KRYPTONICS Doug “Pineapple” Saladino, 1978.
h t r i b e R The Photos by JIM GOODRICH Interviews by JACK SMITH
More than 35 years ago, Kryptonics wheels hit the skate world. Their urethane formula was revolutionary, and a sea of red, blue and green wheels appeared almost overnight. The company’s marketing was brilliant, too — color-coding each durometer, measuring wheels in millimeters instead of inches, even selling wheels in a canister — and its print ads in SkateBoarder magazine caused millions of skaters to drool over them. But times eventually changed; the brand was taken over a number of times, and its products ended up being sold mainly in discount stores. But through an interesting turn of events, Kryptonics has relaunched. We wanted to share with readers the history of this brand because the people who were associated with it had a dramatic effect on skateboarding.
86 CONCRETE WAVE HOLIDAYS 2013