FATBMX Your Online BMX News Resource Since 1998

Name: Ian MacArthur
Hometown: Chigwell, Essex, UK
Started riding BMX in: 1981
Number of bikes in the collection: Currently 25 (down from 62)

Do you remember the moment that you decided to start collecting BMX memorabilia?
Ian MacArthur: It was 2003 and I'd started riding skateparks again inspired by early days of Road Fools on the Extreme channel and I just searched for some old brands online and there was old stock kicking around on ebay and low level e-commerce sites like SkatePool.

Name: Steve Brothers
Hometown: Eagle Point, Oregon currently, and Hutchinson, Kansas as a kid who raced.
Started riding BMX in: Sanctioned BMX racing? 1980... the shot of me on the PK is my first race. I got 2nd. Of course like most 70's kids, we were doing little "moto" style upgrades on our stingrays and stingray clones and making jumps and doing our thing... this seems to be fairly universal for BMXers of my demographic. But again, as far as racing in a sanctioned context, I was an ABA racer... had a PK Ripper in the beginning, but moved on to a GT afterward. I only raced for a few years, I sometimes reflect on the fact that I've been deep in this old school BMX scene for far more years as an adult, than I

Name: Billy Mills
Hometown: Romford, Essex, UK
Started riding BMX in: 99’
Number of bikes in the collection: More than 10, less than 20…

When you saw that S&M x Supreme bike, what did you have to do in order to score one?
Billy Mills: I’ve been into Supreme before the brand became ‘hyped’ around 2010. I’ve always collected the brand, so once I heard about the S&M collaboration I had to have it, I put feelers out to some friends but it was too exclusive to have one set aside. I eventually got this one from eBay after some pestering.

Has the value doubled already?
Billy Mills: This is the question that everyone asks, it’s a strange one, because 99% of the owners of these bikes don’t actually ride or know anything about S&M, they just have a computer program that

Name: Kelly Swanson
Hometown: Greeley, Colorado
Started riding BMX in: 1975, on my Schwinn scrambler, first race: 1977 on my trusty Mongoose Motomag!
Number of bikes in the collection: Currently own 10 vintage BMX completes-

Do you remember the moment that you decided to start collecting BMX memorabilia?
Kelly Swanson: About seven years ago I bought a 1/4 pipe off Craigslist for my son to skate and the seller had a late model OM Flyer, that I bought on a whim- Once I got my butt back on a BMX bike I was hooked all over again!

At this moment, do you wish you had started collecting earlier?
Kelly Swanson: It’s all about timing and passion, I would never change my path to getting where I am today.

Do you feel there is a need for BMX products to survive for history's sake?

Name: Steve Blackey
Hometown: Torrance, California
Started riding BMX in: 1977

What was your connection with The Bicycle Source?
Steve Blackey: I met Mike Buff and started riding with him at local dirt jump spots in late 1979. Mike's brother Steve Potts (Inventor of Potts Mod), opened The Bicycle Source early 1980 in Lomita, California. At that time I was 15 working at another bike shop. Around mid April 1980 Mike asked me if I wanted to work at his brother's shop and I jumped on the opportunity.

Steve Potts owned and ran the business, also did sales, I was the mechanic and did sales. With Mike Buff, being associated with BMX Action, the shop soon became a focal point for local kids because Mike would come by often so I could “Dial in” his bikes. As the Freestyle BMX movement exploded, the shop

Name: James White
Hometown: South East London
Started riding BMX in: 1979
Number of bikes in the collection: About 10 complete I guess

Do you remember the moment that you decided to start collecting BMX memorabilia?
James White: No, I don’t think that ever happened, I prefer to call myself a BMX Historian, Hah. It goes far deeper than just collecting for me. The evolution of tricks, the media, it’s all of interest to me, the bikes and parts I have accumulated is just a part of it.

At this moment, do you wish you had started collecting earlier?
James White: Yes and No. I can’t help but cringe over the parts that have slipped through my fingers over the years but that was then and this is now. In the early 90’s everything was worthless.