Numbers

Let’s talk about skateboarding legends Guy Mariano and Eric Koston. If you don’t know these names then get out from under the rock you’ve been living under and watch Girl Skateboards’ 2003 “Yeah Right” full length and then come back to finish reading. Guy and Eric are some of the most influential skateboarders of the early 2000s with name recognition almost comparable to Tony Hawk. These dudes have been team members for big name companies like Girl Skateboards and Fourstar for 20 something odd years but back in 2015 they parted ways to create something new. In 2016 they introduced Numbers Skateboards, starting with a pretty stacked team of riders including Miles Silvas, Rodrigo TX, Antonio Durao, and of course the founders Guy Mariano and Koston themselves. In an interview with Mark Burnett from Thrasher Magazine Koston and Mariano discuss the origins of the name “Numbers” and where the often displayed timestamp “12:45” sprouts from. Turns out that Koston actually called Mark ‘Gonz’ Gonzales, another legendary professional skateboarder and artist who started/owns Krooked Skateboards, for some company inspirations. Gonz was on the East coast and the time was 12:45 p.m. and while drawing on his iPad, Gonz scribbled in the number three to fill in 1 2 3 4 5 and wrote “Numbers” underneath. Koston and Guy then came to the realization that this was perfect for skateboarding. Everything in skating relates to some number whether it’s the width of your board, the wheel base, the diameter of your wheels, how many stairs are in a set, or how high you can ollie. They took this name and ran with it, and from there incorporated some new numbers. Whether it’s how many years of skating put in, age, numerology or of any other significance, Guy and Eric have given their team riders the opportunity to include these special numbers into their pro model graphics and other hard goods. As Eric Koston exclaims in his Thrasher interview “It is some Da Vinci Code shit”. Confusing as it all seems, we’re stoked to see these two core industry guys bring something fresh and new to skateboarding. Excited to see who et put on the team, the video projects to come, and of course some sick soft and hard goods from these dudes. As of now we’re stocked up on plenty of Numbers boards and some soft goods to keep you warm and comfy with much more on the way! Roll through our shop Board Paradise in Greensboro, NC or scroll through our site and cop some new Numbers merch ASAP.

Thrasher Interview with Mark Burnett: 

“The Follow Up: Mariano and Koston Talk ‘Numbers’”

https://www.thrashermagazine.com/articles/the-follow-up-mariano-and-koston-talk-numbers/

Author: Courtney Pegram