The Stussy x MAGIC STICK For SHOCK The VALUE – 5 Boroughs "The Choice Is Yours" T-Shirt Collection = 5 On The Black Top Side!

"SHOCK the VALUE is an online site that doubles as an online magazine and a web store from Tokyo and New York. It aims to bridge the gap between two cities and their recent addition to the web store is non other than Stussy. To commemorate the brand, both brands worked together alongside MAGIC STICK on special t-shirts dubbed the 5 Boroughs. The New York inspired graphics on the back of the t-shirt displays the five boroughs with a large Stussy logo in cursive writing on top and SHOCK the VALUE written in Shawn Stussy’s handwriting style. Three colorways will be available representing the three brands involved, White/Silver and Black/Silver for Stussy, White/Olive and Black/Olive for MAGIC STICK and White/Black and Black/White for SHOCK the VALUE. All of the items will be dropping this Saturday, July 23rd."

Information Courtesy Of: Freshnessmag.Com

Available Online (NOTE: Starting This Saturday) Here: Shockthevalue.Com


CHRIS LIVE AKA SHAKER SAYS: I for one am incredibly proud to have come of age in a time when being a skateboarder in the inner-city was *GASP!* groundbreaking and, indeed, potentially an invitation for ridicule and perhaps even worse from certain unsavory and narrow minded fellow members of our urban citizenry.

Who was the "Splack" (NOTE: Yup, that's the super creative pejorative portmanteau that my childhood friends came up with for people like myself and my cousin Sydney (R.I.P.) whom shared both Black (In our case West Indian) and Latino parentage. Brilliant!) kid kick-pushing his way through "The Borough" down Bedford Avenue atop a Vision® brand Mark Gonzales deck in 1989!? Me, that's who! LOL. See, me and my niggas was doing this before the era of the homogenized homeboy made it acceptable to the masses. Nigga, we signed our own permission slips to take this trip. But, I digress.

Before I rail slide into yet another rant that only another Old New York alumnus could L.O.V.E., I'm going to bring my Independent™ trucks to a spark inciting grinding halt and get on with today's business: The surely über limited edition Stussy x MAGIC STICK for SHOCK the VALUE – 5 Boroughs "The Choice Is Yours" T-Shirt Collection for Summer 2011.

Admittedly, I have NEVER heard of either the MAGIC STICK (NOTE: A company name that I take no joy in typing, let alone actually saying in pleasant conversation) or Shock The Value labels. However, their smart collaboration with the legendary Shawn Stussy, the creator of the eponymous Stussy brand as well as the chief architect and author of the true and living streetwear bible, scores them some valuable points in my book.

The t-shirts are simple ... and I like that. The cursive "Stussy" prominently emblazoned across the back of the "5-Borough" t-shirt stands in eloquent contrast to Shawn Stussy's signature graffiti-meets-raggamuffin handstyle - used to write each of New York City's 5 boroughs by name and put up "Shock The Value" across the back as well - gives this piece perfect aesthetic balance. Clearly nobody reinvented the wheel with this release (NOTE: Dropping online this Saturday, July 23, 2011), but that's simply because they didn't have to. Nope, all they did was grease the bearings. Job well fuckin' done. Let's ride!


BONUS:

Vision® Brand Mark Gonzales Deck Circa 1988.


A Special Livestyle Message To The Uninitiated: Please accept the above picture as a little visual aid intended to eliminate any ambiguity regarding my reference to street skating pioneer Mark Gonzales as it appeared in the main body of this post. Feast your eyes on this masterpiece boys and girls. Now, THIS is a skateboard! Know the ledge.