Description
Collector's Note – Why This Issue Matters
The September 1983 issue of BMX Action featuring Stu Thomsen on the cover — photographed mid-race at the Miami ESPN Pro Series by Osborn — is a primary document of one of the most consequential seasons in the history of competitive BMX racing. Stu Thomsen, known in the BMX community as "Mighty Stu," was one of the dominant figures in professional BMX racing during the early 1980s, and his cover appearance here is situated within a specific competitive context: the ESPN Pro Series, which represented the intersection of BMX racing and the emerging cable sports television infrastructure that was in the process of transforming how American action sports were broadcast and consumed. ESPN had launched in 1979 and was actively building its sports programming portfolio in the early 1980s, and the Pro Series it organized for BMX represented one of the first serious attempts to bring the sport to a national television audience. A BMX Action cover capturing Thomsen mid-race at that series, photographed by Osborn — one of the most respected photographers in BMX media history — is a primary document of that television-sports convergence at its opening stage. For collectors building archives of vintage BMX Action magazine issues, confirmed Thomsen covers from the ESPN Pro Series era carry specific historical weight as documents of the sport at a genuinely pivotal moment in its commercial development.
The confirmed interior content of this issue provides an unusually complete picture of the September 1983 BMX landscape across racing, freestyle, product development, and community culture. The "Freestylin': Bunny Hop 360" tutorial is a confirmed primary document of BMX Action's ongoing role in developing and disseminating the technical vocabulary of freestyle BMX — the magazine's freestyle coverage during this period was instrumental in establishing the discipline's identity as distinct from racing, and a named trick tutorial from September 1983 is a dated primary source for the freestyle discipline's early instructional literature. The Triple Test of three Mongoose models under $200 and the Diamond Back Turbo Lite product analysis document the specific equipment landscape of mid-1983 BMX at a moment of rapid technical development and aggressive price competition among manufacturers. The confirmed Timmy Judge interview adds a named rider's documented perspective to the issue's rider-culture record. The BMXA 4th Annual Word Contest — with a Kuwahara Laser Lite or JT Racing apparel set as prizes — documents the specific promotional partnerships and brand relationships that defined the early-eighties BMX commercial ecosystem. Collectors of 1983 magazines focused on action sports and youth culture will find this issue captures the September 1983 BMX landscape with unusual completeness and named specificity across racing, freestyle, equipment, and community content.
The Racing coverage in this issue — the ESPN Pro Series Miami recap and the Torker-NBL War of the Stars in Bakersfield — documents the dual competitive structures of professional BMX racing in 1983: the emerging television-oriented ESPN circuit and the established NBL (National Bicycle League) sanctioned events that had been the sport's primary competitive infrastructure throughout its development. The coexistence of both in a single September 1983 issue reflects the competitive and organizational complexity of professional BMX at the moment of its greatest mainstream commercial visibility.
About the Publication
BMX Action was an American specialty magazine published from 1976 through the mid-1980s, founded by Bob Osborn and published by Wizard Publications, that served as the primary journalistic voice of the BMX racing and freestyle community during the sport's most formative and commercially explosive period. Its editorial format combined rider profiles, race coverage, product reviews, technical features, and the action photography that was central to the sport's visual identity, directed at a readership of dedicated BMX riders and enthusiasts ranging from pre-teen beginners to professional competitors. By September 1983 it had been publishing for seven years and had established a reputation for coverage that took the sport and its participants seriously as both athletes and cultural figures — its coverage of the transition from pure racing to the emerging freestyle discipline was particularly important in legitimizing and disseminating the new practice to a national audience.
Key Highlights Inside
- Stu Thomsen cover — ESPN Pro Series, Miami, photographed by Osborn — A confirmed cover image of one of competitive BMX's most prominent riders, captured at the sport's first major television-oriented professional competition series by the discipline's most respected photographer — a primary document of BMX's television crossover moment.
- "Freestylin': Bunny Hop 360" tutorial (page 52) — A confirmed freestyle trick instruction feature providing dated primary documentation of the early-eighties freestyle BMX instructional literature that the magazine pioneered.
- ESPN Pro Series / Miami racing recap — Brian Patterson (page 24) — Confirmed race coverage of the first round of the televised Pro Series, documenting the specific competitive results and participants of the sport's most commercially significant event of 1983.
- Triple Test — Mongoose Californian, Expert, and Minigoose (page 72) — A confirmed three-bike product review of Mongoose's 1983 lineup under $200, providing dated primary documentation of the equipment landscape at a specific moment in BMX manufacturing's development.
- Timmy Judge interview (page 64) — A confirmed named rider interview providing a documented first-person perspective from within the competitive BMX community in September 1983.
- BMXA 4th Annual Word Contest — Kuwahara Laser Lite or JT Racing prizes (page 36) — A confirmed contest feature documenting the specific brand partnerships and promotional relationships that defined the early-eighties BMX commercial ecosystem.
Condition & Rarity
Very good condition with minor edge wear, no subscription label, and plastic protective covering represents a strong collector-grade example of a forty-plus-year-old specialty sports magazine. BMX Action was printed on paper stock of standard newsstand quality, and issues from 1983 that present in very good condition have typically benefited from deliberate preservation. The no-label newsstand status confirms the complete Thomsen cover image — photographed by Osborn mid-race — is fully visible without address obstruction. The plastic protective covering indicates subsequent preservation. For a specialty sports publication with the specific historical content this issue contains — the ESPN Pro Series coverage, the freestyle tutorial, the Mongoose Triple Test — interior page completeness and legibility are the primary research and collector value factors alongside cover surface condition.
Looking for More Issues Like This?
Stu Thomsen BMX Action covers from the ESPN Pro Series era are a specific and historically grounded find for serious BMX collectors, and a September 1983 number with the freestyle tutorial, Mongoose Triple Test, and named race coverage makes this one of the more content-rich issues in the magazine's archive. The broader BMX Action archive at OriginalMagazines.com is worth exploring carefully for other issues from the magazine's most historically productive early-eighties period. For collectors focused on the specific action sports and youth culture moment of 1983, the full 1983 magazine collection covers a range of titles from a year when BMX was at the absolute peak of its mainstream commercial and cultural presence.