Wednesday, August 15, 2012

The Classic 1984 Nash Executioner is Mine At Last!

A while back, I wrote a piece as a League of Extraordinary Bloggers assignment all about my original skateboard, a Valterra Dragon, which, as mentioned in the previous piece, was the skateboard I had to settle for (but eventually loving dearly) in lieu of the board I really wanted, a Nash Executioner.

The Nash Executioner was a total K-mart piece of crap by the standards of the skate scene, but I didn't know that. All I knew was that it was the first wide wooden skateboard with all kinds of plastic bumpers and doodads that I had ever seen (a few kids in my neighborhood had them) and it was totally rad to my eyes.

Well, it only took me 28 years, but I finally got my Nash Executioner!


Ah, eBay. How I love you. This lovely specimen is pretty much how I remember the one I saw for the first time. I'm pretty sure it was a yellow deck, but it may have had neon green accessories. Whatever, I snapped this up as soon as I saw it online, and it's as glorious as I remember.

The top is pretty shredded, but that's no biggie. I took it for a spin around the neighborhood and the tape still grips. It is a bit weird riding a deck that's not concave (as they all are now) and the trucks are hella loose on this thing (making for a couple of scary turns), but overall I couldn't be more jazzed.



It's funny how much I wanted one of these when I was 12, only to later learn that they were considered junk to all those serious skaters with their Caballero and Lance Mountain decks.

I wonder if it had anything to do with the giant, pink bubble tail guard on the back?


My god, that looks silly! But in 1985, I thought that was awesome. I would eventually add a black bubble tail guard to my Valterra, along with a set of black Powell-Peralta Rib Bones. However, that didn;t hide the fact that it was a $19.99 deck from K-mart.

Check out the bitchin' rear truck guard, for defending against scrapes while doing ollies up curbs...


I make fun a bit, but the truth is, this deck gets my inner 12-year-old jumping up and down and throwing air punches.


I'm gonna tighten up the trucks and take her up tot he nearby skatepark and ride this baby like I don't care who's laughing.

Then I might ride it up to the nearest tattoo shop and get that dragon graphic done on my chest. It's a dragon! Standing on a pile of skulls!

So rad.