vintage VANS style #39 FULL CAB signature US6.5 MADE IN USA

the 20th anniversary of the half cab & subsequent supreme release of the cab-custom issue brings up the age-old question; is the whole greater than the sum of its parts?
personally the glass is always half full when considering the full cab but it is the half-cab that is the loaded model, embodying endless importance for the skate narrative & the culture that it helped build. as such the sum of the many parts that it played in influencing youth culture goes far beyond any concern that it looks bloated & is lesser than the original.

with monthly drops of the half via supreme stores worldwide this year, of course i would love to get my hands on 1 personally customade by steve himself. i find it hard to overlook however the deterioraion of the half cab since chinese takeover of production in the mid 90's. any tapering to the last appears to have gone & the subtlety of the panelling & crocodile leather was buried in mass production & profit margin. as such, rather than submit to made in china mediocrity & until i find an original full cab complete with 90's custom reductionism, i went 1 better with the following wholesome mouthful of holy grail!

vintage vans style #39 full cab
black suede & rubber scene
charcoal crocodile leather
made in usa circa 1989
hand-signed by steve caballero 2007
new in box
US6.5

this style #39 hand-signed by steve himself in '07 actually belonged to the 'master of disaster' duane peters! a close friend capitalised upon duane's recent misfortune & scored me this pair from the late 80s when sold to finance his cause. featuring all the genius of style #39 originals, the hallmarks of the legacy left by steve full caballero are fully evident in his spirited message on the box. skate for fun!
as such, yes parts is parts, but the whole is the holy grail!

style profile; VANS style #33 half cab

as time passes by the legacy left by steve caballero on the skating world is taken less & less for granted. & at no time is this more evident with the much anticipated release of peralta's pseudo sequel to dogtown & z boys & the 20th anniversary of the half cab.

as discussed in the full cab profile, the legacy of steve's caballerial left it's mark by nature of the trick's dissection into the half cab. & to quote morpheus it seems fate is not without a sense of irony, as his signature shoe was destined to the same outcome. so much so that just like the trick, the half-cab became bigger than the original which from then on was named in reference to his younger brother.

it was the late 80's & early 90's progression of skating from vert to the streets which necessitated the need for a "lighter, faster & better" prototype. if necessity is the mother of invention then the radical offspring of such necessity took it in their own hands to lose the padded collar of the high-top #39 full cab in favour of a lower-cut, custom sealed half cab. steve took this inspiration from the street skate collective (unconscious) to vans & the rest is history.

the post-op cab was now more representative of its maker & reflects more his style based on compact power & a low centre of gravity. skating vert in a full cab, like riding in a black cab is style of a higher class with a more luxurious & refined aesthetic & a greater liklihood of getting to your destination unscathed. skating a halfcab on the other hand was more more raw, with an unrefined street edge & the late-night uncertainty of riding in a mini-cab (or half cab as i now suggest they be called).

the half cab is regularly voted as the greatest skate shoe of all time however i do wonder if the results would be the same if 1st produced after vans production moved offshore in 94-95. the half-cab had 3-4 strong years of superior vulcanised manufacture in the states which i feel was the contributing factor to its high scoring status. thrashed by a multitude of pros in the early 90's, the half cab's made after this point pale in comparison & themselves should be cut in half again. it's thus no wonder there's so few originals left however do be careful as i believe all incarnations of the half cab feature the 1992 markings even up to this day. if you can get yo hands on a pair of halfs marked MADE IN USA then you are continuing the legacy started more than 20 years ago. as such, the cab is certainly half full.

year of the dragon

vintage 1950's wood effect spectacles HANDMADE IN ENGLAND

vintage Anon.
unmarked
handmade in england circa 1950's
new

vintage VANS style #49 chukka boot US9 woven plaid print MADE IN USA

vintage vans style #49 chukka boot
puple woven plaid
black rubber scene
made in usa circa 1989
new in box
US9/UK8-8.5

vintage VANS style #44 authentic USw8 herringbone print MADE IN USA

vintage vans style #44 authentic
herringbone print
black rubber scene
made in usa circa 1988
new
USw8N/UK5.5NN

THE CUTTING EDGE; new shoes for fall '92 (& fall/winter 12)

vans gives you the opportunity to put some of the freshest in footwear fashion in your store (& on your feet) in time for fall(/winter). stores (& people) that are most than just a step ahead, they're setting the pace. for your customers who are always on the lookout for the latest thing, these selections are just the thing to help them stand out from the crowd. every shoe pictured here is available right now (in some capacity). so hop to it if you want to stay ahead.

vintage GIANNI VERSACE mod. t74 col. 852 greek key MADE IN ITALY 1990's

vintage gianni versace
mod. t74 col. 852
made in italy circa 1992
new in case