Skate freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaks and Tony Hawk fans with $500 to burn are awaiting shipment of the X-Games icon's latest merch: A skateboard deck with a finish featuring a mixture of paint and some of his blood.
We're sure it's not the first time Hawk has bled for his "art," but still, once you get off the ew (or should we say "yew"?) factor, it's definitely something the kids at the ramp will be talking about. Gnarly in so many, many ways.
The decks are part of a collab/deal that Encinitas' most famous export worked out with Liquid Death Mountain Water, whose "manifesto" reads, "We’re just a funny water company who hates corporate marketing as much as you do. Our evil mission is to make people laugh and get more of them to drink more water more often, all while helping to kill plastic pollution."
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A promo video connected to the deal starts off with a nasty closeup of Hawk getting pierced by a needle, presumably the one used to draw a reported 100 vials of his blood. We're assuming those are tiny vials or that Hawk had many such sessions.
"I recently became an ambassador for Liquid Death Mountain Water," Hawk says in the video, brandishing one of the company's aluminum cans of water while watching a health tech insert said spike. "Apparently I didn't read the fine print, and now, Liquid Death officially owns my soul … and my blood, too?"
Hawk goes on to say that some of the profits will go toward "killing plastic pollution" and for building skate parks in underserved communities.
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The lucky (?) 100 buyers of the limited-edition decks were able to get free shipping after making four $125 interest-free payments. Sadly, by the time we checked it out Wednesday, the decks were sold out. Not surprisingly, the buyer reviews were effusive (4.9). We think we found the person who knocked the rating down, though:
$500 BLOODY DOLLARS
I love me some Liquid Death and appreciate all the cool merch they offer … but, man, I'm gonna have to start robbing banks to pay for these things. The cold drink machine, the mini fridge, now the skateboard. Major Benjamins. What about the little guys who haven't won the lottery?
He gave the decks a 4.0.
It's no surprise that Hawk is on the hustle -- he always is. Time for a shameless plug: Hawk, of course, was likely most recently seen on your TV/laptop/phone/streaming device when he was in Tokyo earlier this month. Mr. Huckjam himself was covering the skate events for the network's coverage of the Tokyo Olympics.
Closer to home, San Diegans are awaiting a lineup announcement for the return of San Diego's Wonderfront music festival -- another of Hawk's brand-ambassador gigs.
