Monthly Archives: March 2012

MAR 31: Peter Chlebowski 10th Year Anniversary Board.

By Hali Estrada.

“THOSE WHO FORGET THE PAST ARE CONDEMNED TO THINK THEY ARE ORIGINAL”.

When I started Skateboarding and making my first “Skateboarding clothes” in 1988 there were no Skateshops in Lima and if some stores got Skateboards they sold the complete thing and the quality was extremely bad. It took a couple years for “Surfshops” to start selling just the boards and parts, Skateboarding was getting popular and they saw a demand, but needless to say Surfshops never got the best boards or the latest ones but we had to buy them there cause they were the only ones selling quality Pro Boards. At that time Boards were really expensive in Lima, around $80 with NO Griptape and we had to make them last as long as we could, it was a very bad time and we literally used our boards until they had a 1 inch tail. After some years price got better ( but only a little ) and a couple guys were importing good boards but they weren’t Skateboarders so you never got the perfect size or the best brand or the latest model, only one store got close to be a real Skateshop because they got advice from one of us, but to our despair it closed after a couple years. Some more years passed and Surfshops kept the prices between $70 and sometimes $100 per board, It wasn’t until 1997 when we decided that it was enough and we started importing boards, my brother was in USA and he made our first contacts, I was extremely happy the first time I got the first 10 boards in the mail, they were just blank boards but they were the best quality and the right size. We kept importing boards until 1999 when I moved to USA. It was January 2002 when armed with the latest version of the crappy Corel Draw I started designing the first Choncordia Pro Model.

Peter Chlebowski was a tiny kid when I met him, I remember him landing perfect Switch Heelflips and Switch Frontside Kickflips  in 1993 wearing huge pants that I made for him, he was probably 3 feet tall and even though a lot of us  were landing those tricks at that time he impressed me more than any other kid, he was incredible. Peter grew up to be one of the best Skateboarders in Peru and In 2002 we turned him Pro for Choncordia.

In 2002 Peter was the first 100% Peruvian Professional Skateboarder living in Peru with a Pro Model selling in USA Stores, this maybe doesn’t sound that extraordinary to a California kid but its a big accomplishment for a Peruvian Skateboarder and he deserved it. After 10 years Peter is still one of the best Skateboarders in Peru  and he not only kills it but he is also a humble down to earth guy  and Im glad to still call him my friend after so many years. In new years eve 2012 I told him I wanted to Re-Issue his old Board for the 10th Year  Anniversary, he was more than happy with the Idea so I got the old Corel Draw file and converted it to Illustrator….. and here they are :).

It comes in the original Green Color and also in 3 new color combos, back in 2002 I didn’t make the fonts so this time I made an improvement, the graphic is exactly the same but the fonts are my take on the original  2002 fonts. Only 25 Boards will be made in each color so get yours while you can :). Im also working on a video with the whole story of Peter, it will be done next week so make sure to come by to check it out, you won’t regret it  :).

CFL.

MAR 19: 2002 Re-Issue Board Coming Soon …

Ten years have passed since the release of our first PRO MODEL in March 2002 and the board is coming back in a very limited production run ( only 25 Boards will be made on order ) If you got one of this boards back in 2002 you know who he is, if not, you will find out soon so make sure to stop by on the 31st.

CFL.   

MAR 10: Mask Pro-Series

By Hali Estrada.

Sometimes theres not much to do on a rainy November Sunday, specially if the rain comes and goes every hour. We waited for the rain to fade a bit and we went to get some lunch by the OC Fair, after finishing, Gunther wanted to go to the OCC swap meet to look for some figurines he saw the last time we were there ( He wanted the figurines for some pictures ) but when we got there almost all the vendors were gone and the few who were there were packing their stuff because the rain. When we walked into the parking lot we saw a girl selling this nice “Luchador Masks”, I was looking for this kind of Masks since August 2010 and when I saw this 3 together I knew I could do some nice Boards with them, she sold us the Masks for $5 each and right as we finished paying her, the rain started again. We had the masks sitting in the living room for a few months and finally 2 weeks ago we got Sebas, Jesus and Giancarlo together so Gunther grabbed the camera and took the pictures I was waiting for. It took me some long nights to finish the fonts, layout and logos and is the first time I use pictures on board graphics ( I wanted to do this for a long time ) and  I think they came out pretty nice.

Our GUEST PRO is an Amazing Skateboarder, he has the perfect combination of speed, style and consistency, add to that the fact that he is a great person and you’ll know why I consider Diego Espinoza one of the best Skateboarders I know. Diego is from Costa Rica and every time he comes to California we always go Skate and we always have a great time. A few months ago he showed us a video of this midget “Luchador” from Mexico called KEMONITO…. We couldn’t stop laughing and you will understand why after you watch the video. When I decided that I wanted to make a Guest Board for him the first thing that came to my mind was that image of Kemonito flying off the boxing ring, after we saw that video “Kemonito” became part of almost all our jokes and to me it was the best choice to make a fun meaningful graphic for him.

I hope you guys like the new series, they are available now at the Store and as always they are 100% Made in California and only few will be made so make sure to order yours ASAFP; Thanks for all your support and lets go SKATE !!!!

CFL.