The 1970s was a radical and formative decade for skateboarding. Among the pioneering projects within skate culture around that time were the aluminium, twin-kicktailed Banzai Skateboards that appeared in the work of seminal photographer, Jim Goodrich, among others.
The sophisticated production processes that went into making Banzai’s two classic shapes (a 23.5 inch cruiser and a 28.5 all-terrain missile) quickly helped them become collector’s items – so much so that two of the American brand's most ardent fans have teamed up some of board-sport culture’s most respected artists to provide limited-edition prints for the re-release of the two styles.
Avid Banzai collectors Christophe Schmidt and Thomas Schlereth are unleashing a run of 500 limited-edition boards from that groovy era, featuring aesthetic input from luminaries like David Carson, Jay Nelson, Nathaniel Russell, Todd Glaser and Cole Barash.
Each board comes in a collector’s box featuring a signed art print by your choice of guest artist along with all the cool hallmarks of the California brand. Scroll down to see images of the reissue and read our interview with Schmidt and Schlereth.
Aluminium really isn’t the first choice of material for a skateboard, but that’s what makes it bizarrely unique
How did this whole Banzai reissue come about?
Christophe Schmidt: Phew, that’s a good question. (Laughs.) I think it’s been 40 years in the making, right? At least for you, Thomas…
Thomas Schlereth: Ha ha, yeah. Since it’s simply a passion project for everyone involved, so there are probably a couple different answers to this. My personal obsession with Banzai started out really early on. As a kid skating in the 1970s, all I wanted was a Banzai – which I actually never got, because they were simply too expensive back then. So my connection to the brand was initially one of just being a pure fan. But for some reason those boards stuck with me, so around the early 2000s I began searching and collecting vintage Banzais, which then escalated quickly into a full obsession. Fast-forward another 20 years, and after many lucky coincidences bumping into the right people, copyright owners and others who shared my passion like Christophe, here we are.
CS: Where I instantly connected with Thomas was the fascination for this incredibly unique 70s aesthetic, and that era of skateboarding in general. I only started skating in the 1990s, so my personal ‘vintage’ would involve an Osiris D3 or something, but there’s something so wonderfully naive and free about that early era of skateboarding. The Banzai has such a timeless shape, it could almost be a Bauhaus skateboard or something.
Aluminium skateboard manufacture is a precise business. How are these purist boards created?
CS: Yeah, it totally is. Especially since we wanted to make them into actually good skateboards which, if we’re entirely honest, the original Banzais from the 1970’s weren’t, really (laughs). So, it took a lot of testing to get both the original appearance and a proper board-feel. Aluminium really isn’t the first choice of material for a skateboard, but that’s what makes it so bizarrely unique.
TS: Most of the production process is done by hand. The board shapes are cut out of 4 millimetre-thick aluminium plates, before being smoothed and sanded. Afterwards, we brush the whole surface of the board for a better grip and to get that unique look. Then the double kicktail is bent, holes are punched and so on. Last but not least, the finished boards are carefully dipped into an anodisation bath for a few minutes. We also rebuilt the original aluminium truck as well as the urethane Speed Seal wheels, but as Christophe mentioned, we updated everything with today’s manufacturing tech and much better materials.
You've brought some renowned artists on board for this project, can you talk us through their input?
CS: We had the idea of including art by some of our friends and collaborators pretty early on. Since the whole reissue was always purely a passion project and we’re unsure if anything will exist beyond the small run of boards, we thought it’d be great to attach something to the boards which you could keep, no matter if this continued in some other form, or not.
How many of these will exist?
TS: There are 100 boards in each of the five colours.
Should they be skated or preserved?
TS: That’s a tough question. Something tells you a skateboard should never be preserved, that just doesn’t feel right. But, then again, let’s face it: some of us are old now, so maybe an object of nostalgia, especially one that is so beautiful, isn’t all that bad. It’s a little bit like with vintage cars: they're cars, but they’re equally sculptures. Some people choose to drive them, some people don’t.
CS: I feel these boards go far beyond being a museum item. We always envisioned a perfect cruiser that would endure harsh beach conditions, so we eliminated nearly anything that could rust, in favour of stainless steel axles, bolts and ceramic bearings. We always joked that it turned out to be the most durable collector’s item ever.
What’s next for Banzai? Will you expand into clothing or merchandise?
CS: To be honest, we have no idea. If we make back production costs, then we’ll be more than happy. We simply wanted to make these boards and kind of celebrate this era; we’ll see if anything comes after that.
TS: We did actually make a few shirts and sweaters, which turned out great. But we all have other jobs and we’ll just see where this takes us. It’s been really fun so far, so it’s worth it either way.