Since skateboarders adopted the Chuck Taylor back in the 80’s, Converse has made a couple runs at building a serious skate division. The last shot ended back in ‘01 and included both Felix Arguelles and a lawsuit with Kenny Anderson (never got paid his royalties). In ‘03, Nike bought Converse for a solid $305 million.

Now, for spring ‘09 (as rumored earlier on these pages) , Cons is making a fresh run, with some of their new skate models already popping up in skateshops (pictured above: the Nzinga) . The rumour mill has also slated their team to include Anthony Pappalardo, Sammy Baca, Nick Trappasso, Raymond Molinar, Ethan Fowler, Jack Curtin, and Peter Smolik. Keep an eye out for the lone star.