I started Vintage Evolution Skateboards as a way to improve the condition of all used vintage skateboards that are in very bad shape, and at the same time elevate the value of all vintage boards and parts around the world, starting with my own collection of beat-up cheap entry level boards that most beginners of skateboard collecting can afford to buy. The volume of these boards in the world is huge. I also wanted to learn how to work backwards with some of the worst problems a board can have, addressing and learning how to work on all kinds of conditions a vintage board and its graphics might be in and how they relate to each other. I didn't want to just cover the board with new graphics, I wanted to restore the wood under the graphics first. I wanted to make the patina and aged colors of the board look good and last. What I learned is this: if you don't fix the board first and right, the graphics will just fall off sooner or later.
Now you may say all you have to do is add glue, paint, bondo, fiberglass or whatever, sand and cut. And yes, you can do that and have great success with your vintage board depending on your skill set and what you're looking to get out of it. This stuff has been told to skaters since the beginning. And as far as what I have seen looking at YouTube, magazines, going back and forth through the years of online chat rooms or the ones you HAVE-TO-JOIN- is that they all seem to say the same stuff with very little change over time. I have also spent countless years looking for something or just one place to get answers and all I found was an outdated box filled with endless, repetitive collective thought that takes forever to search through with no good clear answers to the degree I wanted as a refurbishing vintage skateboard collector: Someone just trying to find information for the first time could never find it in a timely fashion, and most of these think tank websites really only talk about fast board fixes and new screen-print graphics on it: Thats fine for some, but not good enough for me and what I'm trying to achieve for a skateboards history.
Everything I have done or do has a purpose and a reason. This allows me to find new ways to do what I'm doing on these old boards. It's like writing 20 books at once. Sometimes getting further on one book allow me to get further on the others. You have to be very committed and you can't rush to get to where my skills are at. I have looked for people that are pushing the boundary of refurbishing and saving vintage skateboards like me. But most refurbisher's seem to be stuck behind the established thought of doing things. Unfortunately so far i'm the only one refurbishing vintage skateboards in this way for the greater good of skateboard collecting. But again I have a purpose and I'm very confidant in my skills. so I started my own website and business with information that gets to the problems and it's for free to look at for everyone, everywhere, and I also give free advise, just ask me. I suppose one day I might have talked to someone that saw the problems with vintage boards the same way as me, but I wasn't going to hold my breath. For example, no one was talking about the tools needed to do such detailed refurbishing, so I invented the tools and the process to make things happen. No one talks about how long their refurbished board will last and if it can be skated now and in the future with no graphic problems. I think my website will show that. And the problem of refurbished boards looking new and being sold with no disclosure that work was done? I think we do the best with that because we don't make new looking boards or new graphics - SORRY - V.E.S. boards show history that can't be copied and every board done by V.E.S. comes with a certificate of work done. Plus, what is the value of a vintage copy? I think the high value of a board like this shouldn't be equal to an authentic vintage board in any shape. As of this point in my professional refurbishing career, it's my belief that boards refurbished right will last a long time and boards fixed quick will only hurt the market now and going into the future for collectors.
So what makes V.E.S. different? Well for starters we are mostly a green company that recycles skateboards history. We started working on boards made from the Time period : 1980 to 1995 when we first started as a company. We also believe every single board we work on is different and every problem it might have is different. We have learned how to address and reverse the damage and get it back to as close to stock as possible while keeping its history intact. The funny thing I have learned about working with the most skilled and well off collector is that they love new looking boards on the wall, and if you want that, I'm sure you can find it. Looking new, is what most people think of when they hear, refurbished vintage board. Most top end collectors also hoard the best of our vintage skateboard art. My company is helping the majority of us that can't afford new looking boards but see the value in what they have and want to contribute boards back to future collectors of the world. We are doing the hard work of innovating and saving skateboards history that other companies are scared to do or can't. The other big difference between us and other companies, is that we see the beauty in a boards history and have found a way to make it custom, look good, last and have value far into the future, even for that person that wants their board and history saved for future generations to come in the family. We look at boards all over the world, and in any shape, condition, brand or year. Just look at any of my project boards and you will see we have no fear at all, no matter the condition the boards are in. We take a board you can't skate or touch and turn it into something that will last and have value, now and down the road for anyone. Now I'm not so much talking to the people with huge new looking vintage skateboard collection that cost big bucks $$$$$ - even though I can help them too. I'm talking to the bulk of the world's collectors with boards that are constantly losing their value and history in some way due to time or use. I ask you, the collectors of the world this, what boards are going to be left around the world in fair condition in 10, 20, 30, 40 years from now that the average collector can afford or get? And will all the vintage boards left to buy in the future be a copy? That's a horrible thought! The answer to that is the board with problems in your hands, and do you care if it's handed down to future generations of skateboard collectors in the world? We do, and we are the only skateboard company saving our history in this way. If you don't believe me, google it.
Now many have tried to do sorta what V.E.S. is doing with vintage skateboards to some success but no one has done it to make a vintage board with history last like this, and as a company. We are not just a weekend warrior. We don't just cover a board with new graphics, we save the graphics and the history that comes with your board. We also don't fix your boards wood condition fast for those new graphics. We take are time because you can't save one without the other. Think about what we can do ,we can put your favorite vintage board back under your feet to skate as a classic or hanger, NOT-A-COPY, but the REAL-DEAL, AND WITH NO MORE PAINT CHIPS OR GRAPHICS FLAKING OFF!! I have seen a lot of people talking about their skateboard history, but holding it or riding it is way better in my opinion. Maybe I am wrong, but maybe I'm right. I have also tried to show an in-depth perspective of the problems and challenges that your board may have head on with a user friendly website. You and the world can see your board being refurbished- optional - in real time with updates on how things are going and looking. Some say nothing can be done or that you shouldn't do anything or you will loose the value. For this market of vintage skateboard collecting to go forward and be sustainable in numbers for the future, this box of thought must change, and soon, as these thrashed old boards aren't getting any better!
V.E.S. is also the progressive key to the door of a new form of skateboard refurbishing competition. The kind that saves our skateboard history and puts a true collectors board back in the hands of the average and passionate skateboard enthusiast. It's time to start saving these vintage boards for the future, there are just way to many copies out their in the world and more are made every day. I welcome any competition that can do what V.E.S. is doing! Send me some pics. Also knowing how much vintage boards cost now -$$$$$$- just think what the boards will be worth going into the future when many other boards will be dust in the wind. I feel it's time to start saving skateboards history in a new way, and I am trying to build that platform to do just that. I could use some help from a few collectors that have a lot of vintage boards that need help, and I also need help to turn what I know into a teachable platform for refurbisher's of vintage skateboard artwork around the world. Skateboarders have always been free to create and innovate, and thats what I'm doing. I see way to many fast board fixes and a re-screened new looking boards with lost value everywhere and I want to even the odds for the first addition low number boards with history!! These old board will always hold value $ and I feel they are worth saving in any condition. I am just an old school street skater that wants to save our history, and I have gotten very good at it, so this is my way of giving back to the sport I love. I have also had no endorsements or have been contacted from any vintage skateboard company. I'm not sure why, because I am saving the history that made them what they are today. I will let you be the judge of that. Please have a look at what I have been able to do for my boards and others. I have also relied on word of mouth to spread my way of refurbishing vintage skateboards around the world. Most people didn't even know this kind of refurbishing existed and are shocked! They all say they wish they knew about this before they sold their boards.
I am Robert Furlan the new VINTAGE SKATEBOARD - PRO REFURBISHER Owner and founder of V.E.S.
Thank you for your time and I hope you like what you see under my projects and on my website.
