First issue of Transworld Skateboarding magazine

This is the first issue of Transworld Skateboarding Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 1, May/June 1983 which has a color photograph of Steve Caballero on the cover. Skateboarding Magazine or Transworld Skateboarding as it is known today has been a leader in the industry for over 30 years, created in response to Thrasher Magazine’s “skate and destroy” approach to skate culture. Larry Balma, founder of Tracker Trucks and co-creator of Transworld Skateboarding Magazine along with Peggy Cozen discussed these early beginnings in a 2003 Union-Tribune interview: "They were pretty harsh, sex and drugs and using four-letter words and all that and in the early '80s, the sport started growing and [Thrasher] wasn't the best magazine for young kids." This philosophy led to Cozen’s “skate and create” motto using professional photographers to document skating as both a sport and a lifestyle and using professional skaters to bring credibility to the mix. In 1997, Transworld was sold to Time Warner and a corporate mentality began to creep into the magazine’s pages which didn’t sit right with many of the original editors so they left and created their own publication, Skateboarder Mag. In March of 2013 Transworld became the largest selling skateboarding magazine in the world and was sold to GrindMedia in May of 2013. Former Skateboarder Magazine editor-in-chief, Jamie Owens joined the Transworld team and stated in an interview in an October 2013 Transworld that, "TWS‘ hallmark has always been amazing photography of the biggest names in skateboarding. Growing up with TransWorld meant I was always seeing the best skateboarding being done by the best skaters shot by the best photographers. That documentation of skateboarding is unsurpassed."

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