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+ Pricing Glossary of Terms |
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| Among collectors,
there are various terms or phrases that are used to describe an item
that may not be immediately clear to some people. This glossary was
put together to not only aid people in translating some of these terms
but to also insure that collectors use them in the appropriate manner.
Time and again, you will find an auction with an item listed as "NOS",
"Pig", "Rare", Mint", etc. when not a single
one of those actually applies! If you have any terms to add, please
contact us ! |
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| Blem |
This is short
for "blemish". It typically notes a cosmetic or asthetic problem
with a deck and not a structural problem. A "blem" can range
from paint smears to misaligned screenprinting to fingerprints
within the graphic paint to overly thick/thin black ink and
so forth. This is most often caught at production before a deck
leaves the warehouse. Many times a company will sale "blems"
at a discounted price or offer them as "free prizes" and demo
giveaways. They also use them to replace "faulty" decks that
were sent in as cracked, broken or delaminations. Powell Peralta
is known for marking "blem" decks with a "C" stamp within the
front truck area to note a "cosmetic defect". There are several
blem stamped Powells floating around the collecting market even
today. For some collectors, this does not devalue the deck.
Santa Cruz also stamped there decks, but within the back truck
area. Other stamps include "D" (defect?), "Y", "W" (warp? this
would be considered a "second" if so) or the more current "BLEM".
(*see also SECOND below) |
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| Delam |
This refers to the process of delamination.
This occurs when the layers that compose a skateboard begin
to separate. This can be for any number of reasons including
poor glue, over cured(heated), under cured, etc. and most often,
trapped moisture that expands (this is why decks left in the
rain begin to delaminate....remember good old "Boneite"
from Powell that absorbed water like a sponge?) Newer decks
should never fall victim to this, and most all companies will
replace a delam deck within a reasonable time after purchase.
This is many times caught before a deck ever leaves the factory.
However, older decks that have been stored for years and years
even under the best conditions may begin to exhibit signs of
delamination. At that point, it becomes the collectors opinion
as to how much is tolerable. Some do not mind a little delamination
since the deck will most likely be displayed and never skated
anyways. |
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| Mint |
This refers to
an item that is in the SAME condition as when it was first shipped
from the manufacturer. In the case of decks, this means UNGRIPPED
and NEVER MOUNTED. Furthermore,
it should have no stickers placed on it or any other modifications
of ANY kind. |
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| Never
Mounted |
This refers to decks which have never
had trucks attached to them. Therefore, the truck mounting holes
should be free from any and all wear. |
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| New
School |
This
refers to decks made after about 1992 in which the shapes changed
to the more uniformed POPSICLE
standard around today. |
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| NOS |
This acronym stands for "NEW
OLD STOCK". This means that it is older, discontinued stock
items that have been stored away and maintain their condition
as if new. This does NOT stand for "New Old School"
or "Never Opened Sealed" or "New Off the Shelf"
or any number of other bastardizations that appear on such sites
as eBay. |
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| Old
School |
This refers to
decks and items from about 1978-1992. During this time, decks
in particular went through a variety of shapes. |
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| Pig |
This term refers to a shape of decks
most popular from about 1979-1984. The name comes from one of
the original companies, Z-boys (one of it's many names), who
produced a model called "Z-Pig". A Walker Nightmare
should NEVER be described as a "Pig deck"! |
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| Popsicle |
This term refers
to a shape of decks that typifies the NEW
SCHOOL era. The shape itself is a mutation of the OLD
SCHOOL freestyle deck's shape with the dimensions of
a regular OLD SCHOOL deck, i.e.
a freestyle deck made longer. Over the years, the shape has
changed a bit in that the width has become smaller. The name
itself comes from the shape's similarity to a popsicle stick. |
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| Second |
A "second" refers to a "factory second". This is a deck that exhibits
some production problem related to the structure of the deck. This can be delamination or
cracking or more commonly, warp. As the name suggests, these type of problems are caught at
the factory during production as part of quality control. As with "blem" decks noted above,
these types of decks are typical stamped with some identifier as being a "faulty" deck. Many decks
may be stamped with a "2" or stamped "2nd" either within the front or back truck area to note the
problem. Some decks may exhibit both "blem" and "second" problems. It has been speculated that older
Powell Peralta decks stamped "C2" are an example of the combination of such problems. Most all of the
Powell Peralta decks with a hole drilled in the center are actually "seconds". These decks were typically
made into clocks. Some joke that they were called "Timewarps" since most all of them were in fact warped decks.
It should be common sense that there are a lot of mint Powell Peralta seconds floating around since they would
be practically unskateable as it was (for example, a warped deck). As far as value to collectors, again this is
not as much a factor since these decks will be displayed and not skated.
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| Sublimation |
This is a cheaper
alternative to the traditional screenprinting process. First
an image or graphic is created via computer or scanned into
a computer. This image is then printed onto standard coated
media using a set of special heat-activated inks. This is called
a dye sub transfer. It is then transferred to the final product
(skateboard, coaster, mouse pad, name badge, etc) using a combination
of heat and pressure. When heat is applied to the printed coated
sheet, the ink sublimates (is absorbed) into the surface of
the final product (skateboard, coaster, mouse pad, name badge,
etc). This procedure can be likened to a tattoo, where the final
image is not affixed to the receiving surface (as with silk-screening,
hot-stamping, and printing), but rather is absorbed into it;
in effect becoming part of the material. (Run your finger across
the surface of sublimation and you should feel nothing. ) This
makes sublimated products extremely durable and very attractive
WHEN DONE CORRECTLY. Because multiple layers do not have to
be applied which requires lots of additional labor and specialized
machinery as with traditional screenprinting, it is also more
cost effective for a company as well. keep in mind that a skate
company produces decks to be skated, not collected for years
and years. They are only concerned that the graphic look good
and last at least until the first boardslide. After all, a skateboard
is made to be destroyed by it's very nature. For collectors,
this has been a nightmare. Poorly sublimated decks may begin
to crack or completely peel shortly after purchase. There have
been tales of an entire graphic peeling right off a deck after
about 6 months in storage....out of sunlight and everything!
Only recently have companies began improving the quality of
sublimated (also known as "heat transfer") decks. The real
danger to collectors with sublimation is that it has made it
very easy to take an existing, rare graphic, scan it into a
computer and produce sublimated fakes of the original deck.
It no longer requires having each layer of screens available
to prodce the overall graphic as well as the elaborate facilities to produce
such decks. It merely takes a scanner, a computer, a sublimation
shop and a few cheap decks. See the area devoted to "fakes and
frauds" within this Price Guide section for more information
and examples of sublimated fake decks floating around even now.
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| Ungripped |
This refers to decks that have never
had griptape placed on them. This does not refer to decks in
which griptape was placed on and later removed. |
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| Vintage |
This refers to
decks and items from the late seventies and down to the beginnings
of skateboarding. This generally covers the first and the beginning
of the second waves of skateboarding's popularity. |
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