Video Review: Editor-in-chief: Kevin Little, @kevinmlittle
Cavin Brinkman has just dropped the highly anticipated fifth edition to his long-running Plastic Pushers series which features full profiles on Viktoria Lova Soderholm, Adriaan Poortmans, Ruben Smulders, Bastian Thuring, Javi Garrido, Isac “Sorry” Martinez, Nolan van Ophoven, and Clark Zeller. PP5 is one of 2024’s best full-length videos and our editor Kevin Little decided to digest the video over the weekend with several viewings for a proper review. Here are his thoughts.
The Swedish sensation Viktoria Lova Soderholm (@viktorialovasoderholm) kicked off the first of many profiles in the video. Viktoria is one of my favorite new bladies to emerge onto the blading scene in quite sometime. Her unique style and technicality are a breathe of fresh air as her tricks are never predictable and always filled with tons of finesse. Viktoria seems to have combined elements of aggressive skating, figure skating, and slalom into a wild hybrid form that is absolutely beautiful to behold! From unique cess slides into and out of tricks, mixed with innovative med-spins and shuffles, her profile is an amazing way to initiate a stellar video.
The next profile up was the super smooth Adriaan Poortmans (@adriaan.poortmans). Adriaan is always a pleasure to watch as he has an incredibly laid-back and casual calmness to his skating along with a pretty unique trick vocabulary that he uses to put together a very well-rounded and solid profile. The bridge drop-in was particularly gnarly and definitely brought out a few ecstatic curse words witnessing that for the first time.
Next in line was an incredible montage of friends such as Niels Groenendijk, Jeroen Wullems, Mick Casals, Caleb Benavides, Marc Moreno, Dominic Bruce, Leon Humphries and a few nice shots of Plastic Pushers videographer Cavin Brinkman as well. The dog-sculpture roll-in by Cav was particularly awesome considering his affinity for any and all canines. The whole montage was satisfying and I can never get enough footage of Mick Casals to satisfy my needs, so seeing a hefty helping of Mick clips in PP5 definitely brought a huge smile to my face.
The next profile up is the always entertaining Dutch Razors amateur Ruben Smulders (@ruhbain_blindside). Ruben lays down some super tech switch-ups with tons of confidence and has that proper OG style that shows he has been killing it for a long, long time. (We are proud to announce that no bicycles were damaged in the filming of Ruben’s ender trick as well.)
Another Friends montage follows Ruben’s profile and the video shows a few note-worthy appearances from Yves Maurer, Liam Gratwohl, Jan Feldmann, Adrian Deck, Reto Burgin, and a few choice shots of USD pro rider Eugen Enin and Jo “Why Hasn’t Roces Made Me Pro Yet?” Zink.
The next profile up is the German legend Bastian Thuring (@bastian.thue), who I have become a HUGE fan of after watching his numerous appearances in the Plastic Pushers series as well as the Borklyn Zoo Schabernack videos. From creative spot selections, improvisational trick choices, and a few gnarly hammers, Bastian’s full length profile brought all the heat that I was hoping for and more! That ender clip on the chain-link stair rail is easily one of the video’s best tricks and one that will certainly have you rewinding the video in disbelief.
Javi Garrido (@javi_garrido_) was another Bladie that I was super excited to see have a full length profile in PP5. Javi has been dropping tons of incredible clips via social media for so I was eager to see the stylish Spaniard in full force. Javi’s portion definitely lived up to my expectations and she came through with a solid showing with a variety of difficult tricks and consistent lines. The profile was a unfortunately a bit short for my liking but it could have been I just wish there were more clips of Javi as it was not lacking in the quality of the skating. So kudos, Javi! You killed it.
Another Friends montage follows and some more cameos from some of Europe’s best make appearances such as Mesmer Skates pro rider Levi Van Rijn, Gilles Buelens, Billy Murton, Adria Saa, and Patrick Smith but also some international representation from Julian Bah, Chie Ichi Inoue, and Jeremy Spira. Mozes den Blanken is another young blader that I hadn’t seen much footage of prior to PP5 but he surprised me with several sweet tricks in this montage and hopefully in the coming issues, we will see some more clips from the talented youngster.
Prior to watching Plastic Pushers 5 I hadn’t seen much footage of Isac Martinez (@mizisac), but he definitely surprised me with a very dialed in steeze reminiscent of Marcus Benavides’ low squat style. Isac delivered one of my favorite profiles in the video and I catch myself wondering where the hell he has been hiding all this time or if I am simply missing out on one of blading’s best kept secrets. Either way, I am a HUGE fan now and Isac is definitely a skater that I want to see more of in the future.
The next profile on the schedule was from the young up-and-coming Gawds rider Nolan van Ophoven (@nolanvanophoven). Where as most youth have a very awkward style of skating, Nolan has a matured approach that seems beyond his years. He has a confidence in his skating that is very noticeable and his tricks are always dialed in and never sloppy. If you are wanting to know who is going to be the next big star in blading, I think if Nolan plays his cards right, he might be THAT guy in the coming years. So, Nolan if you are reading this, don’t ever quit blading, cause we need ya, big guy!
The final profile in PP5 is on the always incredible Clark Zeller (@clarkvzeller). I have always enjoyed Clark’s skating and I see why Cavin chose Clark to conclude such a star-studded video. After watching it for yourself, you will admit that the placement is 100% warranted. Clark’s skating is very fast paced, filled with tons of abstract tweaks, properly grabbed exits and more style than seems humanly possible. I was super impressed with Clark’s powerful delivery and execution and really hope to see more of his skating in the future as well. If the blading industry was on their A-Game, they would see the diamond in the rough with Clark and sponsor this cat A.S.A.M.F.P! He is something special!
So that concludes Plastic Pushers 5. Although the video might not have had as many of the “big names” in the industry as in previous videos, it still delivered a thoroughly entertaining video with a TON of great action and a glimpse into some of blading’s best amateur talent that will likely be leading the way in the coming years. Cavin works incredibly hard and invests tons of his time and money into Plastic Pushers, and the noticeable improvement to both the filming and presentation have made it one of the most highly regarded and appreciated video series currently. We hope he continues his winning ways and continues to shed light on some of our community’s most deserving individuals, as it always leaves us with that warm and happy feeling when it is all said and done. Thanks, Cavin. Keep smashing it, brother.
FOLLOW PLASTIC PUSHERS ON INSTAGRAM HERE & AT PLASTICPUSHERS.COM
Be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more quality skate content.
