Greetings, Shredderz! Welcome to the latest installment of the Grab Bag, where I’ll spotlight some of the cooler boards I saw for sale recently. Keep reading for more, including a Takayama Surfing’s New Image single fin, a vintage Dick Brewer single fin, and a few other rad sledz…
Donald Takayama Surfing’s New Image Single Fin (eBay)
I think this Surfing’s New Image Donald Takayama single fin is super duper rad. First of all, you don’t always see a ton of Takayama / SNI boards floating around. Second, the board looks to be in decent, though not perfect, condition. This looks like it would be a fun board to ride, and of course, it also has Takayama’s name going for it. The cost is $575, plus shipping. I can’t say this is cheap, but I also don’t think it’s crazy. On a related note, below for my all-time favorite Surfing’s New Image Donald Takayama board:
Vintage Dick Brewer Single Fin (Craigslist — San Clemente)
Truth be told, I’m not entirely this vintage Dick Brewer single fin was shaped by Brewer himself. Don’t get me wrong — it’s still a sweet board. I’m intrigued by the shape, which is stubbier and has a wider tail than I would have expected, given its a Seventies single fin. But what really throws me off is the “RB Design” signature on the stringer. I have never seen this on a Brewer board before. Maybe I’m reading too much into the fact that it says “design”, but to me, this word could easily signal the fact that the board could have been shaped by someone else. It’s also far different than any other Dick Brewer signature I have seen. Either way, it’s a neat board, though I think at $600 maybe a bit too rich for me.
Two Seventies Natural Progression Single Fins (Craigslist — Santa Barbara; Craigslist — Los Angeles)
I think Natural Progression is one of the great unsung California surfing labels of all time. The brand had some great shapers — Phil Becker, Robbie Dick et al — and a phenomenal logo. And what more could you need? The board featured above is a real doozy, and it has an appropriate price tag to match. I dig the triple stringer setup, the wing swallow tail setup, and it has a killer original Rainbow Fin, too. $600 for a vintage surfboard is hardly ever cheap, but I understand the logic here.
I actually featured the second Naturally Progression board on my Instagram a few months back, and it is up for sale once more. It is shaped by Robbie Dick and it has a “ghost” Natural Progression label consisting of just the famous outline. The seller is asking $375 for this board, which I think is a decent price.