20 Jun The World’s Best Skateboard Collections

First of all, if you or someone you know has an amazing skateboard collection, get in touch with us!

There are thousands of skateboard collectors around the globe. We’ve done our best to find some of the most impressive collections out there! However, it’s possible that we’ve missed some really great ones. 

We’d love to keep adding to this list to showcase our fellow skaters and what they’ve collected over the years!

If you’re interested in collecting skateboards, be sure to check out resources like artofskateboarding.com and skullandbonesskateboards.com. 

There’s a huge community of collectors online. These are great places to get connected with others and discover what’s out there! 

Of course, we also stock many limited reissue and preissue decks right here at Cruisin City! Be sure to check out our deck selection to discover something special for your own collection.

Finally, many of the world’s best skateboard collections use the original Sk8ology Deck Display! This gallery-style display gives your boards that iconic “floating” look on the wall. It’s no wonder legends like Mike Vallely, Rob Dyrdek, and Christian Hosoi use Sk8ology displays to show off their own deck collections!

Cab’s 60’s Collection

First on our list is none other than skate legend Steve Caballero.

As a pro of over 40 years, you can probably imagine that Steve has some pretty amazing skate memorabilia. 

Steve is especially known in the collector world for his extensive collection of early skate gear from the 1960’s. 

One of the coolest facets of this early collection is that many of his boards are complete! Clay wheels and roller skate trucks galore. 

In addition, most of these boards are pre-griptape era. So, top graphics are found on nearly all of the boards.

You can really feel the surf-vibes in this collection from Steve.

Video from The Berrics.

A Curated Collection of Gems

Nick Halkias was one of the first names to show up online as we dug around for skate collections.

That wasn’t without reason! This dude is seriously dedicated.

In 2012, Skateboarder Magazine released a five-part series highlighting Nick’s collection. That’s right, five videos for one collection! 

We’re not exactly sure how Nick’s collection looks these days, but back then, he had literally hundreds of decks. Not just any old boards either! 

Nick has many highly sought-after decks, sometimes directly acquired by the pro or company they originated from.

In his apartment, he’s even created a display set-up that looks like it’s out of a record store!

Decks are stacked vertically in rows and can be sorted through like vinyl records. This is a pretty cool idea that we haven’t often seen in other collections.

Below, you can see part one of Nick’s series with Skateboarder Magazine.

When reading about Nick online, we also discovered that he has made several generous donations to the Smithsonian Skateboarding Collection. 

His donations include, among others, the first three issues of Transworld Skateboarding Magazine (uncirculated and in mint condition) and a rare Julien Stranger Real deck featuring an anti-nazi graphic.

Shout out to Nick for preserving these historical skate pieces at the Smithsonian!

Skateboards as Art

For some collectors, skateboard decks are less about the brand or rarity and more about being a medium of art. 

Artist and skate photographer Thomas Campbell is clearly an artist at heart.

Take a journey through Thomas’ studio and home in this episode of SkateHoarders from Transworld Skateboarding!

While Thomas does have a pretty sweet deck collection, you can see that his skate-influenced artistic style is expressed in many ways.

Thomas’ personal collection features several unique one-off pieces, including art by Ed Templeton, drawings by Mark Gonzales, or skate-creations by Louie Barletta.

The Ultimate Hosoi Hammerhead Collection

If you’re a fan of Christian Hosoi, you won’t believe your eyes when you see David Sirkin’s deck collection. We discovered this article fittingly titled “Hosoi Mania” on Calstreets.com.

Basically, David has covered the walls of his house with collectable old school and shaped decks. However, what really stands out is his astonishing collection of the iconic Christian Hosoi “Hammerhead” deck. 

We can’t say it for sure, but this collection appears to feature every colorway of the Hosoi Hammerhead ever made.

All photos of David Sirkin’s collection are from and are the property of CalStreets.com.

The most amazing part about these photos of David’s collection is that they don’t show how many other Hammerhead boards that he has! 

David has many special Hammerhead colorways not shown here. In addition, he has many other classic Santa Cruz and Powell-Peralta decks sprinkled around the house.

Incredible dedication to bring all these Hammerheads together in one place! 

The Skatelab Museum/Super Collection

If you’ve ever been to Skatelab in Simi Valley, California, you may have seen their skateboard museum. The museum’s collection is largely thanks to Todd Huber, owner of 5,000+ of the boards displayed! 

According to Todd, he’s personally invested around $100,000 into the museum’s collection (although it’s now appraised for much more). 

An interesting part of Todd’s collection is the few Soviet Union skateboards that he owns. Todd points out how hard it is to find these boards, making them highly collectable and unique.

The Brooklyn Skate Historian

Having a small apartment is no excuse for not having an awesome skateboard collection!

Brooklyn’s Eric Pinto proves this point. 

One of the coolest parts about Eric’s collection is how he purposefully sets the boards up as a complete with era-accurate components.

See his explanation of this in the video below from Jenkem.

While some collectors are concerned about having their boards in pristine condition, Eric has many previously skated decks. However, they certainly don’t lack significance. 

Some of Eric’s decks were directly skated by pros like Sean Sheffey, Julien Stranger, Mark Gonzales, and more.

This is a great collection to learn about the evolution of skateboard design.

One of Canada’s Finest (Reader Requested Collection!)

Not long after this article was posted, we received a message from a reader with a link to an Instagram profile. 

In short, our jaws dropped when we opened it up – we had discovered Canada’s own James Lamb (@Joedlamb).

We immediately got in touch with James to learn more about him, his passion for skateboard collecting, and some of the specialties within his own collection!

Born in Toronto, James was first introduced to skateboarding in the 70’s at 6 years old with a yellow banana board that was gifted to him. His first pro board was a black Caballero “Stinger” from Powell-Peralta.

His journey in skateboard collecting didn’t begin until around 2002. His collection started with one of his personal favorites – the legendary Powell “Ripper” deck, which he still has today.

Now THIS is a man cave… James’ skateboard & classic car paradise

Over the years, James has amassed over 550 boards.

However, they’re not just any boards. In true collector fashion, he focuses on originals from back in the day. His shop walls are generally organized by deck brand.

James says that he particularly loves Vision Skateboards. Interestingly enough, he never skated them growing up, but feels they were sort of an “underdog” and loves that about them. Check out his Vision collection in the photo below!

In addition to Vision, James particularly likes to look out for rare prototypes and one-offs. He mentions Sims, Schmitt Stix, and pink Powell decks as boards he often looks out for.

Over 80 Vision Gator ”Swirl” decks – Not one with the same colorway

Some of James’ most notable personal favorites include 3 Vision boards from Mark “Gator” Rogowski’s personal collection, one of only two Vision “The Cure” decks, and a one-of-one Jeff Phillips/Gator collaboration deck.

In addition, check out the photo below for what James considers his “Holy grail”!

James personally watched Tony skate this board at the Airwalk 1988 SkateFest Vert contest in Toronto. Now, it’s a prized piece in James’ collection!

This incredible board collection is housed in James’ shop among classic cars, RC cars, vintage arcade machines, and a very rad bar.

In short, James Lamb’s collection is a true skateboard-lover’s dream!

An awesome place to have a drink…

Your Collection?

Do you or someone you know have an amazing skateboard collection?

Contact us! We’d love to hear about it and add more collectors to this article!

Text by Skatetexter