Powell Peralta is one of the most influential skateboard brands ever. The company was founded in 1978 by George Powell and Stacy Peralta. Powell was an engineer who started manufacturing skateboards at home, Peralta was a professional skater who was part of the legendary Zephyr Boys. Powell Peralta made his name in the 1980s by bringing together the best skaters of the time in the Bones Brigade, the brand's skateboard team. The brand also distinguished itself with the horror-like graphics of Vernon Courtlandt Johnson, George's brother-in-law. Iconic designs of "Court" include the Iron Cross for Tony Hawk, the Caballero Dragon, Lance Mountains Future Primitive graphics and the Skull and Bones for Ray "Bones" Rodriguez. In 1991, Peralta left the company and the brand continued under the name Powell Skateboards. With a strong team, groundbreaking videos and innovative products, Powell continued to be a driving force in skateboarding into the nineties. In the spring of 1996, Powell shook up the industry with the first "Blank" products in skateboarding. Powell sold these "Blank" decks, which were qualitatively the same as their other skateboards, for an unprecedented good price. In the summer of 1996, the Blank decks were renamed to Mini Logo decks; in the autumn of that year, the name changed to Powell Mini Logo, so everybody could see where this "new" price point product came from. The Mini Logo boards, made in the same factory and with a lifetime guarantee against delamination, became a huge success. The sales success of Mini Logo decks led to heated discussions about the influence of the cheaper products on pro models. Many people feared that the more expensive pro models had no future. Looking back, we can say that the two can coexist just fine. Some people just want a cool graphic, while others are looking purely at price and quality. By the way, did you know that at the time (1998), there were also Powell Mini Logo Pro decks? These were cheaper versions of Powell's pro models, complete with a mini version of the original graphic. So you had Powell Street and Bones Brigade Pro decks, Powell Mini Logo decks and Powell Mini Logo Pro decks. It was all pretty complicated. In the spring of 2000, Powell Skateboards was merged into Skate One Corporation. Powell's subbrands BonesPowell, Bones Brigade and Mini Logo continued as more or less independent brands under the Skate One umbrella. At the end of the nineties, George Powell and Stacy Peralta joined forces again to re-release the iconic skateboards of the eighties under the name Powell Classic. Powell Classic reissued legendary pro models by Steve Caballero, Ray "Bones" Rodriguez, Mike McGill, Steve Steadham, and Mike Vallely. In 2010, things came full circle and Powell Skateboards and Powell Classic continued as Powell Peralta as part of Skate One. In 2011, artist Vernon Courtlandt Johnson also rejoined Powell Peralta. The brand releases both classic-inspired skateboards and modern street decks. Current Powell Peralta team riders include legendary names like Steve Caballero and Kevin Harris, but also contemporary rippers like Shane Borland and Brendon Villanueva.
