The 5 year old is about to be 6 and wants a skateboard. Yeah sure a $50 store bought complete deck will do.
But I used to skate in High School in College so I figured I’d do it up right.
I always had good luck with Element decks so I showed him some the Element options and he wanted the Ghostbusters deck.


Pretty excited because I always enjoyed to skate and that was way back when skating really was not cool in the Midwest. Skateparks were few and far between.

So Shorty’s Black Panther bearings will be bought too.
Probably will go cheap on the trucks for this build though.

I'd put you in the running for the "Best Dad" mug with that board. Awesome, awesome choice.

Guilty.

My 10 year old son plays AAU basketball (quite well I might add).

For his 11th birthday he's been wanting a setup around the house to work on his shot. So I'm about to convert my garden into a basketball court for him.

Here is the hoop we decided to go with (recommended highly be his coaches):

Megaslam 72 Basketball System

Shipping weight: 750 lbs. That ought to keep him busy this summer!

All the time.

All the time. Kid said. Said. “We don’t have a 1911. I think we need a good one.”

Now we have a Nighthawk. He loves it! It’s actually a great 1911 and I’m impressed but damn.

Yup.
Just yesterday, after I’d decided he was too old for candy on Easter, he mentioned how much he loved when the bunny came and left a trail of candy for him to follow from his bed to his basket....
And guess who was out shopping for ridiculous amounts of candy today....

Cool. Skateboarding is great.

Yes. My son just turned seven. Before Christmas, he had no Nerf guns and the kids up the street had Rubbermaid tubs full of them and he had the sadz from having to borrow other people's stuff to play. Now he has enough Nerf guns to equip a squad with a primary and a sidearm each. Between Christmas, his birthday, finding random awesome scores at Goodwill (not everything in there is trashed) and my wife seeing some on Nextdoor or whatever, he's got way more than he needs.

And I have one, too, because Dad needs to be ready to respond to an attack at a moment's notice, even though he's got me hopelessly out-gunned.

Oh yeah. My 13 year old daughter plays softball. She has a batting cage in our yard. It is 4"x6" for the posts, cable to hold up the net, full synthetic floor, it's long enough that I can pitch to her, etc. It's way overboard.

I'm known for overdoing for my kids when buying for them. My wife finds it annoying, and immediately starts warning me off it when the kids voice an interest in ANYthing new.

Good for you, I like the board.

I have no idea what you're talking about!

Yeah,

Started playing with Legos with the nephew.

Started making airplanes. He wanted to shoot down the airplanes.

Before it was over, I had a tank and a half track.

He told me it looks like a Panzer III and needed more side armor.

Shortly, we ran out of airplanes.

I’m guilty too. I purchased a “real” skateboard for my son when he was nine years old. I thought $80 for a deck, grip tape, trucks, bearings, and wheels back then was way to much, but I didn’t what to get something from a big box store. Fast forward to today, my son is thirty-three now and still skates. On occasion we laugh about that old deck and how it had the big graphic with just the word THINK. Kids don’t always show you that they appreciate everything you do for them, sometimes it doesn’t come out until they’re an adult. He turned out to be a good man and I am very proud of him.

Yep, guilty. When my son was 8 I bought him a Beretta A400 20-gauge--a $1200 shotgun. He's 11 and it's still too big for him to hold.

quote:

Originally posted by TRD:
I’m guilty too. I purchased a “real” skateboard for my son when he was nine years old. I thought $80 for a deck, grip tape, trucks, bearings, and wheels back then was way to much, but I didn’t what to get something from a big box store. Fast forward to today, my son is thirty-three now and still skates. On occasion we laugh about that old deck and how it had the big graphic with just the word THINK. Kids don’t always show you that they appreciate everything you do for them, sometimes it doesn’t come out until they’re an adult. He turned out to be a good man and I am very proud of him.

Those “Think” spray tag boards are still around. I’ll be in about $150 when I am done.
Grabbed some Thunder trucks and clear grip tape at the local shop today. It’s a bug shop with a few decks and accessories.
The only actual skate shop here anymore is the National Zumiez.
I’ll run over there and see if I can grab the rest. If not will just get it online.

Yep, guilty as charged. My kids get everything they want...although to be fair, I did raid their college funds to get my Corvette

Yes, ask me about the time my youngest son showed an interest in BMX bikes.

One custom built old school PK Ripper and a Hutch Cruiser for dad later and we were doing bunny hops in the street and hitting open track days on the dirt.

quote:

Originally posted by TXJIM:
Yes, ask me about the time my youngest son showed an interest in BMX bikes.

One custom built old school PK Ripper and a Hutch Cruiser for dad later and we were doing bunny hops in the street and hitting open track days on the dirt.

Old Rippers, Hutch, and Haros were/are great. I almost built another PK Ripper for me last year.

quote:

Originally posted by TXJIM:
Yes, ask me about the time my youngest son showed an interest in BMX bikes.

One custom built old school PK Ripper and a Hutch Cruiser for dad later and we were doing bunny hops in the street and hitting open track days on the dirt.

As I am looking and ordering parts. I am contemplating what my build will look like.

I had a really good setup. A few years back I had not skated in years and a buddy’s kid was wanting to skate.
I offered him up my board to learn while he saved to build his own.
Some how the deck went down the sewer never to be seen again.

Jeremy,

Independent makes an aluminum and titanium truck. Super lightweight. Wasn’t sure if you had seen these yet.