already spent a couple of hundred words talking about the perfect collab, a thing involving this newsletter, but in the context of this newsletter, not what it is purportedly about — writings on "skateboarding, the internet, and other means of escape" — but I have just one more brief bout of navel-gazing to partake in. I appreciate your patience.
The first Friday in September marked the third anniversary of publishing Simple Magic each and every week. Sometimes twice a week. Today, numbers-wise, that amounts to 189 total posts, which includes 158 "Simply Ranked" Friday editions, 26 "Purple Post" essays, and 5 "special editions" (SSOTYs, year-end predictions, and Olympic primers). According to my count, that comes to 376,700 words put into this silly-ass blog.
Considering that, thankfully, I still really enjoy doing this thing. Having the space to write about skateboarding in the ways I want isn't something I take for granted, and it makes it all the more gratifying knowing that people (presumably) enjoy it, so thank you for reading and subscribing. It means a lot. Especially you beautiful sickos who give me your monies.
My goal for the coming year is to try out some new things here. I'm not exactly sure what that'll look like yet, but I'm tinkering with some ideas. Maybe a Hot Ones-style interview series, but instead of eating spicy wings as the hook, guests and I drink from cartons of milk that get progressively further past their expiration dates. Again, still workshopping.
Okay, that's enough. Thanks again. I love you.
Some things to consider:
Samer Kalaf
Ryu Spaeth
Good thing:
Village Psychic
Another good thing:
Luis Paez-Pumar
A sloppy thing:
Max Read
A brand thing from last week:
Cole Nowicki
Another anniversary thing: Yeah, I'm sorry, more navel-gazing. My book Right, Down + Circle came out a year ago yesterday. Big thanks to everyone who has read the thing, picked up a copy, or said nice things about it. It means a lot.
Until next week… things are often easier and more fun when done with others.
Laser Quit Smoking Massage
NEWEST PRESS
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My new collection of essays is available now. I think you might like it. The Edmonton Journal thinks it's a "local book set to make a mark in 2024." The CBC called it "quirky yet insightful." lol.
Book cover by Hiller Goodspeed.
Right, Down + Circle
ECW PRESS
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I wrote a book about the history and cultural impact of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater that you can find at your local bookshop or order online now. I think you might like this one, too.
Here’s what Michael Christie, Giller Prize-nominated author of the novels Greenwood and If I Fall, If I Die, had to say about the thing.
“With incisive and heartfelt writing, Cole Nowicki unlocks the source code of the massively influential cultural phenomenon that is Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, and finds wonderful Easter-eggs of meaning within. Even non-skaters will be wowed by this examination of youth, community, risk, and authenticity and gain a new appreciation of skateboarding’s massive influence upon our larger culture. This is my new favorite book about skateboarding, which isn’t really about skateboarding — it’s about everything.”
Photo via The Palomino.
