Mike Vallely all set to launch “Elephant skateboards”
The legendary professional skateboarder Mike Vallely is all set to launch a new brand of skateboards by the name of “Elephant skateboards."
Talking about the new line on the brand’s official website, the 41-year-old Vallely said, “After 25 years of professional skateboarding, I'm truly humbled to present Elephant Brand. What makes this brand truly different from anything else I've ever done or attempted in the past is simply that it is different -- it's truly mine. This line features boards from my past, present and future. Handcrafted by P.S. Stix, all of these boards are fully ride-able and ready to rip.”
The New Jersey-based rider further described “Elephant skateboards” as a brand represented the same thing that he himself had represented throughout his professional career: “100% skateboarding for love."
Before shifting his entire focus to his latest brand, Vallely was riding for Powell-Peralta. After experiencing a series of ups and down during his association with his former sponsor, which included finishing off ties twice, Vallely finally parted ways with Powell-Peralta for the third and final time in mid-December.
According to the pro skater, Powell Skateboards was keeping him from truly unleashing his true potential and wanted to restrict him to riding their boards and carrying out demonstrations. He was not allowed to voice his opinions and hardly had any say in any matter. The only thing that was expected of him was to be a “Legendary Team Rider” while offering a salary that was way less than he deserved.
Vallely further added that after he had left Powell-Peralta for the second time and was about to join them again for the third time, people had warned him against it. However, he had thought that things might have changed for the better, but that only turned out to be wishful thinking. Therefore, he was compelled to say goodbye to his former sponsor once and for all.
The American pro skater had begun to work on the launch of his new brand “Elephant skateboards” in October, while still riding for his former sponsor.
This is Vallely’s fourth attempt at creating his own skateboard brand. Previously, he had launched “TV skateboards”, “Vallely skateboards” and “The Sword skateboards," all three of which winded up soon after they were launched.
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