The hard part is that skateboards are bought and sold as art. The intrinsic value of the skateboard is very little- wood and paint...

unlike old sports cards made of valuable cardboard

And, with high-end cards and books the values are subjective. There isn't any intrinsic value, a Ty Cobb card is worth what someone is willing to pay- no buyers, no money/offers, and it is worthless, you can't even skate it....

The hard part is that skateboards are bought and sold as art. The intrinsic value of the skateboard is very little- wood and paint...

The art value can range dramatically depending on the buyer- some would pay a lot, some very little. The boards where the art value and intrinsic value are close are easier to price out (like 90's Powell boards), the boards where the art value can be high can be thousands to hundreds depending on the day.


Commodity art is easy to price and usually comes with a sticker price. Subjective art usually comes with make an offer- to some it is valuable to some it is not

I purchase rare books. The valuers of them use many references as a guide of their value however the base that they start with is very much the same as a deck, is it a first edition, scarcity, condition. These are teh 3 major points they start with, then they move to the usual ones of previous purchase price, time held in possession & whatnot.
There is an intrinsic value to everything, sometimes its perceived, sometimes its hard coded into the item.

Thanks, I never looked at it as buying art. I started collecting based on getting the decks I had growing up in the '80's. I assume like all art that there are particular artists work that command more money than others?

It is different for different people- some people love the Pushead graphics and will pay a premium for Zorlac decks, I have always been partial to Jim Phillips 80's graphics (also because that is what I skated growing up). The value is subjective, it is how the object makes you feel and what you feel it would be worth to own it and hang it or skate it or keep it secreted in a box under your bed with the knowledge that it is there safe and sound.

The question of values and book values and production counts and other metrics for collecting things seems to be raised every few years, typically by someone new to collecting skateboards but not new to collecting other things that have those metrics (action figures or cards or books). It can be difficult getting a feel for values- it takes a lot of patience and time and knowing who to ask for specific decks/brands/artists in addition to monitoring purchases and sales here and on ebay and other sites. It can be a little obsessive and time-consuming and most only really follow a few decks they have interest in, not the entire skateboard universe. I think I probably spend 30-60 minutes every day scanning various sites for the decks I am interested in. There are many here that probably spend much more time than that...