French skate mag Sugar is done....

[OldieButFrenchie]

Figured this was worth a tribute thread, as the mag kept going for 27 years. Pretty good run IMO! Definitely did not expect it to last that long when I bought the first issue. So kudos to them!
First issue on the left 97 // last on the right 2024.

[Jean-Ralphio Zaperstein]

My guess is the stickers held them alive for at least 15 years, on every tabac/presse shelves - good run sugar skatemag

[Síota]

I swear there was a post about this. Sucks. RIP. I got a huge stack of them as my local shop used to carry it. Before that I'd go to the tabac.

[dallou]

I used to buy them for stickers when I was 11 aha

[OldieButFrenchie]

haha good call about the stickers guys. that was genius marketing!   

pretty crazy to think france had 3 skate mags at one point: Sugar, Tricks and Freestyler/Soma
(  run out of grenoble by your buddy Fred, Síota !)

[rolling is good]

Also Ride on and Urban even if they weren't only skate, Tricks was but it awful all the same. Full of crappy video grabs.
Freestyler was good when it didn't feature snowboard.

Lots of memories of my early skate days, I still have all the mags I ever bought or got in the mail.

[OwlGreen]

Figured this was worth a tribute thread, as the mag kept going for 27 years. Pretty good run IMO! Definitely did not expect it to last that long when I bought the first issue. So kudos to them!
First issue on the left 97 // last on the right 2024.

Bless us with the Lennie photos, please.

[tumulishoomaroom]

Early Sugars are printed on my cortex, I still have all by back issues at my grand parents. My first skate mag ever was one with Vincent Bressol on the cover I think.
some of those were my first :

[botefdunn]

Wow, that's sad, but good on them for holding on this long. Sugar was always my fav French mag.

[Síota]

haha good call about the stickers guys. that was genius marketing!   

pretty crazy to think france had 3 skate mags at one point: Sugar, Tricks and Freestyler/Soma
(  run out of grenoble by your buddy Fred, Síota !)

Yeah I know about Soma from Fred!  I wish he would do another Narvalo issue! I actually will go bug him about it later this week.

Yeah the stickers were great. The posters also, got a few on the wall of my office.

[jgonzalez]

Sad to see any mags and any skate infrastructure leave that services their scene.

Any online magazines or podcasts in French? I’ve listened to big spin to try and maintain my shitty French, would like to consume more media en français

[Jean-Ralphio Zaperstein]

Sad to see any mags and any skate infrastructure leave that services their scene.

Any online magazines or podcasts in French? I’ve listened to big spin to try and maintain my shitty French, would like to consume more media en français

À Propos also stopped but I think it turned into askatemag.com, several articles in french already

[versacekid420]

not sweet

[Mr.Jenkins]

That sucks - liked the mag. Got in it once, one fullpage and one sequence. Thanks sugar 🫡

[Crust]

Putain, that's a shame. Really sick mag. Sucks to hear when solid mags go under.

[Sold Out]

Had a subscription to Canada for a while, mag was great and good excuse to brush up on my French.

[OldieButFrenchie]

here's the Lennie Kirk article! Only one skate pic I'm afraid...as a bonus here's also a Penny cover from issue 3. bs nollie 180....





I did not keep all my back issues of Sugar as I have way too many piles of skate mags in my house....but I did keep a few, I'll upload some more stuff.
btw Sebastien if by chance you read this thanks for the itw!   
(I had a feature in the mag for a music project around 2005. I remember being super stoked to be in Sugar, even if it wasn't for skating ha!)

[dallou]

Expand Quote

Sad to see any mags and any skate infrastructure leave that services their scene.

Any online magazines or podcasts in French? I’ve listened to big spin to try and maintain my shitty French, would like to consume more media en français

[close]

À Propos also stopped but I think it turned into askatemag.com, several articles in french already

A propos was really really cool

[BALARGUE]

It's a bitter sweet situation.
My guy Juan Renoux on the cover (and poster) and my boys from Derby with the 12 page feature is most certainly the proudest moment since i opened Balargue Skateshop in 2016. So stoked for them.
Landing on the cover on the last issue ever gives a rather ambivalent feeling. Accomplishment mixed with sadness and concern. I actually started skateboarding around the time Sugar #1 hit the shelves in 1997. Seeing this mag die has a lot of weight especially considering the state of the skateboarding market at the moment as stated in the editorial.

Anyway Juan is a beast. So many skateboarders from all over the world walked by this rail in La Défense and said "Nope". May this trick inspire a couple young skateboarders staring at their bedroom's wall.

Where do we get skateboarding posters when all printed media is dead ?

[Síota]

That is sick @BALARGUE !

As for posters I get this stupid ad on youtube (when I use my phone) "level up your gaming space get something something metal posters" so fuck knows. My "gaming" space (PS4 for youtube skate videos) is my living room with art and decks on the wall. I guess every household has a printer now so kids can just print what ever they like. I can't see a 13 year old having attention span to cut up old mags and make collages on their bedroom walls these days.

[OldieButFrenchie]

It's a bitter sweet situation.
My guy Juan Renoux on the cover (and poster) and my boys from Derby with the 12 page feature is most certainly the proudest moment since i opened Balargue Skateshop in 2016. So stoked for them.
Landing on the cover on the last issue ever gives a rather ambivalent feeling. Accomplishment mixed with sadness and concern. I actually started skateboarding around the time Sugar #1 hit the shelves in 1997. Seeing this mag die has a lot of weight especially considering the state of the skateboarding market at the moment as stated in the editorial.

Anyway Juan is a beast. So many skateboarders from all over the world walked by this rail in La Défense and said "Nope". May this trick inspire a couple young skateboarders staring at their bedroom's wall.

Where do we get skateboarding posters when all printed media is dead ?

kudos to your bros!

btw I was wondering about that rail....is it the one in the picture? With a super rough roll up? like the whole parvis de la Déf ? Honestly never thought of that thing as a spot....granted my days of skating la Def were mostly in the 80s, so handrail skating was not exactly common   
and yeah it's crazy to think how many pros walked by it!

[The Mess]

Was sad to hear this a few weeks back. Thanks to everyone who worked on Sugar through the years. I still had a subscription going to my parents house in France since like 03... Sooo many stickers in there haha. Got to work on a few issues and always had a great experience. Merci Sugar.

[franc]

A fair amount of Penny pictures throughout the years, especially back when he had pretty much disappeared, before Sorry.

Trop parlé was a sick section too.

RIP Sugar, thanks for everything.

[PlugSkullcandy]

Going to the « tabac presse » after school and buy Sugar / Freestyler / Tricks / Chill or Kingpin… The place where I bought skate mags was very inconsistent in terms skateboarding press, but it was the only thing in the neighborhood I grew up in… I feel nostalgic.

Basically I would eat outside school for my lunch break, but I used to not eating so I could buy some skate mags with the money.

One day my dad found out I would not eat in order to buy skate mags, so he would randomly buy me some - always a pleasure when I would see a new skate mag on the kitchen table going back home from school - it was our little ritual.

Anyway RIP Sugar, 27 years was a great run!

[Ty Evans Lightman]

haha good call about the stickers guys. that was genius marketing!   

pretty crazy to think france had 3 skate mags at one point: Sugar, Tricks and Freestyler/Soma
(  run out of grenoble by your buddy Fred, Síota !)

Don’t forget Thrasher France!

To be honest I was never a huge fan of Sugar. I didn’t like the name (which is whatever as an opinion) but I also wasn’t a fan of the layout. But that said, they held it down the longest as print media so they get my respect.

I much preferred Freestyler. Those guys made me crack up whenever I read their articles.

[TheDraught]

Always sad to see a print magazine go. A used to buy an issue every now and then on holiday or business trip.

Kind of crazy how much magazines there were around 2000 or so. If I walked into a random magazine and book store in a train station in Germany there would be 10 to 15 skateboard magazines. All the American ones, a couple of German magazines, British magazines like Sidewalk and Kingpin. If you were near the border maybe even French ones.

Would love to see some of those Penny pictures

[OldieButFrenchie]

Always sad to see a print magazine go. A used to buy an issue every now and then on holiday or business trip.

Kind of crazy how much magazines there were around 2000 or so. If I walked into a random magazine and book store in a train station in Germany there would be 10 to 15 skateboard magazines. All the American ones, a couple of German magazines, British magazines like Sidewalk and Kingpin. If you were near the border maybe even French ones.

Would love to see some of those Penny pictures

I got you! Will post the whole article tomorrow (missing the time now), it's actually a whole itw with Penny, all done in French when he was living in France just after leaving the US     
Penny's broken French is pretty funny but seems he was speaking good actually!

[franc]

Penny's broken French is pretty funny but seems he was speaking good actually!

Yeah he's fluent. There was a clip of him skating and speaking French with Flo Marfaing and some other guys in a beach town in Spain on Insta not long ago. He went as far as saying trick names like French skaters do, trois-six flip and all that. What a legend.

[OldieButFrenchie]

Expand Quote

Penny's broken French is pretty funny but seems he was speaking good actually!

[close]

Yeah he's fluent. There was a clip of him skating and speaking French with Flo Marfaing and some other guys in a beach town in Spain on Insta not long ago. He went as far as saying trick names like French skaters do, trois-six flip and all that. What a legend.

say what!!? awesome. Plus he gets extra props for not saying "tré flip" like the kids do.... 
btw it still trips me out he went from living in San Diego, in the middle of the industry, to Périgueux in the southwest of France. Small-ass city with probably 2 skatable spots! My grandfather lived there, it's an awesome place for good food and wine, but skating? nah.
anyways here's the itw/article! a few cool Penny pics...and a tiny sequence

[TheDraught]

Many thanks @OldieButFrenchie! Amazing to see some pictures from that era when he was "missing". I wonder if somebody still has some videotapes with footage in a drawer somewhere...

I think he moved to Périguex because his mother had a farm there?

That interview is kinda funny. Tom must be one of the most difficult skaters to interview.