It’s been a while since we have watched a Toy Machine video but they were usually all instant classics. Their 8th video is showcasing a couple of new additions, a lot of surprises and the typical Toy Machine C.I.!
Featuring Axel Cruysberghs, Dashawn Jordan, Daniel Lutheran, Leo Romero, Blake Carpenter, Jeremy Leabres, CJ Collins, Myles Willard, Braden Hoban, Matt Bennett,
You might have noticed that the banners are up, the first test runs are being made and this week it will be decided who will win the Vans Park Series stop in Paris. But first, we would like to share with you one of the best VPS best trick sessions we have ever seen.
As always the skaters went big, the money was flowing as was the beer at the Montréal landmark spot the “BIG O”!
If you don’t know the “O” Watch the Canadian episode of the loveletters if you don’t know about this landmark but either way enjoy this close up and personal view of what went down that day.
After the “Photo-Recap” now comes the moving image and it shows you just how things went down before & after Conny Mirbach’s postcard moments.
We learned a lot during our stay in the MTL but the number one thing is: never count out Pedro Barros and breakfast poutine is way better than regular poutine.
After the party is the after-party and after that is probably the hotel lobby but in Montréal we got the after-party on the first day of the contest. “The Big O” is a legendary Canadian skate spot that was host to some serious destruction during this VPS.
Text by Roland Hoogwater.
Photos by Conny Mirbach.
You might have seen Jake Wooten blazing through it on our Instagram but trust us when we say many…many more tricks did go down during this wild onslaught in and around the Big O.
And before we spoil you with the moving images of the Park Series we figured the stills tell their very own story of what happened at this staple spot.
Check out Part One of our coverage here.
Special thanks go out to Vans for the support.
When we flew to China we arrived at Shanghai airport as two tourists, my travel companion had been to the “People’s Republic of China” before but it was my first time in Asia. I didn’t know what we were in for but I was down to experience it all, we both wanted to see as much as possible.
We had brought along the perfect tool for that, an old Digital 8 “tourist style” handy cam. Armed with both the “handy cam” and our boards we chose to visit not only the Vans Park Series but everything else that Suzhou, Jiangsu and the Chinese people had to offer us.
First off, I have some information for you, “the internet” is not the same in the PRC, no Facebook, Instagram or even Google! This was at times a big plus because instead of looking down to our devices we looked up into the somewhat smog-filled part of the world we were in.
Secondly, we didn’t want to spend all our time at the hotel or at the event. “When in Rome” you don’t just want to stay inside the Coliseum, right? So one-day Oski (bless his heart) managed to get us some free (complimentary) bikes and we were off into the weird wilderness of China’s concrete jungle.
Now, we were two white guys. Normally that is not a big deal but we were in a part of China that did not have many westerners in it. This Caused us to become somewhat of a circus show at times. People wanted to skype their families together with us, stared without shame, took “secret” pictures and the biggest bonus, they allowed us to go and see and do everything. Nobody told us no! We went into temples, factories, sweatshops and “fake supreme shops” all with our “tourist camera” in hand.
That brings me to my second to last point:
Environmental groups are not completely against dams. We approve of appropriate development.
Ma Jun, Chinese environmentalist.
Now after reading this quote you might be confused about the link to the Vans Park Series right? Well, there is no link other than that we put a large percentage of “random” quotes in this video. Not normal quotes (spoken ones) but quotes printed on various pieces of clothing.
We found these quotes (in a store that sold fakes) that seemed random and were often badly spelled and connected them to our experiences in Suzhou. So instead of trying to make sense of the quote at the top of this article just know it is a random quote we found and used, in a similar way as all the others you will see in our video.
Finally, if that didn’t convince you to watch the video let me assure you that we have included some great moves by people like Romand Pabich, Oskar (Oski) Rozenberg-Hallberg, Brighton Zeuner, Kokona Hiraki and a dancing, screaming but overall ripping Pedro Barros. Press play and enjoy the ride!
One week ago we flew into Copenhagen airport because we had been invited by Vans to Sweden to witness one of the most prestigious and well-known skate contests in the world, the Vans Park Series in Malmö.
There were at least two things that had aroused my enthusiasm about this event days before the whole thing actually took place: First of all, I have never been to Sweden, and secondly, I have never watched any bowl contest on a comparable level of skating before. It soon turned out that this event managed to measure up to my high expectations. The line-up was insane, the crowd hyped and the weather almost a little bit too sunny (for Sweden).
A chance to see these two in action is a chance you must take!
However, what was really striking me was the fact that nobody of the riders was wearing a helmet or at least knee pads at all (some of the women did), which I really liked because – let’s face it – it makes every trick look even heavier and way more stylish. A fact that unfortunately the youngest and smallest rider CJ Collins painfully had to pay for with a hard slam in the finals. Luckily, he did not get seriously injured (after the contest he skated on).
In the end, Alex Sorgente deservedly took the victory but the crowd’s favorite was clearly once again Malmö’s own Mr. Oskar Rozenberg Hallberg.
Photos & Text by Paul Röhrs