Are there any "legacy" brands (besides Indy and Spitfire) that are still liked or respected?
when i was a kiddo, it felt like there was a clear big three of girl, flip and zero - and they're all kind of seen as tragic zombies now. same goes for sovereign sect. and enjoi and almost and blind. although, crail and almost actually both have pretty great teams. element was never cool anyway. DGK just sort of exists. plan b is so bland it's bizarre. birdhouse was always pretty shit, imo, reynolds and willy not withstanding. i think the tum yeto brands are actually better now than they were back then, but it might be pushing it to say they're thriving. the two DLX brands haven't really had a fall from grace, but they were also never really at the top of the tree. and it's easier for smaller brands like 5boro to avoid losing their way i guess. skate mafia have been going a long time and all of their recent videos are incredibly heavy, but it's kind of a weird brand that's never made any attempt to be cool.
yeah, baker is essentially the answer. if you had to pick a company to ride for established before 2005 with no option to bring back dead brands, i feel that'd be the sensible pick.