The Archive

Shred Sledz Social Media Roundup

Bunker, Tomson + More: Social Media Roundup

Greetings, Shredderz! See below for a selection of some Instagram highlights from the past month. Someone once suggested that Shaun and Michael Tomson’s rise in the 70s would make for a spectacular movie. Yes, there’s Bustin’ Down the Door, but I mean a big screen dramatization focusing strictly on the two South African…

Continue reading
Shred Sledz Social Media Roundup

Kelly Approves + More: Social Media Roundup

Greetings, Shredderz! Here are some Instagram highlights from the month of June. We’ve got some ridiculous bodysurfing footage from Kelly’s wave pool, Torren Martyn’s silky stylings and more. Keep reading for the full rundown. It’s curious that five plus years after its debut, Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch is still an ivory tower. Access…

Continue reading
Sagas of Shred

Michael Tomson

Sadly, there’s been a lot of confusion around the news, but I believe Michael Tomson, the surfer and co-founder of Gotcha Sportswear, has passed away. I’ve featured Gotcha and More Core Division here on the blog many times before. Gotcha might not be immediately familiar to a lot of people, especially outside surfing,…

Continue reading
Sagas of Shred

Gotcha Martin Potter: Sagas of Shred

Greetings, Shredderz! For those of you who aren’t hip to the program, I scan a different vintage surf ad every Thursday evening and post it as part of the Sagas of Shred series. I’ve written up Gotcha’s groundbreaking advertisements many times here on the blog. If it’s still not clear, I’m a huge…

Continue reading
Sagas of Shred

Gotcha: Red Hot Surfwear

Greetings, Shredderz! It’s the Fourth of July, and as a patriotic American, I have to confess that I have better things to be doing right now than writing about vintage surf ads. Like having a few drinks before setting off a bunch of explosives in a completely unsupervised setting, for example. But stories…

Continue reading

Shawn Stussy Thruster for Michael Tomson of Gotcha

Greetings, Shredderz! The board I’m writing up today is one of the coolest I have ever seen. By now some readers might know that Shawn Stussy is a favorite of this humble vintage surfboard blog. Stussy’s Eighties thrusters are likely his most popular shapes, and for good reason. But what makes this Shawn…

Continue reading
Sagas of Shred

Vintage Gotcha Ad with Pottz and Dino Andino: Sagas of Shred

Greetings, Shredderz! Welcome to the latest installment of Sagas of Shred. Today we’ll be exploring a vintage Gotcha ad from 1990. Gotcha was founded in 1978 by South African surfer Michael Tomson, cousin to Shaun. (I recently wrote up a sick Stussy board that once belonged to Michael Tomson, which you can see…

Continue reading