Greetings, Shredderz! There is an absolutely unreal vintage Donald Takayama longboard that was listed somewhere online earlier today for $300. By now someone has pulled off an absolute heist, and if I had been within a 2 hour drive of that board I’d be in the car instead of hammering out this blog post. I hope the board has found a good home. And since I can’t ride this one I’m happy to post pics — I figure the internet can always use more clear photos of great vintage Donald Takayama surfboards. As always, thanks to KC for sending this one my way. Keep scrolling for more.

According to the original listing, the board measures in at 9’3″. It’s got a 2+1 fin setup and I’d guess that it was likely shaped sometime in the 80s or 90s. There is no signature anywhere on the board, but as far as I can tell, that doesn’t tell us anything one way or another. I think there were many unsigned boards shaped by Donald, and definitely lots of signed boards that were mostly shaped by a crew of production shapers.

The board is by no means in mint condition, with the bottom looking a little worse for wear compared to the deck. Still, though, there’s plenty of life left in this thing. You can never really tell from photos alone, but that’s my best guess.

I’m pretty sure the yellow board is a DT-2 Model. Compare it with the 1994 DT-2 pictured above, which I also wrote up here. The 1994 DT-2 has a signature on the stringer. Overall the laminates and their placement are very similar between the yellow board featured here and the 1994 DT-2 I wrote up earlier. That said, my hunch is that the yellow board is a little older than the 1994 DT-2.

Damn, the more I look at these pics, the more I want to ride this thing. My hunt for the perfect vintage Takayama longboard continues, I guess — if you’re sitting on one I’d love to hear from you.