The Surfer’s Journal recently ran a great feature on Skip Frye’s boards. It’s among the best surfboard-related articles I’ve ever read. Photographer and TSJ Photo Editor Shawn Parkin will occasionally post nuggets from this incredible shoot. I still can’t get enough of that lineup of pristine Skip boards! Just gimme one of those, Skip, and I swear I’ll die I happy man…
Good luck finding a photo with more surfboard shaping firepower than the one featured above. Skip Frye and Donald Takayama is a combo that’s hard to beat!
Is David Nuuhiwa the most stylish surfer of all time? He’s gotta be in the conversation. I don’t have the stones to show up to a surf spot rocking a vest without a shirt underneath, but then again, I don’t surf nearly as well as Nuuhiwa does! I wish there were more photos of the boards in front of Nuuhiwa. If you look closely at the one on the far right, it looks like it has the red and white yin yang David Nuuhiwa logo, similar to an earlier Nuuhiwa single fin surfboard I wrote up.
This is an older post — it’s over two years old — but vintage Liddles are timeless. I’ve featured vintage Greg Liddle boardsmany timeson the blog before. The vintage Liddle that Kirk Putnam posted above is one of the cleaner examples I have seen. I love the smaller logo, set perpendicular to the stringer. This is a somewhat unusual setup compared to Liddle’s later boards. The red coloring provides just the right amount of pop, too.
Finally, I love these Aussie Gordon & Smith Bonza boards (AKA Bonzer for my fellow Seppos.) “Curvaceous” is the word that comes to mind whenever I look at those swooping bottom channels.
Greetings, Shredderz! Today we have a contrast of two very different Surfboards Hawaii sticks. I love Surfboards Hawaii, and it’s maddeningly difficult to try and find information about the brand. Sadly, once SHACC took down Stoked-n-Board, researching Surfboards Hawaii got even harder. All I’ll say, though, is that Surfboards Hawaii was once home to both Dick Brewer and Ben Aipa, and that should settle any outstanding questions about the brand’s pedigree.
There are currently two very cool Surfboards Hawaii examples on sale on eBay. I wouldn’t say either is a particularly “classic” example from the label. I want to say the most coveted Surfboards Hawaii boards are the big elephant guns and noseriders from the Sixties, but don’t quote me on that. The Surfboards Hawaii vee bottom model — I have seen it referred to as the Hawaii V model — is also popular.
The first board in question is a Transition Era shape that’s currently listed for sale on eBay. It’s actually a Surfboards Hawaii Glass Slipper model, and you can find a link to the board here. The Glass Slipper surfboard is another well-known board with a history that’s tough to track down. Donald Takayama’s website credits DT with inventing the Glass Slipper during his days surfing Ala Moana Bowls on Oahu. I have also seen a Glass Slipper created under Takayama’s MTB label. The Glass Slipper surfboard pictured below was almost certainly shaped in the late Sixties, given the pronounced S Deck and the dimensions. It measures in at 7′ x 20 1/4″ x 3 1/8″. The seller claims it was shaped in 1969.
The photos above are courtesy of the eBay listing. There are some interesting things going on here. First is the unusual Surfboards Hawaii logo that reads “Just Honolulu, Hawaii.” For some period of time Surfboards Hawaii boards featured both Hawaii and Encinitas on their laminates. According to the seller of the Glass Slipper, during the late Sixties Surfboards Hawaii was sold back to someone in Hawaii, who then had new laminates printed up reading “Just Honolulu Hawaii.” Either way, I love it!
Here’s an example of a Surfboards Hawaii logo that has both Hawaii and Encinitas in the rectangle. Note that this one says “Haleiwa Hawaii” whereas I have also seen examples that say “Honolulu Hawaii”
The seller of the Glass Slipper is someone who has sold many vintage boards on eBay, and he clearly has a great collection and a ton of knowledge. He believes the Glass Slipper was shaped by Ben Aipa. However, I’m not as sure. All the Aipa / Surfboards Hawaii boards I have seen were all signed by Aipa and/or had different logos. Of course, it’s very possible that Aipa shaped boards for Surfboards Hawaii that didn’t have any markings. Therefore I’m not ruling out that the Glass Slipper was shaped by Aipa. But given Takayama’s involvement with the Glass Slipper model later on in his career, I’m wondering if this board wasn’t shaped by Donald.
Yet another example of a different Surfboards Hawaii laminate. You’ll see this one still has the “Just Honolulu, Hawaii” text, but then it clearly credits Ben Aipa with having shaped the board.
The other Surfboards Hawaii example listed for sale on eBay was shaped much later by Mike Slingerland. You can find a link to the board here. At some point, and I don’t know when, Surfboards Hawaii seemed to move most of its production to Southern California, enlisting shapers like Slingerland and Rick Hamon. Hat tip to Matt Johnson for giving me the heads up on the board!
The Slingerland single fin measures in at a tidy 5’11”. Judging from the seller’s comments, the board was purchased brand new in Laguna Beach and has been kept since then. It’s in stellar condition, with a few minor snackles that could easily be cleaned up. Oh, and as a diehard airbrush aficionado, you know I’m stoked about the spray job on this bad boy! I love the alternating patterns between the deck and the bottom.
What’s interesting to me about the Slingerland board is that it doesn’t have any Hydro branding. Many of Slingerland’s shapes for Surfboards Hawaii featured similar channel bottoms, and these boards often had Hydro laminates that touted this design. See below for another example of a Slingerland / Surfboards Hawaii board, with the exact same channel setup.
Another Surfboards Hawaii / Mike Slingerland Hydro board. Check out the channel bottom and yes, the exceptional airbrush as well!
Surfboards Hawaii is such a great brand with incredible history, and I love that there are two boards currently listed for sale that illustrate the variety of shapes made under the label. You can check out the Glass Slipper Model here and the Mike Slingerland single fin here.
Greetings, Shredderz! Today we’ll be examining an awesome surfboard that crosses over a few different standouts from surf history: a Donald Takayama David Nuuhiwa Noserider shaped in the 1980s, under Takayama’s legendary Hawaiian Pro Designs label.
Nuuhiwa and Takayama’s relationship goes way back. Nuuhiwa has mentioned Takayama as one of his early influences. Later on the two men were stablemates on Bing’s legendary surf team in the 1960s, and both Takayama and Nuuhiwa had signature Bing boards to call their own. Bing’s David Nuuhiwa Noseriding Model was produced during this time, and it remains coveted among longboard collectors. Takayama played a critical role in developing both of Nuuhiwa’s Bing models, which were the aforementioned Noseriding Model and the subsequent Bing David Nuuhiwa Lightweight Model.
The board pictured above is a Hawaiian Pro Designs Donald Takayama David Nuuhiwa Noserider (now take a breath), and it is currently available on Craigslist in Norfolk, Virginia, of all places. Pics in the post are via the listing.
The David Nuuhiwa laminate is an unusual one, and I have only seen it on a handful of Takayama boards before. On the other hand, I have seen a ton of Hawaiian Pro Designs / Takayama boards with “Noserider” logos, one of which you can see below. You’ll notice there is no mention of Nuuhiwa’s name.
Donald Takayama Noserider laminate taken from another board.
I’m not sure to what extent the Takayama David Nuuhiwa Noserider is a variant of the Bing David Nuuhiwa Noseriding Model or the Bing Nuuhiwa Lightweight Model. Given the two men’s history with the Bing brand, however, I would be surprised if the HPD board pictured here didn’t at least contain some of the DNA from Nuuhiwa’s earlier Bing models.
The board that is being listed for sale also has something of an interesting history, according to the seller. He claims he was given the board as a Christmas gift from his wife around 1985. The mid Eighties represented longboarding’s dark years, as the surf world’s attention had turned to high performance shortboard thrusters. In the Nineties, noseriding underwent a resurgence, thanks in no small part to the likes of Takayama and his star pupil Joel Tudor. To complete the cycle, Tudor’s surfboard brand has also produced a Nuuhiwa-esque noserider model. In any case, the board featured in this post pre-dates Takayama’s resurgence in popularity by about a decade or so, which is a cool little touch.
As you can see in the pictures, the Takayama David Nuuhiwa Noserider is in impeccable condition. It looks completely new, despite being over thirty years old at this point. The seller is asking $1,600, and while I wouldn’t say this is cheap, it’s not insane, either. If you’re interested in the board, check it out on Craigslist here.
Greetings, Shredderz! Welcome to another installment of the Shred Sledz Grab Bag, where we’ll be taking a look at some boards that have recently been listed or sold around in the internet. And if you’re catching up, I’d like to recommend checking out the earlier post on Rick Surfboards. Without any further ado, here are some selections:
There are two Stussy surfboards for sale on Craigslist, both of which are located in New Jersey. It looks like they are being offered by separate sellers. Both of these boards are cheaper than what you might expect for Stussy boards. In the case of the board pictured above, this probably has a lot to do with the condition of the board. The board is signed by Stussy (click through to the listing for more pics), but there are numerous visible repairs and pressure dings. Check out the funny Waterman’s Guild dolphin logo! As for the second board, which also boasts a Rasta logo, it’s hard to draw any conclusions on the condition from the pictures. I emailed the seller, who claims there are no dents and dings. The board above is listed at $525, and the second board (not pictured) is offered at $500. Neither board has the over the top 80s spray jobs, but the second one seems like a pretty good deal at $500.
This board has come and gone, so if you have an itchy trigger finger and an affinity for neon, I’m sorry to disappoint you! I thought this board was an interesting litmus test for prices around pre-Echo Beach boards. The Schroff twin fin above ended up selling for $388, which was a bit below what I had expected. This board looks like it’s barely a pre-Echo Beach shape. On one hand, with the bright colors and the multiple logos, you can see the beginnings of what would become Schroff’s signature style. On the other, the board is missing the signature Schroff black and white checkered logo, and between the beaked nose and the old-school lams, it has more of a late 70s / early 80s vibe. Personally, I love this twin fin, and I thought $388 was a steal, even considering the board had a bunch of dings. Then again, it’s clear that the market favors a certain era of Schroff boards, and this one does not fit into that description. The seller just posted another Schroff board, this time with all the 80s bells and whistles, and it’ll be interesting to note where the price ends up. For another example of a pre-Echo Beach shape, check out the earlier post on a Wave Tools single fin, which is still available for $250! Check out Board Collector for some more great shots of Schroff boards if you’re interested.
Let’s switch gears to a classic 1960s noserider as a little palate cleanser to the go go Day Glo 80s boards featured above. This here is a Hansen “The Hustler” model noserider, clocking in at a serious 9’10”. The poster claims the board was shaped in 1967. This is somewhat supported by the old Newport Beach surfboard permit sticker that dates to 1969. You can also see the board has the old Hansen bolt through fin, which you’ll find on many Hansen boards from this era. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but info about Hansen Hustler models is scarce online. There’s another Hansen “The Hustler” noserider on sale on eBay, which is partially restored and is listed for $3,500. The board above looks all original and it is being offered at $1700. I don’t know enough about these boards to weigh in on the price, sadly. If you have more context, please drop me a line — I would love to hear from anyone with some info on this board!
Donald Takayama Hawaiian Pro Designs “In the Pink” Model
Pictured above is a Donald Takayama “In the Pink” 9’0″ noserider that was sold on Craigslist in San Diego a few weeks ago. The listing has since been removed. It’s an interesting board for a few reasons. First, look at the clear DT hand signature in the second to last pic, and compare the serial number with the one on the order form in the last photo. It’s a very cool look at a Takayama order form. I’m not sure when the board was made, but judging from the side bite fin boxes, it’s modern, likely made a few years before Takayama’s untimely passing in 2012.
Greetings, Shredderz! Sorry for all the radio silence here at Shred Sledz HQ, but I’m afraid our editorial staff was waylaid by a particularly nasty bug. But I digress. Today’s update features a rare board from a classic combination: a Donald Takayama Joel Tudor Pintail Pig currently up for sale on eBay. You can find a link to the board here. Pics via the eBay listing.
Tudor, of course, remains the world’s most famous longboarder a good two decades plus after he burst onto the scene as a wunderkind. Before his passing in 2012, Takayama had cemented his legacy as one of the finest shapers in the world. Takayama briefly disappeared from surfing during the 1980s to do time in federal prison as the result of a cocaine trafficking bust. In the nineties, Takayama revived his career and struck up a partnership with a young Joel Tudor. Their collaboration ended in 1998 — when Tudor was only 22 — as Tudor set up his own surfboard brand, working with shapers like Bill Shrosbree and Stu Kenson.
The board above is interesting for many reasons. First, Donald Takayama Joel Tudor models are generally difficult to find. I see a lot of older Takayama boards for sale on Craigslist, particularly around San Diego, where Takayama was based for much of his career (despite having been born in Hawaii), but it is more difficult to find ones with Tudor’s logo. In addition, the board above has two more interesting characteristics. First is the unusual “60’s Longboard Classic’s” (sic) laminate, which is hard to find. The other is the fact this is a “Pintail Pig”, a variant I have personally never seen before.
Here’s an example of a different board boasting the “60’s Longboard Classic’s” lam, but you’ll notice two differences: one, it doesn’t have Tudor’s name on it; two, the logo only reads “Pig.” The second aspect is a little strange, given that it sure looks like a pintail to me. The board is currently for sale on TheBoardSource.com. Pics taken via The Board Source listing (link here).
The Board Source has pictures of another Donald Takayama Joel Tudor board with the “60’s Longboard Classic’s” logo. This one, however, is not a pig design. Note that the wide point is much further up when compared with the Pig board above, and the tail is a squashtail. Note that the board is no longer for sale. You can find the original link to the board here.
Note the similarity between this board and the one at the top of the page. It has the “60’s Longboard Classic’s” logo and Tudor’s name, but it’s obviously not a Pintail Pig model. Pic via The Board Source
Back to the board at the top of the page: it’s for sale on eBay, it’s currently listed at $800, and from what I can tell, it’s a pretty rare example of a Donald Takayama Joel Tudor collaboration. What’s the catch? Well, the board is located in France, so unless you’re a Hossegor local with an eye for collectible boards, you’re going to have to add a couple of hundred bucks to the final cost. That said, it is a cool example of one of surfing’s most classic partnerships, and that’s always worth noting. Check out the board here.
Konichiwa, Shredderz! This post is being written from lovely Japan, where I am enjoying an extended trip with Ms. Sledz. Hope all of my American friends are enjoying Memorial Day weekend. Enough about me, though, and onto the goods…
This is a KILLER shot of a lineup of some Zephyr Surfboards, posted by Instagram user @jjrober22. A couple of these boards boast what look like CR Stecyk spray jobs. I’m surprised by the length of some of these shapes, as I didn’t realize Jeff Ho shaped longer boards. I’m not sure if all of these are recent — at least a couple of the boards seem to have modern-looking fin boxes — but nonetheless it’s a colorful look at one of Los Angeles’ most revered surf brands.
My initial reaction was to apologize for posting not one but two flamboyant 80s boards in a row. Then I thought to myself, wait a second: what is Shred Sledz if not a safe space to celebrate the loud colors of 80s surf culture?! The Schroff board posted above is pretty subdued by Echo Beach standards. This thing is so cool — I love the teal paint job and the diagonal lines on the deck, especially when paired with the Rainbow Fin! Make sure you click through for all the pics, as the post is an Instagram slideshow.
Here is an old Bing Surfboards ad for the Bing Donald Takayama Model. Wish this showed the entire ad, but it’s awesome nonetheless. Note that David Nuuhiwa is pictured in the ad as well.
Greg Liddle is probably the most famous shaper of hulls, and Kirk Putnam‘s enthusiasm for Liddle’s shapes has been well-documented. This post comes courtesy of Displacementia, a great blog specializing in hulls. For all the excitement around Liddle, it’s hard to find good pictures of his earlier boards. I’ve only seen the BMW-style logo on a few of his boards, making this post a cool peek at some vintage Liddle Surfboards.
Greetings, Shredderz! Hope your stoke levels are high and rising. Here’s a smattering of rad surfboards I’ve seen pop up on social media over the past week or so.
It’s a scientifically proven fact that you can’t go wrong posting pictures of vintage Lightning Bolt boards. And sure, the thing has a bit of water damage, but I much prefer old boards with some character than a lot of the full-blown restoration jobs that prioritize aesthetics over preservation. But I digress. No matter where your preferences might lie, Gerry Lopez was and will always be the man.
Another proven fact: there is no such thing as too much neon. This here is a selection of some primo Echo Beach vehicles, courtesy Lance Collins of Wave Tools, and Peter Schroff of Schroff Surfboards. Love the Team lams on the Wave Tools boards to the right.
Click “Continue Reading” below for some more selections…
Donald Takayama is a Shred Sledz favorite. Before his passing in 2012, Takayama struck up a memorable partnership with Joel Tudor. Takayama’s brand, Hawaiian Pro Designs, continues to produce boards from Takayama’s pioneering designs, but there’s no replacement for a board shaped by the man himself. Pictured below is a vintage Donald Takayama single fin.
The board is currently for sale Craigslist in San Diego. You can find a link to the board’s listing here. The seller is asking $499 for the board, and while that sounds steep, I think it might actually be justified.
The board pictured above has actually been written up before. Check out the Takayama post on The Surfboard Project (link here) that has some pictures of the same exact board from the last time it was sold. Even better, The Surfboard Project was able to get Tudor to chime in with some great context.
According to Tudor, the Donald Takayama single fin pictured above was shaped in either 1969 or 1970. During 1968 Takayama was still shaping boards under the Surfboards Hawaii label. You’ll note the board above doesn’t have any logos for Hawaiian Pro Designs, which was Takayama’s second brand. Tudor goes on to give some great back story about how Takayama’s first label went out of business after being blackballed from receiving blanks from Clark Foam! Anyway, I urge you to check out the link on The Surfboard Project.
The board above doesn’t seem to have a signature or any serial numbers written on the stringer, both of which are very common on later-era Takayama boards. It’s begging to be fixed up a bit and restored to some of its former glory. Maybe I’m crazy, but $500 doesn’t sound that nuts for such a unique board.
You can check out the Craigslist posting for the board here.
I’ve written about Christian Fletcher before, and I will never, ever get sick of his old logo, which manages to be both an act of visual rebellion as well as a time capsule for the day glo SoCal surf scene of the 1980s and 1990s. This is an interesting example of a Fletcher board, as apparently it was shaped by pioneering Aussie shaper Nev Hyman, who founded what would later become Firewire Surfboards. The other Fletcher boards I’ve seen have been signed by California shapers like Randy Sleigh and Chris McElroy. This board was posted to the excellent Vintage Surfboard Collectors group on Facebook; click through the link for the rest.
Finally, here’s a bonus shot of Fletcher — pre-tattoos! — and a McElroy shape.
Ryan Lovelace is a talented shaper based in Santa Barbara. He posted this picture below recently, which shows an early George Greenough sailboard with an edge board design. Edge boards have come into vogue lately, thanks to shapers like Marc Andreini (Andreini), Manny Caro (Mandala), and Scott Anderson (Anderson).
Speaking of neon boards from the 80s and 90s, I’ll never, ever get sick of old Channel Islands boards. This guy on Instagram posts a bunch of sweet boards, and he has a collection of vintage Merricks that makes me sick with envy. Check out his feed for more.
The board pictured above is an example of a Donald Takayama Model, created for Bing Surfboards between 1965 and 1967. It’s currently listed for sale on Craigslist in Orange County, and you can find the board here. The asking price is $1K. This may seem a little steep, but for reference, another Bing Takayama (albeit in perfect condition) recently sold for $5K at auction.
I’m able to notice a few key differences between the board at the top of the post, and then a few other Bing Takayama boards I found online. For the first comparison, see below for pictures of the Bing Takayama that was sold at auction.
The second example I was able to find was on usedsurf.jp, which always has great vintage boards for sale (albeit at steep prices, no doubt because the shop is located in Japan). I’ve reproduced those pictures below as well:
Now, let’s compare the three boards: the Craigslist board at the top of the post, the auction board, and then the usedsurf.jp board. First, all three of the boards share the same basic outline – a slightly pulled in nose, a triple stringer, and a squash tail in the back. However, the auction and usedsurf.jp boards also have two critical differences: they have large D-fins, as opposed to the Craigslist board’s more raked design; and second, you’ll notice the logos are slightly different. The Craigslist board’s logo has an evenly applied bold outline around the eye-shaped Bing logo; the auction and usedsurf.jp boards have an outline that gets thicker around the right side of the eye.
Close up of the auction board. Bolding is only on the right side of the eye logo.
Here’s my guess: the D-Fin boards (in this case, the usedsurf.jp and auction boards) were produced at a different date than the non-D-Fin boards (see one at the top of the page). The Craigslist board at the top (non-D-Fin) is dated as 1965. Usedsurf.jp dates its D-fin board to 1967. However: the auction board, also a D-Fin, is dated to 1965. Since the Takayama model was only made between 1965 and 1967, I think one of these dates must be wrong. In other words, I believe at some point Bing must have switched from the non-D-Fin to the D-Fin, or vice versa.
Consider, now, the tiebreaker. Here are two more boards I was able to find online, both of which are dated 1965 and closely resemble the Craigslist board at the top of the page. First, we have a board once listed on eBay (aka the eBay board). I can’t get a close look at the fin, but it looks like the rake fin design (not the D-Fin). Note the logo design and placement. First, it’s the logo that has bolding on right and left. Second, the logo is on the right side of the deck, fairly close to the nose.
Second is a board that was listed for sale on Cannon Beach Artz. It’s also dated to 1965. It has the same logo and placement as the Craigslist board and the eBay board, not to mention the red tail block visible on the Craigslist board.
Conclusion? I believe that the earlier run of Bing Takayama boards can be identified by three things: 1) The logo with the bolding on both sides of the “eye”; 2) Placement of the logo (right side of the deck, close to the nose); and 3) A more raked fin design (versus the D-Fin). There are multiple sources that date these boards to 1965. I believe the later model – produced in 1967, but possibly earlier – has the D-Fin, the logo with the bolding only on the right side, and then logo placement further down the board.
If anyone has more info, I’d love to hear it. Otherwise, the Craigslist board is still for sale, and you can find it here.
