In a time when there are not enough hours in the day to watch all the new skating that goes online, it's rare that an amateur on a big company comes up out of nowhere. Stevie Perez did it the old-fashioned way in 2012 with a stream of steady coverage and a standout video part in "Pretty Sweet."

When you get into the skateboard industry at a young age, there are a slew of things that could easily derail you from becoming a pro. With the release of his Volcom "Stone Age" video part, Louie Lopez has established not only that he is still on the right track but that he has become a man.

Evan Smith is a prime example of an amateur who blurs the line between ams and pros. With two raw video parts in the can, it's almost a mystery as to why he isn't making the top 10 pros list.

Dakota Servold is a reminder of the days of old. Saying what's on his mind and pushing his skating as hard as he can earns him a spot on the list.

It's not every day that you meet someone who seems to be happy all the time. Daniel Lutheran is that guy, but maybe we would all be if we were that good.

In 2012, Elijah Berle showed everyone in the world how awesome he was on and off his board. Girl/Chocolate's "Pretty Sweet" video not only solidified his ability to skate everything in his path, but it also showed his ongoing support for the other skaters in the video, time and time again.

Alec Majerus' kickflip backside lipslide down 15 stairs in his Volcom "Stone Age" video part, on top of his winning the 2012 Tampa Am, really set the bar high for future ams.

At the tail end of 2011, Trevor Colden won top honors at Tampa Am which lead to an onslaught of photos in the magazines and video footage on the skate websites. 2012 helped establish Colden as a household name.

Dane Burman is 100 percent gnarly. From massive kink rails to hardflips down sets of stairs, there's no half stepping from this native Australian.