Supercross BMX Bring Back The Bird Flipping Troll

November 23rd, 2023
bmxultra
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Supercross BMX Bring Back The Bird Flipping Troll.

As an 80’s BMX racer, in my early to mid teens, I ran a little green sticker of a troll (apparently his name is Gerald) flipping a bird, it had nothing to do with racing and everything to do with attitude. It was common among BMXers, I’m sure all good BMX store had them, but I didn’t really think of it’s origin at the time. I still have the plate hidden away somewhere, but had forgotten about it until Supercross re-released it last year.

While looking through the Supercross BMX website I’d noticed they had branched out and have released both bobble heads and a stuffed version of Gerald. Check it out.

Manufacturer’s Description

He’s round and hairy, with thin arms and legs. Big smile, mean eyes, gap in teeth, and flipping the bird.

Includes:

1x 10″ tall Plush Gerald – and all the love and attitude that this Green Troll / Monster can give you.

Want an enamel pin? Grab them Here! or how about the Sticker that started it all? Grab it here!

Back in 1972, we moved to Walteria, Ca a small suburb of Torrance, Ca. It was in between Torrance and Redondo Beach and was in the arm pit of Hawthorne and PCH blvd….

It was in this little suburb that I first met “Gerald” although I didn’t know his name at the time and was frankly probably too scared to ask as I was a 5 year old kid running the streets on my make shift “bmx” bike that I had built out of my Flying O Schwinn Stingray copy… I knew Gerald and I were going to become friends fast as he was a Happy little troll , and his hair was a shaggy green , it matched our apartments shag carpet and it was also metallic matching the paint on my Flying O.

The first time I found “Gerald” I was 5 in 1973, the local speed shop that was on the corner of Hawthorne and PCH had a sticker board where they would sell stickers. I would take bottles back to the liquor store and get my nickle or dime and save up to get my stickers. Most of them had no meaning to me, they were just frickin’ cool artwork, Woody Woodpecker smoking a cigar, I am pretty sure that was the Thrush logo, Centerline wheels, I used to cover my dresser at home with these stickers. But, there was always a special page, one that said 18 and over… and I didn’t know why. But I wanted to see what was on that page..

And it was on that page… I found Gerald… or maybe Gerald found me… but I had to have him. He was more expensive than the others, his buck toothed smile, the glittering fur ( I later learned was holographic) he smiled at me, he was green, he became my friend… how could a sticker become your friend… but he did.

I couldn’t put him on my dresser, so once I convinced a few of the older guys to buy him for me, he promptly went on the back of my number plate. Gerald rode with me every day. Always with a smile and the whole time, respectfully telling anyone that gave us any problems to go F themselves.

The perfect amount of aggression for a 5 – 6 year old kid running the South Bay streets on his BMX bike. At the dirt jumps there were always the older kids getting high or drunk , and we knew not to do it and Gerald always, respectfully told them to F off… with his happy buck tooth smile.

Every time I got a new #plate I had to get a new Gerald to go on there, then I started putting Gerald on my bottom bracket shell since plates would break or get lost, and I never wanted to be without my friend.

Eventually my mom remarried and we moved, and I searched high and low for Gerald stickers, and I could find people that remembered the Little Green Troll but didn’t know where to find them.

So Gerald and I lost touch for years….Then a few years back as I was restoring one of my old bikes I needed to find a Gerald sticker, I couldn’t find them anywhere, so we redrew Gerald and made a few decals, just for ourselves for our own bikes. Just for Gerald to live again.

I gave a few to a few people who would come by the shop and they would laugh and smile, and that’s what Gerald was supposed to do , keep you laughing , keep you smiling, help protect to from everything wrong in the world while politely telling all that bothers you to respectfully F off ….

Then one of the guys said they would buy a few from us, and I said I can’t it’s not our design, it’s the “green troll” from when I was a kid. And I couldn’t find the owner or designer anywhere…eventually I did sell a few, I put a couple on Facebook marketplace to see if anyone knew or remembered, and we sold 10 decals in less than 2 minutes.

People remember Gerald, he was on sticker boards all around the country in the 70’s and the early 80’s 100’s of thousands of BMX and Skater kids, Speedshop kids, the 70’s and 80’s era remember Gerald.

So now, we have brought Gerald in to the Supercross BMX family, a mascot of sorts for the retro crowd. My son Tucker convinced me that we add Gerald to the website to see if people want to buy the decals, and wow, they have sold, we made a pin for your backpack, your jacket, your camera bag, etc…. Randy Roberts raced DirtyFest with Gerald on his plate to show the world who is #1 …. Gerald is all about keeping things fun!

Now we have made a stuffed animal version of Gerald and that’s how Gerald got it’s name when we threw it from upstairs down to Fin and said “Fin” “what’s his name” , “Gerald of course she replied” and yes, he is from the 70’s , he embodies the remembrance of Jerry Garcia and the Grateful Dead , he is green shag carpeting, of course he is Gerald….

Now in 2023, after we have made Gerald stickers, magnets, pins, T shirts, bobble heads and stuffed animals, we see that Supreme , yes that supreme is claiming ownership of Gerald, naming him Camacho, well I don’t think anyone technically knows who owns Gerald, the little green troll, I just know he popped into my life and gave me a lot of smiles and confidence and I would be honored to meet who originally drew the little green troll, but until then we will continue to try to honor him by bringing you the best Gerald’s the world could ever have …