01/31/2026
Mark Gonzales, Jason Lee et Rudy Johnson
« Dear George » Series, bLind Skateboards 1991
Artist : Marc McKee
Sizes : Dodo 9,625 x 31,8; Skull & Banana 9,875 x 32,1; Jock Skull 9,875 x 31,9
In the early 90’s a new reality shook the skateboarding world. Skater-owned companies began to overshadow the industry giants. For the first time, the three major companies (Powell Peralta, Santa Cruz, and Vision) felt threatened by the smaller ones. Their appeal was waning. Skaters no longer dreamed of riding for the Big Three. Instead, they deserted them to join the new, much cooler, and less restrictive companies.
World Industries was the first to disrupt the established order. The young company, founded by Steve Rocco, had been successful since its creation in 1988. Early in 1989, Rodney Mullen left Powell to partner with Rocco. He convinced Mike Vallely, Powell's hottest rider at the time, to leave at the same time and join World Industries. That same year, Mark Gonzales left Vision to found his own company within the World Industries group. He named it bLind, in contrast to Vision ( Blind… Vision… Get it?). In 1991, Gonz dealt another blow to Powell by signing two promising young skaters, Guy Mariano and Rudy Johnson. This was the last straw for George Powell. Powell CEO declared war on the new generation of small skater-run companies.
Powell ran an ad in the February 1991 issue of Thrasher that sh**ed the small companies. It featured Lance Mountain, Tony Hawk, and Ray Barbee wearing neon shorts and DIY t-shirts from their own bogus companies: Scum Bucket, Bad Person, and Me Co. Basically, the ad said that small companies never last long because their decks are garbage. They're just cheap imitations of Powell skateboards covered in a ton of ink.
That's all it takes for Rocco to be up in arms. He's not going to let a multinational corp insult him. He takes Powell at his word and does exactly what he's accused of doing. He asks Marc McKee to create spoofs of Powell Peralta's classics. In his initial sketches, McKee transforms Tony Hawk's falcon into a dodo, the sword from Ray « Bones » Rodriguez’s Skull and Sword into a banana, and adds braces to the mouth of Per Welinder's Viking. Mullen and Rocco, however, ask McKee to make some changes to avoid Powell's retaliation. The small extent of the alterations makes them fear a cease and desist letter from the declining giant. The artist swaps the braces for a football helmet. The Viking becomes a jock… Public enemy number two for skateboarders, after the cops!
The dodo is also at the center of a controversy. Initially, McKee was working for Danny Way, but Steve and Rodney felt the rivalry between Way and Tony Hawk was already intense enough. No need to add fuel to the fire. They weren't aiming for a personal attack against a skater, but rather against a major corporation. So, Jason Lee inherited the dodo spoof, at the delight of his pockets. The Dear George series quickly became a top seller. Mark Gonzales' Skull and Banana was the only one left unchanged. However, Gonz being The Gonz asked McKee to add a black outline so his deck would resemble the original Skull and Sword shape. Classic Gonz!
The cherry on top: the top logo on the boards depicts the Ripper, Powell Peralta's iconic character, being pilloried. Powell Peralta's three Ps are reversed to become the B of bLind. Pure genius from Mark McKee!
bLind responds to Powell in the July 1991 issue of Transworld Skaboarding with the now-famous "Dear George" ad, which gives its name to the series. In a text falsely signed Mark Gonzales, Steve Rocco tells George he's right about his ads. That having a small company sucks. That small companies really need to learn from the big ones. He shows him his new graphics and invites him to make another ad if the new decks aren't good enough. He ends the letter with: "P.S. Do you think I should kill myself?" An arrogant and direct ad... Just like Rocco!
In response to this attack, Sean Cliver, then lead graphic designer at Powell Peralta, draws a blind Ripper with his white cane and his begging bowl. He wants to use the same top logo as bLind decks to confuse skaters and steal sales, but George refuses for legal reasons. He doesn't want to give Rocco a chance to issue a cease and desist letter. The funniest thing about all this is that Cliver becomes a graphic designer for World Industries a few years later!
This story is a turning point in skateboarding history. The fall of the Big Three and the shift from green to street changed the game.
