Let’s get the facts straight – Guy Mariano is a prodigal son for skateboarding, so when everyone’s favourite needs a board, you know the shape is going to be up there. I will put my hand up and admit that Girl have far from impressed me in the past with their non-existent concave and flaky wood, but this deck blew me away!
First of all the graphics are trademark simple – the Girl logo with Guy’s name. No skulls, tags, trippy shit or gimmick paint job.
Next, the shape – This board rode so well, I almost felt like the switch 360 flip was around the corner for my limited repertoire. It wasn’t, but I still put a couple of extra feathers in my cap. Girl has sorted out their shape problems and this board had just enough concave for fast response and good feel. Both the nose and tail were round which I like because it gives you a bit more room for slides and such.
Finally, the wood – The plies of this deck kept their pop after a good month or so of skating solidly, and when I did have the misfortune of firing the plank into something hard and obtruse, the wood simple indented and didn’t break away.
I’m so glad Guy is back and with boards like this skating is going to be a lot more fun.
* I snapped the board out of blind rage when stupid fruit-booters thought it was cool to wax the top of a perfectly skateable marble ledge so that they could bum slide to glory. Needless to say I ended my session in pain and lost control. I’m sorry. Don’t snap boards – crack heads.
9.5/10
Ralph Lloyd-Davis
03/05/2006