Rawbie and Jinxy's Wheel Cover Video Contest

So just like the flyer says, send in a video telling us about all the awesome things about wheel covers and you can win 3 wheel covers with your club's logo and 2 special limited edition Rawbie Boardz Show wheel covers!
It can be anything really, if you use them outside of polo, if they have magical powers, if they fight crime, or if you want to show off some mad skills. Or, why you really really really need a set of covers!
The winner will be announced on The Rawbie Boardz Show and their video will be played. So make it interesting. The drunker, the better :D Please keep your video to 30-45 seconds unless it is well worth the extra time. You can email your YouTube for Vimeo link to rawbieboardz@gmail.com or acwainscott@gmail.com
Entries will be accepted until March 17th at midnight. So get to it kiddoes. Hurray for Free Shit!

Until then, watch the first episode of The Rawbie Boardz Show

The Rawbie Boardz Show - episode 1 from Ken Regehr on Vimeo.

Or keep up to date with Rawbie Boardz' crazy ass at The League of Bike Polo Rawbie Thread


Have fun, and good luck!
~Jinxy

From the Drawing Board

I always have a lot of fun designing wheel covers, especially when they are from scratch. Sure I can grab a photo from the internet, and throw some text on there and viola, you got your self a cover. But the ones that I have to use a pencil and paper on, mean the most to me. Sure there are a few more steps, scanning, importing, redrawing with vectors and then finally prepping it to be cut out on vinyl. But that's all part of the process. For the larger orders, I do like the fact that I can now do a direct digital full color print, so that way no one is limited on what they want on their cover.
When I see neat designs, I find it kind of cool to see the original sketches of the idea, and then the build up to the final product.
Here are a few covers that I did from scratch.

For Maverick / Based off of the Toki Doki characters.

From the AZ Desert Polo Invite. The one on the right was for the stickers.

Joey CA's kid goes by 'Boogie Monster' I don't know how else I could have illustrated it. :D But that's what the Boogie wanted! I really dig how this one turned out.

This one is for NOD from AZ. All he said was that he wanted something with the Grim Reaper. This one was a lot of fun to make.

Ideas have to start off somewhere. So even if you have some scribbles on a napkin, send them over. We can make it work!

~Jinxy

The Germans Do it Better

From Leica cameras to Mercedes Benz, the Germans always had a knack of deconstructing something and making it better, and sexier.

My 3 semesters of German in college, is useless to me now, and I don't quite understand most of the text in the video.
Some of the covers look like corroplast, but the "impact testing" makes it seem like they are building either polycarbonate or CARBON FIBER! wheel covers.

You can watch here in the video on how they are made and tested

I still have no idea what these cost, or even how they are installed, but if you can read/speak Deutsch check out their site here
Subtil-Bikes Wheel Covers


Gute Arbeit und gutes Glück!
Remember, if your budget can't cover a Benz wheel cover, drop me a line.
~Jinxy

EDIT:
Sean over at 321-Polo! spotted my entry and decided to do a little more investigating on this particular product. This is what he found out:

About the Wheelcovers, right now we only offer one size version. The
covers have a size of 650mm, a hight of 30mm, this gives them an angle
of about 5,25°. So they mostly fit to every front wheel. You can cut
them by your-self to the right size, to fit to the wheel.
About the mounting, there are different versions:
Some people use cable straps, some use hook-and-loop tape, or some
special modified front hub.
We can offer our own special mounting system, where you can mount them
directly to the spokes.
And normally to install our own mounting system we need the wheel, cut
the cover for you, and mount it.
There are different versions.
Basic version is made of glass fiber and cost about 89€ the pair without
mounting.
The color version costs about 139€
Carbon version about 169€

------------------------------------
Thanks again Sean for checkin into this further. So if you guys got the cash and want the sexiest cover on the block, check out Subtil-Bikes!

For the Love of Polo

(photo by Justin Wilhelm)

 South Park wasn't lying to us when in every episode there was lots of snow on the ground and wool caps on every one's head in Denver, Colorado.
I start bitching when I can't feel my toes or my ears get too cold in the freezing 50° wet and rainy Los Angeles weather. Anyone who shovels snow for an hour for polo is definitely one tough bastard, especially when they play in a short sleeve shirt. Whether it be passion or plain madness, the Denver Mallet Mafia has what it takes.

(photo by Justin Wilhelm)

I had the pleasure of meeting Maxx, Scooter, Duncan and all the other Mafioso's at the Arizona Desert Invite last month. Maxx had ordered a few sets of covers for his club and I was able to make the drop in AZ (saving them a few bucks in shipping) The DMM design is perfect for a wheel cover. Easy to read, sharp and of course round. For this set I made them with cut vinyl. The same kind of sticker you see on the back of people's cars, like Calvin pissing on Ford or those God awful family stickers. (Trust me, those family stickers are the Devil, I used to work at the mall and make those.) Anyway, this is the same thing, except bigger and way cooler. Single colors look just as nice as a full color print.
When Duncan asked me if I could do the Eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings, I was excited to show off the full color print capabilities. Using a high gloss vinyl with laminate, this cover really gets your attention. That and it looks like a flaming vagina.

(photo by Justin Wilhelm

To the Denver Mallet Mafia, it truly was a pleasure meeting you guys and playing with and against you in Arizona. Maxx, you are an inspiration and one cool cat. Hope I get to make a few more wheel covers for ya'll!

And about the photos you saw in todays entry:
Justin Wilhelm, a photographer from Denver, took some awesome shots of DMM while they pushed the ball and some snow around.
You can see Justin's "In the Dark Photography" Facebook gallery here


 Stay warm out there!
~Jinxy

The Wonderful World of Mr. Do

Thank you so much to 321-Polo! for linking the rest of  you cats to my door step.
Sean had featured one of my favorite covers I have done recently. If you only have a pinky toe in the world of bike polo, you have probably seen a video or two by an incredible guy by the name of Mr. Do from Minneapolis.

Here is my favorite example of the game through the eyes of Mr. Do




North American Hardcourt Polo from Mr.Do on Vimeo.

 I recommend checking out the rest of his videos. From bloopers to full game videos, all are beautiful to look at.

Now here is a little bit about Mr. Do's wheel covers.(Which by the way, I was totally honored that he asked me to do his! I mean, everyone knows Mr. Do. He's the man!)
Anyways, originally he had a small jpg of an image with this logo of the Mr. Do clown, but there was no way I could blow that up and make a decent printed wheel cover. So, with the magical powers of illustrator (points and anchors ftw) I was able to bring that 78 x 78 pixel .jpg back to life, with brighter colors and of course, a tall boy of Surly Furious in his hand. I then had it directly printed on sticker vinyl, then placed it on the corroplast. All of my covers are hand cut, so it really helps to design inside the circle with plenty of guides to cut by. I have tried cutting the coroplast first and then placing the decal on it after, but if you are off just a little, then you get a lop sided wheel. So its better to lay it on the square blank first then cut.
Enough typing, here are the covers

 

 

(Photo by Dane Haman)

If you have spotted any of my covers at tournaments or on your home court, feel free to send me an action shot! I love seeing my covers in their natural habitat.

~Jinxy

Bout freaking time

Hello all of you wonderful people of the magical world of bike polo!

Here you will see all of my custom wheel covers, either from the shop or on the wheel in which it belongs.
Also, I will be sharing other bad ass designs and ideas from other players. So, if you have something you would like me to post, send me an email! Stickers, shirts, wheel covers, tournament posters. Anything artsy in the polo world!

Most of the covers are custom made individuals, team or club designs or specially made Tournament covers
I have quite a few photos, but for now, lets take a look at the winners

2nd place prize for the AZ qualifying tournament goes to Seabass, Julian, Polony
(Photo by Mike Shriver)

Furthest traveled to SF Ball Whackers Ball goes to Mario and Nora
(Photo by Mike Shriver / Cover art Ethan Clarke)

Special prize to Maverick at the SD Polo BBQ

Also, feel free to contact me at any time if you want to request a custom wheel cover of your own!
Prices start at $25 + shipping
special prices for teams or clubs are available too.
Drop me a line at acwainscott@gmail.com

Till next time!

~Jinxy