al dolega wrote:

medium was owned by bravo corporation, which is still very much around today, not Xsjane. tribe was Bravo’s aggressive distribution brand name. Bravo killed off a lot of its companies to concentrate on Senate when skating started shrinking in the late nineties- grand, color theory, 976, etc.

Xsjane started Mindgame himself after Medium tanked, the two companies are unrelated other than Xsjane’s involvement. i personally think Medium was badass, and i’ll always miss it, but i think Mindgame’s way better.

i like typing Xsjane instead of Shane.

Shane wrote:

This is pretty much correct, except that Medium was not one of the companies we intentionally killed off at Tribe during our brand house-cleaning. We killed off the majority of Tribe brands in 1997/98 (976, Super Computer Robot, Color Theory, and Grand), so that we could pool all of our resources and concentrate on Senate. I also left USD at that time as we had all agreed to scrap any outside projects we were working on. However, Medium was moderately successful and since I did 100% of the branding, it didn’t cost anything to keep it around. I ended up leaving in July of 1999.

Shortly after I left Tribe, I had several meetings with the people there to find a successor to run the brand. However, nothing panned out and Tribe pulled the plug on the brand a few months later. Dustin, our partner Denny, and I officially launched Mindgame on 01/01/00.

I saw Mark Heineken at a store a couple of years ago, and we discussed the idea of doing a joint-venture (since they own the trademark and I created the intellectual property) to bring back Medium. It was nice to talk about, but in reality, wasn’t the right thing to do.

jomu wrote:

because maybe they could then pay them.

Shane wrote:
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe we are the only wheel company in the industry paying their pros a retainer in 2006. From what I understand, every other company only pays royalties on pro-product (which we also do in addition to the retainer) and/or a “performance contract” by which skaters get paid based on their exposure. The fact is that we pay our team more than some skate companies do. Maybe you know something I don’t.

josip wrote:

Hey Shane, how do you decide who to put on the team? I just don’t see how Billy O’Neill (and I’m not disrespecting him or his skating) fits your image?

Shane wrote:

Billy is one of my favorite skaters. I had wanted to put him on Mindgame for about two (maybe three) years prior to him joining. But some times these things take time, because the skater and the company aren’t on the same page about stuff or the situation/deal isn’t right. But now everything’s worked out and when the next video comes out, you’ll see why Billy is on Mindgame. Billy’s been one of the most underrated skaters in blading for the past several years, and when we’re able to showcase his talent like we do for our other riders, people are going wonder how they had missed him. I’m just saying this so you can all get ready for your next favorite skater.

jomu wrote:

Shane, I didn’t mean to imply that I had any inside knowledge on how you run your business.

Shane wrote:

Sorry that I misunderstood your statement. I think skaters should get paid more too. But in order to do that, the companies need to make more money…which isn’t happening right now. Things will change, though. I don’t know when…but it is inevitable.

DanielBond wrote:

I would sell my soul for a medium knifey shirt.

I mean that.

Shane - make it so.

Bitch_face wrote:
I would give my first born child for a “meat is murder and murder tastes good” medium shirt. re-release through mindgame? eh eh eh? anyone? eh eh

Shane wrote:

As far as Medium goes, I threw away everything I had when I left Tribe. The only thing I kept to remember the company by was our 1998 Cult team jacket, which I have in storage. My friend still has the “Meat Is Murder And Murder Tastes Good” shirt. Everytime I see it, I want to steal it from him. When we were in Paris recently, Farmer found an Anti-Fashion ball cap at a shop and bought it. Then he had me autograph it. Then he lost it in a drunken Parisian stupor.

senatebrand93 wrote:

Well, the reason why I consider DL to be essential to Mindgame is due to his day one involvement with the company. In addition to that, can you picture Dustin riding for anyone else? Senate? 2nd Regime? 4×4? I think not. DL has this Guru-Buddha style to him, he also has his thug side to his personality as well.
Chris Haffey was riding for “Flow-Game” before 4×4 was started, and if 4×4 didn’t start, and Shane, correct me if I am wrong, he most likely would have been riding for Mindgame, as would Rachard Johnson and Mike Johnson as the rode flow for mindgame as well.
Medium seemed to produce a lot of projects and was a “bad-ass” company, literally, as their themes and “fuck you” attitude were unlike anyone else during the time of their existance. From Medium to Mindgame, Shane’s approach towards his companies, in my opinion, has become more intelligent as well as more mature while still retaining a sense of humor.

Shane wrote:

I think fans of Medium will find the next Mindgame line to their liking. I haven’t transposed the Medium aesthetic onto Mindgame per se…I’ve just found that my personal art direction has been incorporating more and more of the kinds of stuff that I used to do, and I’ve been having fun with it. People have been asking me to bring back Medium for years, and I have been flatly against it, because it wasn’t what I wanted to do. However, I can’t deny where my designs want to go…like I said earlier (and was said long before me), change is inevitable. That said, I know some people are going to misconstue what I am saying here. If you are expecting to see red and black Mindgame shirts with drawings of daggers and puppets in the next line, you’re going to be REALLY DISAPPOINTED. Besides, there are plenty of other companies currently covering that look. However, if you like the Mindgame aesthetic, but appreciated the Medium feel, you’ll like the new stuff. The best way I can think of describing it is if Isaac Brock were to meet Stephen Hawking for coffee.

Crazy Tom - Cute kids.

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Tags: mindgame

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