I've been in the skate scene since 1989, and I can tell you skating has been mainstream since the first X Games and Tony Hawk Pro Skater came out. All the gate keeping in the community is ridiculous because skateboarding sold out a long time ago.

You can't do a Rise and Fall if there was no fall..

I've been skateboarding since 1992. And I love when skateboard brands get noticed by the mainstream. It means they're thriving. Brand is a business. And businesses have to make money. As long as they're still keeping their core values, they're still good in my book.

Rip Jake Phelps

damn, no mention of Jake passing. . thats pretty f-up

Great video about Thrasher, however you failed to mention the two most important people who Created the Magazine AND were the reason Thrasher mag was totally core for so long- Kevin Thatcher (the First editor, Creator of the mag, and artist who created the first cover, and MOFO- the first photo editor, and photo journalist who wrote most of the stories and took most of the photos.) The skateboarding World and Thrasher owes EVERYTHING to these two men- Visionaries who were let go without even a thank you for their groundbreaking work for DECADES before the Phelper was made editor to completely Destroy and sell out The Most Core Mag in Skateboarding History.

Kinda fucked up to not mention Jake's passing. Also bananas that people don't understand that they are a business trying to survive in a failing economy where skateboarding as a whole isn't in the public eye as much as it was a decade ago.

I always wondered what happened with the all of a sudden popularity of Thrasher magazine clothing. I had a subscription for about 3 years or more in early 90s. Being from a small town in Pennsylvania Thrasher magazine was my connection to the bigger world of skateboarding. The music got my attention more in long run and found out about a ton of awesome bands idk they used to have interviews with lots of punk rock and hardcore bands that is what I liked best about Thrasher. I used to order so much stuff through that magazine.

Fun fact : skate and destroy was the slogan .skate or die was an 80s arcade game.both awesome

This video was 12mins of saying “skaters don’t like Thrasher anymore because it became mainstream” in different ways.

Sorry, but Thrasher has never fallen. It’s been around forever and has never gone out of business, unlike every other skate mag (and surf and snowboard mag). It’s got the most watched KZfaq channel in all of skating and it’s Skater Of The Year Award is the most respected and desired of all. Who cares if celebrities started wearing Thrasher merch? BFD. The Izod collab is questionable but Thrasher is just a small privately owned company and does want to survive. Especially considering they’re still printing a magazine, and magazines have pretty much gone the way of the dinosaurs. Thrasher has been supporting skateboarding for decades and they deserve immense respect and credit for their hard work in representing the pure heart and soul of skateboarding🙏❤️

It seams like most of the Top Skaters have moved down here in San Diego - good choice! I worked at Thrasher in 1987 for a little over a year. I owe that to Steve Cab introducing me to MoFo at a party in San Jose. I got my story submitted into Thrasher called "Pacific Theater" about me skating all over the Pacific in Asia, mostly Japan while in the US Navy on the USS Midway. Anyway I worked in Production at the Magazine mostly making T-Shirts and sending our products out to stores and Skateparks. MoFo, Matt Etherege, and another guy all played in a band called "The Drunk Injuns" and they were the coolest band! Oh - memories! I remember Maria (Fausto's Niece) Secretary, KT editor, MoFo, Fausto & Eric. Sorry to hear of Fausto passing away from a Bicycle accident and Eric passing away from - well - not a good scene. It was an interesting part of my life!

Got my first copy of Thrasher around 1986 at Kona in Jacksonville, FL. The magazine was made for us and encouraged us to continue skating regardless of the push back we received from the masses. Who gives a sh*t if they decided after several decades to sell their gear in a few mainstream stores, collaborate with Lacoste or make a few extra dollars. Long live Thrasher!

Thrasher definitely got me into finding out about underground bands like Napalm death, Nirvana and GG Allin and this was back in the 80s .

My first thrasher had the Red Hot chili peppers in it as a new punk band they had just been in the movie Thrashin! The ink used to come off on my fingertips.

most underrated channel. keep going bro i promise your channel is gonna blow up

My dude your channel is going to explode one day. Great quality content, very well done.

I've been a skater in the Philadelphia area for 20+ years and everything you said is completely accurate, great video!

I've been a core skateboarder and underground punk for over 23 years, I get the critic, I know the position of the culture... and you've done a great job here with the history and the break down. You're points are valid. but can we just admit that Zumiez does care about skating? I've been with the company for a few years and I gotta tell you guys. There's not a single company event I have attended where skateboarding hasn't been spotlighted and catered too. More than half the homies in home office are tattooed punk rock kids trying to survive in a world where capitalism won, and they've found a business that lets us be us, throw hook ups to the locals, all while speaking our minds far more than any other chain would ever allow. I've literally watched us take small brands and do whatever we can to help them getting printing contracts and stay afloat. Even our company training events always end in big skate sessions and hang out time with pro's and skate companies. We can say moving in to the malls was wrong, but on the business side capitalism doesn't care how "true clvt" a brand is. Transworld mag? gone. Skateboarder mag? gone. all the other big mags? gone. Do I dislike celebrities' in thrasher clothes, absolutely yes. Do streetwear fashion heads know about twisted ankles from front boards down Hubba's? no. they don't know shit. BUT if that's what it took to keep the bible alive for all of us, then I'll swallow that pill. Because with out those shirt sales thrasher would of folded like the rest, and for every one of them eventually a kid walks into the mall and gets exposed to the magazine and the youth is only thing that will keep this alive. accessible or not. we -need- a entry point into counter culture. Is there a weird dynamic of getting anti-consumer messaging from a consumer product? absolutely. But in a world as plastic and as fast as the DLC, subscription service, tiktok, consume, hype, consumer world we live in. Winning over hearts and minds is a battle of attrition, and I'll take what I can get.

Thrasher Skate and Destroy for PlayStation 1 was literally what got me into skateboarding. I owe my love and passion for skateboarding to Thrasher.

Thrasher is still the biggest skateboard mag and news source. They rack up millions of views on KZfaq every year and if you’re a skater the most credit you’re gonna get is a thrasher cover and the SOTY award they give out. You know you’re the best of the best when your video part drops on thrashers channel.

Hi Michael, well documented story! My problem with Thrasher : I subscribed 20 years ago, then last year, I started skipping issues, no new magazines for 2 or 3 months. I sent a couple of complaints but nobody is responsible for "publications lost in international postal service " , neither Thrasher nor US Mail nor french LaPoste. I'm sure there's some lousy dude stealing it somewhere on the line but nobody is responsible. So I sent more angry emails to Thrasher and without me asking for it, they decided to refund my last subscription renewal. All I wanted was to actually receive the mags and I got dropped out. After more than 20 years of subscription, it hurts.

Great videos man. Just binged through your videos, can't wait for more.

I just miss king of the road and bust or bail. I don't believe Thrasher has fallen. They are actually on the top of their game, they have just adapted to the nex gen in skateboarding. I think Thrasher will always be the top skateboarding magazine, even though there are a lot of other skate mags, no one really comes close to the importance of Thrasher, its legacy and its success, past, present and obviously its future.

Good video. ive been skating for over 22 years and im happy that today I can purchase thrasher clothing (I live in Brazil) when i was 15 I had to import the magazines and could only dream about getting a shirt.

My Dad made me get a checking account in fall 1986 at age 15. The very first check I wrote was to Thrasher mag for a green crew neck Thrasher sweatshirt. Check # 2 went to Skip Englbom for a pair of SMA Natas rails. Those went on that black JFA mini I was riding then.

If I had known as a teenager that they were selling Thrasher T-shirts down at the mall in the 1980's for the masses to buy and wear, I would not have worn their t-shirts. Skate Harassment was a real thing for me growing up skating so seeing the masses become more accepting of skating means that hopefully future generations will not have their skateboards snatched up so quickly by the deans at their high school or get harassed by people so much out on the streets or fun spots. Having the world wake up to the greatness of skateboarding is not such a bad thing IMHO.

The Rise and Riser of thrasher 🤘🏼

Here before this channel blows up

Damn this takes me back!!! I remember it being so hard to find the magazine in my area, but when you had one , you became a God in town…until someone got the newest addition! I always liked Gonz!!! I had his deck with Indy trucks, PnP crossbone wheels, NMB bearings!!! I thought I was bad ass! Cool video! I really enjoyed it!!!

I own and run a skate/surf shop. We made a ton of money through the Thrasher bubble from normal customers. But as of night now we don't stock Thrasher and I refused to look at it. I wouldn't be surprised if it goes the way of world industries

Aye bro I appreciate that you share both perspectives when it comes to some hot issues on these brands you share

I have been skateboarding since 1973. At that point in time, I had heroes in the industry. skaters like Patti McGee and so on. skateboarding has come and gone. One decade starts out great, the end of the decade completely disappears. skateboarding will always be here. It’s not main stream, it’s a fashion statement/fad. All that could change, but then it would be considered sold out. let’s face it. Without becoming like a little league and starting with the youth, it will never be something considered necessary. most skateboarders consider it a throwaway. not even winning it in the Olympics. and yet the most focal points of what I considered Skateboarding was a backyard rep or somewhere in an unmarked location in the woods. what’s my point here? My point is, Skateboarding can be everything. It can be punk rock, it can be a fashion statement. It could be in the middle of a cornfield in Indiana on a ramp built out of crates and paneling. The one thing that we all should make sure happens with our most useless wooden toy is that it’s not forgotten. That has a solid history of where it came from and how it got to wherever it ends up. We need to understand that if we don’t start with the young youth that does fun loving thing we cherish will continue to go up and down and struggle. because bringing in the youth and making it like a little league will bring in revenues that will actually make that happen. If you look back at the history on why Skateboarding goes up and down, it’s because the corporations make mistakes because they’re running the show. That is a fact. when the people lead, the leaders follow. When the people do nothing, that is exactly what you’ll have at what you cherish the most. nothing. It’s not yours. It’s who you’re buying the useless toy from that owns what you cherish so much. what I’m saying here is, this is ours. Cherish it. Make it a part of your entire community as it promotes uniting each other. Or, we could behave like we’re hard-core then realized as we get older our children can’t wear a helmet when they skate down a 22 stair handrail because the magazines won’t post the picture. Or they won’t win the contest because they didn’t wear a helmet. Could you imagine that in any other sport? Seriously think about your child have to play FullContact football with no gear. most state officials would consider that child abuse. when I was a kid, I never wore pads. But when I went to the skate park, it was mandatory. That was Clearwater Skateboard Park in Clearwater Florida. at the time I felt like that was stupid. But now at 60 years old I can’t walk right. that’s what I mean by us as individuals taking care of our sport. Taking care of that fad. Taking care of that fashion statement. taking care of the most amazing thing that ever become of a subculture. take possession of your cherished useless wooden toy. Pull it out of the hands of the big corporations. put it in the hands of you, we the people. Our neighbors, our fellow individuals in a community. i’m not going to say who told me this from thrasher magazine. But in the end, he looked me in the eyes and said, in the end, God wins. I thought to myself, what a profound statement. what does that have to do with Skateboarding? maybe everything. I don’t know. I’m just dialing about how cool the thing we all love the most is and how throughout the decades it comes and goes. it comes and goes, because we let it. There’s other people who want to guide where we’re going with it. blah blah blah blah blah. HAHAHAHAHAHAAHA! no matter what. I love this useless wooden toy as much as I love the entire community. skateboarders are not just skateboarders, we are family. GO US! 🤙🏼🍻🫡🏴‍☠️ #OfTheEpic #ItIsUs

It will still be here when the cool kids walk away.

Never even wore thrasher when I did skate lol. It’s like wearing a band tee and not listening to that bad.

I will never wear Thrasher clothes until I can kickflip. I'm 49 and started skating in August 22. But I love Indie Trucks

I bought my first thrasher magazine in the spring of 1988 and had a subscription until about 1994. I ended up buying a maroon thrasher shirt that’s actually featured in this video about 4-5 years ago and shortly after the brand blew up. Now I feel if I’m wearing it people may think I’m a poser 😀

Eh, I think the Lacoste collab was beyond whack and seeing the t shirts everywhere is like seeing people wear band t shirts and not listening to the music, but everything they've done with Vice was actually good and gives them extra resources to make longer, better presented docs and videos. Honestly, if they would just do the galaxy brain move (and they might already) of selling different clothes exclusively to skate shops, I don't see the problem. Skating has always had its commercial side and it's a necessary evil to keep companies afloat or to help them expand and reach more skaters, but the thing you neglect to mention is that MAGAZINES are damn hard to make any money off today. And considering that they're constantly putting out a wholly free flow of videos now where they didn't before, they have to find their money somewhere.

Nike bought their way into skating years ago and now they are a staple and this opened the floodgates for any and all brands to homogenize our culture. I would love a Target sponsorship BTW

Hey! It was rad to learn more about the magazine and scene. Could you tell me what the clip at 0.42 is from (The guys in the van playing guitar with doom paint?)

THE THRASHER EMPIRE SHALL NEVER FALL!!! BURNETT CARRIES US WELL AFTER THE FALL OF PHELPS!!! I FOR ONE OF MANY WOULD HONORABLY CARRY ON THE THRASHER CROWN AFTER BURNETTS REIGN!!! LONG LIVE THRASHER MAG!!!

There style is true skate culture. - 40 year old 90s kid

Vice can hardly be grouped in the same sell out categories such as zumiez. Cmon man.

the most upsetting thing about the lacoste shirt is that when i was in school, it was us skaters vs the jocks, and jocks wore lacoste shirts and we (well 1 friend lol) had thrasher shirts. feels like when the money got right like thrasher ditched us for that 'up river' money

Thrasher mag used to have some of the best band reviews back in the mid 80's, and i thank them for that

When Phelps passed, you started seeing cartoony Thrasher intros and that was a sign the company switched into the wrong hands, Burnett is just not anti establishment enough and will/has made Thrasher a shell of its former self

My brother s friend he has known since school, is the owners of thrasher's son. Back in school (in the 90's) I had the 2 foot thrasher logo stickers in like 10 different colors. I still got a thrasher hoodie with the thrasher logo and a pentagram with a goat head and trucks in it to this day. The logo that's half hidden behind the King of the Road logo in this video.

I started reading Thrasher in 1986 nd stopped about 1993 when I graduated high school. I don't recall anybody I skated with wearing Thrasher clothes. I'm from the Chicago area, and our mall sold skateboards back in the day.

"Skate or Die" was around way before Jake Phelps / 1993. Everyone was tagging it on their grip tape and school book covers way back in 1986. I know the bumper stickers were out around then too.

This channel WILL GROW. Huge.

Thrasher is still everywhere. I skate twice a week and multiple people are always wearing it at the skatepark

If you have an original Thrasher Magazine from the 80s or 90s, or in my case both! Really a shitload of em! And all are still great reads 📚 to this day! Still frame pics, captions, miss the old days

Excuse me please but I am a 62 year old SF born skater Thrasher is named after the empty public pool we use to session in San Leandro Ask Bryce or the Guerrero Brothers

Should have talked about why they decided to put a pentagram as their logo.

Great video. I agree with your basic premises. I remember when I first saw one of my high school students wearing a thrasher sweater... "that's weird," I thought. "How do they know about this magazine I had bought in the late 80s?" This was 2014.

I love you videos. Keep up the good work

This video is a 14 minute "tell me you know nothing about Thrasher". Jake died years ago. It seems like you're blaming him for things you don't like. The fact that Thrasher is still able to exist in magazine form is because of all the non-skaters buying Thrasher shirts. They're financing what is essentially a dead format for skaters. Good. Thanks. Enjoy your shirt. Thank God that Thrasher still exists. I first subscribed to Thrasher in 1987 and I was able to get my son a subscription a few years ago. It was a great feeling.

You know I was skateboarding before I even knew about Tony hawk or thrasher

As a skater thru mid 80's-2015ish from PDX, ive seen every fad and gimmick that was a part of skating. I was lucky enough to have a parent that supported my strange addiction to self mutilation that we refer to as skateboarding. I am a life long member to the Thrasher mag subscription, probably still gettin mags at the address of my youth.. anyways, skateboarding really was a crime and you needed to be somewhat of a hoodlum to participate in bombing spots. This included, running from the cops, avoiding the crazies that HATED you 'destroying' their picture perfect whatevers.. Thrasher magazine was one of the only places you could get new information on the pros, ams and products. I remember meticulously goin over ever square inch of this 'skaters bible' from cover to cover to see who had the most tweaked out japan or the hugest boneless on vert. Being lucky enough to grow up near Portland, and still skating, in the early 90s-2ks i got to experience the gnarl we call Burnside. Nothing will compare to that time in my life.. nothing! I dont skate anymore as i have the fear now but i will support skating untill the day i die. I dgaf if skating is mainstream or not, i dgaf if Zumiez sells boards n shirts to lil groms.. skating is not a thing, its a battle determined by how much you are willing to risk to push yourself out of your comfort zone.. self enlightenment, not whos wearing what shirt.. skateboarding doent care, skateboarding has no feelings.. so, SKATE AND DESTROY!!

This company will never die iv never got a thrasher outfit but im a thrasher for life p.d. rip Phil i loved the day i met you and feel blessed for being put on kotr id get the tattoo anyday hommie much love a thrasher for life j

Thrasher is the only skatemag still on the shelves that I ever see. In the past ud have 4 or 5 different mags.

If Thrasher fell off then I'll be falling happily off with it!

you sir deserve more subs, keep up the good work

"Skate or die" probably came from the early 80's Zorlac Skateboard printed ad "Skate Tough or Die". If I say, "skate tough or kill yo mama" it is only a variation of the original Zorlac ad.

this should be titled "The Rise and Fall of Thrasher Clothing", pretty much everything the magazine does still bangs. I wouldn't be surprised if they exist as 2 different enteties and are ran by completely different teams,

I've skated for 22 years, and I can really care less about the sellout thing. The entire industry sold out to Nike, Adidas, Converse, New Balance etc. I can care less about hype beasts or celebrities wearing Thrasher gear. Thrasher is the shit, but it had become synonymous with Jake Phelps; he was the mind behind Thrasher for the entirety of my skateboarding life. After Phelps' death, it's felt a bit different. It's like a great band losing their lead singer.

I remember wearing a thrasher hoodie and a group of youngers kids walked up on me and asked me what my favorite song way by them…

The ads for mail order in the back was the source of my first board: a green Lucero with black Trackers and 92 Slime Balls. I wore that thing out big time. Also remember Boneite from Powell? Sadly I do

I gotta say, vice aint exactly a main stream channel. Only people i know that watch anything on vice are probably the people most likely to pick up skating or just enjoy skate and adjacent cultures.

Great video! You should do one like this based on Supra Footwear

first skate video i ever saw was The Truth Hurts by THRASHER. what a great film

I have no problem with Thrasher being sold at Zumiez

Fausto and Kevin Thatcher were not “punk rock”, but they did hire younger people and put skateboarders in the magazines that did embrace the movement and featured bands who were. It was actually how I and lot of other skateboarders would find out about and eventually listen to punk, hardcore, thrash metal and hip hop, etc.

I got a skate and destroy tattoo over 20 years ago. Thrasher was for the kids who wore vans and smoked cigs between classes. Transworld was for the kids who wore D3s and bought everything from ccs

I do skate and I like Lacoste, but didn’t get anything from the colab. I don’t think I have any thrasher shirts in general? To be fair I also like LL Bean, but I live in an area that has a heavy winter and they make high quality seasonal gear.

Jake did NOT coin the phrase "skate or die"... It was popularized by the video game 720 and then was the name of an NES game in the 80s... Who knows who actually said it first.

mid to late 80s Thrasher was the only place to order Dr. Martens, man the wait for delivery was painful.

as a skate kid in the mid 90s I'd totally buy a Thrasher shirt today at the local mall and wear it even though I havent stood on a board in 2 decades. It's nostalgic. the logo is iconic. It's a part of my youth. IDGAF if some 15 year old today think they sold out. But I can totally see why said 15 year old wont wear it and look down on it. I was young once to.

For the first 11-12 yrs Kevin Thatcher was Thrasher Mags editor. he did a sterling job imo. The 1st copy of a Thrasher Magazine I ever read was a August 1987 issue in September 1987.

This is really sad clickbaiting.

I havent even seen the whole vid yet but i must say Thrasher never fell off in my eyes or any skater that ik

Still have my Thrasher and Transworld skate magazines from the 90's...

Core skateboarding died in the late 90s early 2000s! Now it just lives inside those that live for it! That's as simple as it gets, 20 years from now, those involved in skateboarding aren't going to give a s*** about core skateboarding! They're backstory will be completely different from mine and their heroes will be completely different from mine. It was a time and a place & unfortunately that time is gone I didn't know I was lucky to be able to be a part of it in the early 90s but looking back it was pretty cool. Regardless, skating is amazing & if you skate and you love it & you have a good time that's really all that matters. Hopefully it doesn't get even more diluted but honestly I know that's already way too late! to I know the ship has already sailed. The best time was when it collapsed and we went through like the Great depression of skateboarding in the early 90s. After the 80s an the outrageous outfits/ neon colors ...... whatever the hell you want to call the '80s. Once all the money was pulled out an the Park's closed up & everybody got out of it that never really gave a f*** about skateboarding. It became pretty amazing. That will likely happen again & whatever generation is skating at that time will understand what those that skated or grew up skating in the 90s experienced or a similar version of that. JMO

First

Awesome upload 🤙

Hell, the local skateshop in Visalia, CA was in a mall for years in the 80's and 90's. The Surf Shop in the Visalia mall was the only skateshop in town. Just being in a mall doesn't make it bad really.

Finally, the youtuber I needed

Thrasher found a brilliant way to get dorks to pay for my free skate vids I enjoy everyday.

Zumiez might be corporate but the one in our mall donates money to our local diy. Local skate shop does not 🤷‍♂️

As somebody who grew up skating from 99 and forward. It used to piss me off when all the kids who talked down on me would start wearing skate brands and didn’t even skate or know anything about skateboarding.

I remember being a young 80's dork, buying this magazine whenever I could find it. Only one store in town got it and I had to beat my friends out to get it. I miss having young bones, cuz my town has a killer park.

Im 46 this year, I do Sometimes still skate, But i have been Buying skate clothing since you had to write them a Check or Money order to get youre clothing or parts. I Do miss Vision Street Wear too...

in 88-91 my room was blasted down in pages from thrasher. i also discovered cool punk and hardcore bands by reading interviews in the mag or seeing the t-shirt adds for the bands. i was a little confused about ten years ago when i started seeing everyone wearing thrasher shirts but i try not to judge : anyone who remembers the mid to late 80s in so cal remember how everyone was constantly being accused of being a poser, so i go easy on people.

At some point if you own a company and more and more people are on board (no pun) then you as a company have to grow with expectations. It’s really the only problem of capitalistic economy… we the people ruin good things. Still a solid brand, just became collectibles.

I've been waiting for the next video to come, finally!

the master of disaster will always be one of my top 3 favorite skaters up there with rodney, and muska

I remember Thrasher, Vision and airwalk from late 80´s, had a red/black Thrasher hoodie at one point. But thats 30 years ago :P Now do a video on Eastpak

I'm cool with skaters making money off of non-skaters. Skateboarding is part of mainstream culture now but there will always be core skaters. Skateboarding has proven it can last beyond the trends.

I loved the magazine. Mid to Late eighties. There was a grit to it that we loved as street and homemade ramp skaters. The articles and the music this magazine presented, was about all the skate culture we had and needed, besides our own creativity....and powell peralta and hstreet films.... but yeah, thrasher was like a hub of the culture.

I skated in the mid 90s-2004. That's when I got into martial arts as a career and couldn't compete if I was hurt from skating. I see a parallel with the TapOut brand. It was cool when it was underground but once it went mainstream nobody I knew would be caught dead in a tapout shirt.