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Is there some reason that Bastien isn't regularly mentioned in the greatest street skaters of all time convo?
Coming from someone who started skating in 1994, I didn't like his style, his trick selection, his braggadocio, his whole vibe. Many others felt the same. Undeniably a great skater but his current position in the industry is a direct result of his actions and personality.
Pretty much covers it
I completely see where you're coming from 100% but my argument is this
Torey Pudwill had atrocious style and trick selection but he was probably outselling literally everybody at Plan B during his peak popularity. The Berrics age demographic of tweens and early teens is super lucrative and kids are terrible at discerning who has good style. Also they're waaay more impressed by a trick's perceived difficulty than they are with good trick selection.
A skater as talented as Bastien with his trick selection could have been every little kids favorite pro and probably their top selling board, I don't understand how he never really took hold with kids and I'm wondering if Flip just... didn't do anything interesting to get people to care? Did he not get ads or something? Was it him being Euro at a time people were more dismissive of Euro skaters?
And while I don't think he's necessarily on the short list of greats like Penny or something, I do think his skating should be much more highly-regarded and more spoken of than it is today. I think if he was born in Jersey, wasn't a dick, and rode for Workshop or something people would respect him as like a Josh Kalis street legend dude
I was Bastien's age (13) when he had his Transworld Checkout doing a kick-front board on a park rail. He actually was one of my favorites for the next 6ish years. His Sorry part was insane and I personally enjoyed his Really Sorry part.
Then, he did all that weird shit - contest shenanigans, sponsor-hopping, and eventually pulled a disappearing act in 2005ish. That's nearly twenty years ago.
I've always thought it weird how much the industry is berated for not supporting EU skaters like those in California, but I'm sure his long-distance relationship with the US didn't help him build new fans during his hiatus.
The expectation of Kalis-level fame isn't a solid one, IMO. Kalis has had a nearly 30-year (maybe more) career, where he more-or-less stuck to the same sponsors and maybe more importantly
wasn't a visible-dickhead to those sponsors/industry. Despite the safety arms, Pudwill has also been an active member of the industry and seems dedicated to hyping up kids.
I think Bastien isn't often put into the same arena as Reynolds or Kareem because he didn't really have the same level of a career. He was HOT HOT HOT for half a decade, but that isn't enough time to develop a multi-generational fanbase.
Plus, I kinda feel like he kind of stuck to his bag of tricks, especially after Sorry. True, Reynolds does a frontside flip every-time a bell rings, but Andrew is/was always pushing things into the next level, where it felt like Bastien stopped doing so after Really Sorry, especially the way he relied on the cab flip/backside flip.
That's all to say I still think Bastien was one of the greatest of his generation, and he truly made me jealous as I saw his progression smoking mine. I just don't think he put in the work of a legend, despite having the potential. All the best to him and his current career. I've heard the mental-health issue rumor before and I can only imagine how hard that would be to navigate.
EDIT
Watson's reply above mine succinctly says what I was getting at.
Topic: Bastien On Cariuma (Read 11551 times)