In the words of Mike Vallely (2003)
Available in numerous colorways as well as 7-Ply and the infamous Boneite construction
Stacy Peralta called me up at my parents home in New Jersey, informed me I was going pro and told me to think about what I wanted for a signature board graphic. It was the late winter or early spring of 1987. I distinctly remember the moment, sitting in my bedroom on the phone with Stacy as it was the continuation of this unbelievable dream coming true. I also distinctly remember watching late night TV several nights later by myself in the living room and seeing a National Geographic program about elephants. I had recently been unearthing the tragic and cruel relationship humans had and have with animals through research in books and in within myself and at the time I was strongly considering vegetarianism. I had become ultra sensitive to the suffering of innocent animals at the hands of man and in the name of progress. This National Geographic program really hit home with me as it focused on the plight of the African elephant, that it was endangered and how it was being slaughtered for it’s tusks and how man and elephant were having a tough time coexisting in Africa. I was absolutely blown away. How could anyone kill an elephant ever? Let alone just for it’s tusks? How could this majestic and beautiful animal, the largest land mammal on the planet be endangered at the hands of man? I was thoroughly disgusted, to the point of tears. The program stuck with me and sometime soon after I remember thinking that I wanted an African elephant for a board graphic as a symbol and reminder of how beautiful and tragic life can be at the same time. But I was afraid to tell Stacy or anyone at Powell Peralta that I had chosen an elephant, it just didn’t sound cool and I felt awkward about having to try to articulate why I wanted an elephant, I figured they’d laugh at me. I did however mention it to Mark Gonzales who soon after I decided on the elephant was visiting the east coast and staying with me at my parents home for a few days and he replied that elephants are cool and that he likes them and draws them all the time. That was all the inspiration I needed, if Gonz says that elephants are cool well to me that was the same or better than God saying it. So I called up Stacy and told him I decided upon an African elephant.
Not very long afterwards I attended my first pro street-style contest in Oregon. One night in the hotel Stacy and maybe Craig Stecyk as well as Lance Mountain sat me down and presented a board graphic for me to look at. It was of a cockroach, a bug. I didn’t understand why they were showing me this board. They asked me what I thought of it. I said that I thought it looked cool but I didn’t and couldn’t really think about it any further, that it didn’t speak to me. They said that they were glad that I was okay with it because it was going to be my graphic. I was floored. I immediately protested and said that I thought it was suppose to be MY board and there was no way I was going to have a bug on the bottom of MY board. I wanted an elephant. They went on to explain that VCJ (the artist) and George Powell really liked this graphic and wanted it to be the next pro model board for the company and how the company felt it would be best for me to accept it. But I fought back with impassioned screams and tears and swore I would never have a bug on the bottom of my board. I think they couldn’t believe how strongly I felt about it or that I even had an opinion about it in the first place. I think they really thought I’d just accept whatever they threw at me. This incident actually probably marks the true beginning of the end for my relationship with Stacy and Powell Peralta. I think from then on he always saw me as a thorn in his side and I think he also realized that my protesting them prearranging this marriage between me and my board graphic was enough to make me quit if it was pressed any further and so they eventually backed off and told VCJ it was going to have to be an elephant.
I’m not sure what happened internally at Powell Headquarters, I think there was a lot of bad feelings from George and VCJ that I did not accept the graphic and part of me believes that maybe VCJ refused to do my graphic for me at that point because all that I started hearing about was how Powell was looking for a new artist with a new style to do this particular graphic for me. That summer while demoing with the team in my hometown, Stacy presented me with a graphic that an artist from Vancouver, Canada (a friend of Kevin Harris’) had done. He had showed it to Tommy Guerrero and Jim Theibuad already and they both thought it was cool and a much needed departure for Powell’s graphics at the time. It was a graffiti style elephant in a city setting with machine gun tusks firing upon a bunch of rats and my name was done in graffiti on a wall behind the elephant. It sounds silly but there was definitely something cool and different about it and I did like it for what it was but honestly I felt pressured to accept it. I knew I didn’t really want it to be my graphic but it was an elephant and I felt like I’d caused enough problems so I decided to just let it be.
Luckily George and VCJ weren’t down with it at all and I think the idea of this graphic being a part of the line and sitting next to VCJ’s work inspired him to get back on the case and before I knew it I was meeting with him in Santa Barbara and looking at many different elephant designs, ideas and sketches of his. He had apparently thrown himself into the work and had researched the African elephant and had created his own relationship to the design which wasn’t very far off from mine. We talked in his office for about a half an hour and I explained to him about the National Geographic show and how I felt about it. Talking to him and seeing how he worked I really gained an appreciation for him, his art and sensibilities. I knew then that the final graphic would be right.
I went back to New Jersey and over the next few weeks he sent me many different designs to think about, many of which I still have. One that he sent and that I believe we strongly considered did not have the tribal pattern and shield design in the background of the elephant but instead had a repeating pattern of an image of a hunter. But it wasn’t long before we settled on the graphic that would eventually become the board. I remember him sending me a photo copied version of it with a note that read “This is it.” Although I agreed I don’t think I could have argued it, VCJ felt strongly about it and by that time I trusted his instinct. The rest as they say is history.
I was and am definitely happy with the design, everything about it. I reckon it’s still the best board graphic I’ve ever had and one of the best if not the best board graphic of all time. Then again I prefer the VCJ Bones Brigade era stuff over everything that’s come after it. To me, those were and are what skateboards are suppose to look like and to be so lucky as to have had a board in that series and done by that artist is something I’m thankful for.
How it became synonymous with me was just what happened back then when Powell Peratla put a board out for you. Just like Caballero and the dragon and Hawk with the hawk skull I was associated with my graphic. Through the years I believe the graphic has taken on a deeper meaning and significance for my audience and I know it has for me and so I’ve continued to utilize the elephant to express myself and to represent myself in skateboarding.
The shape came from combining two of my favorite boards from two of my favorite skaters at the time. The nose was from a Neil Blender board with an inch or so added on (this board was one of the first with a larger nose) and the tail came from a Natas Kaupas board. The “money bumps” as they use to call them in the middle of the board came were actually quite accidental when drawing the shape on cardboard but they seemed to line up where I would naturally grab my board for many maneuvers so we left them there.
Check out Mike Vallely Elephant Decks and Gear over the years including OG and Reissues.
